StreetBrite fulfulled it's mandate to be fully interactive. The piece used black light within the board, which lit up the reactive baloons inside repurposed water bottles. The piece seemed to function as a magnet, as everyone who walked by had to at least come up and touch it. Even the after dinner crowd, dressed in high heels and suits were not immune.

the second IllumiNITE was the most successful one yet! Many people enjoyed the balmy evening to take in the light creations. street brite is a piece by Chris and Bobby of g2. [ CLOSE ]

The final Mygloo installation used the surrounding trees as supporting structure for the piece. The translucent canopy invited people to walk underneath, and they did - the space was almost always occupied. One of the most photographed pieces of the night, mygloo won third prize from the jury, as well as the peoples choice award.


the second IllumiNITE was the most successful one yet! Many people enjoyed the balmy evening to take in the light creations. mygloo is a creation of Heather, Carly and Olivia of g2 with Amy Wowk. [ CLOSE ]

Olivia, Heather, Carly from g2 along with Amy Wowk are building mygloo, a translucent mylar shell. The piece is “Inspired by an origami folding technique”. The “varying layers of mylar create levels of opacity that, when lit, highlight and create a glowing surface that piques the interst of passers-by”. Look for their piece under the spruce tree on feb 16 and 17.

illumiNITE is in its second year as an urban event that enlivens an underused pocket park on 104st and just north of Jasper Ave. It is put on by Edmonton on the Edge.This year the event is running for two days, and has both a judged portion, and people’s choice awards. [ CLOSE ]

Bobby and Chris of g2 are building nostalgia in the form of a giant lite brite. They are expecting that its fun and interactivity will contribute to the atmosphere of illumiNITE 2013.

illumiNITE is in its second year as an urban event that enlivens an underused pocket park on 104st and just north of Jasper Ave. This year it is running for two days, and has both a judged portion, and people’s choice awards. [ CLOSE ]

Last week, with the support of g2, I had a chance to exhibit one of our light installation pieces in Ottawa for winterlude - these are the details:

URban DiffUser. Version 2.

The project utilizes 450 repurposed florescent light diffusers and 240 LED 1w lights with a sound reactive controlling system. It is deployed in Ottawa in the Marion Dewar plaza for the illumiNation portion of the winterlude festival, and is one of 7 pieces done by artists from across Canada.

Working with Urban visuals (uvilab.com), we built on a system we deployed last year from the IllumiNite competition. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/75612718@N05/sets/72157629616241403/). That piece was the first use of the system of wrapping and stacking the individual lenses, and simply used big wall washer LED lights to give it life. That piece won the 2012 illumiNITE, with the praise of “sexy” from one of the judges, city councilor Jane Batty.

This years’ piece also uses commercial light diffusers from florescent lights – in this case mostly from an old Zellers. The material picks up light extremely well, but also happens to be quite fragile. This has proved to be a challenge to work with outside in the various weather conditions. In fact, immediately prior to winterlude, the temperature went from -15°c to +14°c and back down again over the span of 3 days. Despite this, the temperature change wasn’t the problem; it was the windstorm that accompanied the shift. The piece collapsed due to high winds, and ~10% of the pieces were damaged. This necessitated a return trip to Ottawa (from Montreal). After setting it back up again, in less ambitious form, and much better anchored, the piece came alive in time for the winterlude opening the following day.

The lighting system is constructed using 2 separate arduino boards, built into separate weatherproof enclosures. These take input from a small microphone, and push data down the string of 120 1w LEDs. The LEDs are capable of a wide spectrum of color (full RGB). Louder sounds make brighter light, and a change of color, which slides down the string to the end.

Overall, the project is a success, despite the collapse. The light system works tremendously well, and it reacts to sound generated by people, music and vehicles. After its 3 week run, the piece will be disassembled and shipped back to Edmonton.
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2 teams have organized to submit pieces for the IllumiNITE festival in Edmonton on Feb 16-17. More details to follow. [ CLOSE ]

Using grasshopper + Rhino for unique design under tight cost constraints.

With an original concept of a 'site responsive' aurora borealis, the design grew with a desire to create a unique piece that could serve as a landmark in the concourse of the Edmonton International Airport.

After exploring numerous materials to create the lit panels, we settled on an edge lit, scored acrylic panel. By using a local CNC operator to fabricate the piece, the labor and cost was kept to a minimum, while still allowing a unique piece.

Using a combination of Rhino with Grasshopper also allowed a significant time savings over an all 'manual' approach. Grasshopper is a plugin for Rhino, a 3d modelling software that started as an industrial design tool. It happens to be a fantastic fabrication tool as a result.

In this case, the process is extremely simple – using grasshopper, the cut lines were generated from segmenting an organizing curve into sections of randomized length. Those points were then used as start points for the cut lines - giving them a vector (y) and a randomized start and finish length. This allowed the entire design to be easily parametric; when the height of the panels changed, all the score lines could be adjusted by simply moving the curve to fit the new size.

The file was then transferred to the fabricator (Plastics Plus) who cut the panels and shipped them to have vinyl applied for the cityscape on the bottom (laser cut vinyl).

