photos by benjamin boccas

Paul Coudamy has taken Airbus windows and recycled them to create a modular lighting concept.
The ‘F-light’ is constructed from the walls / windows of an airbus A300, whereby the engineered curves, windows and insulation of the airplane takes on a second life as a functional lighting structure.

Website:coudamydesign.com/

Ben Austin FAD’s Editor At Large caught up with Beau McClellan who exhibited a large-scale interactive lighting installation at London Art Fair 2012. This spectacular centrepiece was presented at the entrance to the Business Design Centre, where visitors could control the colour effects using an iPad.

With its combination of innovative, contemporary design and cutting edge RGB LED technology, the five metre long piece used the studio’s signature mirror reflective coating. Designed to showcase its artistic, sculpture-like form during the day, the Nomad then transformed into a stunning semi-transparent light installation at night.

www.beaumcclellan.com

3010 dice, each rolled individually creating a sea of seemingly random patterns.
This piece represents the entrepreneurial spirit of life and taking risks – crucial for any business to succeed at the highest level. The idea was everyone has a chance to ‘roll the dice’ in life is embraced by the process in which this piece has been made.

Each set of dice was rolled by different people spanning many different backgrounds. It is the outcome of these rolls which dictated the arrangement of the dice, illustrating that while some may win and some may loose, the chance is there for everyone to take.

Website:www.acrylicize.com/

colette this Christmas has commissioned Pernilla & Asif to create a unique miniature version of their Cloud installation previously exhibited at Design Miami / Basel, for the Designers of the Future 2011 Award and later on a giant scale at the boxing venue, York Hall in east London in November 2011.

During the darkest three weeks of the year, every minute one hundred baby clouds will be released within two specially designed vitrines, each combining a cocktail of water, soap and helium gas.

Like colette, always going against the grain and the expected, the flurry of micro-clouds will be like an upside-down snowfall.

‘I first discovered the work of Pernilla & Asif with the so poetic Harvest chair, then I saw the foam clouds they did for DesignMiami, and the very recent sand/ice installation in Singapore. I’m so proud they agreed to do our Christmas Windows with their magical clouds. It will certainly remain one of the most impressive windows in our history and we hope Colette will not fly in the air like a balloon with all the helium we’ll keep!’ – Sarah (Colette)

The special window installation at colette runs from Dec 12-31, 2011. Download a video of the installation here.
PERNILLA & ASIF are currently working on a pavilion commissioned by Coca Cola for the Olympics in London 2012.

The funky Factoria Joven (“youth factory”) skate park in Merida, Spain opened this past March. Since then, energetic teens have been biking, skating, climbing on and around the undulating curves and brightly-colored structures of the inviting and inventive complex, designed by Madrid-based SelgasCano Architects
.
The concept was first introduced in 2006 by Carlos Javier Rodríguez Jiménez, a physical education teacher  who studied the humanization of urban spaces, and four collaborators. Architects José Selgas and Lucía Cano were inspired by the forms and construction of Chinese dragons, and specified inexpensive building materials, including lightweight polycarbonate. The building was completed in just 13 months. In addition to the outdoor features, the building houses a computer lab and a dance studio, as well as meeting rooms and spaces used for for street theater, video and electronic music, and even graffiti.

In line with the theme of this years 100% Materials feature at 100% Design, designed and curated by Chris, this edition of Ingredients is dedicated to smart materials and technologies. Inside you will find an in-depth guide to the world of smart materials, an appraisal of the potential environmental benefits of smart technologies and interviews with Suzanne Lee and Helen Storey – two designers whose passion for materials has lead to their developing amazing new technologies.

For this and much, much more, head on over to www.moreingredients.com to download your copy.

Also, make sure that you follow Chris on Twitter and the KTN Smart Materials Beacon blog

1. What has been your favourite project this year ?
I don’t have one specific favourite project, but we particularly enjoy designing exhibitions and pavilions because they afford us the opportunity to try out new ideas. These designs can work as prototypes for spatial, organisational and material possibilities in our larger
projects. But exhibitions and pavilions also generate really nice moments for public communication and interaction over a short period of time, as so many people visit these events.

Sometimes you can design a building that you are very proud of but often – especially if this is not a public building – not so many people will truly get to experience it. So pavilions provide a wonderful opportunity for the design to truly be consumed.

2. UNStudio has been producing chairs/ furniture do you think its important for architects to investigate other creative disciplines?

We have always liked to test and investigate other areas of the discipline, but I never actually think in terms of scale. We like the idea of the non-existence of a proper scale and this is very much related to the way we combine ideas. I have never considered architecture and design to be mutually exclusive. In the same way as I sometimes like to think that art and architecture are not so different from one another.

Sometimes I will see a piece of furniture as architecture; as containing a variety of cultural references. Conversely a building can be seen as a product. We like to test these boundaries.

3. UNStudio Asia was set up in 2009 , do you envisage it becoming bigger than UNStudio ? 

We have set up the office in Asia as a full UNStudio office rather than a project office and we have structured it in the same way as UNStudio Amsterdam. But for us it is not about size. It is instead about the contemporary conditions of our profession. Once you have achieved a particular profile, it becomes impossible to ignore the highly fascinating opportunities which can be made possible by working in other locations. So our ambition is to become better, rather than bigger.

