Are there any really comprehensive/otherwise awesome architectural material databases out there? I'm aware of the sweets network, but its both difficult to use and tries to make users pay for everything, even previews. I see all this new architecture being built with some really nice materials, and I just wonder where the architect got them. Did they get a corporate flyer from the material manufacturer? Did they design and specify the production of the material themselves? Or is there some resource I just don't know about?
Blaine Brownell of the University of Minnesota is the expert on new and emerging materials. All three of his "Transmaterial" books dig into new materials and technologies in detail, and his extensive, free website is great for keeping up with brand-new ones since he posts about them almost immediately. Sounds like exactly what you're looking for.
Also good reading is his new book "Material Strategies", part of Princeton's Architecture Briefs series - it's an in-depth look at several archetypes of materials (wood, concrete, metal, etc.), starting with their history before delving into creative and unique ways that they've been applied. Check it out here.
Enjoy!
aphorismal
Jan 3, 12 3:36 am
Wow, thanks for the tips. This'll keep me occupied for days!
Nam Henderson
Jan 3, 12 7:02 am
man that transmaterial site is a great tip!
jamesherm
Jan 3, 12 1:45 pm
Not sure how useful this will be without visiting in person, but the Materials Lab at UT Austin is pretty amazing.
Not sure if this the right section, but anyway...
Are there any really comprehensive/otherwise awesome architectural material databases out there? I'm aware of the sweets network, but its both difficult to use and tries to make users pay for everything, even previews. I see all this new architecture being built with some really nice materials, and I just wonder where the architect got them. Did they get a corporate flyer from the material manufacturer? Did they design and specify the production of the material themselves? Or is there some resource I just don't know about?
http://www.materia.nl/
in the end it takes research, but i still enjoy looking through this site just for fun.
Wow, that's awesome! -1 for Google, +1 for you. Thanks!
http://www.materialconnexion.com/
Blaine Brownell of the University of Minnesota is the expert on new and emerging materials. All three of his "Transmaterial" books dig into new materials and technologies in detail, and his extensive, free website is great for keeping up with brand-new ones since he posts about them almost immediately. Sounds like exactly what you're looking for.
Also good reading is his new book "Material Strategies", part of Princeton's Architecture Briefs series - it's an in-depth look at several archetypes of materials (wood, concrete, metal, etc.), starting with their history before delving into creative and unique ways that they've been applied. Check it out here.
Enjoy!
Wow, thanks for the tips. This'll keep me occupied for days!
man that transmaterial site is a great tip!
Not sure how useful this will be without visiting in person, but the Materials Lab at UT Austin is pretty amazing.
http://soa.utexas.edu/matlab/about
The UT Materials Lab is in fact amazing.
I've been looking for something exactly like this - thank you!
spec.ninja allows you to find materials, save them in a personal library and use them to build and edit materials libraries.