Beneath the Surface Blog

Working with stone throughout our history at GPI has made us familiar with the wide variety of marble applications in the design industry. Besides the translucent characteristics of some stones when sliced into thin sheets - giving us the ability to backlight - the creative manipulation of stone continues to surprise designers. Kjetil Thorsen, an architect at the Norwegian firm Snohetta, has created a project meant to show just how adaptable marble really is.

As part of a showcase entitled Mutable Spirit, Thorsen’s display The Antipodes of the Lithosphere was commissioned for an Italian stone company. The installation "expresses the versatility of marble through panels which are composed of an arrangement of stone cylinders stacked to form a wall". The alignment of these cylinders and their solid-void relationship allows for an obstructed view of the wall's opposing side and interesting light patterns. Texture and visual delicacy is given to the marble object that would traditionally be perceived as smooth and heavy.

The project was displayed in Italy at Marmomacc, an international trade fair for operators working in the marble sector. The event showcases various types of complex stone processing and is a venue in which to highlight the natural stone materials and its inherent characteristics and potential applications.

We are particularly drawn to this installation for its deep consideration of what the designer refers to as the “genetic code” within stone material. While the wall partitions constitute a large volume of space, evoking images of marble in its quarried block for, the mass is punctuated by peeks through the cylindrical forms.

By keeping the relatable form but executing with this unexpected detailing method, Thorsen draws a close tie to the roots of the marble formation and elevates the possibilities of fabrication. For these meaningful design moves, today we salute Kjetil Thorsen for her insightful marble design!

Image Credits: Design Boom, Domus Web

The GPI Design team is always interested in creative uses of LED panels, especially when paired with innovative lighting controls. This installation is no exception. The lighting accents in this art installation show that lighting, however understated, can change the experience of installations and artwork throughout the day, creating a welcoming glow in the evening and invigorating a streetscape.

Daily Tous Les Jours, a design collaborative in Montreal, Canada, produced ’21 balancires’ for the 2013 biennale international design fair in Sainte-Etienne. This public installation was available for use in the Quartier Des Spectacles, a high-traffic area in Montreal. Twenty-one swings trigger individual notes while in use and the installation is meant to “explore the notion of collaboration and the positive outcomes which can be a result of working together”, according to the designers.

As users begin to swing in tandem, melodies occur according to which swings are in use and the rate at which users swing. As dusk approaches, the swings illuminate to heighten the sensory experience of its users. The ‘EmpathiCITY, making our city together’ exhibition “investigates the biennale’s theme of empathy… articulated through a series of urban interventions which turn the streets into a domain for democratic expression”, remarked an official.

“The installation offers a fresh look a the idea of cooperation – the notion that we can achieve more together than alone.” -- Tous Les Jours and Luc-Alain Giraldeau, a professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal’s Science Faculty.

The motivation behind this wonderful installation is both emotional and inspiring. We would love to see a permanent installation like this somewhere in our area so that we could take "musical breaks"!

Image credits: Design Boom

Rarely in today’s times do people get a chance to see the stars. Whether it be from city light pollution or simply a lack of time, it’s not often that we gaze into the night sky and peer into the grand play that is the universe. The "Cosmos" lighting simulation by Leo Villareal may not encapsulate the entire universe but it does give us the opportunity to see what’s out there.

The interactive lighting installation, located at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, was constructed to pay homage to the university’s late astronomy professor Carl Sagan. Composed of over 12,000 LED’s wired in a grid, Villareal programmed the exhibit to display the heaven’s illumination patterns. The software, created by Villareal himself, generates various shapes and forms to create a very unique light show. “It is especially exciting to view the installation at nighttime, when the patterns of light make the ceiling disappear and turn it into a void—light trumping matter,” said Andrea Inselmann, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Johnson Museum.

A zero gravity bench, 25 feet long, was designed by the artist for viewers to fully immerse themselves in the experience and to facilitate a more communal involvement with the installation. “The challenge for me is to find a way to do it that respects what’s here but that adds another layer that can really invigorate the building and make people look at it in a new way.” Said Villareal. The installation measures in at 45’ x 68’ and is mounted on a high ceiling of the Sherry and Joel Mallin Sculpture Court to provide pedestrians clear visibility to observe from below.

The initial development of the exhibition began almost three years ago in November of 2010 when Villareal, along with project architect Walter Smith, AIA LEED AP, and donors Lisa and Richard Baker, collaborated with the Johnson Museum to find a suitable location for the installation. “It’s almost like a musical instrument that you have to tune and get just right,” said the artist. “It’s a process of discovery, because I don’t know in advance what it’s going to be.”  In this case, does context create originality?

