If any of you are lucky enough to be in the Long Island area any time soon make sure you have a look at this exhibition of Richard Meier Models. The scale and quality of those shown here looks fantastic. Something for your finish submissions to aspire toward!
http://www.archdaily.com/466977/richard-meier-model-museum-opens-at-mana-contemporary/
Just before the Christmas break I made a post about the benefits and importance of concious planning and material consideration when thinking about your models. Here is a great example carried out by a group of 3rd year students over the last few days.
This group set out to produce a contour model of a site they have been given to focus on for redevelopment. They took the time to approach us before starting to plan their model which resulted in a huge saving for them in cost and in the materials saved.
Rather than using entire sheets of MDF to build up contour layers We suggested they amend their drawing to construct the contours using the ‘step’ method. This means reducing each contour piece to a fraction of the full sheet size with the only non visible area being a small step to which the piece above can be fixed.
Out of the original materials estimate of 25 full 4mm x 800mm x 450mm sheets for the main contour section of the model the amended drawings helped to decrease this number to just 6.
At the current cost of £2.50 per sheet, the original cost of material for this part of the model would equate to £62.50. After redrawing the file and planning each cut sheet the 6 sheets required cost just £15. A huge saving of £47.50 and 19 full sheets of 4mm Medite MDF.
As you can see it is well worth taking the time to evaluate what it is you are producing and the necessary material required. A good place to start is with your tutors, Jim and myself who are dealing with this subject matter everyday.
Scott
It looks like everyone has hit the ground running this year with the workshop being full to capacity all day!
New Power Sockets
You may notice we now have drop down electrical sockets above the main work desks. These have been installed to avoid trip hazards from the wall sockets behind the desks. When using them simply reach up and pull down to the desired length similar to a draw string on window blinds. If you have any trouble just ask myself or Jim to demonstrate.
New Acrylic and Plywood Thickneses in Stock
We have also just taken delivery of a couple of new materials to add to our stock list.
1mm Cast Acrylic sheets are now available at £37 per 800mm x 450mm sheet. These sheets are expensive but can be invaluable in creating detailed facades on acrylic models. It goes without saying that this material should be savoured because of its expense.
In addition to our laserable Plywood stock we now have 3mm and 4mm sheets at £4 and £5 respectively.
See you soon!
Scott
Hi All,
Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas for myself and Jim in the B.15 workshop!
It’s been a great year for us and we look forward to continue to expand and create with you all in 2014.
We will be re-opening for business on Monday 13th January. See you then!
Scott and Jim!
One of the inevitable by-products of a creative environment such as ours is a large amount of material waste. Whilst a certain amount of this is unavoidable we endeavour to reduce as much unnecessary disposal as possible.
As individuals we all need to be more considerate to make a difference to this and every little change can help.
Here’s a few things to think about for this cause and your own and everybody eleses benefit:
Materials Consideration
This is a huge part of your project and should be thought about in great depth in terms of what you are trying to achieve and the potential waste produced from it. For example, When making a contour model consider the amount of unseen sheet material that could be saved by producing each layer as a step down rather than an entire sheet to form each layer. Could you use grey cardboard which is widely recycled instead of sheets of wood? Always check the free recycled materials before using virgin sheets.
Planning Your Model
Establishing the size and layout of your model can dictate how much material you use. For example if you want to make a laser cut model that measures 900mm x 600mm you will need to use more than a standard laser cut sized sheet (800mm x 450mm) of material to cover the area required. For the sake of using another sheet of material, your money and little visual difference to the end product you should try to work to existing sizes.
Using Machines Appropriately
This is always a sticking point for students using our workshop as experience of machine use is varied. By thinking about each component you are trying to produce beforehand it is possible to produce the desired shape without unnecessary waste.
For example when using the disk sanders to create a roof pitch we can think about the size of the piece we are working with. If the piece requires taking large volumes of material away then it would be more appropriate to cut the majority of the material away using a band saw before moving to the disk sander to accurately finish the cut. By doing this we are reducing the amount of wear to the disk sanders and the levels of dust in the atmosphere around the workshop.
Using Offcuts
With a bit of fore thought it is possible to make virtually anything for next to no cost by utilising off-cuts and unwanted material for others projects. Here in the workshop we have off-cut bins for wood and drawers for cardboard and acrylic of varying sizes and thickness. It is always worth looking at what is available for free to reduce using material and in turn your costs.
Thanks for taking the time to read.
Scott
A few of the students and ourselves will be going to Big Hands on Oxford road from 17.00 Friday 13th for a few festive drinks. Please join us if you’re around!
Jim and Scott
The workshop will be closed for the remainder of today from 13.00. We will re open tomorrow from 9.30. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Scott and Jim
Making continues this week in the workshop with most students focussed on creating city master plan models.
It can be helpful when making master plans to lay out scaled plans to place components in place and ensure everything has been cut. If you want accuracy it is essential to have well scaled plans printed to understand the size of your project on a bench in front of you.
When dealing with master plan models more often than not you will find an abundance of components littering your desk space. The best was to keep track of these to is to order them and separate them into districts. This may suit a group project as individuals can be given responsibility over separate areas of the model. This group used plastic bags to distribute components as they were cut to avoid mixing them up.
Here Jim is using the band saw table on an angle to create roof pitches on a block model. It is likely that when producing block models there will come a point when a machines limits will not be sufficient to get the angle you require.
Overcoming these aspects of modelmaking can be time consuming but is of course necessary to ensure consistent accuracy of your models. Should you feel you’re unsure about how to achieve a particular angle don’t hesitate to ask our advice.
Festive greetings to you all!
The workshop will be closed on the afternoon of Thursday 12th.
Officially the workshop will remain open to students as normal until this coming Friday 13th.
We will however be remaining open over the following week until Thursday 19th. Details below:
Monday 9/12 Open as Normal
Tuesday 10/12 Open as Normal
Wednesday 11/12 Open as Normal
Thursday 12/12 Open Until 13.00
Friday 13/12 Open as Normal
Monday 16/12 Open as Normal
Tuesday 17/12 Open as Normal
Wednesday 18/12 Closed
Thursday 19/12 Open as Normal
Friday 20/12 Closed
To demonstrate her ideas for rebalancing food slow or supplies in the city Sophie used an unorthodox approach to demonstrate her proposal. Using wire to convey possible food output areas of the site are highlighted using coloured acrylic and linked. The main focus is around an existing supermarket with the intention being to show how redistribution of suppliers could be increased locally.
Living water cress troff’s are used in places of significant produce making this a living model – fairly unusual but interesting approach!