Zahner is an engineering design consultancy and fabrication shop known for realizing the visions of architects from Frank Gehry to Zaha Hadid. Since its establishment in 1897, the company's engineers and fabricators have been at the forefront of innovative design and fabrication for a variety of artistic disciplines. From the use of aerospace engineering of curving facades to developing and applying patented technologies, innovation is at the core of Zahner. The museum-level craft and engineering that Zahner consistently provides can be found in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
Zahner primarily manufactures projects engineered by its Design Assist
team, a practice the company developed in the late 20th century to give
clients power to directly control quality, cost, and schedule. Design
Assist consistently saves money for owners. This is achieved by
expertise, automation strategies, and analytical processes which occur
at the beginning of each project.
- azahner.com
Zahner uses a multitude of power tools to achieve the look that the customer wants. Most of what Zahner works with is some form of metal. They use a water jet to perform cuts into the material, special punches that make different shapes onto the surface, and a grand multitude of methods to achieve surface textures that are drastically different from the original material.
Zahner works with prototypes that are at such a grand scale; most of the prototypes are 1/1 scale that are placed right behind the factory. It is amazing to be able to see what more or less what the finished product will look like right in front of you.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Sketches of Frank Gehry - Film
Sketches of Frank Gehry is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Sydney Pollack and produced by Ultan Guilfoyle, about the life and work of the Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. The film was screened out of competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Pollack and Gehry had been friends and mutual admirers for years. The film features footage of various Gehry-designed buildings, including a hockey arena for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The film includes interviews with other noted figures. - Wikipedia
Frank Gehry has designed a multitude of different buildings, ranging from hockey arenas, museums, to even his own house (which he used extensively as a testbed). His design of architecture is very organic and sometimes even feels impossible (in the case of the Guggenheim Museum). It is so eye catching it has become the defining building of its location.
Throughout the documentary, he uses a method of prototyping that was very fast and clean. This method of prototyping engages the designer team and promotes collaboration. It is definitely a method that should be widely used.
Frank Gehry has designed a multitude of different buildings, ranging from hockey arenas, museums, to even his own house (which he used extensively as a testbed). His design of architecture is very organic and sometimes even feels impossible (in the case of the Guggenheim Museum). It is so eye catching it has become the defining building of its location.
Throughout the documentary, he uses a method of prototyping that was very fast and clean. This method of prototyping engages the designer team and promotes collaboration. It is definitely a method that should be widely used.
Matthias Pliessinig - Hallmark Speaker
Matthias Pliessnig is an acclaimed furniture designer based in Philadelphia whose work uses steam bent wood. His style is "kinetically contemporary" and he uses "computer-aided curves with laborious craftsmanship" to handcraft chairs and benches.
Pliessnig is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Wisconsin (Madison). His interest in woodworking developed after he decided to build a boat and was inspired to apply those techniques, particularly steam bending of wood strips around a mold, to furniture making. The New York Times reported that his studio "looks more akin to a boat-builder’s garage than an icy SoHo loft, which makes sense when you consider the lunular shapes of Pliessnig’s chairs."-Wikipedia
Matthias uses only steam bent wood to achieve the unique forms of furniture he creates. He uses 3D modeling programs as a form of sketching, to get most of the contour lines and the looks of the finished product. All of his work are joined and cut by hand, using lots of clamps to form the shape, and various powered saws to cut the material. The furniture is then finished and sanded by hand, then shipped through handmade boxes that are sturdy and can withstand overseas transportation.
I find it amusing that he encourages us to design and make through traditional processes. He likes the tools of digital modeling, but embraces the skill that goes behind handmade products, which are skills that cannot be replaced by machines.
Pliessnig is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Wisconsin (Madison). His interest in woodworking developed after he decided to build a boat and was inspired to apply those techniques, particularly steam bending of wood strips around a mold, to furniture making. The New York Times reported that his studio "looks more akin to a boat-builder’s garage than an icy SoHo loft, which makes sense when you consider the lunular shapes of Pliessnig’s chairs."-Wikipedia
Matthias uses only steam bent wood to achieve the unique forms of furniture he creates. He uses 3D modeling programs as a form of sketching, to get most of the contour lines and the looks of the finished product. All of his work are joined and cut by hand, using lots of clamps to form the shape, and various powered saws to cut the material. The furniture is then finished and sanded by hand, then shipped through handmade boxes that are sturdy and can withstand overseas transportation.
I find it amusing that he encourages us to design and make through traditional processes. He likes the tools of digital modeling, but embraces the skill that goes behind handmade products, which are skills that cannot be replaced by machines.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Field Trip - Star Signs
Star Signs, LLC provides custom fabrication and installation of commercial signs and large architectural signage
and graphics products. We provide complete project management to ensure
the success of each project. In design and fabrication, we balance
issues of design, technology, quality and cost to ensure we fulfill the
expectations and vision of our customer. -starsignsllc.com
Star Signs mostly uses aluminum as a base material for their signs, with the combination of using polycarbon, photopolymer, acrylics, and vinyls. The materials are cut with jump sheers or a CNC router, then painted with automotive grade paint or applied with printed vinyl/polymer/acrylic graphics. They use welding and joining processes that don't intrude the looks a sign should have. Star Signs has a very precise and simple way of putting together their products, which is very impressive in my opinion.
