PROJECT :: Halloween Costume :: Part 3

Oh, jeez! What did I get myself into? As the construction of my costume continues, the size, weight and volume has grown and the hours creep on. I can't help but get that stifling/panicky feeling in these large scale, down-to-the-wire projects where I sometimes think, "I bit off more than I can chew."

The painting of the fabric, although successful in its effect to create opacity, was no less an extremely tedious chore. I detested every moment of it. However, I'm happy with the look and feel of it. I framed the windows with a black Sharpie Magnum. The look after framing with the marker reminded me a lot of Björk's Bachelorette music video directed by Michel Gondry, for some reason. Ok, maybe I used that sharpie too long and had too little sleep.

No less, I was excited to have the painting and markering over with and begin sewing. I am not a very good sewer, but am much happier doing it than painting, I realized. Perhaps it was all due to the fact that I got to sit in a chair, versus hunch over and kneel on the floor. Also, I was excited to see the form come together and even turn on a battery operated fluorescent light to see it glow!

There are portions of the fabric that let light through still that will need some touch-up paint. No less, I was happy with the glow that the portable, battery-operated fluorescent lights emitted.

I ran into some problems, unfortunately, in the engineering of the support straps that will run across the PVC frame over my shoulders to hold up the costume. The solution lies in some 3D statics, I think. I wasn't ever very good at structural engineering calculations. Alas, there are still yet some details that need to be hashed out before I can attach King Kong. The clock is ticking!

PROJECT :: Halloween Costume :: Part 2

The construction process of my King Kong on the Skyscraper Halloween costume has commenced. With only a few more days before the weekend long Halloween festivities begin, each night is devoted to completing this project. 

The frame of the structure is built out of 1/2" diameter PVC pipe. The structure will be suspended  with straps over my shoulders and covered in painted fabric. The unpainted portion of the fabric will allow light to filter through the cloth, whereas the painted portion will be opaque. 

The images below are of the panels that will be constructed out of cotton fabric and covered in latex paint. It is essentially a depiction how the building is intended to look after being internally illuminated using battery operated fluorscent and LED sources.

Here is a photo of one of the patterns being cut out of paper that I will use to transfer onto the cotton fabric shown below. I intend to paint all of the fabric panels tonight. I'll post tomorrow with updates.

LightShow West Convention, Los Angeles

I attended my first lighting convention earlier this week. LightShow West in downtown LA's convention center is the only light show focusing on west coast specifiers for lighting products. Commercial, architectural and high end design lighting were all brought together.

I was proud to have a name badge with my well-known company in the industry, and even got to enjoy being misrepresented as a lighting designer. The convention featured free seminars, many in regards to energy efficiency and LEED requirements. The majority of fixtures and light types shown followed in trend with lots of examples of new highly efficient LED lighting sources. The progression of LED technology towards warmer, more natural feeling light was evident and only proved that LED lighting is inevitably the way of the future.

One of my personal favorites at the convention who had both an impressive booth and gorgeous lighting sources were the French Canadian/Italian partnered companies of Sistemalux, Lumenpulse and iGuzzini. I recognized some of their products from the Promenade Samuel-de Champlain project I had blogged about back in September.Their products were even more stunning in real life.

PROJECT :: Halloween Costume :: Part 1

Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to go "all out" for Halloween. This year is no exception! After some thought, I've decided to be the classic Hollywood image of King Kong on top of the skyscraper. And with the help of flickr, which I suggest anyone does before coming up with a costume concept in order to see how people may have done it before you, I found some variations on the theme. Of course there were plenty of people dressed as King Kong, but nobody dressed as both King Kong and the skyscraper...together. This came close, but not quite what I have in mind.

Above is an initial concept sketch I've drawn for my costume. My lower half of my body will be the skyscraper on stilts, for added height, and my uppper half will be in the King Kong/Gorilla costume. This will also be a lighting project in which I will attempt to light the skyscraper effectively from the inside to have it appear as a building.

Above is a Sketch Up animation of the proposed costume which might give a little more insight as to how the costume is intended to work.

To the left are some quick sketches for my dimensioning and building purposes drawn on AutoCAD. I'll post again later with photos of the skyscraper as it's being built and, of course, the final product. Below are some classical images of King Kong for inspiration. Happy Halloween!

