Teaching The Architects of Tomorrow: Studio Mode

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Utilizing the latest in CNC technology, Studio Mode examines the materials, tools and procedures of craft with the goal of shedding new light into the field of architecture. Instructors Ronnie Parsons and Gil Akos teach future architects and engineers at the Pratt School of Undergraduate Architecture in Brooklyn, NY.

They recently exhibited several projects using Precision Board Plus HDU at the Intersections Exhibition held at the New York City College of Technology. The exhibition was a symposium on the topic of leading edge technology and design.

Studio Mode projects are very research oriented, and often require lots of material in order for students to experiment and test design ideas in the digital crafting field. Because of this, Coastal Enterprises donated pallets of Precision Board Plus and students have used it for several projects. Using , students create their own tool paths instead of using generic models. Precision Board Plus is then machined to create digitally-fabricated prototypes for display at the Intersections Exhibition.

Studio Mode is a design studio and research collective committed to design as a form of applied research. Case studies and examinations of different materials and processes by which they are formed are a large part of the research performed by Studio Mode. The evolution and contextualization of these procedures in a broader social and cultural domain is the primary objective and means for bringing interest and significance to design. Students who graduate from Studio Mode typically move into architecture and industrial design careers. More info can be seen on Studio Mode’s website at studiomode.nu.

2D fun

Now that we use EnRoute and our MultiCam router I couldn’t imagine building a house like ours without these marvelous tools. We’ve designed and cut hundreds of pieces already for the project and will be adding a while bunch more before we are done.

The files we created and cut today were simple 2D shapes that will be combined to form something far more complex.

Today’s task was to design and cut the arched ceiling supports of the long hallway through the center of the house. The arch supports had to accommodate the wiring (we weren’t allowed to drill into the trusses) and the vacuum pipes.

I measured things up and then sat down at my desk to do some designing. I first designed the arched section and then added on all the bits and pieces.

I combined the two outside and center tabs with the arch. These would be used to screw into the ceiling joists.

Then I used he jigsaw tool to remove the cutouts that would hold the vacuum tubes and the wiring.

The resulting pieces were copied and stacked in readiness for cutting. I used a 3/8″ cutter to do the cuts in the 3/4″ plywood.

It took me a lot longer to screw the many pieces into position than it did to design and cut them.

Next up is the more complex entry way. Stay tuned…
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

WORKSHOP dates set

We’ve set the dates for the next Sign MAGIC Workshop in spring. I’ve been getting lots of enquiries and with so many folks interested in booking already we decided to firm things up well in advance.

The Sign Magic Workshop will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday April 19, 20, 21, 2013. As always things will get rolling late afternoon Thursday for those already here.

This workshop deals with all aspects of dimensional sign making, including design, fabrication, finishing, marketing and a whole lot more.  Our guest teacher will be Jeff Hartman, one of the creators of EnRoute Software.

More information is available at Sign MAGIC Workshop

The Sculpture MAGIC Workshop will be held a week later  April 26, 27, 28, 2013

This workshop is all about sculpture. It is a hands-on deal with the students welding, creating armatures, and sculpting using fiberglass reinforced concrete and sculpting epoxy.

More information about this workshop is available at Sculpture MAGIC Workshop

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

Vertical trim pieces

The carpenters are now finished the soffits of the new house, meaning we can start in on our work in a big way. The backing for the trim pieces was first put in place and then the fiberglass reinforced concrete was troweled on. Rock work was sculpted into the bottom. Vertical and horizontal trim will now be installed over that. These pieces will all be routed from 30 lb Precision Board.
The trim will be woodgrain and will also feature an inner panel of layered hearts. The first step was to draw out the panel at the correct size. The insert panels were created separately, first as flat reliefs. I had created the layered heart panels separately as oversized pieces. These were duplicated and then placed over the flat panel inserts and merged highest with them.
 The trim piece was made into a flat relief at 0.7″ thick for a start.
I stretched out the sandblasted woodgrain bitmap from the TEXTURE MAGIC collection and then applied it with a value of 0.2″. This brought the total thickness of the relief to 0.9″ making it easily fit inside the 1″ thick Precision Board.
I then rendered it to check it out.
The heart panels were then merged to the base relief using the REPLACE command. I also created a 1″ tall square relief in the middle that was also merged to the base relief. We will glue a decorative block in this spot.
I needed three of these pieces so I duplicated the original piece and set them up for routing.  I used a 3/8″ ball nose bit to rough them out followed by a pass with a 1/8″ ball nose bit and an 80% overlap. Finally, I used a 3/8″ cutter to do an offset cut around the piece.
And here’s one of the pieces installed on the house.
Now that the test pieces passed muster it is time to put them into full production for all around the house. Stay tuned for more…
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

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