GPI Design collaborated on a mock-up and then installation of a backlit recycled glass entry portal for a commercial office building in New York City. We are backlighting a dense recycled glass with significant natural variance and texture, which means that our backlighting solutions have to be responsive and flexible. The light blending strategies constantly changed from initial concept to mock-up to actual installation. Here is a peek into the process:

When we received the glass sample, the GPI team tested the recycled glass in our office - lots of trial, error, and creativity during this process!

Diffuser pieces were handcrafted and allowed for addition/subtraction according to the characteristics of the glass.

For the mock-up, we coordinated with the glazing and metal contractors to finesse the system and detailing. The pieces were assembled as a mock-up panel for the design team to review.

With the mock-up complete, it all goes back to the drawing board... the architect, lighting designer, GPI, glazing contractor, general contractor, and electrical contractor are marking up the shop drawings with the final details based on what we all learned through the mock-up process.

Even with an extensive development process, after full installation in the final environment, the lighting still needed to be balanced and tweaked based on each piece of glass and the ambient conditions.  The GPI Design team spent five days on-site making those adjustments.

The final lighting result (surrounding finishes still in progress) - illuminated recycled glass portal that wraps from wall to ceiling.  At over thirty feet tall, the backlit glass is a celebration of the entry sequence and a beacon for visitors. Look for this lighting installation when you are near Times Square in NYC!

It’s no secret that fingerprints are unique. With over 7 billion people on the planet, the odds of your set of fingerprints matching someone else’s are in the quadrillions (that’s a digit followed by 15 zeros!). In other words, it’s not very likely.

But have you ever stopped to consider the impact fingerprints have on design on our perception of it? Yes, their undulating patterns can serve as a parti for buildings and designs, like this conceptual Fingerprint Building or the Fingerprint Lamp by Dan Yeffet (both below).

But aside from a pure visual influence, fingerprints themselves - their form, pattern, and function - facilitate a deeper, more cognitive impact on the design world, and ultimately shape how we experience and interpret it.

An intricate assemblage of ridges and valleys on the pads of our fingers create vibrations as they graze a surface, allowing our brains to deduce and qualify how a material feels. Because of these vibrations, we can differentiate between smooth and rough, scratchy and soft. Without these ridge formations, it would be difficult to articulate those variances in texture so precisely, if at all.

But pattern also plays a significant role in our interpretation of a material. The elliptical patterning of fingerprints (categorized generally as arch, loop, or whorl), allows for some ridges and valleys to always fall perpendicular to the surface, no matter the angle of the fingers. This, not only creates beautifully organic and one-of-a-kind patterns from a visual standpoint, but also allows for optimum vibrations, generating a faster, more accurate analysis of a surface.

Design, itself, is a very tactile process. As designers (and humans in general), we’re inherently inclined to touch, feel, hold materials in our hands; it helps us perceive them, interpret them, envision how to use them. And fingerprints are ultimately central in this ability.

So whether you’re inspired by their beautiful intricacy, or by the design principles deeply embedded within each, fingerprints are integral in the design world, allowing us to identify and connect to surfaces in such a uniquely physiological way.

Fingerprints are at the very core of our understanding of textures, and at 1 in 7 billion, they are truly Mother Nature’s own personal Salute to Originals.

Image credits: Best Buildings, Number Seventy Six, M Live, Times of News

Browsing Pinterest always generates quick design inspiration without leaving the comfort of your laptop.  This image both caught our eye and resonated with our design philosophies:

The depiction of petrified tree rings is organically colorful, reflecting a slow growth over the years while also capturing a single moment in time.  The materials created by Mother Nature carry a rich history loaded with an emotional essence that faux replications can't begin to recreate, try as we may.

What other connotations does this image of natural petrified wood bring to your mind?

Follow GPI Design on Pinterest to share more visual delights - we love to see what inspires you.

“How did it get so late so soon?”

As Dr. Seuss poetically posed this question in one of his whimsical rhymes, we too are constantly amused at how quickly time in the office seems to fly by. Between phone calls, emails, meetings, social media, drawings, and deadlines, a bystander might wonder how anything ever gets accomplished. Sporadic glances at the digital clocks on our laptop screens remind us that there is never enough time in the day.

Designers Li Ke, Pang Sheng Li & Chen Yi Lin created the Delete Clock to explore the limitations and opportunities that time embodies. This clock surface is made with whiteboard which can be written on with erasable marker. With quadrants representing blocks of time throughout the day, users can scribble their daily schedule. The clock hands sweep along keeping time as normal. The key element here: the bottom of the clock hand is an eraser, wiping away the scheduled tasks as the minutes tick away.

