Beneath the Surface Blog

We’ve all had those truly strange dreams where you awake fascinated and perplexed at the bizarre aberrations your brain subconsciously concocted during your slumber. We know the feeling here. A good number of us here have dreamt in “AutoCAD Land,” where our actions are controlled by a string of key commands in a computer-program world. Some of us have even had dreams where the surrounding environment - the sky, grass, and water – appears real, but is actually all backlit onyx upon closer inspection. (We don’t recommend diving into the pool in those dreams...)

But strange as dreams may be, have you ever thought about how that vision would be portrayed in reality? How exactly a dream would look and feel if you could recreate and reproduce those peculiar, bizarre, and eccentric nuances in a tangible form? Israel-based Photographer, Ronen Goldman, has set out on a quest to do just that.

While most dreams are fleeting, these photos most certainly are not. Working for years on what Goldman refers to as the “Surrealist Pillow” project, a single dream can take weeks to replicate in photographic form. Gathering and photographing all the necessary elements, along with all the prepping, planning, shooting, and compilations that go into these photos, these recreations can be very time consuming. But in the end, the lasting image of a nonsensical transitory fantasy is achieved.

Often Goldman finds he’s not even sure what the dreams he’s recreating mean or symbolize. However, there are still a couple things of which we can be sure: the visual portrayal of his imperceptible dreams exudes a very personal originality, and whimsically merges art and fantasy in tangible form. Pretty sweet dreams if you ask us (pun intended)!

Image credits: Ronen Goldman

As Nishi Chauhan was swept into daydreams about her ever-growing glass bottle collection, she understood that something needed to be done. Looking upon the various mason jars, wine, and beer bottles in her home, she began to see shapes emerge in the form of animals.

After visiting a local craft district just outside the city of Bangalore and seeing the hundreds of playful animal toys being created by a community of craftsmen, Nishi began a collaboration with them. Various sketches and mock-ups were produced and exchanged until Nishi and the craftsmen shared a collective vision for the bottles. From this interplay of design and making, Animal Farm was born.

These quirky and colorful pieces are an example of an adaptive reuse project which gives the upcycled glass forms new life. Some figures are also fashioned into lamps which diffuse the light and give off a soft and ‘friendly’ glow that make them great for use as a child’s nightlight.

As Nishi recounts the story of the design process:

"The real challenge was to achieve a fusing of attitude and approach between the designer and craftsman, with give and take on both sides. How do you get them to look at objects from a wider world view when their entire world has always been their community? How do you get them to understand design intent, with the interplay of materials, when they’ve only ever worked with one material all their lives? How do you get someone to pay attention to the details and finesse when they’ve spent generations earning money by producing hundreds of objects a day, so what if the curve doesn’t turn out just so?"

A true story behind each creation, we salute the process by which Nishi and the team of craftsmen envision and create the barnyard collections.

Image credits: Nishi Chauhan

The GPI Design team flew out to San Francisco to build and then present a mock-up prototype for backlit onyx elevator cabs that we have been developing for quite some time now. Built and reviewed in under 72 hours, the trip was a whirlwind but it was so rewarding to see our renderings jump off the page and come to life!

The backlit onyx is being used to clad the inside of multiple elevator cabs for a commercial property renovation in San Francisco. Designed by the architectural team at SOM and lighting designer Francis Krahe, translucent stone panels were envisioned as the jewelry-like accents to bring high-design flair to the elevator interiors.

The teams at SOM and TMG Partners have been completely hands-on throughout the stone selection, veining layout, and detailing processes. Exchanging drawings and submittals got us so far, and then it came time to build to decide on the final touches.

Our backlit onyx panels serve as the sole source of light in the elevator cabs and the design is completely streamlined – upon entering the cab, one perceives a monolithic plane of onyx with veins creeping up the wall and then folding onto the ceiling plane. Standing in the cab space is quite dramatic!

In these images, the cab appears split into two as the color temperature is being carefully studied and selected. As you can see, the hue of the backlighting changes the perception of the onyx surface. The design team selected the warmer temperature on the right hand side which is approximately equivalent to the temperature of the sunrise.

Other things that we tested and finalized at this mock-up included:

• Proper thickness of onyx for optimal translucency levels
• Design of the lighting cavity: overall depth, position of LED panels in relation to onyx
• Method of lighting control and strategically grouping panels
• How to diffuse the lighting based on this specific onyx
• Wiring management throughout the whole cab
• Joint details and joint treatments
• Construction and material tolerances
• Installation sequencing

Now we’re back in the office with an approved mock-up and a clear direction. We’re revising our drawings based on what we learned and headed into full production for this project soon. Stay tuned for photos of each of the remaining cabs – each one is sure to have its own personality with the stone patterning! You can see more photos on GPI Design's Facebook page.

A special thanks to Mitsubishi elevators for providing the cab shells and Plant Construction for your hospitality on site.

As 2013 progresses, we can’t help but wonder what the next ‘Big Thing’ will be. Technology seems to grow at such a rate that it’s hard to keep up. With the advent of mobile apps to control the environment of your house, from lighting to sound, hybrid technologies are being set up to create “smart houses”. But can materials be smart, too?

A group of students in a Master of Advanced Studies class in Switzerland designed the installation Phototropia as a response to globalization, increased connectivity, and digital identity in participative and transient systems.

