From Maruja Fuentes.

I don't know about the elbow rest portion, but the sitting spot has excellent potential for bus stops, DMV's and the like. That is to say, potential for very hip versions of those places.

They have a FLARE for kinetic movement...

Some of you might know my obsession for the pneumatically actuated installation known as Hyposurface. I can't figure out if it's the flow or limitless functional possibilities that intrigues me more, but I'm fascinated by every color, click and wave.



Recently, a robot junkie peep of mine in San Fransisco pointed me to the water sculptures of William Pye and, for whatever reason, I was reminded more so of the mechanical movement in Hyposurface than the organic, hypnotic movement of Pye's water sculptures.

Call it an obsession with simulated movement, but for whatever reason, I'm more impressed with technological mimicry than its natural brethren. So I decided to go back to the Hyposurface concept and see if there was anything new on the market.

Needless to say, I'm in love with a new piece of technology. Take one part wall curtain, two parts stealth bomber, multiply by peyote and you've got:

FLARE: Kinetic Ambiant Reflection Membrane

FLARE turns the building facade into a penetrable kinetic membrane, breaking with all conventions of the building surface as a static skin. The FLARE system consists of a number of tiltable metal flake bodies supplemented by individually controllable pneumatic cylinders.


Due to the developed pattern, an infinite array of flakes can be mounted on any building or wall surface in a modular system of multiplied FLARE units.

Each metal flake reflects the bright sky or sunlight when in vertical standby position. When the flake is tilted downwards by a computer controlled pneumatic piston, its face is shaded from the sky light and this way appears as a dark pixel.

By reflecting ambient or direct sunlight, the individual flakes of the FLARE system act like pixels formed by natural light. The system is controlled by a computer to form any kind of surface animation. Sensor systems inside and outside the building communicate the buildings activity directly to the FLARE system which acts as the buildings lateral line.

Read more about FLARE Facade HERE.

Bringing the Green Indoors: Beyond Humbolt County

For centuries, naturalists have want to live, work and play among the flowers.

Why?

Well, the answer is simple.

The mere presence of nature in an indoor setting acts as a powerful agent of calm, emboldening the porliferation of atmospheres contradictory to that of a-typical office/home/leisure habitats. Add a few plants and a water feature, and what was once a "daily grind" is now a workplace oasis. Spruce up a wall treatment with live foliage and open some windows for natural ventilation, and what was once flourecent and cold is now lush and tropical. Sick buildings are getting better, and good buildings are getting great.

With the growing resurgence in the popularity of greenspace --in addition to the numerous quests for modernity and LEED points-- I was interested in seeing how much decoration and design was now being centered on the interior, rather than the landscaped, space.

Not surprisingly, there are literally thousands of new products catering to the urban gardener/ horticulturalist/resident/emplyee/designer. Some are unique, some enhance user experience, and some even heal.

Others are, well, just a little loopy.

This post samples 10 concepts or products that bring the green behind your front door (and I need to say that I've had so much fun visiting and revisiting some of these concepts, that I might just do this again).

Eco Ball Garden Chair by Krejci

The Dutch designer's dual-purpose Eco Ball will be offered in eco-friendly materials: recycled plastic, biodegradeable plastic and shredded wood, binded together with biodegradable adhesive.

Green Fortune Plantwall at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress

This vertical application of greenery provides a powerful impact on the envirnonment where it is built. It is almost like being outside inside. Plantwall can be varied both in size and shape. Depending on the size of the wall and the impact you want to create the choice of plants can be adjusted. It is possible to create a sophisticated wall that keeps its look over time, as well as a wild, heavily growing wall.

The Fung + Blatt Lawnchair

...fabricated from renewable materials of steel, rubber and felt, and then finished with a layer of sod or ground cover. It is contoured for comfort and fully functional. Before sod, the chaise body weighs 25 lbs. and can be shipped dissembled from its base. When “upholstered” with sod, the lawnchair is easily movable by two people. The lawnchair is equipped with a built-in “moisturizing” system that promotes even distribution of moisture under the sod, thereby minimizing evaporation and run-off.

Living Wall Planters

This innovative growing system graces penthouse apartments in Paris and chic restaurants in Italy. It's easy to see why; no other plant display creates such drama while being so easy to maintain. These wall-mounted and freestanding models are an easy way to add a breathtaking plant display to your home. Each kit includes the planting grid, top and bottom trays, a cedar frame, mounting hardware and complete instructions.

Interior Weeds by Arwin Caljouw

Interior Weeds is a project about nature. The way that weeds emerge and grow in the streets, are for designer Arwin Caljouw a beautiful thing. It shows the power of plants in the human environment. With the center piece you can create an interior plantation from street weeds or other personal selection of plants. The graphic tiles are an addition to a plain tile collection, which you might apply in a random and unique way. Being aware of our environment is the starting point for this project.

Indoor Grass Planters by Metaphys

The Metaphys products are designed with the common idea and they are consistent with the idea even though different companies produce the products: the idea is that all the creative process should start from "observation." By observing things, you have the perspectives of the second and the third persons, and thereby you can avoid being subjective. [Here]

Wallplant Presentations by Christopher Steele

Metal objects used around plants must be selected very carefully and prepared for planting. Many metals form toxic salts on their surface when exposed to air and water. These salts may build up and kill any plant life that comes in contact.

So why plant on metal anyway? For me it represents the wabi-sabi nature of existence. Changing and decaying. The persistence of life transcending technology.

