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Workshop Updates

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With the academic year over things are a bit quieter down here in the workshop but there’s no shortage of jobs to do!

New band saw

We have just installed a brand new Hammer band saw to replace our smaller Startrite band saw which has become problematic over the last year. The new machine has been ordered from Austria having been built to order.

General Workshop This functions in exactly the same manner with the exception of the drop down guard which has two separate height adjustment and lock off wheels (see image below) as opposed to a single wheel.

General Workshop (2)

Should you be unsure of anything on this new saw don’t hesitate to ask myself or Jim for assistance. The new saw will soon be fitted with the standard emergency stop buttons you will find on all the machines in the workshop. Remember if these switches are pressed you will need a member of staff to unlock the machine for use.

Re-Stocking and New Materials

Ahead of the new year were also re-stocking the store which has been left somewhat depleted after last months exhibition rush! All listed thicknesses of Laser-able (Medite) MDF; Laser-able Plywood and Acrylic stock will all be cut and stocked for September.

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General Workshop (3)

We are currently looking into stocking 1mm and 0.5 mm Acrylic sheet which are great material thicknesses for architectural models that have previously been unavailable here.

Timothy Richards: Fine Plaster Architectural Models, Bath

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Last week we took some annual leave to go on a modelmaking road trip! We visited two main locations and so I’ll split this summary into two posts. This post will cover our visit to Timothy Richards studio in Bath.

The company has become the world leader in the production of fine plaster cast architectural models for exhibition display and private commission.

Over the past few months there have been several student projects attempting to delve into the plaster casting medium to convey their ideas.Whilst we have some experience of this process we thought it would be useful to ourselves and to upcoming students to give an insight into this process commercially and how better than to visit this master of the art!

A friend of mine, Lauren Milton, with whom I graduated in Modelmaking is now working for Tim and was able to give us an extensive private tour and insight into the workings of the company. Tim’s models range from complete buildings to facade’s and architectural details. Many of these models are made to order as private commissions however there is a range of popular works which are kept in stock for purchase.

The method used to produce the models has been refined over time but essentially involves creating a ‘master’ form of the subject to take a mould from then casting in the appropriate coloured plaster which can be pigmented to suit. One of Tim’s core beliefs about model building is that a model should be as similar in materiality as the building it represents. This means that all of the works produced here are cast in their final colour and therefore no paint is used on the cast surfaces. The only areas where colour may be applied is again through a ‘raw finish’ material such as thin sheet metal used to emboss over certain areas much as they would be in reality on roofing details etc.

Once cast, the building or facade components are assembled and any additional details such as window frames and railing are added. These details are primarily made from etched brass – a process we will cover in another post but in the mean time please ask myself or Jim for more information.  The resulting components can be made extremely fine and add a great deal of realism to these models.

Finely sculpted elements are made by sculptors who are paid to create exact replicas of organic details on the buildings. Once complete the scaled down sculpts are cast in white metals and then added to the master models before being cast into the final model.

Tim keeps everything for future reference meaning an extensive store of past model masters and moulds. This area in particular is fascinating and shows the breadth of experience compiled through sheer number of past projects in store. This visit was truly fascinating and insightful. It may be possible for us to arrange a lecture and demonstration from Tim this coming academic year. Should this happen I can’t recommend it enough!

For more on Tim’s work click here: http://www.timothyrichards.com/

Outside of our workshop visit we spent some time looking around Bath looking at some of its fantastic architecture and the historic Roman Bath house. All in all a great place to visit should you get the chance!

Taking from our visit we have decided to have a go at creating some plaster models of our own so we’ll keep you updated on our progress with that in the coming weeks.

Scott

Subvert Skate Park, Saskia Furman

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This site is currently a car park in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Saskia’s 3rd year proposal for this site is a new development providing a space for the ‘socially un-welcome’. The development would include a skate park, hostel and other spaces for urban sports.

For this project Saskia used different coloured acrylics to represent different sections of her proposal.

This type of model is sometimes known as a ‘Jewel model’ due to the illuminated effect given by the coloured acrylics. Commercially this type of model get’s varied use.

Architects Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners favour this style of model during their design development stages.  Providing the CAD files are set up and drawn correctly this type of model can be a great quick addition to a project, this example took around 5 hours to draw, cut and assemble incuding some trial and error!

‘We Are All Explorers’ End of Year Show 2013

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 It’s been a couple of weeks since our last update - with good reason!

With all systems go for the end of year show things have been very busy in the workshop with final model’s being finished, wall units and display plinths being made. As well as these student tasks we had our own projects to complete for the show.

The opening successful and the exhibition days over, we can be certain all efforts paid off.

Here are some photographs of the completed works on display. More case studies will follow soon! For more information about the ‘We Are All Explorers’ exhibition click here.

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Mayfield Redevelopment, Joseph Hamblin

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Josephs description of his project:

My initial place/non-place study of mayfield highlighted the temporality of these ideas. To me mayfield was an area made up of and defined by working relationships, it is fragmented from its urban context and the activities on site work around one another rather than with one another. I wanted to create a unifying vision which responded to the existing urban condition and tied the fragmented territory together. My project brings ideas of knowledge exchange and open source information together to create a platform for innovation on both a personal and corporate scale.