Star Signs mostly uses aluminum as a base material for their signs, with the combination of using polycarbon, photopolymer, acrylics, and vinyls. The materials are cut with jump sheers or a CNC router, then painted with automotive grade paint or applied with printed vinyl/polymer/acrylic graphics. They use welding and joining processes that don't intrude the looks a sign should have. Star Signs has a very precise and simple way of putting together their products, which is very impressive in my opinion.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Field Trip: the Reuter Organ Company
The Reuter Organ Company is a local company of Lawrence, Kansas since 1917. They have designed and built around 22,000 custom organs and repaired about the same amount of organs. They design, build, and sell organs that are commissioned by people all around the globe. It is one of the only four companies in the U.S. that provide the full package of original parts manufactured and built by the company .
The Reuter Organ Company usually designs and builds organs for the specific setting and surroundings. Clients usually include churches, auditoriums, colleges, and sometimes even a private residence. The prices usually range from $500,000 to about $2,000,000.
The Reuter Organ Company manufactures their own material and parts for building an organ. The pipes of the organ are divided into two categories, pipes that are 4 feet or less, and the ones that are 4 feet and above. Pipes that are 4 feet and below are made with an alloy of 50% tin and 50% lead. This formula is used so that it sounds good, but other companies might use different formulas. They start of as ingots that are smelted, and then poured and cooled off as sheets of metal. The longer pipes are made out of copper, since the length and weight of the pipe can only be sustained by using a stronger metal. After the materials are created, they are hammered onto a circular mold until they form the shape of a pipe. After that, they will be welded and sealed off to complete the function of a pipe.
The wood that is used in the organs would be designated by the client, as they do not directly affect how the organ functions as an instrument. The wood would only affect how the exterior of the organ looks, and not how it sounds. The keys of the organ also only affect the looks and not the performance of the instrument. They come in bone, wood, or plastic depending on the look and overall aesthetics of the instrument compared to the surroundings of the organ.
One of the main attractions to the Reuter Organ Company is the CNC Router that is used to cut specific patterns on the wood panels that would be displayed on the exterior of the organ. This method is more efficient than hand cutting the patterns, since only a computer and a designed program will be required to do any complex pattern. This takes out a lot of the errors that can be encountered while cutting out patterns by hand.
Overall, on this trip to the factory of the organs, I got an idea of the time it takes to hand make and create a product that is long lasting and well designed. The profit of making organs is very scarce. Yet despite that, these people still put in the effort and love into creating these products, so that they can truly make a wonderful product that will serve a lifetime.
The Reuter Organ Company usually designs and builds organs for the specific setting and surroundings. Clients usually include churches, auditoriums, colleges, and sometimes even a private residence. The prices usually range from $500,000 to about $2,000,000.
The Reuter Organ Company manufactures their own material and parts for building an organ. The pipes of the organ are divided into two categories, pipes that are 4 feet or less, and the ones that are 4 feet and above. Pipes that are 4 feet and below are made with an alloy of 50% tin and 50% lead. This formula is used so that it sounds good, but other companies might use different formulas. They start of as ingots that are smelted, and then poured and cooled off as sheets of metal. The longer pipes are made out of copper, since the length and weight of the pipe can only be sustained by using a stronger metal. After the materials are created, they are hammered onto a circular mold until they form the shape of a pipe. After that, they will be welded and sealed off to complete the function of a pipe.
The wood that is used in the organs would be designated by the client, as they do not directly affect how the organ functions as an instrument. The wood would only affect how the exterior of the organ looks, and not how it sounds. The keys of the organ also only affect the looks and not the performance of the instrument. They come in bone, wood, or plastic depending on the look and overall aesthetics of the instrument compared to the surroundings of the organ.
One of the main attractions to the Reuter Organ Company is the CNC Router that is used to cut specific patterns on the wood panels that would be displayed on the exterior of the organ. This method is more efficient than hand cutting the patterns, since only a computer and a designed program will be required to do any complex pattern. This takes out a lot of the errors that can be encountered while cutting out patterns by hand.
Overall, on this trip to the factory of the organs, I got an idea of the time it takes to hand make and create a product that is long lasting and well designed. The profit of making organs is very scarce. Yet despite that, these people still put in the effort and love into creating these products, so that they can truly make a wonderful product that will serve a lifetime.
Show and Tell/How it's Made: Transformers Action Figure
Function: Toy, Transform, Display Piece
Personality: Fun, Cool, Intuitive, Childish
Who Makes it: Designed by Takara Tomy of Japan, Franchise owned by Hasbro.
Markets: Children, generally boys, Transformers Collectors.
Materials: ABS & PVC Plastic, Metal for the Screws.
Forming Technology: ABS & PVC Injection Molding, Screws formed by layering metal wire.
Cutting Technology: Factory Workers Cutting off parts with Spruce Cutters.
Finishing Technology: Assembled and Painted by Workers
Overall Impressions: I personally have a collection of action figures and toys. Transformers is only a
small part of my collection, but they are unique in their own way because of the function of transforming and the complex mechanics and ideas that were put in while designing these toys.
Research: Transformers was a toy franchise that was started by Japan in the 1980's. It has been successful and has continued to evolve and grow to this day. Now it is one of the most well known toy lines in the US known for its intuitive design and reliability that has been built up over the past few decades.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)