Posts filed under 'Inventions'
Ross Lovegrove recently won The World Technology Prize for Design in San Francisco, and after considering ‘Swarovski Crystal Aerospace’ for Swarovski Crystal Palace, one can recognise why. Lovegrove’s focus for this design is transport and sustainability; he presents a solar powered hybrid concept car for our future. The synergies between the alternative energy source, the materials and design are immaculate, rendering the obvious style as effortless. Each of the 1,000 Sharp solar panels has a specially constructed Swarovski crystal embedded in it.
Lovegrove has worked with Sharp Solar Europe, Swarovski Optical laboratories, General Motors Europe Design Director – Anthony Lo and Coggiola, the automobile prototype specialist in Torino to bring this car for the future to life.
He started his career in the 1980’s at Frog Design in Germany on projects for Apple Computers and Sony. He gained further notoriety when invited to join the Atelier de Nimes in Paris along with Jean Nouvel and Phillipe Stark. His products range from the Walkman, watches and kitchenware, to outdoor lighting and airplane interiors for clients including British Airways, Kartell, Phillips and Mazda. He has won many awards and his work is held in permanent collections in design museums around the world including Museum of Modern Art and the Design Museum in London.
Lovegrove is one of the design world’s stars, famous for his rounded shapes that push technology and materials. He has won countless design awards and has been in shows at MoMA, London’s Design Museum, the Centre Pompidou, and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. At the Salone del Mobile in Milan this year, Thonet exhibited Lovegrove’s 8 chair, which riffs on the company’s bent-wood classic; and downstairs in his studio an assistant is working on another exhibit for the fair, bathroom designs for the Turkish company VitrA. With more than 100 pieces in it–everything from tiles to taps and bidets–it’s one of the biggest bathroom projects ever by a single designer. Then there’s the lighting for Yamagiwa to come out soon in Europe and the United States, a new TV for Sony, cell phones for an upstart Finnish company, and new wire-frame seating for Knoll, not to mention a car for Swarovski’s Crystal Palace series.
Usually designers make some sort of crystal chandelier for the Swarovski exhibit at the Milan furniture fair. But Lovegrove insists he’s not the chandelier sort despite his hugely inventive lighting for Yamagiwa that rethinks the shape and function of fluorescent tubes. Instead he’s making a solar-powered concept car, in keeping for a designer who made his own windmill when he was a teenager.
May 31st, 2006
SensiTile technology allows various materials to react to changes in light intensity and color. Using the same principle that makes fiber optics possible, the embedded light-conducting matrix in a SensiTile material either reconfigures the shadows that fall on it or redirects and scatters any oncoming light. In an environment with ambient light, any movement around the material that casts shadows will produce a set of “ripples” on the material’s surface; while in darker environments, any beam of light falling on a SensiTile is redirected to emerge from another part of its surface.
SensiTile can be combined with a range of materials, including concrete, polymer, and resin, to be incorporated into flooring, walls, facades, countertops, and partitions. Last year, in collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects, SensiTile won the “Boulevard der Stars” competition in Berlin to develop a series of plaques honoring German film stars.
Composed of a propriety micro-concrete mix within which a light-conducting fiber-optic like matrix is embedded; SensiTile Terrazzo blends the durability of concrete with the latest in optical technology. These amazing hand made tiles invite you to touch and interact with them as they infuse the organic stone-like feel of concrete with a marvelous technological surprise. Rediscover the playful tactility of a child by giving your surroundings a gentle touch of magic.
Terrazzo tiles are extremely versatile and can be used almost anywhere including floors, walls and countertops. SensiTile Terrazzo tiles are available in several different sizes and thicknesses to suit your application.
Terrazzo is available in ten standard colors and we also have the ability to custom pigment the tiles.
February 24th, 2006
In 1903, the Williamsburg Bridge opened as the largest suspension bridge spanning New York’s East River. Never considered aesthetically beautiful, the bridge falls short in comparison with the acclaimed Brooklyn Bridge.