The fabrication process was an extremely simple application of grasshopper+Rhino, but resulted in a unique and interesting final product, achieved within a reasonable budget.
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David Staples wrote this week how Edmonton might use narrow lots to go about increasing the density of it's mature neighbourhoods. http://bit.ly/PXgs2t This proposed solution looks very different than the pictures posted about a week earlier in the journal. If you missed it, these were photos showing front facing suburban style garages, and they had Group2's Barry Johns quickly responding in the opinions page. http://bit.ly/RK2zCZ

First of all, the argument for density is made many times over by others, ie. http://www.urbandesign.org/density.html But it really hits home after the snowstorms this week, where more dense, walkable communities means fewer cars on the roads to idle in traffic and cause accidents.

A couple solutions presented by Tegan Martin-Drysdale of Red Brick are far from the suburban garage idea so feared by the neighbourhoods. She rightly points out that such housing types are not going be adopted overnight, but they are excellent precedents to start change in motion. her article can be found here: http://redbrickinc.ca/?p=120

One thing to add, would be to highlight the proximity and relationship of the living quarters to the street, and imagine how that changes the 'feel' of the street. In each of the precedents, the public areas, (or the areas where guests are welcome) are pushed to the front of the house, to fairly close proximity to the street. This gives a human face (perhaps literally) to the house, and thereby it increases safety by having more eyes on the street. This in turn influences how 'welcome' a neighbourhood feels – regardless of where the garage is.

photo credit:Greenfab via: redbrick [ CLOSE ]

“Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.”

Jane Jacobs in the Death and Life of Great American Cities

The Ukrainian Canadian Archives & Museum of Alberta is a blend of both new and old, and nowhere will this be more evident than through the original brick walls. Unsurprisingly, a project re-purposing a building as old as this old hotel is a challenging proposition.

Commonly over time, buildings are adapted to new uses - windows are filled in, and walls are changed. Occasionally one has to be a detective, but the changes are often evident, even years after. One of many such changes to this building was where the basement was dug under the original hotel, long after it was built. As you might imagine, this did not enhance the structural integrity of the building. In fact, it made retaining one of the central brick walls very difficult. Adding to the degree of difficulty is that the wall was hollow, from the basement up to the roof - 4 floors above. The wall had actually functioned as a chimney, and was in poor shape.

The solution was to remove sections of the bricks, build in reinforcement and pour concrete. This had to be done one section at a time. If concrete was simply poured from the top, the pressure would blow out the brick at the bottom. Not to mention that the wall was no longer supported by the original structure. The Delnor crew (very safely) reinforced the wall back to the remainder of the building, and section by section, rebuilt the wall from the bottom, all the while filling it with concrete. The final result is a much stronger brick wall that will serve as the central corner to the new gallery spaces and be a feature at the main entrance.
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The Toronto contingent from Perkins + Will has been in Edmonton recently – remaining involved in the regular reviews of the rapidly expanding structure on the south side of Edmonton. After some early challenges due to significant water presence on site, construction on the Meadows rec centre continues to move swiftly.

The exciting activity recently has been centred on lifting one of the main scuppers into place. Three cranes performed a precise ballet, coordinating to install the giant prefabricated piece and its supporting structure. The scupper, 18,000lbs, and large enough to stand in, will collect and direct all of the water from the green roof over the library.

All of the Glulam beams (laminated wood) are wrapped in white tarpaulin to protect them against damage and weather, but they will eventually be exposed, and will be visible to the interior as a visible expression of the structure.
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In Seville, Pedro Kok has created a video-narrative exclusively for Domus Metropol Parasol by Jürgen Mayer H.: a giant-scale structure that, like Santiago Calatrava’s nearby El Alamillo suspension bridge, emerges forcefully from the urban fabric. According to Kok, Parasol is a kind of architectonic promenade that physically transports people over city rooftops, offering an unexpected point of view. He raised thousands of controversies among politicians and experts, but residents have successfully adopted it, rediscovering a square in the historic town which for years had been relegated to the parking. Check out the video at the link below. [ CLOSE ]

This month on Architectural Record's Building Types Study features K-12 schools. Very thought provoking interesting design work from all over the United States that exemplifies learning in the 21st Century. [ CLOSE ]

Landry High School - Eskew Dumez Ripple

Ever thought of making a sustainable reusable Christmas tree out of a sheet of plywood?? Well Build LLC has - check out their most recent post on the Build blog. [ CLOSE ]

M.A.D.E. in Edmonton will kick off Edmonton Design Exposed (EDE) with an opening reception showcasing a retrospective exhibit of the last decade of M.A.D.E. events at the Art Gallery of Alberta on October 14 2010. They will be exhibiting all things M.A.D.E., including an expansive display of the past film screenings, exhibitions, symposiums, street furniture competitions, and, of course, lectures. Join MADE as they reminisce about how this volunteer group has evolved since its inception, and how Edmonton has evolved and changed simultaneously. [ CLOSE ]

New book published by Princeton Architectural Press on LEED and building materials and how different building material relates to specific credits and how much each material can contribute to your overall point total. [ CLOSE ]

Seattle design/build firm BUILD LLC has a great blog that is updated twice a week. They blog about overall design culture that is affecting and influencing their work but they also show off their work and attempt to demystify the hiring of an architect and the design/build process that they take each client through. They design, build and have their own custom cabinet shop that does well crafted simple millwork. There are some great posts on the 'Process of Architecture' and a 'Construction Cost Cheat Sheet' - check it out. [ CLOSE ]

BUILD cabinet shop - wine rack

A great article at Planetizen on how the reforming of transportation policies can have a great impact on Sustainable Development than LEED Certification. [ CLOSE ]