week 05 (week of 19 September)

This week we worked on SketchUp some more. We learned how to add geo-location and layers to the 3d document. I also learned about the extensions which could make spirals. I will have to play with it some more to see which way is best for my shell structure.

I went to the library for some pictures just to get a sense of the building.

I realized I will need to make the shell bigger than the actual building so people looking up can see it.

Materializing Information RR

I think this article on “Materalizing Information” was actually very compelling. It was less idealized than the Minecraft/Makerbot video article and brought about a number of good point about the pros and somewhat cons of digital desktop fabrication.

The writers really went in-depth with their details. I already knew computers were used in manufacturing since the 1960s, but it was nice for them to note it. Unlike the video article, they actually get the price right for Makerbot printers and they certainly are very knowledgable on the subject of 3d printers. Overall, I actually liked the article. It was a very well written piece with lots of well researched info and discription. In addition, the article was not worded so it was over technical. It was straightforward and accessible to anyone who picked it (not unlike 3d printing technologies and maker space groups they were discussing).

One of the most fascinating sections to think about was “Section 2: Results from environmental scan”. I knew there were places which were repositories of digital objects online (as I have wandered through a few of them to satisfy my own curiosity), but the writers go in an interesting direction when they link Google 3D Warehouse to Google Earth and Google Maps. I knew you could digitalize pieces of art or untensils, etc., but the implications of using maps, satellites and photographs to digitalize the world is amazing. It is just mind boggling that, with the right resources we could create an accurate digital world. That is just amazing. Of course the current 3d printers would only be handheld sizes so I don’t know if it could be printed but just a digital representation is still cool.

The other fascinating section was the cons of desktop fabrication. They do bring up a good point about increasing our “throw-away” culture. It is a very distressing idea. It goes back to the whole “the Minecraft/Makerbot video article” about the idea of scarcity. We do not have an eternal supply of anything unlike Minecraft so attention must be paid to that. Add in legal issues and we have a very convoluted area of design. Like I said, very interesting article that I need to pour over again to fully apreciate.

How 3D Printing is Disrupting the Art World RR

This article really finished off the areas of replication technology and it implications to sections of design. With the Minecraft/Makerbot video we talked about resources and in the Materalizing Information we talked about the uses of the printing, but now with this short but sweet article we get to focus on the arts. It really makes for a fuller view of the replication technology.

I actually never thought of 3d printing as being disruptive. That was a word from the first part of the article and it really stuck me. I feel like disruptive is so much more violent of a word to actually show the impact of printing. It just seems like an odd word choice. Are 3d printing that radical? The article talks about the benefits of the tool and everything about it is certainly new age, almost science fiction but they aren’t affecting the arts based on the article. It just seems like they are adding a new feature. It’s just addicting a new means of distribution, so I do not understand the whole beginning portion of the arts being “familiar with disruption”. How is that relevant exactly?

Anyway, I think the examples they used in the article of distortion to be really cool. The whole thing about museums digitalizing their pieces is pretty cool. It’s like a new version of posters or reproductions of paintings and sculptures. And that’s just really cool. Plus it sounds like a good thing for artists to reproduce their work more readily not unlike the printing press or screen printing.

I think the whole fashion bit was very odd. I hadn’t associated this reproduction method with outfits. I thought of more of the line of sculptures or tools, but clothing? That’s just weird. But I guess that is fashion for you. It’s kind of weird.

Will Minecraft and Makerbot Usher in the Post-Scarcity Economy? RR

Reading response to: this video

I thought the ideas put forth by the PBS Idea Channel were interesting. The idea of a post scarcity economy was fascinating to think about and if you added down the whole Minecraft replication technology into the mix it brings about an interesting view on the world. The whole makerbot 3D printing technology really brings ideas like Minecraft into reality. 

I think it is really quite cool to think about how far we have come with replication technology. I mean, like the host of the video said, we can send someone a spoon via a digital file and the recipients can then print it on their 3d printer. And that printer would only cost $2,000…a price that is still high for a college student or at least me personally so I am not going to get one just yet. By the way I just looked up MakerBot on Amazon and I think that price is generalized because I’m seeing a whole range of prices from Makerbot directly: $1500, $1,099, $1199, $2,599 so it might vary and be cheeper than what they were saying it was (or it might have changed since 2012).