This proposal for a new railing along the pedestrian and bicycle walkway of the Williamsburg Bridge employs illuminated poles as part of the supporting structure. The poles light up when a pedestrian passes by, providing an alternative lighting source for the walkway. A pole is illuminated to roughly one-third of its height. The lit segment, which starts out at the bottom of the pole, gradually travels upward until it vanishes above the structure. Visible from afar, the lighting system is a reassuring indication of activity on the walkway, encouraging more people to frequent the bridge at night. Furthermore, the new lighting system may reduce costs for the bridge maintenance.
“This is a clear, elegant proposal for dramatizing the passage of pedestrians across the Williamsburg Bridge. The idea is to provide animated light for the walker as well as signaling to the rest of the world the live activity of the bridge. This concept is at once poetic and crystal clear, unburdened with any didactic message. It is a simple celebration of pedestrian life and the urban scene.”
February 24th, 2006
Canon launched its CXDI series, the first X-ray digital radiography system incorporating the LANMIT, in 1998. Conventional X-ray photography systems produce images after X-rays passing through the patient’s body are absorbed by a scintillator, and the light emitted by this material is exposed on the film and then developed by the processor. Canon’s CXDI-series incorporates a system in which the LANMIT directly reads light emitted by the scintillator. The images can be displayed in a mere three seconds after the X-ray exposure. In other words, Canon’s technology dramatically increases the speed and efficiency of X-ray procedures. Our system provides better performance than conventional X-ray screen-film systems and digital systems in which the laser stimulates the image from the scintillator, and then reads the strength of the light to make the X-ray image. In addition to upright and bucky-type X-ray digital cameras, Canon released a portable model in 2001. In 2003, Canon introduced a lighter and smaller upright, horizontalbed- type model, which can reduce the X-ray dose, and a portable model that allows larger shots.
Canon’s digital radiography system not only shows the X-ray image on computer displays, but it can also be used to transmit images through networks to workstations, printers and databases, enhancing information sharing in hospitals and allowing off-site diagnoses. The CXDI series, a fullscale digital radiography system, meets almost every X-ray need by capturing images of most parts of the body. It makes significant contributions to the diversifying medical industry, including remote diagnosis and emergency care.
February 24th, 2006
Since beginning his architectural practice in 1977, Richard Gluckman’s work has been closely aligned with the art world. Based in New York, Gluckman has created distinctive spaces for numerous galleries and museums and developed installations with such notable contemporary artists as Dan Flavin, Richard Serra, Jenny Holzer, and Walter De Maria. Gluckman emphasizes basic architectural components of structure, scale, proportion, material, and light in his interior designs, resulting in a powerful simplicity of space.
Roppongi Hills’ nerve center is Mori Tower, a 54-story office building by Kohn Pedersen Fox that houses the Mori Arts Center, made up of the Mori Art Museum, a social club, a multi-purpose academic facility, and observation decks. Atypically large floor plates - approximately 120,000 s.f. each - enable the insertion of alternative uses beyond the typical office environments; the Center itself within the top four floors of the tower below the sky deck. To give the Center a presence it is divided into two components: the interior spaces within the tower and an entry structure at ground level that is the project’s sole exterior expression. The conical entry pavilion, designed by New York’s Gluckman Mayner Architects is a glass-clad, freestanding element with overlapping glass panes, much like the scales of a fish.
The visitor ascends the entry cone, then taking an elevator to the upper floors of the Center. Gluckman Mayner were responsible for the design of these public spaces the visitor traverses, as well as the Mori Art Museum, an observation deck, retail and cafes. The top two floors of the Center contains the museum, which contains naturally-lit galleries totaling 32,000 s.f. Focusing on contemporary art, both local and international, the museum is planned as a place to disseminate art between Japan and the rest of the world, and vice-versa. Its position atop the Mori Tower attempts to express this desire through its height and the developer’s prominence, instead of an eye-catching building a la Frank Gehry. If this goal comes true remains to be seen.
