Through its growing social network of craftspeople, Etsy has supported the continued development and exchange of traditional crafts by finding new uses and audiences for a range of work.

Similarly, Feathered Loom leverages the precision afforded by advanced lasercutting technology to expand the role and understanding of the traditional loom. A series of precision crafted lasercut objects, or shuttles, guide the weaving of over 800 hand dyed threads, ultimately becoming mysteriously suspended within the field of threads. In doing so the piece reveals its process of making, while drawing the passerby into dialogue with more traditional textile crafts.

Drawing from traditional textile art, color becomes a critical component of the installation. Moving away from symbolic graphics, the spatial installation instead blends warm and cool colors responding to and addressing the active and passive zones of the informal meeting and circulation space.

By working directly with an Etsy seller to create a series of customized hand dyed threads, the range of colors will be able to be carefully controlled to respond to the varied conditions of the space.

For: Etsy INC
Date: May 2016

For: Singapore Design Week 2015, Singaplural 2015, Singapore Furniture Industry Council
Date: 10-15 March 2015

The rigidity of the grid, the openness of towers in the park, and the subtle changes in the repetition of row of shop houses can be simplified into geometric principles. The are then digitally transformed, compositing depth into the reading of the original view. 

As one walks towards the artwork, a change in multiple colors begin to take place, forming a dynamic relationship between the viewer and the artwork.

Composition becomes the by-product of the effect and each visual reading of the artwork is different at any given angle. 

The artwork measures 4 meters long by 2.6 meters tall and has a maximum depth of 0.25 meters. Comprised of over 1400 pieces of custom designed aluminum L-angles and C-channels, each piece is laser cut and V-die bent to precision and powder coated to specification. 

Each of these elements are then assembled together onto large electro-galvanized steel panels. 

Like a brush stroke, each element has its unique place in the artwork and an aggregation of these similar but different pieces begin to create a larger effect than itself. 

Details
Patron: Association of Banks of Singapore
For: Art Installation
Date: April 2015 - Current

The exhibition documents current developments and thoughts in architecture, highlighting fundamental questions by discussing the philosophical concepts Time, Space and Existence. It shows a large diversity of presentations (models, concepts, research results, dreams, hopes and ideas). All presentations are either site-specific, especially made for this exhibition or coming directly from the participating architects’ studios. 

SUTD’s contribution under the title “Investigations in Generative Aesthetics for Tropical Urban Living” is based on the Advanced Architecture Laboratory’s 2013 Singapore Institute of Architects award-winning project for Dhoby Ghaut Green, a public park in the heart of Singapore.

The exhibition includes a video documentary of SUTD’s Advanced Architecture Laboratory design and research work leading to the project, a large 3d-printed 1:20 scale model and an approximately 4×3 meter built segment of the building made from 108 aluminium panels of varying sizes and geometries that were prototyped and fabricated with the help of faculty, researchers and students and subsequently shipped to Venice.

Time Space Existence  will be on display 7 June – 23 November 2014.

iSwarm illuminates the water with LED lights with an appearance reminiscent of natural phenomena such as bioluminescent algae or the Aurora Borealis. iSwarm reacts to visitors with subtle modulation of its light patterns, triggered by motion sensors around the installation.

iSwarm uses over 1,500 LEDs (iColor Flex LMX). The iColor Flex LMX are flexible strands of 50 large, individually addressable, full color LED nodes. Each node can produce a maximum of 6.56 candela of light output while consuming 1W of power. A power supply with an inbuilt Ethernet controller allows individual nodes to be addressed via processing software. A proprietary library provided by Philips was used to control the color and intensity of each LED node.

The LEDs are deployed just below the water surface. After exploring a variety of waterproofing methodologies, including vacuum formed housings, cast silicon casings, and 3d-printing, the design team settled on deploying the lights within customized extrusions of clear PVC hosing used in the medical and food service industry. The team worked directly with the manufacturer to design a bespoke hose extrusion that was both large enough to encase the lights and flexible enough to be easily workable on-site.  The layout of the lights was designed such that they created an evenly dispersed grid composed of equilateral triangles.  This layout accommodates the most even movement of the swarms across the field of lights. In total, the installation is comprised of 1,500 LEDs strung through 1 kilometer of PVC hose, and covers an area of 475 square meters.

32 passive infrared (PIR) sensors are deployed on land, surrounding the perimeter of the installation. These sensors detect the movement of people around the installation. Sensor data was acquired by an Arduino Mega, which communicates with the processing program. Waterproof housings for the PIR sensors were designed and 3D-printed in-house at SUTD.

iSwarm has been covered by the media, including by The Straits Times, Channel 5, and Lianhe Zaobao. It was also mentioned by Singapore Minister of State Desmond Lee in his opening address for the event on 7 March and he subsequently visited iSwarm in person.

iLight Marina Bay 2014 attracted over half a million visitors.