While the relationship to time is deep seated and its passing has different meanings based on context, the Delete Clock plays on universal relationships: time, cycles, measurement, and achievement.

One thing about this clock would certainly drive us nuts – losing the satisfaction of crossing something off of our to-do lists by drawing a thick black line across the sheet of paper. In the design industry though, is anything ever really complete?!

Image credits: Yanko Design

What a great experience working with the design team at Hickok Cole to develop these custom backlit onyx ottoman tops! Designed specifically for a lobby space in downtown Washington, D.C., these movable ottoman sets were envisioned to have a glowing white onyx finish against a cubic wooden base. Creating custom furniture pieces is always refreshing for us, as the details at a smaller scale become an even more important.

Here's a peek into the process:

With the ottoman design and layout nailed down, the team at Hickok Cole Architects selected our Ivory Vein Onyx to adorn the ottomans. This onyx variety was chosen for its clean veining and creamy white coloration. It was reinforced with glass backing and thinned down to provide higher translucency levels and increased durability for a commercial lobby.

Controllable LED backlighting animates the onyx surface while giving it a whole other layer of variability.  When the backlighting is off or dimmed to a low level, the onyx appears cleanly modern. With warm LED backlighting, the onyx takes on a soft candlelit glow to provide ambiance for the lobby environment.

In a continuous flow of veins between the top pieces and edge pieces, the natural stone patterning wraps onto all faces.  Likewise, the lighting behind each face is controlled separately to account for natural variances in the stone formation.

Knife mitered edges accentuate the simple geometry of the ottoman design. The detailed layers of onyx, lighting, and fasteners to construct the ottomans were developed in conjunction with the furniture manufacturer, Asher Cole, who assembled the wooden bases with our onyx tops.

The ottomans are currently in the finishing stages by the furniture manufacturer and will soon be shipped to the job site.  We'll see everything illuminated after the electrical hook up to our Infuse™ lighting control counterparts (which are waiting on site for the lovely onyx to arrive).  Stay tuned for more photos of these glowing onyx furniture pieces!

UPDATE: Click here to see the illuminated ottomans!

As lovers of translucent surfaces and progressive design, the word “porcelain” does not often weave its way into conversations here at GPI. Porcelain surfaces traditionally evoke residential powder rooms, a series of neatly laid tiles that are constrained to right angles and square shapes. So we were pleasantly stunned to find the Pulsate project, in which architects reinvigorate the design possibilities of porcelain surfaces.

For the Capital Designer Studio tile showroom in London, architects Lily Jencks and Nathanael Dorent used a repetitive geometry of porcelain tiles to clad every plane in the space. Using only four color shades of tile (and all in the same size), perspective and layout are strategically manipulated to create a truly dynamic composition. With a sloped floor and built in benches, the images of the Pulsate installation only begin to touch on the experience of actually traversing through the space.

As Jencks explain the design concepts at play, “One is about perception - how you perceive distances and shapes; and make sense of space. The other is about how to display an object that's for sale; we wanted the space to be more than just a showroom selling tiles; to rethink the commercial transaction as something more creative."

We can sympathize with the attention to detail required to properly show off these tiles, the substructure is invisible but certainly had to be completely precise in order for the surface installation to function.  Not to mention the conceptual marketing strategy by Capital Designer Studio, they certainly found a way to redefine their material.

A true testament to the pop-up design trends, the installation is launching today and will remain at the showroom through December 2013.  Today, we can salute porcelain material for its unexpected flair!  Have any Londoners visited the installation yet? Can anyone describe the experience of walking through the space?

Image credits: Dezeen

Design and sketching go hand in hand. Designers constantly rely on using various media to visually capture and convey their complex visions. Time after time, we pull out the trusty sketch pad or sit down at the CAD station, and attempt to communicate all the intricate nuances of our concepts through a mess of converging lines on paper. Often, that’s easier said than done.

But recently, there’s been a game changer in the sketching world – 3D pens. Using similar technology to emerging 3D printers, these pens allows your lines to literally come right off the paper, allowing for visual intent to be expressed in actual physicality in real-time; you can literally sketch your idea into existence.

Merely describing these pens doesn’t nearly come close to the awe of seeing them in action. Watch the clip below of the 3D pen (this one’s called the 3Doodler) and see how it transforms what would be a typical sketch into a tangible 3D entity.

We can’t help but imagine all the potential for 3D sketching and how it can potentially impact the way in which we communicate design, both to our fellow designers and to our clients. We can’t wait to get our hands one of these! And for that, 3D pens, we salute you today!