Twitter Updates
- Much inspiration at #MakerFaire. Thrilled to meet @Ponoko @techshop @MNmill & many thanks @100kGarages @seaside5592 for beautiful fabbing!! 5 days ago
- It's all about the #MakerFaire 1 week ago
- Atomic Cities Research on DOE news. em.doe.gov/pdfs/EM%20News… 1 week ago
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Couched Constructions V – Exhibition Opening
The team returned from the Couched Constructions exhibition at the Herron Gallery in Indianapolis. We went to Indy excited by the exhibit’s provocation and the chance to test new potentials for AtFAB, to prototype new furniture adaptations , and to more deeply articulate the systemic and networked nature of the project. After a fantastic two days spent participating in the opening day events and being inspired and moved by our fellow constructors, we found ourselves grateful for the opportunity to connect and collaborate with an amazing group of architects and designers.
Posted in AtFAB, FilRo
Tagged 90 Minute Chair, Chair, CNC Router, Couch, Fabbing, Full Scale, Open Design, Prototyping
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Atomic Cities PGDP Interactive Model
The Atomic Cities Research Group is near completion on the next phase of PGDP models. This 1:150 model of the PGDP campus will be used as an interactive tool by scientists, community members, policymakers and others engaged with the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant’s future. The model documents the geological conditions, ground concentrations, boring locations, buildings, infrastructure and other physicalities that will factor into the discussions between stakeholders. Our team is developing a toolkit to accompany the model, which provides essential tools for enabling the model’s users to measure, mark and record their ideas for PGDP’s future.
Couched Constructions IV
We’ve completed fabrication of two couch prototypes, and assembly is well underway. The Ninety Minute Chair is dimensionally transformed past chair towards couch, while the Silver Lining Bed is adapted away from bed, through chaise, to become Tete a Tete sofa. The latter borrows traits from its AtFAB cousins, like a rotational structure and “walking feet,” and it possesses de-differentiated parts such as leg-seat-back and back-seat-back. The images below show the Ninety Minute Couch, fabricated from decades-old repurposed plywood, as well as the Silver Lining Chaise, constructed from 5 sheets of AdvanTech. We will be delivering both pieces to Indianapolis next month for the Couched Constructions Exhibition to open at the Herron Gallery on March 2. At the same time, we will post free cut files for both pieces to be downloaded from our website, so makers anywhere can collect around our couched constructions.
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Posted in AtFAB, FilRo
Tagged 90 Minute Chair, AtFAB, Chair, CNC Router, Couch, Fabbing, Full Scale, Open Design
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Atomic Cities PGDP Model Photographs
Glint Studio photographer Magnus Lindqvist accompanied our team on a recent trip to Paducah to thoroughly document the PGDP site model, which has been on display at the Department of Energy’s Community Information Center since October. The model will be on exhibit at the DoE’s National Citizen’s Advisory Board Meeting to be held in Paducah this April, and will be linked via live feed to the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2012. 
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Couched Constructions III
The Silver Lining Couch, a chaise based on the Silver Lining Bed, is taking shape. Shown below are early material studies using birch plywood and painted Advantech OSB, as well as our new favorite, repurposed plywood rescued from the University surplus depot. Since building the full scale materials studies, we’ve continued to push the structure toward open corners and rotationally oriented legs. Carolyn’s plexiglass study model of half the chaise examines the informal structure proposed for the full scale version, which we’ll be cutting on the mill next week.
Posted in AtFAB, FilRo
Tagged 90 Minute Chair, AtFAB, Chair, CNC Router, Couch, Fabbing, Full Scale, Open Design, Silver Lining Bed
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Couched Constructions II
The Ninety Minute Couch – a stretch Ninety Minute Chair – is ready for assembly. We milled this version from recycled plywood, rescued from the dumpsters at the University’s surplus depot. The patina and perfect amount of distress rivals the finest veneer plywood, and is only intensified by Carolyn’s and Joe’s meticulous placement of each digital profile on the sheets.
In our earlier prototype, we discovered that reducing the length of the seat’s side tabs simplifies the task of easing the seat into the corresponding slots in the side-pieces. The joint requires a small plug to fill the gap between the end of the seat tab and the end of the side-piece slot. We decided to take liberties and exaggerate this element on the Ninety Minute Couch – by milling Cat in Bag shapes out of old plywood signs. Perhaps all a bit more hands on than the usual AtFAB, but we thought justified since it’s headed for a gallery!
Posted in AtFAB, FilRo
Tagged AtFAB, Chair, CNC Router, Couch, Fabbing, Full Scale, Open Design
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