The inclusion of the Arts Center and Museum in the Roppongi Hills development testifies to art’s newfound viability as an economic amenity - albeit not as surefire as typical retail - and its increased popularity for tourists and residents alike. Also, with contemporary sculpture sited in the development the evident devotion to art is refreshing, regardless of any of the development’s shortcomings, including its overly capitalistic emphasis and “anywhere” design - traits that are the unfortunate norm around the world in developer-driven projects featuring international architects. Gluckman Mayner’s intervention provides a simple, yet elegant setting for the art, much like most of the firm’s body of work and its focus on spaces for art. In their entry pavilion, though, they created a unique structure that both signals the Art Center’s presence and its contrast to the rest of the Roppongi Hills development.
February 23rd, 2006
Since Richard M. Daley became mayor of Chicago in 1989, the city has planted 400,000 trees and begun an effort to attract renewable energy companies and create a sustainable landscaping industry. He built the first municipal rooftop garden on City Hall and one of only five U.S. buildings to receive the Platinum rating from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
Mayor Daley also commissioned the construction of Millennium Park, the acclaimed showplace of architecture and the arts which features monuments and public spaces designed by Frank Gehry, Anish Kapoor, Jaume Plensa, and Kathryn Gustafson. “Richard Daley embodies the type of design champion that all cities should be fortunate enough to have,” said Cooper-Hewitt director Paul Warwick Thompson. “His leadership addresses the present needs of Chicago without neglecting future environmental concerns.”
February 23rd, 2006
This project, located in the heart of Kansas City, represents one of the pioneer projects behind the revitalization of downtown.
Favorably promoting the Central Library and representing Kansas City were the main purposes in this project. The people of Kansas City were asked to help pick highly influential books that represent Kansas City. Those titles were included as “bookbindings” in the innovative design of the parking garage exterior, to inspire people to utilize the downtown Central Library.
February 23rd, 2006
This custom-designed self-service check-in kiosk for JetBlue’s passengers further sets this airline apart from competitors and the off-the-shelf kiosks they typically use. Both the look and feel of the kiosk communicate JetBlue’s brand values, which are not about superficial frills but about providing customers with excellent quality achieved through design. The friendly, somewhat anthropomorphic expression of the kiosk exudes a nonthreatening and welcoming appearance.
The clean layout and graphics, simple instructions and high contrast large-size type make it easy-to-use, increasing transaction speed and customer satisfaction. The design has helped the client increase customer throughput, crucial to the company’s traffic growth of more than 32 percent over the previous year.
February 22nd, 2006
The design for DaimlerChrysler’s exhibit at the Mondial de l’Automobile 2004 in Paris focused on demonstrating the company’s commitment to the development of emission-free mobility. Under the motto “Energy for the Future,“ visitors saw how biomass is converted into fuel in a stylized laboratory.
The hands-on demonstration took guests step-by-step through the process of converting raw materials into SunDiesel, a biofuel regarded as the cleanest diesel fuel. As a result, DaimlerChrysler hoped to build trust and confidence and to communicate its technological potential. 
The architecture and design of the booth took the main theme of “Energy for the Future” and reflected it in the materials and colors used. The minimal, streamlined aesthetics further emphasized the groundbreaking components of the message.
February 22nd, 2006
A distinctive musical sound found originally in hip-hop, “scratching” is now found in music as diverse as jazz and classical. To create it a DJ manipulates a vinyl LP playing on a turntable by placing the needle down in various grooves and rotating the record back and forth rapidly. The DJammer is a musical instrument that allows a similar manipulation of digital music files through hand movements. Previously stuck behind a console, the DJammer’s wireless technology allows DJs to perform without being tied to a set of turntables. Thus the DJ scratches and mixes MP3 files while in the audience or onstage. The HP DJammer concept demonstrations have resulted in broad positive press and increased customer interest in HP digital music.
February 21st, 2006
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