The Outdoor Room - Steven Harris Architects

The building's interior organization is driven by its unique south facing rear yard which is enclosed by blind 35 foot high walls, creating a condition of total privacy. This allows the rear façade to be completely transparent. It also makes a private outdoor room that serves as an extension of the living and dining spaces; entry to it is across a marble slab that bridges a reflecting pond. [$16.5 million]

Folding Greenhouse by Daniel Schipper

A light-weight, flexible, modular greenhouse especially suitable for small spaces like cityhouses, balconies, roof terraces or town gardens. My folding greenhouse is a frameless folding construction made of different components of recyclable plastic which can be folded flat or expand when required.

Schiavello Vertical Garden by Joost Baker

The ethereal beauty of the found product... metals and petals. Joost Bakker, a sculptor who uses leaf and flower, raw steel and discarded objects among his construction materials. "I'm not really into luxurious finishes, I like using things that people perceive as ugly", says Joost. Vertical Garden is a sculptural, almost architectural form, allowing leaf and flower to inhabit spaces, to create spaces, with a natural raw beauty.

Warmer than a family picture...

Looking to jazz up your drafty old flat? I know, I know...just in time for spring.

Anywhoo, I was pretty impressed with the design of theses contemporary wall radiators from ProjectClima.

Why?

Because you can design it yourself!

Just visit their website and click on the Your Radiator icon.

ADACTO software has been designed to enable everyone, from the designer to the final consumer, to create their own radiator, giving the option to learn about its technical details as well as its prices.

With just a few easy and spontaneous steps, a very neat graphic display and a defined sequence, ADACTO design programme gives infinitives choices and possibilities of realization. Forms, colours and sizes, can be simulated in just a few seconds.

My only problem, however, is with the North/South designs such as the one below...

The vertically mounted radiator is entirely unnecessary. The circulated air --especially pre-shower in a bathroom-- will be cooler near the ceiling, where heat is not required. Similarly, in the first picture with the maroon radiator in the living room, the radiator is mounted far too high. The radiant heat will barely reach the space below it, thus wasting even more energy.

You always want it to be warmer near the floor for maximum comfort, yes? So why not spec them out to be horizontally mounted chest/waist-high or lower? Otherwise you're just making it cozy for the light fixtures.

You could even mount it as a raised baseboard along the length of a wall. The radiator would extend slightly off of the surface and add depth, while breaking the monochrome paint/tile.

Just some thoughts.

The coolest product in the universe.

Hyperinterior Design? Articulating Media? Fluid Decoration? Visceral Communication Device? Kinetic Advertising Facade?

What in the hell do you call this stuff?

Hold on to your black framed glasses because I'm about to blow your mind. No, seriously.


Hyposurface.

[mind blown]

1000 pneumatic actuators at frequencies of up to 3Hz being fed information at 0.01sec, punching and relaxing sophisticated 3D patterning in real-time (running text/graphics/video images, anything that can be done in relief) using generative algorithmic programs. If you thought your walls were melting in high school when your parents left you home alone, you're really in for a treat.

"Whoa," says Keanu.

The surface (i.e. rows of expensive nacho chips) has the same effect as concert lighting, allowing you to interact with dancers’ or with musicians’ (movement and sound interactivity), with video/sound-recognition systems offering a programmed response to your beats. It also allows direct DJ/VJ operation, a form of visual musical instrument that fulfills the dream of Archimboldo who developed a "colour piano" back in the Renaissance or Brewster’s delirious prophesy of the effect of the kaleidoscope on the kinetic arts. (Yes, the red text was a blatant cut and paste...I wasn't even going to try to pass it off as my own)



The screen surface itself physically bounces and waves, producing precise and high-speed hills and valleys across the surface, thus producing fluid motion - all of which is enabled by high-speed information buses. They're programmable, movable wall pixels!



You can transform Hyposurface as you need, adjusting reflective or LED materials on to the panels, sending your flamboyant curse words (a boy can dream) across the screen surface at up to 60 mph. The images can even peak outward up to 2 feet in length, adding to the ambiance of interaction with the consumer/stoner.

As the technology advances, expect higher resolution (i.e. smaller nacho chips) and quicker response time. Coming to a Super Bowl Half Time Show near you...or the Fiesta Bowl?



But don't expect the designer's embrace. There will no doubt be an upheaval about the immorality of "replacing architecture with virtual installations" and "disrupting natural spaces with immaterial building."

While I understand where they're coming from, I don't agree.

Pishposh.

Two words: Las Vegas.

-or-

My Basement.

Naturaire System's Green Wall

These literal "green walls" act as both filters and central aesthetic features of buildings. They're centrally controlled via the building's HVAC system, pulling air through the walls regardless of whether or not the system is in operation.


The natural air filter removes VOCs and CO2 from the air as it passes through the wall into the building's office spaces.

For an amazing 3D graphic of the system in operation, check out this link.

I was slightly sceptical about the necessary size application needed for industrial structures, but it looks as if Naturaire has every base covered:

Given most residential and office conditions, a ratio of at least 1 to 100 for the area of the biofilter to floor area to be treated will give desired affect. Given typical operating conditions, this will mean that one square metre of biofilter will treat 100 square metres of floor space (or 1 square foot of biofilter will treat 100 square feet of floor space). This will give the desired improvement to the indoor environment.

The majority of this post comes via the Queens University Live Building virtual lab. There is a TON of information available at their website and I encourage you to take a gander for yourself.