Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Crisis Kitchen

This unit acts as a center for basic cooking and storing needs within a disaster area.
With a focus on addressing water shortage and storage The Crisis Kitchen was our response to creating a mobile kitchen.
Above: As see in the Annual Student Show!
Above: As shown, a funnel, a filter to remove particles, and a bucket for fetching water.
Above: how a disaster victim carries the pack. Below: valves to release the water stowed.
The walls for the unit act as water bladders and can store up to 3.5 liters. The average person requires 1.5 to 2 liters a day to survive. Additionally we divided up the lining into three separate bladders to increase survivability if one becomes punctured.
Measuring and sewing the lining to the Crisis Kitchen.

Part of our second prototype model.
Sewing our walls.
Let the assembly begin!
Here is were we sketched ideas out as a group before making the prototype.

Uh oh! How do you carry it?




Our initial concept of a mobile kitchen.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Menorah Holiday Decorations.

Modeled in Rhino, lazercut in acrylic.

Designed to be given away, these Menorahs turn any Christmas tree into a Holiday tree!

Not only do they hang, but they can be used as ninja stars too !

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Paper Snaps! The Reusable Staple

50 Sheets of paper fastened!

Exploded Paper Snap
The final Paper Snap!


Paper Twists
The second prototype, relying on twisting rather than snapping to attach paper together.
While an improvement over the first prototype, it was decided that the time spent threading the fasteners together would cause the product to lose its appeal over staples.

The first prototype of Paper Snaps.

The current model of Paper Snaps, allowing for a maximum of 50 sheets to be snapped together.

The second version, by using threads instead of rings this model allows for a minimum of two sheets to be fastened together.

These first models of Paper Snaps feature the evolution from a bulky male-female fastener to the thin Paper Snaps that comply with the standard diameter from a hole puncher.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Rollup Grill

Cutting out the steel grill with a Dremel. Only later did we find out that the program which runs the water-jet cutter changed some key geometries and the pieces did not fit together.
Assembling the first prototype.

A digital sketch of the current model. Instead of a curved grill this has a flat top to allow for more cooking space. Currently this has been cut out of steel with a water jet cutter and will be assembled in the coming weeks.
Designed to fit inside the Crisis Kitchen, this grill is at home over an open fire.
This first prototype demonstrates proof of concept and highlights the characteristics of the links which make up the grill.







Saturday, November 28, 2009

Paper + Cardboard Sandals


In this assignment I had to create a pair of shoes myself and then create a personalized pair for our partner. On top of creating the structural integrity of the shoe we also had to incorporate our partner's personality into the shoe. Because of partner's origins from Peru I used a weave to create the checkered pattern and I chose purple because it was her favorite color.


By far my favorite tread design. The top half reminded me of a skelaton of a fish. Coupled with the bottom tread it took the loose shape of an exclamation point.


In an effort to create a cohesive evolution of sandal design, I chose to create this tread design reminiscent of a question mark while still following the weight distribution of the foot. Since it the last in the cardboard sandal triptych I decided to be adventurous and utilize colored cardboard.
The first tread pattern, an exploration of weight distribution. I took the initial amount of treads for one sandal, and halved them. It turned out I was able to use half of the initially planned amount to support my weight.





Before cutting out the final shoe I created a template and mapped out where the truncated cone treads would go.Original sketches where I took the final form and treads from.
Early sketches of tread patterns for my cardboard sandals.