Charlotte Fernández
UKIMEA Press Office,Leeds
Arup has been involved in four high profile projects at the London Design Festival 2014.
The projects, which showcase an eclectic mix of engineering expertise, are: ‘Double Space for BMW: Precision & Poetry in Motion’, ‘Wikihouse’, ‘Fingers Crossed’ and ‘The Shed’.
Double Space for BMW: Precision & Poetry in Motion is an installation of two conjoined sculptures that each span over 15 metres, rotating within the large volume of the Raphael Gallery. Their reflectivity causes a distortion, expansion and compression of the space that they inhabit.
Built to coincide with the launch of London Design Festival 2014, the ‘Wikihouse’ is the world’s first open source, digitally manufactured two storey house that anyone can download, digitally manufacture and assemble for themselves in days, with no construction skills.
Fingers Crossed is a collaborative project between Arup, TRADA and the Emergent Technologies and Design Programme which provides a fertile thinking ground and an opportunity to experiment with material, computational design and fabrication techniques, form and function. Hosted at Arup’s No. 8 Fitzroy Street office this has proved a great opportunity for engineers and architects to challenge conventional thinking when designing with timber.
The Shed is part of the ‘Wish List’ exhibition at the V&A museum and was designed by Nathalie de Leval who was commissioned by Sir Paul Smith to make his ideal shed. The Shed is made almost entirely from wood for the structure, roof and wall cladding.
