Elementz continues...

One thing we forgot to mention in Friday's weekly review is that last week we met with the local, hip-hop inspired, community group leaders, Elementz ...after enjoying another one of their events in person.

In that meeting, we discussed teaming up with them in the future for collaborative programming ...and really just continuing a dialog as we feel like they have great ideas worth hearing/sharing.

To note: We first saw one of their youth groups perform on stage at the Duke Energy Convention Center last year, for an event promoting children's health & awareness ...and have been following them ever since. So, when we noticed they were holding a show at Cincinnati State last week to promote their upcoming anniversary celebration, we felt the need to attend their event and personally introduce ourselves.

In a nutshell, this is an extremely positive and energetic group of (primarily) young leaders bridging gaps throughout urban communities in Cincinnati through dance, music, audio-production and visual arts. And it just so happens, they are gearing up to celebrate their sixth year (of doing the right thing) THIS THURSDAY, MARCH 10th at the 20th Century Theatre (3021 Madison Road), here in Cincinnati. So we thought it would only be right to let you all know about this vibrant group that's keeping kids off of the street with their inspirational programming. (During our meeting, we were actually given the opportunity to enjoy original music produced, written and performed by a group of ambitious teenagers).

Their upcoming event is called Elementz presents: Don't Fear The Unknown ...and frankly, we hope that you won't. Tickets are affordable and available at a host of locations detailed on their site at:

http://elementz.org/wp/  and http://www.elementz.org/tickets

...so please don't be shy. You may learn something!
Plus, more is on their facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elementz-The-Hip-Hop-Youth-Arts-Center/144944207197?ref=ts

Also, if you've been following this blog for a while, you may remember This Post (Link), which continues to give us hope into what's to come!

Thanks again,
 parProjects 

A little more education...

Around this time last week, we presented a basic outline of our proposed educational programming that will happen in conjunction with the kinetics show ...based at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. It all revolves around the creation and use of solar PV panels (to power a kinetic sculpture). But if you missed that post, you can find it here.

A few developments have come together since -- related & unrelated to this particular program -- so we thought to share them with you tonight.

For starters, it's been suggested, by a few, that we use ready made kits for the project, but upon further investigation, we've found it's much more affordable (and seemingly more explorative) to use a much more bare-bones approach. Still, for those in the know, we won't be approaching the project at the extreme bare bones level ...starting with single sheets of copper.

For our panels, we've decided to use broken solar panels, which can be found for as little as $5 - $10 for a bag weighing a few pounds (direct from certain manufacturers). To note: with simple welding/wiring, our research has found that these panels still function at a high level. This approach not only emphasizes basic ideas of recycling, but it also gives more possibilities as far as creativity is concerned. Ideas of mosaics come to mind. Plus, it's one of our educational goals to provide inexpensive options ...in materials, etc.

--
Aside from the educational program, our curiosities have been raised about the his/her "facilities" of our structure ...and whether or not we'll have a "green" approach to this concern. For that, we've decided to present you with an inspirational presentation delivered by Green School co-founder, John Hardy (at a recent TED Talk). It's a little long, but we implore you to give it a chance. Its a beautiful idea/concept for a school ...something worth copying for sure!



...And if you missed what we're mentioning, it was introduced around the 4:40 mark ...and it involves composting. We hope you enjoyed this video as much as we did. The Green School's holistic approach to  education is undeniably inspirational.

Cheers!
 parProjects 

Diversity & A Dream

At parProjects, we truly believe our ethnic diversity is just as important as our diversity in skill-sets ...and our ability to dream. Being able to help one another better understand, communicate with, and approach our surroundings without offense is extremely important to our mission. And being that we truly are dreamers, this translated ability to communicate our ideas within various cultures and communities is invaluable.

So on this great day of celebration, we'd like to leave you with a song of inspiration. Happy MLK Day...



Believing in dreams,
 parProjects 

"Chime Mobile" by Anthony Luensman

Installation\Set up

The featured project is called Chime Mobile by Anthony Luensman and it was first exhibited at the Kaohsiung International Container Arts Festival in Taiwan in 2005. 

Photos: Anthony Luensman

Kaohsiung, Taiwan [2005]

To our surprise it was recently brought to our attention, by the gracious folks at the Weston Art Gallery (Cincinnati, OH), that there was a well-known Cincinnati artist & native that recently executed a container project in Asia.

We at parProjects were pleased to learn of this project and the use of kinetic elements within the installation. We read this as a great sign for what is developing in the world of Kinetic Art as well as new possibilities for the use of containers as installation space for artwork. We also took this as a reminder of the talent that lies just around the corner ...maybe even the next block over.

Video #1- Chime Mobile

Video #2 - Chime Mobile

In addition, we'd like to thank Anthony for sharing his project documentation with us.  We hope that you share in our excitement and optimism for this exciting project that reaches beyond the gallery ...to bring the arts out into the open and to an audience in more creative and interactive ways.

http://www.anthonyluensman.com/

Thank you,

 parProjects 

Yep...

We'll see you tomorrow with more inspiration.

Pictured below is the Nomadic Museum during one of its stops (Tokyo 2007). Between 2004 and 2008, the museum traveled to four destinations which also included New York City, Santa Monica and Mexico City.

