A Thread for Fine Design

stefanq

Mayor, thanks for the link. In my country, people homes are big, ugly, inefficient in every aspect. People with money, of course.
It strikes me every time I read something like this:
"The house requires a heating system with an output of just 4 kW (the equivalent of a single radiator) for the entire 200 sqm house! Facit buildings are designed to be airtight, so as not to lose heat. This necessitates the implementation of a heat recovery system that draws in fresh air and expels stale air, while retaining the warmth."
And by the way....the houses are beautiful!
Cheers!
Stefan

Mike Lucey

What interests me most about the FACIT crew is that they are a D&B firm. I think there is a lot of merit in these types of firms as they are able to see the job through from start to finish and of course include the client in each step along the way.

They must also develop good solid practical construction methods as it would not be the case of the designer just 'getting it right' on paper. In this case the fabricator would most definitely have his say on what works for him on site. The video also seems to get this message across quite well, this is what I read into areas anyway.

From what I gather these types of firms are common place in Scandinavia but again this does not surprise me as those guys often lead the way in many areas.

I suppose the only drawback for the client, if it could be construed as a drawback, is that a particular D&B firm might only concentrate on producing a particular design style range. But again, this could leave things open to various D&B firms offering a variety of design 'style' solutions. Everyone is not on the same hymn book, so to speak

solo

Mike Lucey

Wouldn't like those at all Pete. I like to eat eggs, not sit in them

Mike Lucey

The GoCar concept by AS Design is a clever design but probably will never see the light of day.

On the other hand I think the Urban Arrow will see full production. Its not a new concept but a very clever adaptation of existing bike design configurations. Then again the Dutch are very much into their bikes.

bmike

I really miss our Bakfiets... nothing better for kid / grocery / spouse hauling.

watkins

The Hostry at Norwich Cathedral:

http://www.cathedral.org.uk/aboutus/the-hostry-norwich-cathedral-hostry-visitor-and-education-centre1.aspx

http://www.constructionaltimber.com/norwich-cathedral-the-hostry

http://www.frrarchitects.co.uk/project/cloister-roofs-norwich-cathedral/

Regards,
Bob

dale

A teaser for watkins post. Wow Screen shot 2012-08-27 at 9.17.14 AM.png

watkins

St Edmundsbury Cathedral vaulted ceiling; a more traditional approach:

http://www.frrarchitects.co.uk/news-story/bury-st-edmunds-cathedral-new-ceiling/

The videos are well worth watching as they describe the construction of the ceiling.

Regards,
Bob

dale

The Running Bike

Inspiration

After analysing the original running machine constructed by Karl Freiherr von Drais, the inventor of the velocipede that was basic to the bicycle, we liked to revive that principle. So we put some questions: “Does the running machine make any sense for adults nowadays? If yes, how and where could it be useful?” “How can we offer a certain amount of mobility to people, who are by any reason not able to ride a bike (or drive a car)?”
http://www.jamesdysonaward.org/Projects/Project.aspx?ID=3167&RegionId=0&Winindex=5 Screen shot 2012-08-29 at 5.36.58 AM.png Screen shot 2012-08-29 at 5.37.15 AM.png

Screen shot 2012-08-29 at 5.37.34 AM.png

Mike Lucey

The guy demoing the running bike does not look confident to me. I could see people catching their feet in the rear wheel spokes also ...... and besides ....... he does look like a plonker shuffling along on it

Mike Lucey

... another thing! I imagine it would be tricky getting up from a fall with that harness and it could do some damage to the 'crown jewels' into the bargain

Mike Lucey

.... this guy has a 'death wish'

Death Wish.jpg

dale

Yes I confess, this had me a little concerned

Screen shot 2012-08-29 at 8.22.42 AM.png
Also, when he nearly terminates the little girl in the square
Also doesn't having pedals kind of put physics on your side?
The thing that interests me is that this is a student competition sponsored by James Dyson with reasonable prizes.
This one was probably more worthy of the Fine design designation http://www.jamesdysonaward.org/Projects/Project.aspx?ID=2946&RegionId=0&Winindex=0
But there was a bike theme going so....

bmike

guy who 'invented' this bike lives around the corner from me.
you use a running / walking motion with your legs. no circles.
up down up down up down.
really weird to see it go down the street.

seems really counter intuitive to me... but i like spinning, and feel its actually easier on the knees.

still has gears though, so you maintain some of the mechanical advantage of the modern bike.

dale

Ah, so it almost works like the Nordic Track exercise machine by the looks of it. That's quite cool.

bmike

@dale said:

Ah, so it almost works like the Nordic Track exercise machine by the looks of it. That's quite cool.

yeah, it is similar.
problem for me is that when i walk, my arms tend to move.
when i run, they definitely move.

on a bicycle with a typical crank, the feet move in circles, different than walking, so unless one is hammering up a hill, arms and upper body can remain quiet.