SUNDAY FEBRUARY 07 2010
The mission Dutch prison architect Willem Van der Sluis was tasked with was to create an outdoor excerise/sport space for the prisoners at the prison boats in Zaandam.
The decision to use geodesic domes was a solution to the balance between the demands of justice, i.e. not allowing anybody to escape, and delivering the maximum regarding the needs of the prisoners.
The space had to be easily built and easily dismantle; prisoners had to be able to see the outside world, but outsiders should not immediately recognize the structure as a prison.
The conjoined geodesic domes do not look like cages at all. But, these spaces, designed for playing sports, prevent inmate soccer or basketball players from escaping.
Van der Sluis' major contribution is the view afforded to teh inmates. Instead of regular prison yards with walls that only afford a view upwards, the domes allow prisoners to see and experience much more of the outside world.
Pierced with smaller holes at the base creating a contrast not unlike Venetian blinds, the advantage is that from within the prisoners can look outside, but do not have to worry about being viewed by passersby.
Higher up the holes get bigger, allowing more daylight in. "I tried to give it the feel of light falling through trees in a forest," Van der Sluis explains.
The structure consists of just 15 triangles that are replicated form the whole dome. It is a design that can as easily be constructed as dismantled. If the boats the structures are on are relocated, the domes will move with them.
The domes are an innovate solution to a potentially difficult problem.
SUNDAY JANUARY 31 2010
They have developed a new concrete slab to be placed in areas that see heavy foot traffic and every time someone steps on the slab it generates a small amount of kinetic energy that is captured and stored. In a busy area that means regular energy generation every few minutes or seconds. Many slabs in busy locations could generate a significant amount of energy.
The high traffic areas in subway systems are an idea location for the slabs
The pavegen slab moves about 5mm (1/4") from each footstep. The kinetic energy of that movement is converted into electricity via a patented Piezo electronic systems, and that electricity is stored in the slab to power a variety of applications.
The design of the slab makes it quite versatile and pleasant to step on. The upper layer is a 5mm soft, flexible material, and inside the slab a battery can be used to store the energy. Alternatively they can be connected to devices to directly use the energy, for example, street lights.
The slabs can be located anywhere there is space to lay one; so locations where you can guarantee regular foot falls, such as entrance stalls at a subway station or the entrance of a shopping mall, could guarantee a reliable source of power. In terms of how much energy is generated Pavegen rate a single slab at 2.1 watts per hour in a busy area.
For more information, please visit www.pavegen.com
SUNDAY JANUARY 24 2010
Rabtilla Residence by Michael Rantilla
As is often the case, difficult terrain and space restrictions can be a powerful catalyst for innovative design and that's certainly true here with the building lifted out over the ground around it. As this was the architech's own home, creativity was at the fore.
A vertical concrete mass in the center allows for the three flooors to be cantilevered over space, which creates sheltered open spaces below. On the inside, it appears that the rooms grow out into the forest, creating a connection with nature. The central core allows easy circulation and access.
Shell Villa by ARTechnic
Lying stark white amoung the surrounding vegitation, this curvy tubular villa looks to have been dropped from space. But while it contrasts sharply with its surroundings, the stunning structure sensually weaves itself into its environment in an elegent way.
Each room and space flows into the next. The two predominant colours are white (for the exterior and some furniture) and wood for virtually everything else and these ensure that the design works as a whole.
http://dornob.com/shell-house-design-spectacularly-curved-architecture/
Hilltop home in Malaysia by the TYL Design Group
This massive home in Malaysia took five long years to design and build and drawfs the more modest scale of the surrounding residential neighborhood. Not surprisingly, the owners are real estate professional who have shaped city skylines, and it appears they have taken the same approach to shaping their neighbourhood.
The impressive architectural curves and generous size are fully translated from the exterior to the interior design, as do the curvilinear forms and other distinctive features of the outer facade. High ceilings, large windows and a mixture of warm and cool tones are seen throughout.
http://dornob.com/huge-private-home-dominates-small-residential-landscape/
For the latest and most interesting trends in design, please visit dornob.com
MONDAY JANUARY 18 2010
Sapphire's hardness is second only to diamond, which makes the whole top half of the case (the most exposed half) extremely scratch-resistant. This is a timepiece that will keep its good looks for a very, very long time.
While wristwatches have long featured synthetic sapphire crystals, its use in watchcases has been much more limited, and with good reason. Sapphire retains its strength at high temperatures, has zero porosity and only reacts with acids above 300°C. However, the very properties that make it so attractive as a potential case material also make it immensely difficult to work, requiring sophisticated diamond tools to machine, and then it needs to be very carefully polished to turn the naturally opaque surface transparent.