An early (2004) drawing of the proposed Guangdong Museum in Hong Kong is below. And while its not made of containers, the design is still impressive.

Cheers!

 parProjects 

We were disappointed...

If you noticed the time of our last post, it was yesterday around 1:15AM ...over an hour after the Pepsi Refresh grant shut down its site to submissions ...circa 12:02am. Needless to say, we drug our feet for a minute and missed out.



Still we're happy that everything (like the above video) is packaged, so we can start seeking funding with visuals and solid numbers ...all the way down to gravel costs and the certified welder we found last week ...who has actually been on-site for a project similar to ours.

Plus, if you notice, our "in-time-for-Pepsi" design from the video actually changed for the better TODAY. It's funny how that silver-lining likes to show up when you're a bit down. So please enjoy these pics of our new design (w/improved entry tower).

...and don't forget, Phase 1 (below) will get the ball rolling on the total build. We sincerely believe, that once that piece of our vision (along with our programming) is realized, seeing the project through won't be terribly difficult ...especially knowing the the team of good people we have on board.

So don't worry, further ways to involve yourself as The Road To Refresh continues are coming soon.

Cheers!

 parProjects 

A city ...named PUMA

So, in keeping with the 100% portable style of container-structure (before delving back into our design/planning), we present PUMA CITY. This was another simple, yet impressive structure that wowed us along the way.

It was designed by the New York based architectural firm Lo-Tek, and is just one of their many efforts in the way of container structures. The interesting thing about Puma City though, is that they don't tell the public when and where they'll pop up next. 

It's a beautiful situation they have worked out. They go into stealth mode as they load/reload the entire structure onto barges etc ...then "Bam!" a publicity magnet pops up on a local pear for every consumer/curious-observer within miles to enjoy.

Sounds/looks good to us. Sounds/looks good to you too, right?!?

And while the overall structure of Puma City is impressive, details such as these power cable connectors and prefabbed walkways remain the most important things for us. In order to keep costs down, components that are already in production will remain paramount.

And on a side note, if interested in  getting lost in a Puma financial planning report, here ya go. It's interesting to see how a company such as Puma graphically lays out items like this (for the public).

http://about.puma.com/wp-content/themes/aboutPUMA_theme/financial-report/pdf/boa.pdf

Other relevant links include:

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/fashion/articles/2009/04/23/a_portable_city_visits_fan_pier/

http://www.puma.com/stores/puma-city

http://www.lot-ek.com/

Cheers to another busy day of meetings.

Making it happen,

 parProjects 

Oslo's mobile gallery space

Tonight's post is brought to you live from Oslo (well Google maps live).

Galleri Alexandra Dyvi (GAD) was the first art related structure we found made of containers.  Most notably though, it's the first completely mobile, multi-level unit we found after beginning our search. So by all means, use the tools of the map to take a closer look.

View Larger Map

Built by mmw studio 34, this mobile gallery space has nestled itself in multiple locations within its homeland, Oslo. It's innovative design utilizes large portholes to supply the interior with natural light, as well as dramatic overhangs to give a bit of weightlessness to the structure.

But again, the fact that this building can simply break apart and travel on a whim, gives it extraordinary value. Where would you land it?

Photos:  eirik førde for mmw architects of norway (http://www.mmw.no) 

Thanks for stopping by.

See you soon.

 parProjects 

But a "Papertainer Museum" you say?!?

Yes. Just a few miles away in South Korea lies one of the larger discoveries we've made along the way. Its the Papertainer Museum and as its name suggests, its constructed out of densely packed paper (columns etc) ...plus, you guessed it, shipping containers.

Its monumental in scale and green in scope ...recalling one source that notes it only exhibits work/artwork of a recycled nature. So please enjoy this exclusive YouTube clip. When we found it, it had been viewed less than 50 times.



And if you're feeling adventurous, here's a couple of links that you can peruse. Sure, most things aren't written in English, but with a little exploration, I'm sure you'll be able to gather some good info as well. Plus if you can find your way to the video sections, there's much more to enjoy.

http://papertainer.design.co.kr/

http://papertainer.design.co.kr/main2.html

 parProjects 

Zen

As we continue populating the side bar with information that deals with our findings, we look forward to keeping you in the loop with this project.

We've dedicated a substantial amount of time over the past few months focussing thought, taking meetings, creating models, producing diagrams and now we're finally gaining speed.

Tomorrow we present some of our ideas to a (hopefully crowded) classroom of art students at The University of Dayton, so I'll begin wrapping this up now.

Below you'll find a link to a little information dealing with the Barking Riverside Marketing Suite, housed in London. It's only a mere part of the greater Barking Riverside mission, but we find it especially appealing as our design shares a similar tower structure ...as well as the goal of creating a building with an extremely low carbon footprint using sestainable technologies.

Link to: http://www.containercity.com/Barking-Riverside-Marketing-Suite.html

...Then enjoy this nice, quiet video and link that showcase Barking Riverside as a whole.

Via: http://www.barkingriverside.co.uk/

Inspired

Oftentimes it's good to remind yourself of what initially inspired you to do what you do. Here's what started the ball rolling for us. While our plans, currently, don't include hydraulic driven components, it's always good to know what's being created and what's possible.

As our story unfolds, we hope you enjoy this and the many other links that will follow ...via posts and the link bars to the right.