Come to Good

In my last post, I discussed building construction beyond Earth using 3D printed technology.  Back on Earth, there is a newly completed building modeled after a Quaker meeting house that utilizes more traditional construction techniques but also hosts technology, including computer programs, algorithms and lighting arrays that support a special art installation by artist James Turrell. Raised as a semi-observant Quaker in southern California, James Turrell began working with light as an artistic medium in the late 1960s. This is arguably the best kept secret In Texas, and you may find yourself asking, Where can I enjoy this experience of light, time and space?

Sponsored by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and operated by Entrada of Texas, Keith House was designed by Michael Bennett at Bennett Partners with a retractable standing-seam metal roof and stone exterior walls repurposed stone from a Keith family home in Wichita Falls.

Photo courtesy of Keith House

Within the building, there is a square room of neutral color with a large square aperture in the ceiling, in which the sky is framed by a thin, knife edge of white ceiling, known as Skyspace. Many of Turrell’s works, including his Skyspaces, draw attention to light as a presence itself rather than as an incidental source of illumination of other objects. Time is also an important element to Turrell’s Skyspace installations, as the light sequence begins before sunrise and before sunset. As the light in the sky changes color, so does the light sequence in the room to accentuate the change in the sky. 

The light sequence is dynamic but meditative and allows the viewer to experience the sky as never before imagined.  It is a celebration to the sky to both welcome and bid farewell to the day.  The Keith House Skyspace titled Come to Good is the ninety-ninth Skyspace installation completed by James Turrell.  I invite you to Keith House to experience it for yourself.

Keith House is located at 4814 Edwards Ranch Rd, Fort Worth, TX 76109 at The Trailhead at Clearfork. Click here for availability and reservations.

Other James Turrell works in Texas include:

Austin: The Color Inside at the University of Texas Student Center

Houston: Twilight Epiphany at Rice University; The Light Inside and Caper, Salmon to White: Wedgework at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; One Accord at the Live Oak Meeting House

Dallas: formerly Tending (Blue) at Nasher Sculpture Center was decommissioned due to neighboring building constructed within view of the Skyspace.

"For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it." - Amanda Gorman, Poet Laureate excerpt from The Hill We Climb

#KeithHouse #JamesTurrell #UTAustin #RiceUniversity #MFAH

Moonbase Alpha

I have previously explored some of the possibilities of 3D printing (see Pinch Me! Am I Dreaming? and It’s All Relative), which examined 3D applications for printed skin and large-scale rockets.  This already seemed like something futuristic, as imagined in a Sci-Fi movie.  However given the size and scope, I was not expecting 3D printed buildings to become a reality any time soon.  This led me to the question, what is the future of sustainable building construction on Earth and beyond? 

Photo: courtesy of ICON/BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Icon is a construction technology company based in Austin, Texas that seeks to disrupt the way we have been building houses since the 12th century. Instead of using “sticks and bricks", Icon uses 3D printers to create stronger houses out of piped-in-place concrete. While the idea of concrete houses seems rather limiting, the process by which Icon fabricates buildings results in more of a luxury hotel product. Currently, Icon is building desert-themed rooms for El Cosmico in Marfa, Texas. Previously, Icon has worked on building the Chicon house, the first ever permitted, 3D printed home in the United States; the Community First! Village, providing affordable, permanent housing for the homeless; a prototype rocket launch pad with NASA; US Military Barracks at Camp Swift; and House Zero, a luxury 3D printed house designed in conjunction with architectural firm Lake|Flato.

Photo: courtesy of ICON and Casey Dunn

Beyond Earth, Icon, in conjunction with NASA, is planning Project Olympus, which will allow for space-based construction systems to support exploration of the Moon and beyond. As you probably could understand, building a moonbase is very complicated. There is very little gravity on the Moon at approximately 1/6 of the Earth’s gravity; therefore, it is very hard to extrude concrete in the same way that is used on Earth. In addition, it is extremely difficult to send an entire house 3D-printing machine all the way to the Moon, not to mention the building materials including concrete powder and water necessary to construct a traditional 3D printed house. Due to these constraints, the team at Icon had to develop a new way to 3D print a moonbase, using only in-situ resources. Their ingenious plan involved a small lunar rover equipped with a high-power laser attached to a robotic arm. Once the rover arrived at the Moon via a commercial lander, it would drive autonomously to the selected build site. The rover would then use a built-in scooper to gather a small pile of lunar regolith (moondust), and a laser would heat up the regolith to create a small layer of solidified moondust. This process would be repeated until the entire structure was complete and habitable. Theoretically, this process could be used on Mars, and possibly even asteroids.

Photo: courtesy of Nasher Sculpture Center

In 2023, I had a chance to meet artist Patricia Johanson at the opening of Groundswell: Women of Land Art at the Nasher Sculpture Center. I was familiar with her large-scale sculptural work titled Dallas Fair Park Lagoon (1981-1986).  It was in meeting Ms. Johanson and later corresponding that I learned that she was approached and almost joined a project to design space colonies.  The inspiration for the commission originated from Gerald O’Neill’s The High Frontier, which has been the roadmap and blueprint of how to develop space colonies. O'Neill is considered the father of New Space and The High Frontier has also been the source of inspiration for NASA, Blue Origin and the National Space Society to build space colonies using available raw materials and existing technology. The good news is that technology is finally catching up with O'Neill's vision creating opportunities for the next generation of architects to develop buildings beyond Earth.

#ICON #NASA #LakeFlato #PatriciaJohanson #NasherSculptureCenter

Drop-in(to) Goodsurf

I find it interesting that many of the US rocket launch sites are in close proximity to surfing - Vandenberg/Surf Beach, KSC-Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach, Wallops Island/Chincoteague and Starbase/Boca Chica Beach. But what do you do if you are landlocked with the nearest surf beach 300 miles away? I'm totally stoked for Goodsurf.

Goodsurf is the newest attraction near downtown Dallas located in the Deep Ellum neighborhood. Powered by Citywave, Goodsurf generates a river wave shape allowing for a non-stop, consistent and authentic wave similar to what you might experience at Eisbachwelle adjacent to the Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany. Even if you have never surfed before, Goodsurf offers 30-minute beginner and experienced sessions with coaching instruction to maximize rideability and ensure that you have a great time. They got you!

Eisbachwelle in Munich, Germany

They also have a full menu featuring chicken & waffle cones, double smash burger and tacos. I really appreciated the gluten free offerings including loco moco (smashburger over sushi rice with mushroom gravy and topped with a fried egg) and spicy tuna nigiri served on crispy rice square, perfectly paired with a Fresh Refresh mocktail with blood orange, lime, organic agave, and mint. Onolicious!

Even if you have no intention of surfing, just come cheer on your friends and family as they take to the waves beneath the Dallas skyline with the backdrop of the large LED screen, which rotates inspirational images of national parks, views of Earth from the ISS and even live broadcasts of Copa América on the big screen. For those wanting to play out of the water, there is even pickleball, shuffleboard, bocce and cornhole in the backyard. Also take the time to appreciate the many Jeremy Biggers murals nearby and throughout Deep Ellum.

Given the intense heat (everywhere), I am looking forward to dawn patrol surf sessions later this summer. Hope to see you there!

#Goodsurf #JeremyBiggers #SamLao