Data + Design Project

The Japanese Earthquake & Hiroshima in 3D

Friday 10.28.2011 , Posted by

What does an earthquake look like in 3D? Artist Luke Jerram created the small piece above to contemplate the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. By taking a seismograph of the event and rotating the image using computer aided design, he was able to print the result in 3D cylindrical form using rapid prototyping technology. The piece measures 30cm x 20cm and is intended to explore how data is read and can be represented and interpreted. The seismograph chosen represents 9 minutes of the earthquake, which for anyone who’s experienced the ground shaking under their feet, is an insanely long time [Read more...]

Harmful Viruses Made of Beautiful Glass

Saturday 06.11.2011 , Posted by

When glass blower Luke Jerram saw visualizations of viruses and pathogens in the scientific world he noticed one big theme: color. Wondering what effect the artificial color in normal scientific drawings had on our interpretation of these invisibly small forms, he created his own exquisite versions out of his favorite material: blown glass. Covering such well known maladies as AIDS and Swine Flu, his works are both beautiful and disturbing, challenging observers to reinterpret their view of the tiny organisms. The pieces, each about 1,000,000 times the size of the actual pathogen, were designed with help from virologists from the University of Bristol using a combination of scientific photographs and models. See more of on this unique work at lukejerram.com . [Read more...]