Places for sitting, storing, display, serving, and playing are embedded within the thickness of the wall system as it leads the residents into the home.

The supple form greets visitors at the entry of the house providing a resting place to remove shoes, and a generous repository for keys, coats, bags, and mail. 

The undulating forms are digitally fabricated with CNC technology, which allowed the bespoke system to be installed with minimal labor over the course of 1 week. 

The thick concrete wall is represented as a single plane of interior surface. 

The project thickens this plane into a functional volume, converting what had been a mere divider of habitat into a functional and habitable space for domestic life. 

Details
For: Commissioned Installation, Singapore
Date: April 2014
Top Installation: 8000 x 800 x 3000 mm
Material: Plywood, Veneer & Steel, Interlocking Joints
Process: Mapping, Sectional Deformation, Contouring, CNC Milling
Construction: Craftsmen Llp

The challenge in this project was to create a unique dining experience for each of the separate spaces, while still creating a cohesive sense of space. Texture, color, and lighting are integrated in a unique ceiling design constructed of backlit bamboo components which are suspended at varying heights to accentuate the intimate and social zones within the restaurant. 

The challenge in this project was to create a unique dining experience for each of the separate spaces, while still creating a cohesive sense of space. 

The proposal consisted if an intentionally oversized mass, which was intended to unify the two spaces - a single monumental element reconfigures the disparate spaces. 

Monumentality is explored as a means of creating extreme shifts in human scale. Architectural elements such as oversized pivot doors, ample counters and bars and custom plush lounge seating extend these concepts of monumentality to the human scale.

Green planters and planted sun screens are carefully distributed throughout the project, creating a lush tropical dining environment within the center of the expanding city. 

These tactile elements act as a contrast to the monumental scale, providing intimacy within a larger space. 

Place making is merged with experience making. 

This relationship effectively blurs the line between that which has been cut and that which remains.  the scultpural form of the void is accentuated by the primitive and cubic form of the light itself.

Through the use of rapid prototyping technology, material thickness is explored as an active agent in the design process as a means to control the amount and intensity of light which passes through the light. 

The study of this relationship between solid and dark surfaces and thin and light spaces accentuates the impact of the glow from within. In this sense, the object is rendered dark and ordinary from some views and bright and luminous from others. This dichotomy brings suprise, intrigue and a multiplicity to the sculptural form.

DepthForms begins as a study of the geometric principles which structure our perception of the city. 

For example, the rigidity of the grid, the openness of towers in the park, and the subtle changes in the repetition of row or shop houses can be simplified into geometric principles. 

They are then digitally transformed, compositing depth into the reading of the original view.

In the exhibition 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, and 2.5-dimensional methods of representation are used interchangeably to question our conception of urban space.  

Flat 2-dimensional drawings appear to leap off the wall, while 3-dimensional objects at first appear flat, but closer inspection reveals endless layers and readings. 

The exhibition is comprised of 8 prints (2d) works and 8 objects (3d).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:FiveMyles is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Greenwich Collection, the Gould Family Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the O’Grady Foundation, the New York State Council for the Humanities and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.

Photo Credits: Steven Harris

Making Sense further features recent collaborative large-scale interactive public projects of AAL and ASG such as for iLight Marina Bay 2014, LUX New Zealand 2014 and the SG50 celebration 2015. 

The exhibition is complemented by a symposium on the topic of interfacing design and technology in contemporary architecture and engineering research and practice.

 

Making Sense is hosted by Singapore National Design Centre and supported byDesignSingapore as well as the SUTD-MIT International Design Centre (IDC). The exhibition will be on display 8 to 30 November 2014.

This hybrid building form characterises the historical centres of most towns and cities in the Southeast Asia region, which is also the case in Singapore where there is a short history of its own building types. 

The back-of-house and storage area was placed in the back, allowing the eatery to have maximum exposure of its internal activities to the street side. 

True to its typology, Five & Dime Eatery has a narrow shop front and a deep rear. This allowed us to have the bar and seating area pushed to the front, with a large branding artwork installed in the front wall.  

By maximizing the intelligence of digital software whilst making use of the materiality of everyday objects, the branding wall took on the intricacies of digital design but carried the touch of everyday warmth. 

Details
For: Commissioned F&B, Singapore
Date: April 2015

Fabrication & Construction: LATECH Engineering, Effulgent Builders

For more information, go to:

http://www.mcny.org/exhibition/rising-waters

Details
For: Commissioned Installation, Singapore
Date: April 2014
Material: Plywood, Veneer & Steel
Process: Elevational Deformation, Color Calibration
Construction: Craftsmen Llp