But more to the point I think the whole “post scarcity economy” concept was interesting to think about and not just because I love Star Trek. The whole idea might far fetched not unlike the “world peace” concept so it might not happen in its purist, idealist form where we do not have resource scarcity. However, in gradual stages we could probably progress closer to that final stage with the making of Makerbot being more accessible to people who would rather spend said bundle of money on food rather than a strange printer. Overall, I think the concept is interesting. 

week 04 (week of 12 September)

This week we talked about the project 1 proposals. I do not know if people fully understood what I was proposing just by looking at my images. It seems obvious to me but then again I thought of it.

We worked with SketchUp some more. I will try to spend more time on it this weekend.

I took a few pictures of the library and the location of one of the additions to the library.

Building Proposal Idea page

What I'm proposing is a combination new and old achetecture. It would be an addition to the existing Library structure which would draw the eye. The additional structures would be based upon the Thomas Jefferson building at the library of congress but the top portion would have a dome that is almost surrealistic with a design based upon a shell spiral.

week 03 (week of 5 September)

Went to the library to glance at books for ideas to make the project.

Took a bit longer because:

1. I like the library
2. I was looking in the oversized book section which has some wonderful books I could spend hours if not days looking at
3. I cannot help but be nosey. 

In the case of reason 3, I was minding my own business sitting in a row studying some architecture books when two older women walked by looking for a specific numbered book. I tried to keep to myself but without thinking I jumped up and asked if I could help them (a habit I picked up from years as a volunteer librarian at my public library). Upon learning of the number I quickly explained they were looking in the wrong place and would be on the 3rd floor. I just cannot help but be nosey.

Anyway, I found a few books and took a few pictures from other books I might use for my project. Also took a derive (which I will write later about...it'll be written much better than this rambling week review).

Have an idea but will assemble it in the proposal.

Freeform Derive 9/7/16

When I go walking for exercise or to get to class (or in this case taking derive) I have this habit. See, normally I try to not look at others directly when they pass me because I observe too many details that I feel uncomfortable (it is not polite to stare after all). So normally when I walk I am merely aware of other people’s presence (which means sometimes I do not realize a person I know is walking past) but for the purpose of this walk I let my eyes take their own derive so they have the liberty to observe anything which draws their focus not for appearance but just feelings.

I’m wearing my backpack and holding onto three oversized books. The backpack is irrelevant but the books are so large and heavy I have to mention them if only to complain.

Shortly after the start of my journey, my eyes are drawn to a woman with a bright yellow dress. It is the color of H. A. Rey’s Man in the Yellow Hat from his Curious George series of books. With such a vibrant yellow against her dark skin she looks almost like an image from one of Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters (which happens to be the subject of one of the oversized books I am hugging onto as I walk). The woman is talking loudly into her phone and mulling about in the one shady spot in that area.

I leave her behind as the path curves to the left. Behind me, a male voice is speaking some foreign language I cannot easily place (I suspect it might have been French but then again it sounds different so perhaps not). We definitely have a diverse crowd here.

My attention is drawn to two guys coming out of a building a ways in front of me. My mind wanders from the subject of diversity to the subject of group analysis. The groups walking the same directions I am going and others are not divided by race, bloodline or nationality. Instead it appears to be divided by body type. The two guys have drastically different ethnicities and – based on one’s apparent accent – nationalities. But they are both appear to be fairly active individuals and know the gym more than just the weekly yoga class I take.

I have become aware that I following a woman with long brown hair which curls near the ends. She is wearing a green backpack.

The foreign speaker walks a faster pace than I and soon is walking in front of me. He is wearing a button down shirt and formal pants. He is not skinny but his bulky frame does not appear to be mainly fat. At first I think he is closer to my age but looking up I spot the graying edges of his black hair. The only word I recognize him say was Pensacola.