PROJECT :: Light Screen :: Conclusion

After stringing the cardboard tubes for my light screen project with a heavier gauge fishing line, the project, for my intent, was complete. The heavier gauge fishing line was much more sturdy and allowed for the tubes to stand up as well as bend and undulate with ease. 
 
In conclusion, the project yielded the result for which I was hoping: a transportable room dividing screen with an ambient light source for when guests or visitors want privacy while staying in a living or common room area. In terms of design, a multitude of other materials for the tubes as well as various other light sources could be chosen for the project that would provide a higher quality feel than the ones to which I had access.

The height of the wall is 75" and the span of the mock-up is approximately 36". If more tubes were available the effect of a larger mock-up could have been more visually impacting. Without high quality machining, the light revealing slits of the tubes, I realize, aren't as well spaced as they potentially could have been. Also, the amount of these slits could have been fewer, for the light that was ultimately given off was pretty substantial.

By reimagining materials available and utilizing some engineering and architecture skills, this project was a relative success. This project required approximately 50 hours of design, development and construction and ultimately cost appoximately $30.

Urbanscreen Façade Projections

A collaboration between Urbanscreen and Daniel Rossa, both of Germany, who creatively altered the perception of the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, has been big around the blogosphere.

 And upon some further research, Daniel Rossa, who works independently for Urbanscreen, has done some other interesting multimedia projects utilizing Urbanscreen's technology.

Nordwesthaus Boating Pavilion by Baumschlager Eberle

I'm definitely not the first to be blogging about this little Austrian "ice block" located on the Port Rohner harbor.

However, I can't help but admit that I am charmed by the lighting of the little joint. The facility from an architectural use standpoint might perhaps miss a few marks - serving as event venue for parties and workshops might prove cumbersome with its large concrete walls and relatively small size. No less, I found the marriage of the concrete with color-changing LED uplighting to be a harmonious one.

I am more and more on the fence lately with the rampant use of color-changing LED effects in architectural lighting that is currently popular. It seems a building can't be lit without it these days. Although I do appreciate the warmth that the design team Baumschlager Eberle of Lochau were able to bring to the space.

 

The design team had 125 custom LED spotlights developed by Baumschlager Eberle and the famed Austrian light group, Zumtobel. Placed at both the base and at all bottom sills of the voids, these specialty spotlights feature an asymmetrical light distribution as well as a randomized arrangement of LEDS. This asymmetrical light distribution was neccesary in order to cast light uniformly into the concrete voids as well as into the room and onto the walls.

 

I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for more examples of color changing LEDs and concrete. Seeing as photogenic as the two are together, I have a feeling it won't be the last time we see it.

PROJECT :: Light Screen :: Part 2

After some trials and tribulation with my first attempts at my light screen project, I had much headway over the past weekend.

Using a saw to cut reveals out of the tubes created the clean lines I was looking for in my aesthetic. These clean lines would allow for better light distribution as well.

All the slits were approximately 1 1/2" in length and placed at 2" intervals along the pole. This is how the screen looked after all the slits had been cut. I appreciated the subtle look of the slits and felt as though it corresponded well with  the material. After the poles had been arranged in their proper order, the next step was to run the string lights through all of the tubes.

After the string lights were strung through each of the tubes, I then had to use the connection method I had previously described in order to connect all the tubes to form a malleable screen.

Unfortunately, all I had available was light gauge fishing wire which proved to not be sturdy enough for transport. However, I was able to tie all of the tubes together, stand up the screen wall and plug it in!

The final look of the project was pleasing but not without reservations. I enjoyed how the light from the slits played onto the other tubes, as seen below. I also appreciated the randomness in the patterning of light that the string light distribution provided. I do believe the tubes could have used less light reveals, perhaps the slits could have been cut at 4" spacing, for instance. I also feel that the concept of alternating the angle of the slits in respect to the tube could have been an interesting.

The photos of the illuminated screen wall were only taken from my iPhone camera and are of poor contrast and quality. I will post some photos shortly of the screen wall with my SLR that will hopefully show more of the wall's character as well as write a final conclusion to this project.