Gail Peter Borden's "Light Frames" project combines two structures, a tower made of EMT conduit and a "light chapel" made of inflated PC. The geometries were derived from a CATIA model (example shown). In the case of the chapel, however, digital modeling did not translate to entirely digital fabrication: The PVC still had to be cut by hand.
The finished "Light Frames" project, erected on an infill site in Los Angeles.
When designing bus shelters for the 2010 Olympic Village at Whistler, B.C. (the village was also used for the Paralympic Games), Urban Movement Design used solid surfaces to achieve their ergonomic forms. The firm partnered with Associated Fabrication, whose staff thermoformed the solid surface in a platen oven, heating sheets of the material to 350 F and then drawing them down over MDF molds.
Marble Fairbanks Flatform is an attempt to generate a future prefabricated wall fragment. The designers joined two panels of 16-gauge stainless steel via laser-cut tabs.
Each tab has a sister tab in the other panel that it connects to, allowing for assembly entirely by hand.