To my right, a girl on a bicycle wizzes by. Her fast speed compared to the other pedestrians draws my attention and, in spite of myself and the fact I am walking in the opposite direction, I turn my head, following her progress down the concrete.

She nearly runs over the two athletic guys. I turned my head too slowly to see the event but I see the aftermath. She yells a loud, “SORRY!” One of the guys makes a joke. His companion and the red-haired bike rider laugh and she keeps on going. I smirk even though I did not hear the actual joke. I understand its spirit.

Exiting the same building as the two guys had left is a skinny fellow. He sets down a skateboard. I expect him to go soaring at the same speed as the bike rider but only goes a few feet before he stops. I realize he is just learning as I notice another guy nearby making instructive gestures.

My attention is drawn back to the girl with brown hair and green backpack. She is still walking in front of me. Absent mindedly, I wonder if she thinks I am following her. We keep walking in the same direction. Now I am hoping she does not think I am stalking her. Her head tilts slightly so I can see a sliver of her face. I look away in case she is looking back. It is a good thing I am recording this via memory and not some suspicious notepad or – even worse –taking a video with my phone.

The foreign speaker is back and now behind me slightly. He had been in front of me but he must have maneuvered into the building I had seen the two guys and the skate boarder exit. I thought it would have taken him longer to walk through the building but it must be his pace. I wonder why he didn't just walk around the building as I had.

I cross the street, more and more aware of following the brown haired girl with the green backpack. Fortunately she turns right once we cross the street. I half minded think about turning and going in that direction too, but no.  There are laws against that behavior.

The foreign speaker is once again in front of me and, much to my displeasure, is going the same direction as I am drawn to. Guess I’m following another person. Could make a job out of this.

I slow my walk to let him get away. I notice a plaque with the year of my birth on it. I have been in this area so many times before but I never notice the plaque. Apparently I'm blind. I pull out my phone and take a picture. Later, I will notice it does not come out. 

I’m walking on my own now. No people to observe. A recycling bin is on its side with water sitting in it. I consider putting it upright so no mosquitos grow but I am too tired. I am becoming more and more aware of the large books in my hands.

A bit in front of me I see two girls walking. One is wearing a shirt the same color as the woman in the yellow dress. Perhaps it is a lighter shade. Her companion has short black hair. I cannot see her clearly but I suspect she is wearing one of those vests with lots of buttons on it. She looks like she would have a button collection either there or on her bag. I should not stereotype but I would be surprised if she did not have any buttons. I will never know if I am right.

I pass a woman with long blond hair. Maybe its silver. Can't tell. She reminds me of an art professor I once had but she’s in Orlando. Not her.

I shift to the right and now am walking on grass. Then in the middle of the empty street. I shift to the left side of the street. I pass a girl with glasses. She is holding a lot of stuff. I think she’s actually a professor. She's older than I realized at first glance. It's the way she has her hair pulled. Makes her look like a student. She's probably waiting for a ride.

Loud leafs crackle under me. A white truck passes me and I wonder if it is the professor’s ride. I am now walking on concrete again. I glance to the right in the direction I had come and see I was right. I begin to cross the street. I’m not going to get hit by a car because there is so much traffic. They are all standing still like time had stopped. Hold up. Might have thought too soon. A jeep in the right hand lane rushes past. Fortunately the two lanes on the other side are completely empty. Less vehicles to remind that this part of the street indeed has a crosswalk and I have the right of way.

I see a guy and a girl sitting playing music waiting for a bus. I want to see what they look like but they are facing the same direction as I am and they will see me looking at them despite my sunglasses. The path turns left.

Two guys are walking in the opposite direction. They are dressed in athletic shirts and pants. Either football or basketball players. Probably football. Not tall enough to be basketball players. Either that or they also hang out at the gym. As they pass I amuse myself with the fact how different we must look to one another. They are very athletic and here I am walking with a pile of large books while wearing a Doctor Who shirt.

These books are getting heavier. Going to be glad to be home again. I may take a longer derive just for the sake of wandering either tomorrow or Friday but I too tired to do one now.