When Nature Reclaims Brick and Mortar

There’s a certain kind of mystery concerning an abandoned buildings that tickles our curiosity.  How has it deteriorated? And why? These places are inspirational and offer up a glimpse into the past, telling us an old story. The concept of ruins photography is also known as "Ruins Porn" and most of the photographers aim to capture and document something that is likely everlasting, important and generally historical in nature. Legends and stories about these decrepit structures are what we find so appealing, along with the adrenaline rush of exploring a forbidden space. 

Personally I enjoy the buildings after nature has taken hold. For me this "art" is not about remembering man, but instead what was there before man made an impact. 

There is beauty in decay, nature conquering what man has left behind.

"Ruins are the visible symbols and landmarks of our societies and their changes ... the volatile result of the change of eras and the fall of empires. This fragility leads us to watch them one very last time: to be dismayed, or to admire, it makes us wonder about the permanence of things." (Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre)

The Completed Table

The process of having this table manufactured was a great learning experience, however I would not like to be an industrial designer, who I would imagine does this on a regular basis. I sourced manufacturers during the varsity recces period as it was basically the only available time I had to do so. 

At this point I would like to give credit to and thank my mother for helping with phone calls and directions while I drove all over town to these different people, she's such a doll and this would have been extremely difficult to do without her!

The photos that follow are of the final product which I am very satisfied with. And the process was relatively headache free!

Assembled, from the side

Puzzle and wing-nut detail

From above, the concentric nature of the paint technique and puzzle is very apparent

Close up of brilliant welding job

A 1:2 scale model to show the design of the coffee maker (my second product)

There are still a few tweaks that need to be made until it is perfect:

• The hole through the puzzle pieces is skew and therefore the pieces don't turn all the way inside each other.
• The pin onto which the top fits is too long so that needs to be cut down.
• A change to the design will be made to remove the wing-nut and instead have the smallest puzzle piece simply fit onto the pin as a 'cap'. Therefore the hole in this piece needs to be filled and re-drilled but only about 4mm deep from the underside.

Hope you enjoyed the design!

My First Computer Animation

Using 3D Studio Max I created a video that shows the existing elements to be removed from the building and following that, the construction of the proposed new elements of the design.