The process would have been very difficult for even a plain plate of this size, but the complex, three-dimensional form required for HM2-SV, with its bevels, mounting holes, crystal cut-outs and gasket track, pushed the extreme limits of sapphire crystal technology way beyond what was thought possible.
Surprisingly, because it is largely unseen, the sapphire is a substantial 3.6mm thick. Thanks to anti-reflective treatment on both sides - in itself no small technological feat to uniformly apply - the case becomes virtually invisible and allows for full appreciation as the eye is drawn into appreciating a myriad of sublime nuances that are revealed in the intricate movement. Eight mounting bolts, traversing the sapphire plate like pillars and passing through the bright blue gasket sealing the two case halves adds to the architectural nature of the three-dimensional case. The eye-catching blue of the gasket is echoed in the hour disk and moon phase, and also the blued 22k gold Battle-axe automatic winding rotor is arrestingly visible through the display back.
To ensure maximum light and visibility through to the movement, the two dials - minutes and date - are also in sapphire, sapphire disks lightly brushed to a perfect translucency ensuring full legibility of the polished silvered numbers while allowing maximum light through to the engine beneath.
The engine, developed by award-winning master watchmaker Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, features the world's first mechanical movement offering: Instantaneous Jump Hour, Concentric Retrograde Minutes, Retrograde Date, Bi-Hemisphere Moon Phase and Automatic Winding. One highlight (of many) of the HM2 complication is the highly energy-efficient Jump Hour/Retrograde mechanism developed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, which uses his exclusive (and patented) asymmetrical-tooth gear wheels to ensure high precision and play-free functionality.
While Horological Machine No2-SV is a highly engineered 21st century timepiece in every sense, the quality and execution of the hand finishing showcases the very best in traditional craftsmanship. It is craftsmanship that is brought to the fore as the sapphire case allows uninterrupted light to enter, bounce and scintillate off the highly polished surfaces and perfectly hand-bevelled edges, bringing vivacity to the rich combination of colours, materials, shapes and textures.
Horological Machine No.2-SV is a limited edition of 25 pieces only
SUNDAY JANUARY 10 2010
The three founders set up offices in Mason's garage, blocks from the historic Mission Street in San Francisco. In July 2007, they bought the company’s first motorcycle, a 1994 Ducati 900 and began stripping out the engine and converting it to electric drive.
Two months later, the three founders had turned that classic Ducati into one of the highest performing street legal electric motorcycles in the world.
World renown Swiss designer Yves Behar and his team were responsible for the iconic design in which they tried to convey in esthetics the feeling of 'riding the wind'. Designed to express speed and efficiency in its overall sharp lines, the Mission One also is highly detailed with special attention to a rider's needs, bringing a high level of product design and ergonomics to a new generation of performance transportation.
The Mission One represents a revolution in motorcycle and electric vehicle performance. Mission Motors’ advanced electric powertrain makes the Mission One the first electric sportbike to power wheelie at 110 km/hr and powers the Mission One to a top speed of 240 kms/hr.
The Mission One integrates a custom-built chassis with suspension elements selected for race level handling and performance. The 2010 model Mission One comes equipped with: Ohlins inverted front forks, Ohlins fully adjustable shock, Brembo 4 piston monobloc calipers, Marchesini wheels, and race compound tires.
On September 1, 2009, the Mission One claimed the national AMA top speed record for an electric motorcycle, with an unprecedented 240 km/hr (150.059 mph) two-pass average run sustained for one mile at the Bonneville Speedway. Lead up runs saw one-way speeds across the mile stretch at 260 kms/hr (161mph).
For more information, please visit www.ridemission.com
Sportdome architecture by Willem Van der Sluis
How does one design a space for a user who does not really want to be there?The mission Dutch prison architect Willem Van der Sluis was tasked with was to create an outdoor excerise/sport space for the prisoners at the prison boats in Zaandam.
The decision to use geodesic domes was a solution to the balance between the demands of justice, i.e. not allowing anybody to escape, and delivering the maximum regarding the needs of the prisoners.
The space had to be easily built and easily dismantle; prisoners had to be able to see the outside world, but outsiders should not immediately recognize the structure as a prison.
The conjoined geodesic domes do not look like cages at all. But, these spaces, designed for playing sports, prevent inmate soccer or basketball players from escaping.
Van der Sluis' major contribution is the view afforded to teh inmates. Instead of regular prison yards with walls that only afford a view upwards, the domes allow prisoners to see and experience much more of the outside world.
