Transmaterial » feature

Softwall LED

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:00:14 +0000

Softwall + Softblock is a modular, space-shaping system of expandable/compressible honeycomb seating, partitions, and lighting conceived from the desire for flexible, spontaneous spacemaking. Opening a Softwall + Softblock element is a captivating tactile experience, as the honeycomb unfolds to create a completely freestanding structure that is hundreds of times larger than its compressed form. Softwall + Softblock forms can be resized and rearranged into almost any shape.

Softwall LED, a luminous version of Softwall + Softblock, is an integrated lighting system as flexible as its counterpart, with LED ribbons of light adjusting to changes in the wall’s length and movement. Softwall LED has a soft, even glow that emphasizes the visual delicacy of the translucent textile fibers and visually enhances the expansion, contraction, and fluid movement of these completely flexible, freestanding partitions. Softwall + Softblock elements of various heights, materials, and colors all connect to one another simply and seamlessly with concealed magnets to create continuous lengths.

Contact: Molo Design, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Media Cubes

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:00:40 +0000

Media Cubes invite tangible interaction to control media. Unlike conventional remote devices, this system consists of two cubes made out of wood. The system can track the orientation and rotation of the objects in order to relay particular commands. The user controls a particular function by orienting its symbol up, then rotating the cube to adjust the function—such as changing the volume level or scrolling through a song list.

The technology inside the cube is fairly simple. Gyroscopic and accelerometer sensors detect movement with a high level of accuracy. The signal is then sent via radio technology the same way a wireless mouse works. The cubes are charged with contactless induction technology, and there is no need for a power input. In this way, the Media Cubes demonstrate the unexpected integration of technological controls with a more intuitive, tactile interface.

Contact: Mattias Andersson, Johanneshov, Sweden.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Bio-Based Foams

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:00:41 +0000

The Center for Composite Materials has synthesized flexible/rigid polyurethane foams from soybean oil polyols. The advantage of these foams is that they can replace petroleum-based materials (synthetic polyols) and can be used for many applications. The morphology of the foams can be controlled by several factors: the type and functionality of the soybean oil polyols, the type of curing agents, the amount of water, and the amount of catalyst. Both flexible and rigid foams can be developed from vegetable oils by implementing different processes. The biocontent of the foams varies from 33 to 96 weight percent. The use of this biodegradable, locally harvested, and renewable source has economic and environmental advantages that make it an attractive alternative to petroleum-based materials.

Contact: Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Sensitive Apertures

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:00:25 +0000

Sensitive Apertures is a modular slip-cast ceramic building skin designed to admit a small quantity of light through a refractive glass aperture. This opening redirects sunlight onto the inside surface of the cell, projecting an even luminous glow to the interior space. The 1% open apertures admit levels of light desired for interior circulation zones as well as insulate a building from solar heat gain and loss.

Contact: Ben McDonald, Culver City, CA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Woven Horsehair

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:00:47 +0000

Marianne Kemp develops woven textiles out of unconventional combinations of materials. Using small bunches of horsehair interwoven with linen or cotton, Kemp creates curious fabrics in diverse colors and textures. The horsehair is sourced from live horses overseas, mainly from Mongolia. In the weaving process, Kemp manipulates the bunches through knotting, curling, and looping. Each final weaving expresses the unique shine, texture, and flexibility of the horsehair fiber.

Kemp explains, “I’m fascinated by the movement of the weavings, how the horsehair is manifest in the net of the weaving technique. Also, the way the light falls on the weaving plays an important role in the process. Each piece of work has its own unique character.”

Contact: Marianne Kemp, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

No-Limit Panels

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:00:29 +0000

Rubber pad–based metal forming is a technique developed by the aerospace industry. Metaalwarenfabriek Phoenix applies this technique to manufacture double curved sheet metal products for a variety of markets and industries. The advantage of rubber-pad forming is that only one mold is required, since the rubber pad assumes the function of the counter mold and sheet metal holder combined. As a result, tooling costs are only 10–25 percent of those for traditional deep drawing. No-Limit Panels may be used for exterior and interior design applications, and a wide variety of patterns are possible using the rubber-pad forming technique.

Contact: Metaalwarenfabriek Phoenix BV, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Flowerfall

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:00:19 +0000

Michelle Brand designed Flowerfall specifically to address our ever-growing amount of plastic thrown away each year. Flowerfall is an eco-contemporary “curtain” made of the bases of discarded PET bottles and articulated tagger ties, the plastic ties typically used to connect a price tag to an item. In her construction of the soft screens, Brand pays great attention to minimizing processing, and uses no melting, reforming, or molds in her handmade fabrication process. Flowerfall celebrates both form and function in sculptural installations that are decorative without being overly fussy. The material has an unexpected softening quality that can counter hard surfaces or spaces, and its translucent properties harness and filter light in dramatic ways.

Contact: Michelle Brand, UK.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Light Tape

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:00:52 +0000

Light Tape lamps alter one’s preconceptions about point based light sources. Imagine a lightbulb as thin as a credit card in any color that can be bent around any surface for hundreds and hundreds of feet, and that costs only a fraction of what traditional bulbs cost to operate. Developed by Electro-LuminX, Light Tape is made from Global Tungsten & Powders’s light-emitting phosphors and Honeywell’s encapsulant systems, and may be used for general illumination, signage, and animated displays.

Contact: Electro-LuminX Lighting Corporation, Chester, VA, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Laser-Sintered Textiles

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:00:51 +0000

Laser-Sintered Textiles, based on a concept by designer Jiri Evenhuis, have opened a new frontier of possibilities for the production of future textiles. Instead of creating textiles by the meter, then cutting and sewing them together into final products, Laser-Sintered Textiles could one day make needle and thread obsolete.

After several years of research in software, materials, and surface quality, Freedom of Creation (FOC) launched its first commercial products for the public in 2005. Since there were no machines made specifically for manufacturing interlocking textile patterns by layers, FOC employed rapidmanufacturing techniques such as laser sintering for their manufacture. FOC’s textile products don’t require any assembly and products may be made inside their own packaging.

Contact: Feedom of Creation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

KiloLux

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:00:07 +0000

KiloLux is a monolithic glass block with the appearance of a laminate produced by thermally bonding glass at low temperatures. Wales-based Innovative Glass Products Ltd. developed the material for inclusion in building facades as a light-emitting decorative element. Because no adhesive is used to manufacture the product, it has good resistance to moisture and freeze-thaw cycles.

KiloLux was first employed as an external component and weather seal on a public building in the UK, and had to be rigorously tested to ensure compliance with building specifications. Since then, it has been used in a variety of interior or exterior applications and the product shape and color offerings have been diversified.

KiloLux can be manufactured with a variety of different glass types, most commonly with soda lime float glass and low iron glass. It can be secondarily processed by chemical, abrasive etching, and water jet abrasive techniques, and can also be thermally bent as well as cut and shaped by a diamond saw.

Contact: Innovative Glass Products Ltd., Swansea, Wales.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.