It seemed very fitting for Joseph to use 3D printing to convey his ideas in his model. The idea behind his site redevelopment was that individual business units can be extended or reduced by simply adding or removing sections. New units would be created on site and moved into place using a rail system.

3D printing also lent itself to the mechanical side of the design, allowing moving components such as wheels and the rotating walkways.

In keeping with the new meets old theme on Joseph’s site he decided to keep the reclaimed piece of teak ‘as was’ with its scratched paint and chipped surface. This works really well in creating contrast and makes for a really nice object aside from its relevance to the design concept.

Joseph Hamblin.jpg 3 All Photographs shown here are taken from Joseph’s web page. Click here to see more.

Gothic Window Maquette, Luke Tyson

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Luke’s Year 6 thesis focussed on a site at Green gate Square opposite Manchester Cathedral.

This laser cut development model to test a potential construction method for later models. In the end Luke decided against taking this idea further for this project but this sample turned out really well. Here Luke has layered up laser cut cartridge paper to mimic a stone sculpted Gothic style window. The results looked fantastic and go to show that with patience and experimentation when using machines can give a great range of results.

It’s always a good idea to experiment with these ideas at an early stage of your projects as they often lead to changes in your design and give great insight into success and failures of specific elements.

Luke Tyson y6 (4)

Ancoats Community Development ‘Hybrid Scheme’, Sandra Schenavsky

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3rd year Student Sandra Schenavsky decided to take a materialistic approach to her final submission model. The proposed site in Ancoats would feature a well rounded use of buildings to create a ‘Work, Life and Leisure’ balance for those who might use the space.

Sandra wanted to convey the different uses of each element of her design by representing them as near to her proposed material finish as possible. To do this the existing site and landscaping was represented in laser cut card contours. The main building itself was constructed using pigmented plaster casts to represent concrete sections, laser cut MDF to represent wooden cladding and laser cut acrylic to represent glass facades.

This was a great experimentation project which found a good balance of techniques. Casting plaster into MDF molds proved challenging but after several trials Sandra was able to come up with an effective way of casting the forms she wanted.

 

Events Month

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Earlier this month 5th Year students took on the role of supervisors for groups of 1st and 2nd Year’s group projects. This consisted of a shared brief laid out by the 5th years to give an insight into group working and basic making in the Architecture Degree courses.

The tasks laid out were varied and required full participation from all involved to meet the deadlines. Of particular success was the furniture restoration project that aimed to increase the value of old furniture through simple repair or re-design. Items of old furniture were purchased from charities with the aim of increasing their value through restoration. All sales profits then going back to the charities they were bought from.

Exhibition Preparations in the Workshop

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Since our last post we have barely been able to move for people in the workshop, regularly maxing out our capacity. Deadlines for exhibition construction have meant a surge of students getting their show pieces and exhibit spaces completed.

 

There have been many co-ordinated group’s mass producing components for exhibition over the last few weeks here at SED. Whilst there has been a positive hive of activity, there have been a few instances where machines such as the laser cutter have been wrongly used which we hope to address ahead of the next academic year. This really just comes down to being aware of when it is appropriate to use a specific machine for a given job.

There is a good chance we will be implementing a ‘pay up front’ policy for use of the CAD driven machines and for the materials we supply due to the number of no-shows and the knock on effect that causes to other students wanting to use the machines. Please be aware that these changes are likely to be in place come September.

Details of the Degree Show can be found here: http://degreeshow.mmu.ac.uk/locations/

Extension to the Academy of Fine Arts, Venice, Benjamin Hale

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This project seemed to go on forever but Ben got there in the end after much thought and perseverance! Ben described the project in his own words for us:

“The project centred around the concepts of subtractive architectural restoration, revealing existing elements on site and adding additional elements to solve architectural anomalies often found in historical cities such as this.  The models represent at differing scales how the site interacts with this new architecture as well as how my own building functioned within the new public spaces created by this subtraction. Many of the models are abstract forms of more sophisticated concepts yet the message remains concise as to what each model is trying to achieve by the way of simplifying the material pallet and not resorting to complicated methods. The models are also interchangeable as long as they are created at the same scale and can be reused to create new models later on or explain an idea in greater detail. Model making is an integral part of any designer’s toolbox and new techniques should be tested, however often you can find that a new take on a tried and tested method will result in unexpected outcomes that will further you design.”

This series of models certainly give a varied view of Bens proposed project which is exactly what you should be trying to achieve in your submissions. Models are there to convey different aspects of your design in the best possible way. Spending time to think about exactly what you want to show and how best to show it is time well spent as frustrating as it can be at times!

Also, as a side note to you all, unless you plan to take your array of models with you to interviews etc. then good photography is essential to document your work. We will be looking to a devoted photography area of the workshop in the coming months in time for the start of your new term in September.