Pierced with smaller holes at the base creating a contrast not unlike Venetian blinds, the advantage is that from within the prisoners can look outside, but do not have to worry about being viewed by passersby.
Higher up the holes get bigger, allowing more daylight in. "I tried to give it the feel of light falling through trees in a forest," Van der Sluis explains.
The structure consists of just 15 triangles that are replicated form the whole dome. It is a design that can as easily be constructed as dismantled. If the boats the structures are on are relocated, the domes will move with them.
The domes are an innovate solution to a potentially difficult problem.
SUNDAY JANUARY 31 2010
Pavegen: Energy Generating Pavement
A UK company called Pavegen has developed a system to generate renewable energy by harnessing the footsteps of people in busy pedestrian areas.They have developed a new concrete slab to be placed in areas that see heavy foot traffic and every time someone steps on the slab it generates a small amount of kinetic energy that is captured and stored. In a busy area that means regular energy generation every few minutes or seconds. Many slabs in busy locations could generate a significant amount of energy.
The high traffic areas in subway systems are an idea location for the slabs
The pavegen slab moves about 5mm (1/4") from each footstep. The kinetic energy of that movement is converted into electricity via a patented Piezo electronic systems, and that electricity is stored in the slab to power a variety of applications.
The design of the slab makes it quite versatile and pleasant to step on. The upper layer is a 5mm soft, flexible material, and inside the slab a battery can be used to store the energy. Alternatively they can be connected to devices to directly use the energy, for example, street lights.
The slabs can be located anywhere there is space to lay one; so locations where you can guarantee regular foot falls, such as entrance stalls at a subway station or the entrance of a shopping mall, could guarantee a reliable source of power. In terms of how much energy is generated Pavegen rate a single slab at 2.1 watts per hour in a busy area.
For more information, please visit www.pavegen.com
SUNDAY JANUARY 24 2010
Ultra Modern Homes
dornob.com is an excellent Blog featuring art, design, architecture and more. Here are a few ultra modern houses that they recently posted which which caught our eye.Rabtilla Residence by Michael Rantilla
As is often the case, difficult terrain and space restrictions can be a powerful catalyst for innovative design and that's certainly true here with the building lifted out over the ground around it. As this was the architech's own home, creativity was at the fore.
A vertical concrete mass in the center allows for the three flooors to be cantilevered over space, which creates sheltered open spaces below. On the inside, it appears that the rooms grow out into the forest, creating a connection with nature. The central core allows easy circulation and access.
Shell Villa by ARTechnic
Lying stark white amoung the surrounding vegitation, this curvy tubular villa looks to have been dropped from space. But while it contrasts sharply with its surroundings, the stunning structure sensually weaves itself into its environment in an elegent way.
Each room and space flows into the next. The two predominant colours are white (for the exterior and some furniture) and wood for virtually everything else and these ensure that the design works as a whole.
http://dornob.com/shell-house-design-spectacularly-curved-architecture/
Hilltop home in Malaysia by the TYL Design Group
This massive home in Malaysia took five long years to design and build and drawfs the more modest scale of the surrounding residential neighborhood. Not surprisingly, the owners are real estate professional who have shaped city skylines, and it appears they have taken the same approach to shaping their neighbourhood.
The impressive architectural curves and generous size are fully translated from the exterior to the interior design, as do the curvilinear forms and other distinctive features of the outer facade. High ceilings, large windows and a mixture of warm and cool tones are seen throughout.
http://dornob.com/huge-private-home-dominates-small-residential-landscape/
For the latest and most interesting trends in design, please visit dornob.com
MONDAY JANUARY 18 2010
MB&F presents HM2-SV (Sapphire Vision)
Horological Machine No.2-SV features a room-with-a-view crystal-clear sapphire case with titanium back. With its totally transparent case, HM2-SV offers unprecedented visual access to the painstakingly hand-finished, 349-component engine powering the indications on its iconic twin dials.Sapphire's hardness is second only to diamond, which makes the whole top half of the case (the most exposed half) extremely scratch-resistant. This is a timepiece that will keep its good looks for a very, very long time.
While wristwatches have long featured synthetic sapphire crystals, its use in watchcases has been much more limited, and with good reason. Sapphire retains its strength at high temperatures, has zero porosity and only reacts with acids above 300°C. However, the very properties that make it so attractive as a potential case material also make it immensely difficult to work, requiring sophisticated diamond tools to machine, and then it needs to be very carefully polished to turn the naturally opaque surface transparent.
The process would have been very difficult for even a plain plate of this size, but the complex, three-dimensional form required for HM2-SV, with its bevels, mounting holes, crystal cut-outs and gasket track, pushed the extreme limits of sapphire crystal technology way beyond what was thought possible.
