We launched the GE Garages: Making Things Competition one month ago today. We chose a winner just over a week and a half ago, and the designers arrived in New York a day later. They holed up at STORY in the Meatpacking District for the rest of the week, leaving only to eat and sleep. Finally, the project comes full circle, and the Making Things store is now open for business. Continue.

Students Chris Chang and Arman Hadilu run last-minute tests

The winning design, by Austin-based SHORTALL Design, promised an interactivity that was unique among the submissions. Now, the installation, dubbed the “Shadow Puppet”, delivers on that promise. Led by architect Clay Shortall, along with students Arman Hadilu and Chris Chang, the project makes use of pair of Kinect motion sensors, processing, and Arduino code to power an interactive screen, positioned directly behind the storefront window. As passing pedestrians, their motion is picked up by the sensors and translated into the spinning movement of the screen’s circular panels.

Architect Clay Shortall with Architizer CEO Marc Kushner

When we visited STORY yesterday, the team was quite in a hurry, scrambling to prepare everything for Saturday’s opening. Everything seemed caught in a jumble of wires, which connected each of the panels to the sensors. The scene proved a fitting image for the whole process, said Shortall, because of how it articulates the “messy” nature of making things.

Visitors to STORY/Making Things can see for themselves. The storefront, which will be open for the next two weeks, is chock-full of curiosities, from a couple of Makerbots to CNC mills and everything in between. Check back for more from us, including more competitions, news, and projects!

by Architizer Editors

posted in Uncategorized

tagged GE Garages, GE Garages: Making Things Competition, installation, making things, STORY

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