The PLANKS are the result of collaboration between artist Henrik Menné and scientist Anna Vallgårda as an exploration into the aesthetic potential of computational composites. Comprised of wood boards and electronic circuitry on a supporting frame, PLANKS responds to local stimuli as an experiment in animating architectural enclosures. When the [...]
Researchers at Keio University’s Information Design Laboratory developed clothing designed to signal changing individual conditions. Their conceptual model was based on the analog synthesizer, which can generate an infinite variety of original sounds by connecting and tuning three modules, the VCA, VCO, and VCF. Wearable Synthesis, likewise, connects and tunes [...]
Unexpanded Expancel thermoplastic microspheres are small plastic particles that contain a droplet of liquid hydrocarbon. When heated, the plastic shells soften and the liquid builds pressure causing the particles to expand. The result is gas filled, thin walled particles of extremely low density. The particles are compressible and resilient, and [...]
For an architectural project located in a desert climate, Hoberman Associates was asked to design a roof covering for an open-air plaza. They created a kinetic design that works off an operable grid. In its covered configuration, the shading roof appears similar to a coffered ceiling; yet when retracted, the [...]
Dukta is a timber forming system that uses precise incisions to impart flexibility. Developed by Christian Kuhn and Serge Lunin, the method allows stiff wood panels to be easily shaped in three dimensions. The near rubbery flexibility is achieved with staggered, regularly arranged incisions. Different cutting options expand the scope [...]
B.lab Italia’s “Metal Series” surfaces contain liquids infused with metal particles that are trapped within resilient a polymer shell. The result is an interactive floor tile or horizontal surface that responds to pressure as well as electric charge. Building occupants’ footsteps are temporarily recorded by the movement of fluids, and [...]
Sensitile Systems’ Jali Cascata Zari panels combine the light refractive properties of their Jali series of panels—acrylic-based composites designed to harness and extend the intensity of ambient illumination—with the color dispersion of a dichoric film layer. The result is a visually-arresting array of multiple colors that dynamically respond to changing [...]
International Fashion Machines provides private research and consulting in electronic textiles to a variety of clients, industries, and the military. They work with the latest electronic yarns and a variety of textile processes including embroidery, sewing, weaving and braiding. IFM also creates electronic textile connections, both intra-textile and between traditional [...]
Designed by Rachel Wingfield, Digital Dawn is a textile that responds to environmental stimuli. Digital Dawn functions as a traditional window blind with a reactive surface that is in constant flux, growing in luminosity in response to its surroundings. Wingfield intended Digital Dawn to emulate the process of photosynthesis using [...]
The fact that structural damage can go undetected in many materials means that some products are often over-engineered. However, substances that can provide information about their internal stresses—as well as trigger reliable self-healing properties—allow manufacturers to be more confident in using lighter weight materials. Self-Repairing and Sensing Matrices can also [...]
Kiln Glass Textures05/17/2013
Catalyst05/10/2013
EVA Collection05/03/2013
Tropical Veneer Collection04/26/2013
DoubleFace04/19/2013
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