Wed Lecture Notes Feb. 29

Materials
-Tectonics - way materials behave in a system
Warhole
-Way to deal with society is to escape it.
70's & 80's
-post modern movement
-escape,lost archives
-confusion about use of materials
-new formal language about the use of history in architecture
-ecological awareness
Smithson
-ecological awareness
-immersion into site
-non-sites
-translating the work done on site
-representation of the work in the gallery space
-non-site is dependent on the "real" site
-how to represent the landscape?
-photography was the primary means of transfer from site to non-site
-smithson referred to these as abstract maps
-smithson liked sedimentation; engages mind, body, nature; the relationship humans have with nature
-both humans & nature are in a state of decay
-he used the decay to create art
-industry and technology have become a part of earth's geology
Michal Heiser
-loved tools; land art
-mechanized means of how these projects could be built.
Double Negative
-trace of the landscape at a huge scale
-displaced tons of earth that was put on the surrounding hills
-Nevada desert
Ava Hest
-testing materials and seeing limits and qualities of materials
-project depended on how much material she had
-"non-art"
-how to make something that doesn't look constructed
Enric Miralles
-Gabbian wall system
-exposes structure system
-allows overgrowth
Lara Almarcegai
-construction materials
Cristina Iglesias
-suspended corridor
-copper wire woven and hung

Fuel Station

Phase one:
- Design rail map around College Station and Bryan using existing roads.
- Explain "bus route" system.

Phase two:
- Design fuel station.
- How is the building supported in the 100 year flood plane?
- How do vehicles receive the fuel?
- How does my building accept and use the trail system?
- What makes my station monumental?
- How does my station induce multiple functions?

Phase Three:
- Design vehicles; rail train and flywheel bicycle.
- How many people can the it hold?
- How fast does it go?
- How far does it go?
- etc...
Phase Four:
- Statitics; pros and cons of this system.

Fly Wheel Research

Fly wheel bicycle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYFDIiBIwLw

The basic idea behind flywheel technology is storing massive amounts of energy in a spinning disc. One of the big advantages of a system like this is that it is entirely mechanical, as opposed to chemical (or batteries). In a mechanical system, everything can be monitered and maintained. In other words, the fly wheel might fail, but it is not going to fail for no reason. We will be able to moniter each system and know if something is going worng and fix it before the system fails.

This is a much more efficient way of storing energy than a battery, but it does have its draw backs. In order to store the necessary amounts of energy to move a car or truck, the flywheel has to be very big. Because of this, the idea for using flywheels seems more practical for trains and possibly 18 wheelers, or any transportation device that is big enough to contain a massive flywheel.

My design will be focused around two aspects. First; a rail system designed for the convenience of everyone in College Station and Bryan. Second; interstate traffic of big trucks that could utilize this technology efficiently. The majority of transportation will be on a sort of "bus route" systems. Personal cars will exist in my scenario, but they will be less common and be run of a different energy source than my fuel station. There will be many of these rail trains that run 24 hours a day. They will come to the fuel station once every couple of days to have their flywheel spun and be able to run off that for the next couple of days. All of these trains will have extremely efficient regenerative braking systems so that making stops does not eat away at their efficiency.

My fuel station will feature a tremendous transmission where these rail trains and interstate trucks will pull up and hook into it to have their flywheel spun. The fuel station will have a nuclear reactor as its initial energy source to power its transmissions along with the stations personal electricity.

Flywheel Bicycle travel will also be emphasized. My group is designing a trail system for our site that will show how bicycle travel will work in my flywheel scenario. The video above shows an actual flywheel bicycle. When this technology is more advanced I think this method of travel could be a very efficient and practical.

Professor Habaerl has recommended me to talk with Professor Pallazeo, who is researching flywheels here on the A&M Campus. He is in the mechanical engineering department and I plan on paying him a visit Monday of next week. I think he will be a good resource to check the practicality of my designs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV_b5oMqc2M

Studioplex

Studioplex is an on-going research experiment. The goal is to design our studio space to promote optimum productivity. The experiments we have so far include; a ping pong table, circular central table with floating bowl, palm tree, wall art including sculpture and king kong, dart board, conference area separate from working tables, wall paper for class notes, and clown bike.

Ping Pong Table: The goal for this experiment is to give us an active outlet for any frustration or confusion we might encounter with our projects. Also it invites a positive social atmosphere for other students outside our studio to join us and mingle.

Circular Central Table with Floating Bowl: This give the whole studio an "axis point", so to speak. Candy and snacks are also placed here, giving a welcome atmosphere.

Palm Tree: This is for decorative purposes only.

Wall Art:
- Sculpture: This gives you something pleasing to look at on the walls in a 3-dimensional scope
- King Kong: This is a 2D picture, but is a very big image, almost covering a whole wall.

Dart Board: Another active outlet for us to use, similar to the ping pong table.

Conference Area: This is an area reserved for class discussions and presentations only. It is good to have this space as opposed to all of us sitting at our desks where there would not be an appropriate place for visuals.

Wall Paper: This is functional and decorative. We can post important notes on the wall, but it also provides a decorative element, similar to graffiti.

Clown Bike: This is a very new exhibit, I'm not sure how people will react to it. It is simply a very little bike that looks funny to ride on. I assume we will use it to make trips around Langford to get a laugh.

Pictures and video research will follow this post to show results of each experiment.