Surprisingly, because it is largely unseen, the sapphire is a substantial 3.6mm thick. Thanks to anti-reflective treatment on both sides - in itself no small technological feat to uniformly apply - the case becomes virtually invisible and allows for full appreciation as the eye is drawn into appreciating a myriad of sublime nuances that are revealed in the intricate movement. Eight mounting bolts, traversing the sapphire plate like pillars and passing through the bright blue gasket sealing the two case halves adds to the architectural nature of the three-dimensional case. The eye-catching blue of the gasket is echoed in the hour disk and moon phase, and also the blued 22k gold Battle-axe automatic winding rotor is arrestingly visible through the display back.
To ensure maximum light and visibility through to the movement, the two dials - minutes and date - are also in sapphire, sapphire disks lightly brushed to a perfect translucency ensuring full legibility of the polished silvered numbers while allowing maximum light through to the engine beneath.
The engine, developed by award-winning master watchmaker Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, features the world's first mechanical movement offering: Instantaneous Jump Hour, Concentric Retrograde Minutes, Retrograde Date, Bi-Hemisphere Moon Phase and Automatic Winding. One highlight (of many) of the HM2 complication is the highly energy-efficient Jump Hour/Retrograde mechanism developed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, which uses his exclusive (and patented) asymmetrical-tooth gear wheels to ensure high precision and play-free functionality.
While Horological Machine No2-SV is a highly engineered 21st century timepiece in every sense, the quality and execution of the hand finishing showcases the very best in traditional craftsmanship. It is craftsmanship that is brought to the fore as the sapphire case allows uninterrupted light to enter, bounce and scintillate off the highly polished surfaces and perfectly hand-bevelled edges, bringing vivacity to the rich combination of colours, materials, shapes and textures.
Horological Machine No.2-SV is a limited edition of 25 pieces only
SUNDAY JANUARY 10 2010
The Mission One 240 km/hr Superbike
The three men behind the Mission One superbike are Forrest North, Edward West and Mason Cabot
Forrest North first dreamed of building an electric motorcycle when leading the Stanford University Solar Car Team in 1998. Seven years later, he joined Tesla Motors working with many of his old Solar Car teammates to build the world's first performance electric sports car.
Edward West first met Forrest while working on the Yale University Solar Car. Later, the pair worked together building laboratory robotics for a small bay area startup, before Edward left to earn his MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco.
Mason Cabot was an electronics guru with 10 years of experience at Intel. Forrest introduced Mason to motorcycling, and within a few months, Mason was hooked. It wasn’t long before he gave up owning a car completely.
The three founders set up offices in Mason's garage, blocks from the historic Mission Street in San Francisco. In July 2007, they bought the company’s first motorcycle, a 1994 Ducati 900 and began stripping out the engine and converting it to electric drive.
Two months later, the three founders had turned that classic Ducati into one of the highest performing street legal electric motorcycles in the world.
The prototype proved the team's claims. Every rider who got on the bike was enthusiastic, saying it was unlike anything they had ever ridden before. Armed with their first business plan and the prototype, the team placed 2nd in the Cleantech Open.
The Mission One creates a whole new level of rider control. With a fully equipped data acquisition system and wireless communication capability, riders can capture and analyze real time ride data. Riders have the power to adjust throttle maps, tune regenerative braking, and create multiple ride settings, all from their laptop computer.World renown Swiss designer Yves Behar and his team were responsible for the iconic design in which they tried to convey in esthetics the feeling of 'riding the wind'. Designed to express speed and efficiency in its overall sharp lines, the Mission One also is highly detailed with special attention to a rider's needs, bringing a high level of product design and ergonomics to a new generation of performance transportation.
The Mission One represents a revolution in motorcycle and electric vehicle performance. Mission Motors’ advanced electric powertrain makes the Mission One the first electric sportbike to power wheelie at 110 km/hr and powers the Mission One to a top speed of 240 kms/hr.
The Mission One integrates a custom-built chassis with suspension elements selected for race level handling and performance. The 2010 model Mission One comes equipped with: Ohlins inverted front forks, Ohlins fully adjustable shock, Brembo 4 piston monobloc calipers, Marchesini wheels, and race compound tires.
On September 1, 2009, the Mission One claimed the national AMA top speed record for an electric motorcycle, with an unprecedented 240 km/hr (150.059 mph) two-pass average run sustained for one mile at the Bonneville Speedway. Lead up runs saw one-way speeds across the mile stretch at 260 kms/hr (161mph).
For more information, please visit www.ridemission.com