4. How did UNStudio come to collaborate with Premier Composite Technologies?
We worked with Premier Composite Technologies in 2009 developing a prototype composite façade solution for a project we were working on in the Middle East. At that time we explored together the opportunities and the full potentials of the material and created ‘all in one’ units that could be attached to building slabs without the necessity for further substructure. So, we were of course very interested to continue this collaboration when PCT invited us to design their stand for 100% Design 2011.

We are always interested in working with innovative technological possibilities to create material effects, so when we get an opportunity like this to work with a client, we like to search alongside them for the optimal geometrical or material potentials.

5. Are you currently using PCT materials in an architectural project?
We are currently working with PCT on a number of investigations into where FRP and composite solutions can provide practical advantages alongside geometric and material
effects.

6. What properties do composite materials bring to architecture, in particular UNStudio’s work?  
What have composite materials changed in terms of the way buildings can be designed and constructed?

The full potential of composite materials is something that we are still examining. It is an investigative process, in a way similar to discovering the true potential of brick. Brick can be used in so many different formal, geometrical ways, but it took centuries to discover the real potential for what you can do with it. We know already that composite materials
offer extensive aesthetic possibilities and freedom of design. They present the possibility to mould complex, fluid forms and produce seamless, efficient geometric shapes with
a wide variety of surface finishes and effects. On a practical level these materials are extremely lightweight compared to their more traditional equivalents such as concrete, but they are also highly efficient to work with. They substantially reduce the need for substructures and can be installed very quickly, which of course enables time and cost saving on site. They are also highly durable and resistant to corrosion and provide improved thermal insulation. So the advantages to both design and construction are many. But their true potential for use in architecture is still not fully known and that is why we are so interested to work with these materials. When we discipline them completely
these materials have the potential to change our design strategies and – with a very simple set up – make it possible to build at a much faster pace and make projects much more affordable.

You’ll be able to see UNStudios Collaboration with PCT
at 100% Design London (Stand No. E130)

Website:www.unstudio.com/
Website:Premier Composite Technologies

This particular product caught my eye, Ultra-thin electronic circuitry that can be applied as a process of tattooing to the human body.
John Rogers of the university of Illinois and yonggang huang of northwestern university in America have headed up an R&D team to develop this product that could be used in application of human-machine interfaces and gaming, medical diagnostics and communications.


It has the potential to monitor brain, heart and muscle activity as well as physiologically affecting a gaming experience and allowing convert communications.

It’s an incredible piece of design and technology that feels like it could ignite the possibility of fundamental changes in communication and interaction we could have between one another on a evolutionary scale. if the electronic devices that we carry can synchronize with our thoughts and emotions and the information could be transferred from one device to another, could we start to see face to face communication, expressing ourselves not through speech or facial expression, but through a technology aided form of telepathy.

Paul Reardon – Peter and Paul

Ground-breaking new products and finishes will be presented by Armourcoat at 100% Design London. Armourcoat will introduce Ductal® Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) – a first for the show.
Developed by Lafarge, Ductal® presents a genuine revolution in the concrete sector. The material possesses a unique combination of superior properties including strength, ductility, durability and enhanced aesthetics. This enables designers to develop and realize new sculptural approaches to concrete forms.


Image:RAPT bus centre

Armourcoat hold the first sublicense to manufacture Ductal® precast elements in the UK, and will concentrate development on lightweight decorative building façades.

Armourcoat are also included in the 100% Design London seminar programme. Prepared in association with Global Color Research and the Interior Design Association, this CPD-style presentation will consider the custom use and specification of polished plaster wall finishes by Armourcoat. The free to attend seminar will be presented by Armourcoat Creative Director Duncan MacKellar on Friday 23rd September at 4.15pm within the event’s lecture theatre.

An array of global projects for an impressive list of international blue chip clients in commercial, retail and domestic sectors have established Armourcoat as a leading supplier of high quality surface finishes. Expert advice will be available on the stand (D100), together with stunning examples of the full range of decorative finishes available from Armourcoat.

Website:www.100percentdesign.co.uk/
www.armourcoat.com/

Award winning architects UNStudio will design the PCT stand at 100% Design London (Stand No. E130). The collaboration will highlight the growing trend for the use of advanced composites in architecture today and will demonstrate the benefits of working with composites over conventional structural materials.


Image:Structural Composite Foam Core
PCT and UNStudio will join forces to create a showpiece created entirely out of advanced composite materials, in a bid to demonstrate to the architectural and design markets, the benefits of working with
composites over more conventional structural materials such as steel and concrete.

Image:Composite Materials are created from Resin and Glass or Carbon fibre

The display, that will be designed by UNStudio, and engineered, constructed and installed by PCT, will be moulded out of a carbon/glass fibre and epoxy resin composite combined with a structural foam core – materials that have until recently been known more for their use in aeronautics and building high performance sports cars and racing yachts due to their lightweight and extreme strength properties.

“We are delighted to be working with UNStudio at 100% Design London. The nature and complexity of their designs are perfect for working with advanced composites and we look forward to unveiling the results.” Hannes Waimer, Managing Director PCT.

Website:www.100percentdesign.co.uk/
Website:www.pct.ae/
Website:www.unstudio.com/