Architectural Design through Digital Media

‘lohas’ ‘Lohas is an acronym for ‘Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability’. It stands for a life style or consumer type that wants to foster health and sustainabilty by consciously buying specific products.’ ‘Sociologist Paul Ray first treated the phenomenon in his book „The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million Are Changing The World“. Yet the term [...]

human computer virus

A British scientist says he is the first man in the world to become infected with a computer virus. Dr Mark Gasson from the University of Reading had a chip inserted in his hand which was then infected with a virus. The device, which enables him to pass through security doors and activate his mobile [...]

mutation v. individuation

‘Mutation, at its base level, is an evolution technique for the production of potentially useful anomalies. It exists when an offspring has a genetic trait produced by a new DNA sequencing that does not exist in the parent. Unfortunately, ‘mutation’ is also one of the most debased terms within the glossary of contemporary architecture, being [...]

speciation

‘Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. Term used to descibe the splitting of lineages or ‘cladogensis’ as opposed to ‘anagesnsis’ or ‘phyletic evolution’ occuring within lineages. Whether genetic drift is a minor or major contributor to speciation is the subject of much ongoing discussion. There are four geographic modes of [...]

archimorph + hangar 9

This week Archimorph will begin work as consultant among other designers [Sbanter, VerS, and morphism design] developing interior design for Hangar 9 bar. Parametric and building performance software will be employed to install and fabricate multiple spatial enhancing pieces to the interior, including lighting and acoustical enhancements. The project will be well documented to show [...]

tcaup publication: robotic research

Within the coming months the University of Michigan Tuabman College (School of Art + Design) along with Supermanouvre(David Pigram) and Matter Design(Wes Mcgee) are setting forth a publication documenting the previous three years (2008, 2009, 2010) of robotic research conducted by studios at the graduate level. Archimorph acted as consultant and lead design in the [...]

branching morphogenesis

Branching morphogenesis – Dr Marcus Fruttiger’s lecture Branching morphogenesis – (bottom) Jenny E. Sabin General points Even though all organisms are 3 dimensional “objects” metabolic exchange processes occur over 2 dimensional surfaces. In single cell organisms the surface of the organism is sufficient for metabolic exchange with the environment. However, in bigger organisms metabolic exchange [...]

UHMWPE: gel spinning

Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fabricated as tethers using a technique known as gel spinning creates a material which is 40 times stronger than kevlar and 100 times greater strength-to-weight ratio than steel cables. By weaving together multiple layers fibrous layers of high strength polyethylene tensile strengths greater than steel are able to be [...]

synthetic life

First fully functional synthetic self-reproducing cell announced from Craig Venter (J. Craig Venter Institute). Initial endeavors by archimorph into bottom-up self-replicating systems were pursued through a purely technological trajectory of nanoscale robotics. However, it was noted shortly after this project (the self-fab house: cultivating spaces) that the current breakthroughs and research into the biological sciences [...]

Barnacles

A barnacle is a type of arthropod belonging to infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. They are sessile suspension feeders, and have two nektonic larval stages. Around 1,220 barnacle species [...]