Interesting example of experimentation taking place by Alan Berger and others at MIT and the GSD. The work involves examining different wetland configurations and how they effect the flow of water to maximize the cleansing effectiveness of the vegetation. The forms and experiments are beautiful and intriguing, it is great to see hydraulic experiments taking place through physical models. Berger describes natural systems as functioning through inefficiency, I would disagree with this. Our narrow view typical pegs the idea of efficiency around a single attribute, such as water flow. Berger is designing systems that trend toward maximum efficiency across a range of attributes which is how natural systems function. Water flow may not be at maximum efficiency but the composite system is at maximum efficiency resulting in greater ecological fitness. Great images and videos at MIT news page and an interesting post on mammoth.
Good interview with Joseph Kosinski at the 5D: The Future of Immersive Design event. Kosinski was one of the partners of KDLAB which did some interesting explorations into the possibilities of visualization tools to create hyper surreal imagery. Kosinski is also the director of the upcoming movie Tron Legacy which looks promising.
Interesting article in the economist about printing body parts. The possibilities are fantastic and possibly frightening, I would say I lean towards fantastic on this one. The printing of biological systems leads us to believe that not only will we be able to replicate but also iteratively engineer/design new systems. Is it feasible that we could print new plant species?
This is a great example of how framing can change the perception of scale in representation. By manipulating the the focus plane Sam O’Hare created “The Sandpit,” a time lapse film that makes shots of New York appear as a model. The technique is tilt-shift photography, and typically uses image editing software to change or minimize the area of focus on an image.
Through the combination of a sand and plastic substrate (to simulate gravel and sand respectively) and alfalfa sprouts (to simulate deep rooted vegetation) a group of Berkeley researchers have successfully recreated a performative model of a meandering stream. Science Daily. Oct 2009
The ability to simulate natural processes through scaled models ties back into the Mississippi Basin Model. In this sense the abstraction occurs because the media (alfalfa sprouts, sand, plastic) perform as scaled counterparts to the real world.
Fantastic tutorial on Video Copilot that shows some of the possibilities available using After Effects. The illusion of moving through strata could be an excellent illustrative technique to show vertical relationships.
Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution ranks as one of the top causes of degradation in some U.S. waters for more than a decade. Large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus lead to regional water quality problems like algal blooms, hypoxia and declines in wildlife habitat.
“Aerobic conditions” in water ways signifies the presence of oxygen in a hydrological system. The natural cycles of the water feature may be more or less in balance until an excess of nitrate, or nitrogen, and/or phosphate enters the system. At this time, water plants and algae begin to grow more rapidly than normal. There is also an excess die off of plants and algae as sunlight is blocked at lower levels. Bacteria try to decompose the organic waste, consuming the oxygen, and releasing more phosphate which is known as “recycling or internal cycling”. Some of the phosphate may be precipitated as iron phosphate and stored in the sediment where it can then be released if anoxic conditions develop.
The 3ds Max software, released by Autodesk, allows users to model, animate, and render objects and systems with a large degree of freedom and accuracy. The Particle Flow program is a simulation system built into 3ds Max. It allows for non-linear events to drive the parameters of the system. Complex phenomena such as water, air, and photon-scale light behavior can all be modeled in the particle flow system.
