NetQuantum :: Arts :: Architecture :: Experimental ::

• How Tata is making the world's cheapest auto
The team spent a year developing 32 experimental variants to create the perfect driveshaft for the Nano. It roped in designers from the company's French and Italian operations and changed the design to make it lighter and easier to manufacture.
• Why Twitter Matters
The company has launched an advertising program on its site in Japan, but it's "largely experimental," Stone says. Twitterers, of course, have all sorts of ideas about how to monetize the system.
• Good news, bad news for space tourism
There’s a big difference between purchasing an aircraft from airline manufacturers and buying a suborbital spaceship, Whitehorn suggested: “We are in uncharted territory here … at the experimental cutting edge of a new industry.” Whitehorn ...
• Diversity runs deep on Discovery’s crew
He earned a doctorate in experimental particle physics from the University of Stockholm and later became a docent in particle physics at the university. He joined the astronaut corps in 1996 and then went on to train on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft ...
• Lizards split into couch potatoes and foragers
Running involves a bouncing movement. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation and detailed in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology, sheds light on adaptations that have evolved in lizards as they change their food ...

» Archi Libre - Takes a look at vernacular and self-educated strands in architecture. Materials and techniques, fantastic architecture, domes, and zomes. [French, English, Spanish]
» Architects Design in Cyberspace - Illustrated article by Alfredo Andia and Claudia Busch on the designs by New York based architectural firm Asymptote on a virtual New York Stock Exchange.
» ArchLab Studio - Experimental architecture and industrial design studio founded by Antonio Pio Saracino and Steve E. Blatz. Biographies, awards and portfolio of innovatory designs including flexible housing, screens and furniture.
» Copenhagen Substitute - An interactive tour of Utopian designs by various architects. Devised by Dellbruegge and de Molls, it formed part of the exhibition "models of resistance" in Copenhagen May/June 2000.
» Curvilinear Surfaces - Aleksandra Kasuba explains how to install curved fabric structures (under tension) in environmental and architectural projects. Examples of her installations. Biography, bibliography.
» Decodeine - Margot Kasojevik presents dynamics, simulation and animation design processes in architecture. Includes animations.
» Design Museum: Archigram / Architects (1961-1974) - Formed by a group of young London architects, Archigram magazine dominated the architectural avant garde in the 1960s with its playful, pop-inspired visions of a technocratic future. Exhibition at the Design Museum, London.
» Diaphan Architectural - Sabine von Fischer explores space in material and thought, in the form of drawings and texts – from concept and criticism to construction. Projects focus on sensorial and invisible boundaries such as "sonic barriers", and on completely collapsed objects in the "event horizon" series.
» Dynamic Architecture - David Fisher presents his design for a rotating tower in Dubai. Between its independently rotating floors are wind turbines, generate electric energy for itself as well as for other buildings. Includes description, video and press articles.
» Electronic Democracy Spaces - University diploma project on two parallel networks (physical and digital) that host and encourage political participation. Dimitris Papadopoulos and Iannis Orfanos.
» Emergent - Tom Wiscombe researches issues of globalism, technology, and materiality through built form. Projects and publications on experimental architecture of complex geometry, informed by contemporary models of biology and business.
» Just-In-Time Infrastructure Prototype - Igor Kebelour presents a concept of domestic, working, public and mobile institutions merged into one. Includes model, analysis and discussion.
» Mas Yendo Experimental Projects - The Japanese architect describes and illustrates his wide range of experimental works. Includes biography and some of his writings.
» Pouchulu Architects - Argentinian architect and academic Patricio Pouchulu displays his portfolio of futuristic designs, including those for major competitions.
» Research Institute for Experimental Architecture - A non-profit institution with the purpose of advancing experimentation and research in the field of architecture, based in Bern, Switzerland, and New York City, US. Biographies of Lebbeus Woods and Guy Lafranchi, news and publications.
» Spacepat - Frames are used to delimit space and to expose visitors to a new three-dimensionality.
» The Steel Research House - An experiment in modern house design using light steel framing at the University of Nottingham, UK. Context, project outline and progress. Feedback form for comments.
» Symphonic House - A resonant house built on a Lake Michigan beach as a joint experiment between David Hanawalt, architect, and Bill Close, sonic installation artist. Includes photographs and video with music.
» Tent Design - Russian architect Anvar Khairoylline enthuses about the possibilities of tent structures. His profile, illustrated summary of his thesis and examples of projects using the principles of tent construction.
» The Translucent House - A prototype by Alfons Soldevila. Photograph parades show the building process from design to finish, and other buildings using translucence. A detailed description and theoretical background.
» Zomes Concept - Creating homes from a harmonious family of geometric forms. Includes definitions, symbolism, images, and construction.