The Hoverbar is functional mobile artifice designed for and donated to the Cranbrook Museum of Art. It provides an efficient service platform from which to serve food and drinks during exhibitions and social functions. With the turn of a key and the flick of a switch, the Hoverbar lifts off of the ground and floats making it easily guidable to the its destination.
thanks! it's definately a completely different experience to see in person. it's loud and you don't really expect it to lift off of the ground and hover! the reactions have been shock from the sudden burst of noise it creates (which i like to think as the trumpet calling a crowd to order), smiles and or giggles and lots curiosity looks.
tom buresh would say that even in the best projects he could find one thing he didn't think worked - what's going on with the trim nailed at the base? i can see needing to protect that edge, but could there have been a way to protect it from underneath rather than disrupt the purity of the frame? some sort of reveal maybe? i still think it's a cool project and hope to see it floating around the art museum one of these days.
I toiled over the skirt details for weeks. Not just that one but the many you can't see. I do agree that black strip disrupts the continuous flow of the wood, but at the time seemed the most appropriate solution.
Earlier in the process we tried to figure out how to eliminate the skirt all together but after much thought and research determined it wasn't a wise choice. The skirt provides a buffer (or one could even say bumper) to the ground. It allows the Hoverbar (and hovercrafts for that matter) to travel easily over rough terrain. A hovercraft has a very large skirt (6"+ high, 12"+ wide) to allow it to travel from ground to water, over small obstacles, etc. The Hoverbar's is only 2 1/2" high and 6" wide. This sized skirt allows the it to travel over door thresholds, the relatively large gap at the freight elevator, etc easily.
The strip you see covers, protects and secures the skirt to the frame. It is the standard detail to attach the skirt to hovercraft body. I say this only because throughout the design and construction, I had to make many decisions regarding what was considered standard/practical and what I needed to cull, modify or redesign for my use. It was probably the single most difficult "theme" because there is not much out there I could use as a precedent.
why what?! making an occupiable space that has the ability to hover is an amazing exploration. the fact that it happens to be a bar may be beside the point: makes it more interesting as a project, but maybe isn't the most impt aspect of it. it's a school project: lighten up!
I'm just playing...joking with other comments. I actually think it's kinda cool. I've always wanted to ride in a hovercraft and so I think the technology is really interesting. I always learn a lot when the technology creates a hurdle or limits my design intent. It seems Esther really worked around the obstacles.
I'm not dissing the work that obviously went into the project. It even looks like something I'd get involved with for fun.
But trying to make it sound important is just being pretentious. Is it fun? YES! And maybe that's okay. I think it is.
Really now. This isn't going to be hovered to the jungle or out on the lake, ever. Call it what it is - a project for fun.
And to address Steven: It's not an occupiable space, it's a bar. As in a flat surface. A floating occupiable space would be kick-ass!! Or is this supposed to be a model of an occupiable space? I didn't get that from the pics or video.
And Steven, surely you'd appreciate the resources that this bar consumes - including several (lead-acid, I believe) car batteries. Again, wheels work.
I'm just beating my head on a wall. Sorry to be such a contrarian. It's like the Segway, which could do the exact same job with a single extra wheel instead of gyroscopes and computers and bla bla bla.
design could have been a little better..... it's a box.......... i seen it in person...not bad..... mechanically was fine....but i think for being a masters, the design could be better....
agfa8x - I've not had a day of architecture school, but really, if I need to explain the difference between an object around which people gather, and an occupiable space.... well.....
Now, the bar can be part of a larger occupiable space, but the bar is not the space itself - unless maybe people climb into it or on top of it.
slantsix, perhaps you should wait until you've developed a more well-rounded understanding of theories of space before you start implying that I don't know what I'm talking about.
An object can produce space without necessarily containing it.
Vidler, A. (1998). Interpreting the Void: Architecture and Spatial Anxiety. In Cheetham, M. A., Holly, M. A., Moxey, K. The Subjects of Art History: Historical Subjects in Contemporary Perspective. (pp. 208-307). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
May 24, 07 6:55 pm ·
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Hoverbar
A bit of shameless self promotion.
flickr set 1
flickr set 2
videos
hey ether, are cranbrook thesis projects on public display now? i'd like to take a trip out and see the work if it is.
the projects were taken down about a week and a half ago (the day after graduation). it's unfortunate they do not get to stay up longer.
crap. sorry i missed it. i've enjoyed going the last couple years.
the hoverbar looks cool, but what is it? does it really hover? can i get a drink there?
