Archive for October, 2012

Stepping into Glasstec

Posted by

The Rheinturm reflecting on the Stadttor facade, and seen from inside the Stadttor building

Andy_iphone_726
Glass_tec_2012_422

Another bienneal event Meteek attended this Fall is Glasstec, the global glass tradeshow in Düsseldorf, Germany. Glasstec covers all aspects of glass, from solar installations and architecture to interior design and jewelry.

Andy_iphone_745
Glass_tec_2012_437
Glass_tec_2012_510

What does Meteek find so interesting about glass? Besides the glass office building facade that has become so ubiquitous, architectural glass is associated with industrial material companions, steel and fabric. And what pushes the envelope in material manufacturing and application of one of these materials often brings the other two along.

Interesting architectural uses of materials around Düsseldorf

P1080939
Andy_iphone_732
Glass_tec_2012_429
Andy_iphone_729

Architectural glass has advanced the frontier of automated building systems, air exchange, active and passive solar systems, and complex fastening technologies. Glass, steel and fabric together have allowed breakthrough structural designs to emerge, and created the demand for dimensional computer modeling necessary for the structural testing and construction workflows for these designs.

One of the many displays of robotic technology for glass manufacturing and installation

Andy_iphone_751

Meteek is keen on innovating systems that work in our climate, and finding new material combinations, structural options and workflow technologies that align with our commitment to energy efficiency and beautiful design.

And we had a blast talking with innovators and manufacturers from all over the world, touring around Düsseldorf and catching up with friends in the glass trade.

New technologies including conductive thinfilm and printed photovoltaic laminates

P1090016
P1080959

With Joe, Bhavani, Kirsten and Phillip at La Donna Cannone

P1080933_print

IENE – the Infra Eco Network Europe

Posted by
P1080407

Yes, but what is an IENE, you ask???

IENE is a biennal gathering of folks interested in mitigating the deleterious effects of infrastructure on the habitats we build it in and on.

And what does that mean???

We have built infrastructure--roads, railways, power transmission lines, pipelines--in a way that creates barriers to the daily, seasonal or breeding migration of all sorts of animals, including humans. The most obvious indication of the habitat infringement and fragmentation this creates is roadkill.

In areas without measures to assist in crossing infrastructure barriers, all kinds of animals are squashed daily, and nightly, from beetles, snakes and turtles to deer, herons and bats. Less obviously, some animals stop attempting to cross these barriers, and the resulting land for daily foraging, and for seasonal mating, gets systematically diminished as we build more roads and develop more residential and industrial areas.

This year the IENE conference was held in Potsdam, Germany, and included presentations, posters and field trips. The images below are from a bus trip to view various sites that are part of an ecological network in the state of Brandenburg, including a just-completed wildlife overpass on the A9 with establishing vegetation and motion-activated video cameras powered by solar panels.

P1080441
Pano_bridgecrossing2_sm
P1080468

Conference attendees include biologists, highway engineers, ecologists, designers and project managers interested in creating robust ecological habitats in the midst of infrastructures that fragment the landscape. Folks came from all over Europe, as well as countries in Asia, South America, and North America, to discuss research, strategies and projects.

P1080609
P1080822

Cynthia presented two posters, one on the class she teaches in the Netherlands about water, ecology and infrastructure to emerging professionals, and one about an ongoing documentation of a site where a habitat corridor is planned near Almere, also in the Netherlands.

Iene_edemergingprofess_poster_3
Iene_oostvdswldphotoproj_poster

Meteek hopes to spport and participate in projects that reconnect our fragmented habitats, for other animals and for humans.

There is a complementary biennial conference in North America, ICOET, which was held in Duluth in 2009. At that conference, filmmaker Eric Bendick showed his award-winning documentary "Division Street," on how roads can fragment habitat and featuring projects that are mitigating these effects in Florida, Montana and Canada.

Here is the trailer for Division Street:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mPnUu84osE?wmode=transparent]

The Chickens’ New Home

Posted by
P1080182

Our first snowfall was the perfect portend to our chickens' move into their new fully-functional coop.

While our Icelandic chickens were faring well in the open "tractor" coop that was generously leant to us in conjunction with the chickens' arrival into our lives, they need an enclosed coop to take them through the winter.

P1080183
P1080155

Team Meteek was up to the challenge, and put together an ingenious design of passive light (fiberglass panels) and passive solar heat gained on the south side of our shop.

We constructed the coop with lumber on-hand and reused various materials left over from other projects. The coop includes a run, where the chickens can hunt and peck outside on warm days.

P1080186
P1080190

Two chickens do not quite make a flock--we hope to add a few hens to increse their number. And next summer we'll build a new "chicken tractor," a mobile coop we can move around on our front meadow, where they can forage for insects, mice, and other tasty morsels...

Hanging Out with Tracy Metz

Posted by
Tracymetz_mpls_11

We had a thrilling weeked in Minneapolis with Tracy Metz and her husband Baptist Brayé. We toured architectural and cultural highlights and had engaging conversation with some UMN Landscape Architecture faculty.

At the Guthrie Theater, Mill City Museum and Minneapolis Library

Tracymetz_mpls_05
Tracymetz_mpls_04
Tracymetz_mpls_06
Tracymetz_mpls_10

Meeting with Vince deBritto and Jamuna Golden, instructors from the UMN Department of Landscape Architecture:

Tracymetz_mpls_09

On Monday we sat in on second- and third-year Graduate Design studios from the Landscape Architecture and Architecture programs.

Visiting Matt Tucker's second year Graduate Design studio

Tracymetz_mpls_16
Tracymetz_mpls_18

and a combined Architecture and Landscape Architecture third year Graduate Design studio

Tracymetz_mpls_22

Tracy's lecture Monday evening in Rapson Hall was intriguing and well-attended, with many good questions from a broad audience of students, pracitioners and general community members.

Tracymetz_mpls_28

You can view Tracy's lecture here
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYP93Chb8js?wmode=transparent]

We observed many conversations and ideas surfacing through Tracy's direct contact with faculty and students, as well as discussion about the broader issues addressed by her talk and book, Sweet&Salt. It was a pleasure to host her visit, and partner with the organizations that made her Minnesota visit possible!

Tracymetz_mpls_31