The students describe it as ‘a proposal for an experimental architecture that can decay while actively being renewed. Phototropia explores the use of smart materials in the built environment using “self-made electro-active polymers, screen printed electroluminescent displays, eco-friendly bioplastics and thin-film dye-sensitized solar cells”. Basically the structure is meant to harvest and store solar energy to respond to its users. As the density of users increases, the structure expands and light is emitted.

The video below was made by the students working on Phototropia, and shows how the materials were made and how the structure would move in response to various stimuli.

This responsive architecture may be the future of our built environment and as part of an on-going project, we can’t wait to see what comes next from these inventive designers.

Image credits: CAAD. Blog

When you think of a library, typically, you think of a place in the community that houses books, newspapers, and even digital media. As designers we also think of material libraries where we store samples of all kinds of materials with various colors and textures. Often these samples are highly unorganized due to the fact that new materials are created every day.

Material ConneXion is a group of experts that has created the world’s largest resource for advanced, innovative and sustainable materials. Based in seven cities world-wide, this digital and physical archive features over 6,500 of the most cutting-edge materials available for use, with more added every month. With eight generalized categories, it boasts the largest selection of sustainable materials and is recognized as the only Cradle to Cradle materials library in the world.

Not only can companies get a membership to use the resources of this library, but Material ConneXion also provides a wide range of personalized consulting services to help you choose the best material for your project, and the best place to get it.  In the United States, you can visit Material ConneXion in New York City - we can't wait for a field trip to play in this creative space!

Image credits: Material ConneXion

As we welcome 2013, the team at GPI has been reminiscing about our favorite backlit projects completed in the last year and brainstorming on what experiences we can take forward into the new year.

From backlit 3Form desks in Cleveland to backlit exotic wood in Washington D.C. to a custom onyx barfront in Bahrain, here are some snippets of our past year.  Glancing at these project photos reminds us how lucky we are to have added such diverse and widespread projects to our portfolio in 2012.  We truly learned something new in each of these projects and thank our clients for always keeping us on our toes with new applications!

(click on each photo to read more)

Here's to keeping the strong vision and creating even more original backlighting pieces in 2013!

The holiday season tends to bring out the inner child in each of us, and this lamp design is playing on that same nostalgic sentiment. Inspired by the plastic toy capsules inside of vending machines, the creative team at Design Systems envisioned The Capsule Lamp.

Before the capsules are filled with the brightly colored toys, the fixture appears as a rather prototypical modern light fixture. When filled with the tiny trinkets, the function is transformed from mere light source to a full blown show-and-tell session showcasing your treasured objects (or whatever you choose to display).

All of the fun of a vending machine without having to pay 25 cents – now that’s original!

Image credits: CubeMe

For as long as anyone can remember, architects, designers and artists have used color in various manners as a way to create a unique experience in a space. At the Hirschhorn Museum, Venezuela born Kinetic and Op Artist Carlos Cruz-Diez has employed color in his exhibit in a way that each viewer can experience the space in their own way.

"Color is not simply the color of things,” says Cruz-Diez. “It is an evolving situation, a reality which acts on the human being with the same intensity as cold, heat, and sound.”

Since the mid-1960’s, Cruz-Diez has been developing what is known as Chromosaturations, white rooms completely bathed in RGB light. Each room in the installation is featureless and is illuminated by various gradations between the three colors. “Cruz-Diez says the point of the installation is to show how color is essentially an experience--one that depends on participation from humans.”

Many studies have been conducted about the effects of artificial light on the psychological and physiological state of humans. Everything from the rose stained glass windows of Gothic cathedrals to futuristic light-bathed rooms each are designed to have a special effect on people. In what other ways can we as designers craft unique spaces that tap the senses of human beings?

Image Credits: Fastco Design

The developing world has crucial issues, some of which must be resolved through political action or economic involvement, but some that can be solved through clever and innovative design. One such issue is low-income households in developing nations lacking access to electricity or ample sunlight. A solution to this problem was born in Brazil, where families have designed a light source from used bottles, simplifying their access to illumination.

The light source is created by filling the bottles with a water & bleach solution, placing the sealed upper half of the bottle above ground or in a roof. The result is a reliable source of light being created from refracting the sun’s rays. The bottle creates about the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb. This solution also has another benefit in that it is recycling non-biodegradable bottles that might otherwise be discarded in a landfill (talk about a “bright” idea)!

As designers, we try to solve complex problems with innovative solutions that impact our world, but sometimes we attempt to resolve these issues with grand design schemes when all it really takes is a simple and small tweak that can make a huge difference in the lives of many people. We challenge you to think of small, inexpensive design concepts that can be simply transformed to make a positive difference in someone’s life.

Image credits: Dornob

In “Homage to the Lost Spaces”, artist Mike Hewson recaptures the history of a damaged building slated for demolition. The Cranmer Courts Building, located in Hewson’s hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, will be demolished due to damage from an intense earthquake. To celebrate the history of the building before its demise, Hewson uses the boarded planes of plywood as billboard-like art pieces, depicting former residents of the building during their everyday routines.

We salute Hewson’s work for bringing context (the “how” and the “where”) to the forefront of architecture. Stripping away physical layers to uncover meaning through historical references, Hewson's training as a civil engineer makes his work even more poignant.

Image credits: The Cool Hunter, Mike Hewson