Tinkercad Design Takes Silver in International Art Contest

December 8, 2016

Little bit of old news, but I took 2nd place in an art contest at the Outsider Art Fair NYC (Jan 21-24 2016) this year. Curated Space: Babel called on designers, architects and artists around the world to submit imaginary tower designs.

My 3D design tool was Tinkercad, a free web-based solid modeling program. It is a kid friendly program that easily exports STL files for 3D printing. Many of the other submissions were from professional architects, designers and artists using a variety of professional design tools.

I prototyped my model on an Ultimaker 2 and designed it in 3 parts that assembled together. The designs for the contest were 3D printed by Voodoo Manufacturing and displayed together at the fair.

When I was planning my entry, I was working with a social science class to create solutions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals which represent the most pressing problems facing the world. Seaside Cottage 2050 was my attempt to walk the walk and show students how art can be used to bring awareness to global problems.

Seaside Cottage 2050 imagines the beach lifestyle of the future. A fusion of new and old, the design takes cues from primitive stilt houses and combines with the functionality of oil rigs. Seaside Cottage 2050 maintains the exclusivity and value of historical beach real estate by building up above the waves. On the surface, Seaside Cottage 2050, is a quaint retreat that embraces simplicity of form and function. An ample lawn provides room for sun bathing and picnics in the ocean breeze while a single chimney ensures year-round comfort during even the most extreme fluctuations in weather patterns. Below, the tower structure keeps the cottage high above even a 5 meter sea level rise with headroom to handle even the largest storm surges. The large water tank like reservoir beneath the structure provides ample storage for the vast supply of materials needed to maintain the modern lifestyle above. Seaside Cottage 2050 celebrates the ability of humanity to adapt to change without being burdened with concern over underlying causes.