25.06.09 - Press Coverage!

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Sam

12.06.09 - Opening Night....

Working right up until a deadline is something architects and students know only too well and it was no different today...

Vinyl lettering was applied to walls and the paintwork touched up as we went. The 3D television arrived and accepted the first showreels without too many problems. After some final re-arrangements of models and screens it looked like we were getting done. With a half hour remaining until the VIP party arrived, we were still trying to sort one of the projections which insisted on jumping when played through the DVD drive of our laptop. However, this was eventually solved. With a frantic final day under our belts we prepared for the opening evening...

Opening night seemed to go very well, with the room packed for most of the evening - most definitely aided by its proximity to a table full of free wine. A few high profile faces were in attendance - a director from Make was spotted alongside journalists from BD magazine and the AJ - and the awards ceremony went smoothly. After a good few gallons of faculty booze we headed off for a celebratory meal, eager to see how the show would be received over the next few days....

11.06.09 - Stuff Goes Up....one day to go!

After coming in in the morning and finding the floor dry, we began to bring in the paraphernalia of the show...images and models from all 5 years at the LSA, stands, televisions, projectors, vinyl text for the walls....all the stuff that makes it feel like this finally coming together.

The voiles needed re-orientating and thinning out to best suit the two projectors we finally sourced...their edges needed to look crisp, and the projections themselves needed to penetrate with sufficient depth as to blend from either side of the voile rig.

Vinyl lettering looks professional, but is very tricky to handle...it has a tendency to peel off the wall or its backing if you don't maintain enough pressure on either. Looks great when its up though!

Still trying to source models to go on the structure...there was supposed to have been some specially commissioned rapid prototyping done, but this hasn't happened. We resort to sourcing existing rapid prototyping from students portfolios.

3D television should arrive tomorrow...very excited! You don't even need glasses!

10.06.09 - Structure up, floor painted, two days to go...

Thus far the structure is up - suspended from the ceiling - and the floor has been painted. We were rushing against a tight deadline to clear the floor of everything so that it could be left to dry overnight. In the morning we shall see what models / images we can place on the structure - fulfilling its designed 'dual use'. Brackets were fitted to each slotted intersection to satisfy DMU Estates concerns about stability and security.

Yesterday, Professor David Dernie discussed with me potential uses of the structure after the show has ended. It seems well suited to filling the need for storage in the studio - its horizontal members serving as shelving for working models and tools. This would see the structure return to its intended siting...on a wall.

We have been thinking of laser-etching high contrast line drawings such as plans, sections, elevations onto perspex to fill the gaps in the structure. These would add a further level of visual interest and purpose whilst maintaining the 'see-through' feel of the overall composition. However, we heard a rumour today that the workshops are out of perspex! And with two days to go, it looks unlikely that we will be able to source any more. The structure may well have to make do with holding models that were originally intended to be attached to adjacent free-standing walls. With these walls no longer part of the plan, they need a home...

09.06.09 - Hung

A long day in the workshops making brackets and rods.

The structure is now hung. Tomorrow it requires fixing to itself to make it rigid and secure to satisfy DMU Estates.

Thanks to Andy Loke for staying with us way beyond the time at which he would expect to go home. This enables us to paint the floor tomorrow and eases the pressure substantially.

08.06.09 - The Issue of Hanging...

The structure must be hung by the end of tomorrow. Estates Department must be satisfied by the manner by which it is hung. This can be slow.

Andy Loke and Bob Painter from the DMU workshops are consulted. A system is devised by which the structure can be hung from steel trusses above the suspended ceiling. Dexion steel railing is used to span diagonally between the trusses and provide a stiff anchorage for vertical threaded rods. These rods are secured with double steel angle brackets and double nuts to prevent slippage. Having two rods combats the structures natural inclination to turn under the force of gravity. The structure is still to be hung in the four sections in which it was designed.

Today was a day for thinking. Tomorrow will be a day for action.

05.06.09 - Structure complete...

A few moments of panic when we realised that the fabricators had missed one piece from the CAD nets, and sent us three duplicates. By this point it is friday afternoon.

Ran to the union. Persuaded them to lend us a minibus to take our two spare sheets of plywood back to Leicester Laser. Fabricators cut the missing piece immediately at no cost to us. Another advantage of CAD/CAM is that it is quick to set up the fabrication operations. Advantage to using a local fabricator. Would be even better if it was in-house.

By the end of the day we had each section of the structure assembled and complete.