Golan Levin

On this cold "spring day" thinking about kinetics will keep you warm.

One place that kinetics and art collide and flourishes is at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. At the forefront of this research and exploration is Golan Levin. In his TED talk, Levin makes art that looks back at you...



Golan Levin is an artist educator living in Pittsburgh, PA. He currently teaches at the Carnegie Mellon University, where he directs the Studio for Creative Inquiry, an interdisciplinary arts-research center. Levin's web site, FLONG showcases his work along with his collaborators.

Enjoy,

 parProjects 

Bohen Foundation

Lot-Ek is at it once again. In their design for The Bohen Foundation they have made an astonishing renovation to an existing building. Imagine if your gallery could transform itself for every exhibition... the possibilities are endless.

The Bohen foundation is a private organization that supports contemporary art and culture. The space was designed for maximum flexibility to help it house a variety of exhibitions, of all different media types. Facing the windows, in the design, are container structures that slide on tracks. And beyond that, ten foot tall walls roll along the same tracks, giving curators the ability to create virtually any space configuration they might need for an exhibit.

The Bohen Foundation was commissioned by LOT-EK and completed in 2002, in New York City's meat packing district. This building is 15,000 sqf and was budgeted for 1,500.000. 

415 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10014.

Thanks,

 parProjects 

A visit to Cleveland

...some Cell Phone Images from our art/architecture-filled trip.

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Some reports from this trip will be posted later this week.

Relevant links include:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry
http://www.clevelandart.org/
http://www.clevelandartists.org/

Cheers,
 parProjects 

Models

Creating a good model can help an architect more easily communicate their design. Throughout our designing process we have made several models, at varies stages, to help us see what our structure looks and feels like three-dimensionally.

This inspirational model we found along the way, features a container "home" structure from a student project back in 2003 called "Space Analysis." Research finds like this one will surely help guide the way  for our final model.

Thanks,

 parPojects 

A plan by Morris...

Morris Architects of Houston, Orlando, and Los Angeles have great plans for shipping containers that have caught our eye. One of their goals is to convert oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico into luxury hotels.

Still, our interest is in the way they've developed expandable shipping container units to use throughout their proposed structure. A design like this could really prove valuable for our mobile outreach strategies ...currently being developed.

Of course, you can learn more about Morris Architects' bigger project by visiting their website and following a path of:

~+> WHAT ~+> ADVANCEDESIGN ~+> OIL RIG RESORT 

...so please check them out when you have a moment. Their website is located at: http://www.morrisarchitects.com/

The next image is an interior rendering of the aforementioned expandable container. We hope your weekend treated you well...

Thanks again,

 parProjects 

BristleBot

While researching ideas for the educational component for the Kinetics show we came across these "BritleBot's." A clever idea for young creative students to explore simple mechanics.

Special Topics in Interactive Art & Computational Design:
Canegie Mellon University / Spring 2010

Enjoy,

 parProjects 

Reading...

It's "fun"damental...

Using 64 color, pattern based graphics is fun too ...from time to time.

Relevant links include:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fj9vlWjLgo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6NVJQUWPiE

Happy weekend,
 parProjects 

by Jure Kotnik Arhitekt

This polka-dotted weekender is customizable.
Read more by linking after the images.

Relavent Link:
+ http://zerocabin.com/?p=59

...and just because it has pink polka-dots:
+ http://www.pinklineproject.com/

Happy Week(end),
 parProjects 

Fuel Cincinnati

Here's a fun vid about Fuel Cincinnati ...an organization we mentioned last post.


Happy Saturday,
 parProjects 

Solar Decathlon

The Solar Decathlon is held by the US Department of Energy. The award winning program challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The first solar decathlon was held in 2002 and has been held  every two years since, creating a biennial competition. The next event will take place on the National Mall, West Potomac Park in Washington D.C. in the fall 2011.



Video: University of Colorado at Boulder: Entry in 2007, which won third place.

Over the course of the 10 year run of the competition many materials have been incorporated into the designs. Shipping containers have been a common structure incorporated into the designs, due to the ease on transportation, durability and strength.

Video: Team China's Tongi University's Solar Decatholon 2011 Computer-Animated Walkthrough.

http://www.solardecathlon.gov/

Enjoy,

 parProjects 

From Germany...

equals

Relevant link:
http://www.lotto-turm.com/

Thanks,
 parProjects 

Bunny Lane

Adam Kalkin is considered one of the most influential and innovative architects in the development of ISBU (Intermodel Steel Building Units) shipping container building. ISBU is the term architects use for the use of prefabricated container structures. Kalkin's use of these structures in his designs are as much sculpture as they are architecture.



"Bunny Lane" built in 2001 by Kalkin is located in Bernardsville, New Jersey. The piece of architecture features an existing two story 19th century clapboard house and stacked shipping containers all contained within a large open industrial shed.

http://www.architectureandhygiene.com/

Thank you,

 parProjects 

This is fascinating...

I wonder how much weight these expandable shipping containers can handle.



http://www.cargoshell.com/

Happy Grammy Sunday,
 parProjects 

ContainerSpace

George Mason's container space is the result of a Grant awarded in 2008 from the schools Office of Sustainability. The funding was used to purchase a 130 watt solar panel and it's varies components that are currently the main power supply for the container space.

Construction Photo's

Exhibition Opening, Kendall Nordin

"Future plans include a giant seesaw that invites visitors to ride & generate power that is stored in batteries. [Also being discussed is] a power generating stationary bicycle that allows visitors to participate electricity for the container space."

Thanks,
 parProjects 

A little inspiration from Joe...

We noticed that an artists who was selected for our kinetics show posted some links in the comment section of one of our posts ...so we decided to share them with you. Please enjoy Joe Hoffman's examples of moving sound.





Thanks again,
 parProjects 

Veneer anyone?

This cozy container home can be found down in Texas.
It made this blog because it uses veneer much as we would like to
...just in the opposite way.

In other words, we'd like to cover the man made portion of our structure with a veneer created out of damaged shipping containers. And while this idea is still in its infant stages, re-imagining the above image may help you to understand our thinking.

More images of this beauty can be found at http://gliving.com/the-cordell-shipping-container-house/.

 parProjects 

Well...

...we finally missed a day of blogging ...and are a bit excited about it.

It's a weekend evening and we got caught up in stimulating conversation about not only the importance of arts, but better yet, about the need of good marketing to inform the general population that the art is not only out there, but it indeed is worth seeing. There's (really) a tremendous amount of displays of creativity worth appreciating.

That's it for now though, a statement. The conversation must continue ....oh how the time flies. Please let creativity influence you as it hopes to.

Inspiration from Indonesia

Courtesy of the good folks over at inhabit.com, here's a public library and health clinic -- located in Batu, East Jawa, Indonseia -- utilizing five shipping containers...

We especially enjoy this facility as it's a fine example of a structure using both shipping containers along with traditional building materials.

More images and information can be found at: http://inhabitat.com/indonesian-health-clinic-library-constructed-from-traveling-containers/

See you soon,
 parProjects 

Need a data lab?

Find a container. They have a lot of great uses ....like this secret, mobile, data lab created by our friends over at Microsoft.

Oftentimes we find inspiration in the most unexpected places.

See you soon,
 parProjects 

Simple/Elegant

Here's a simple shipping container structure with a nice overhang ...similar to the one in our design.

Also, they seem to have a rooftop garden area.

 parProjects