Take a byte out of Raspberry Pi!

Raspberry Pi is a micro computer  the size of a credit card, its founder Eben Upton at Cambridge University designed it to be cheap enough to purchase for kids to learn about computers and programming, it can also be used for spreadsheets, word-processing and games and has the capability to play high-definition videos. The small computer retails at only $35 for Model B, which comes with an ethernet connection and $25 for Model A.  Its a modular style of marketing a computer whereby the LCD screen, keyboard, mouse and SD card can all be bought as a kit for no more than $100. The computer is also powered from a mobile charger, or can run on 4xAA cells.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17192823

JUTE: The Golden Fibre

Jute is a vegetable fibre that comes from the Corchorus plant (also know as the golden fibre for its colour). India is the largest producer of Jute in the world. The jute is sewn between March and May each year and is harvested in October whereby the stems (which reach a height of up to 4m) of the plants are cut and then soaked in water to loosen the fibres for extraction, this process is known as retting. After the fibres have been extracted they are sun dried and hung ready to be used for packaging, wrapping, sacks, geotextiles- landfill covering, hessian cloths, pulp. Latest experiments even show that the waste produced in jute mills, known as jute caddy can be used effectively as fuel in power plants.

Estimates by the West Bengal Consultancy Organisation (Webcon) show that jute mills in the state together produce more that 70,000 tonnes of jute caddy annually, this wouls generate 7MW of power.  ”This would save 45,000 tonnes of coal for power generation,” claimed Asim Mahapatra, managing director of Webcon.

Below are some images by the Japanese artist Naoko Serino who works with Jute fibres to produce delicate and lightweight art.

 

http://serino.jp/soft_sculpture-en.html

 

 

Aetherius: the rhythm of wind

Aetherius: the rythm of wind

Aetherius: the rythm of wind

Aetherius: interaction with participants

Aetherius top view

Aetherius inside view

Aetherius prefabrication

Aetherius on site construction

Kite wings details

Air flow

Vibrations are the very basis of life. Wherever we look in Nature we see self organising and self regulating systems that are in a state of constant vibration, oscillation, undulation and pulsation. Inspiration and expiration of the lungs, systole and diastole of the heart are only two basic examples.

The concept of Aetherius is to translate vibrations into a self organised and self regulated structure. Aetherius makes the participants experience an ephemeral ultra-light architecture in constant movement.

The artwork moves to the rhythm of the wind and becomes a living structure.
It is a visual experience as well as being an interactive experience. As the artwork moves, the participants react to its unpredictable behaviour. Not only Aetheius moves with the windy climatic conditions, but it can also be animated by the particpants.
In summary it is a delicate ephemeral structure that reflects the subtle nature of a vibrating system.

Tremor Vitae Animation

This is the animation that I developed for my Digirep Module at the University. The story is about an old robot that is brought to life with vibrations. The initial set is of course the Burning man Festival.
Mostly everything is done in Cinema 4D and after effects.

Buena Vista!

Tremor Vitae animation by Maria Valente

Centrifugal Pavilion by Clavel Arquitectos

How much does your building weigh?, asked Buckminster Fuller. Now again the curator of the Biennale Terence Riley asks the same question to all six international teams invited to the project “Ultra Lightweight Village” for the 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong biennale of urbanism\architecture.

Clavel Arcquitectos’ installation is composed by three circles of waterproof light fabric of 7.8, 6.4 and 5.4 meter of diameter spin around their axis at only 1.5 turns per second. In the biggest one we can reach to cantilever of nearly 4 meters with an only 2 mm roof thickness. It is interesting to check how similar is the movement with the animal aquatic one. Thanks to the rotation the gravity apparently disappears and only aerodynamical forces shape the fabric. The soft waves produced on the surface create a smooth breeze that improves the thermical conditions behind during the hot and sunny days.

The pavilion creates a specific place for children that can experiment with the centrifugal forces, generate electricity to open the structures and activate the lighting. The faster the children chairs rotate the brighter the structure will be.

Above: Centrifugal Pavilion by Clavel Arquitectos

Click on the following link for the full video:

http://www.dezeenscreen.com/2011/12/21/pabellon-ultraligero-centrifugo-by-clavel-arquitectos-filmed-by-cristobal-palma/

Theo Jansen, Strandbeest

Theo Jansen’s animated works are a fusion of art and engineering. He has been creating wind-walking examples of artificial life since 1990. His . The basic design of the so called Strandbeest uses multiple pairs of legs set on a central crankshaft, which produces a galloping-herd effect.

Jansen cares about the environment and produces his living structures with recycled items. The ‘stomach’ of the sculpture is made with retired plastic bottles that capture the air pumped by the wind. To harness the wind, Jansen employs bicycle pumps, plastic tubing and rubber rings. Large flapping wings gather the most wind, allowing for its storage.

One of the most impressive features of the kinetic artwork is the locomotion. The strandbeest walk with legs rather than roll on wheels, as would be expected of an inanimate object, in order to more effectively cross large areas of sand. The ‘hips’ of the strandbeest remain level, while the legs kick forth, without lurching forward.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Reuben Margolin waves

Reuben Margolin is an American-born artist and sculptor known for his mechanically-driven kinetic sculptures of wave-forms. He creates large-scale kinetic sculptures that use pulleys and motors to recreate the complex movements and structures we see in nature. Using everything from wood to cardboard to found and salvaged objects, Reubens artwork is diverse, with sculptures ranging from tiny to looming, motorized to hand-cranked.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.