The Hoverbar is functional mobile artifice designed for and donated to the Cranbrook Museum of Art. It provides an efficient service platform from which to serve food and drinks during exhibitions and social functions. With the turn of a key and the flick of a switch, the Hoverbar lifts off of the ground and floats making it easily guidable to the its destination.
er... to its destination.
awesome. now i've gotta see this thing in action. that looks like a lot of plywood to make hoover.
thanks! it's definately a completely different experience to see in person. it's loud and you don't really expect it to lift off of the ground and hover! the reactions have been shock from the sudden burst of noise it creates (which i like to think as the trumpet calling a crowd to order), smiles and or giggles and lots curiosity looks.
Your photos need scale figures. I really wanted to go inside it until I saw the car batteries. Well, no. I still want to go inside.
It's sweet!
Hahahahaha!
Leave it to designers to figure out how to "make a bar mobile," with wicked-awesome hovering action!!!
I'm being sarcastic.
I guess nobody ever thought about $3.99 for some caster wheels?
This is a joke, right? Or am I missing something?
including a 13 yr old boy's crotch
tom buresh would say that even in the best projects he could find one thing he didn't think worked - what's going on with the trim nailed at the base? i can see needing to protect that edge, but could there have been a way to protect it from underneath rather than disrupt the purity of the frame? some sort of reveal maybe? i still think it's a cool project and hope to see it floating around the art museum one of these days.
I toiled over the skirt details for weeks. Not just that one but the many you can't see. I do agree that black strip disrupts the continuous flow of the wood, but at the time seemed the most appropriate solution.
Earlier in the process we tried to figure out how to eliminate the skirt all together but after much thought and research determined it wasn't a wise choice. The skirt provides a buffer (or one could even say bumper) to the ground. It allows the Hoverbar (and hovercrafts for that matter) to travel easily over rough terrain. A hovercraft has a very large skirt (6"+ high, 12"+ wide) to allow it to travel from ground to water, over small obstacles, etc. The Hoverbar's is only 2 1/2" high and 6" wide. This sized skirt allows the it to travel over door thresholds, the relatively large gap at the freight elevator, etc easily.
The strip you see covers, protects and secures the skirt to the frame. It is the standard detail to attach the skirt to hovercraft body. I say this only because throughout the design and construction, I had to make many decisions regarding what was considered standard/practical and what I needed to cull, modify or redesign for my use. It was probably the single most difficult "theme" because there is not much out there I could use as a precedent.
But..... um..... why?
maybe cause it's loud and people can hear it coming???
I think this could do the trick tho....(and they're only $0.99)
why what?! making an occupiable space that has the ability to hover is an amazing exploration. the fact that it happens to be a bar may be beside the point: makes it more interesting as a project, but maybe isn't the most impt aspect of it. it's a school project: lighten up!
1) caster wheels don't roll too well on cobblestone streets
2) the spectacle of mechanics
no even with THESE?
I'm just playing...joking with other comments. I actually think it's kinda cool. I've always wanted to ride in a hovercraft and so I think the technology is really interesting. I always learn a lot when the technology creates a hurdle or limits my design intent. It seems Esther really worked around the obstacles.
I'm not dissing the work that obviously went into the project. It even looks like something I'd get involved with for fun.
But trying to make it sound important is just being pretentious. Is it fun? YES! And maybe that's okay. I think it is.
Really now. This isn't going to be hovered to the jungle or out on the lake, ever. Call it what it is - a project for fun.
And to address Steven: It's not an occupiable space, it's a bar. As in a flat surface. A floating occupiable space would be kick-ass!! Or is this supposed to be a model of an occupiable space? I didn't get that from the pics or video.
And Steven, surely you'd appreciate the resources that this bar consumes - including several (lead-acid, I believe) car batteries. Again, wheels work.
I'm just beating my head on a wall. Sorry to be such a contrarian. It's like the Segway, which could do the exact same job with a single extra wheel instead of gyroscopes and computers and bla bla bla.
In what way is a bar not an occupiable space? People gather around it, lean on it, talk across it, work at it.
I think you missed an opportunity.....it should have been called,
"The Dyson/Hoover Bar" It does sound like my dyson dog rate vac.
design could have been a little better..... it's a box.......... i seen it in person...not bad..... mechanically was fine....but i think for being a masters, the design could be better....
agfa8x - I've not had a day of architecture school, but really, if I need to explain the difference between an object around which people gather, and an occupiable space.... well.....
Now, the bar can be part of a larger occupiable space, but the bar is not the space itself - unless maybe people climb into it or on top of it.
slantsix, perhaps you should wait until you've developed a more well-rounded understanding of theories of space before you start implying that I don't know what I'm talking about.
An object can produce space without necessarily containing it.
a worthy read, slantsix...
Vidler, A. (1998). Interpreting the Void: Architecture and Spatial Anxiety. In Cheetham, M. A., Holly, M. A., Moxey, K. The Subjects of Art History: Historical Subjects in Contemporary Perspective. (pp. 208-307). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
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