Rapid prototyping

The speed of the new technologies of industrial production

Rapid prototyping is the automatic construction of physical objects using additive manufacturing technology. The first techniques for rapid prototyping became available in the late 1980s and were used to produce models and prototype parts. Today, they are used for a much wider range of applications and are even used to manufacture production-quality parts in relatively small numbers. Some sculptors use the technology to produce complex shapes for fine arts exhibitions.

Objects produced by rapid prototype process.

Patrick Jouin designed some solid stereolitography furniture a while ago. Stereolitography is a rapid prototyping technique and gaining popularity day by day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3gHHeD6cv8

Slow Design

What is slow design? Where did the idea come from? What does it consist of?

Theory

Slow design manifests itself in existing objects and spaces, in products and buildings, in real and virtual environments, and in socio-cultural experiences. Analysis of such manifestations suggests eight distinguishable themes although cross-over and hybridisation between these themes is also observed. These eight themes - ‘tradition’, ‘ritual’, ‘experiential’, ‘evolved’, ‘slowness’, ‘eco-efficiency’, ‘open source knowledge’ and ‘technology’ - contribute towards understanding the potential benefits of slow design towards individual, socio-cutural and environmental well-being. This framework provides a platform for further debate while offering a pluralistic, secular canvas for designers to encourage individual and socio-cultural change towards slowing metabolisms for a more sustainable future.

Some examples

Recycled materials, conservation and innovation of traditional knowledge, encourages recycling and auto design, socio-cultural memory, enhancement of the book lady, identity, humor, joy and colors in everyday life. 
http://blog.bientotdemain.com/index.php/tag/piece-unique

London-based design firm Raw Nerve's Slow Design sofa: "Above all it emphasizes slowness in the creation and consumption of products as a corrective to the frenetic pace of 21st-century life."
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/green-ideas/slow-design-nyt-house-home-roundup-13108-041690
 

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/green-ideas/slow-design-nyt-house-home-roundup-13108-041690

The pneumatic tube

In postal service

Pneumatic post or pneumatic mail is a system to deliver letters through pressurized air tubes. It was invented by the Scottish engineer William Murdoch in the 19th century and was later developed by the London Pneumatic Dispatch Company. Pneumatic post systems were used in several large cities starting in the second half of the 19th century (including an 1866 London system powerful and large enough to transport humans during trial runs - though not intended for the purpose), but were largely abandoned during the 20th century.



Pneumatic tubes in use at a drive-through bank.
Patent: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6474912.pdf



Pneumatic post stations usually connected post offices, stock exchanges, banks and ministries. Italy was the only country to issue postage stamps (between 1913 and 1966) specifically for pneumatic post. Austria, France, and Germany issued postal stationery for pneumatic use.

Spirit of Saint Louis US airmail stamp of 1927.

In the American animated science fiction sitcom Futurama this system is usually used to deliver letters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamp
http://www.activesocialplastic.com/2009/01/pneumatic_post_in_paris.html 

TAV

How to shorten the distance

High-speed rail

High-speed rail(HSR) is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include 200 km/h (120 mph) for upgraded track and 250 km/h (160 mph) or faster for new track. In Japan, Shinkansen lines run at speeds in excess of 260 km/h (160 mph) and are built using standard gauge track with no at-grade crossings. In China, high-speed conventional rail lines operate at top speeds of 350 km/h (220 mph),and one Maglev Line in Shanghai reaches speeds of 431 km/h (268 mph). The world record for conventional high-speed rail is held by the V150, a specially configured version of Alstom's TGV which clocked 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) on a test run. The world speed record for Maglev is held by the japanese experimental MLX01: 581 km/h (361 mph).

While high-speed rail is usually designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also carry some kind of freight service. For instance, the French mail service La Poste owns a few special TGV trains for carrying postal freight.

TAV

High-speed Railroad Map Europe 2009

Machines do it faster!

Manual tasks become mechanical works

Combine pieces of cloth or other material, using needle and thread, has always been a slow manual work, that asks lot of care and skills; nowadays in factories and often in our houses we use the sewing machine, a mechanical instrument invented in 1790; from the early hand-operating models, technological evolution has produced foot pedal sewing machines, and finally with an electric motor within.
Sewing has therefore become much faster, no longer requiring ability.
The sewing machine has so changed this world that hand sewing has become an hobby.

This argument can be extended beyond the borders of sewing, infact it concernes any work that technological evoltion changed from manual to be done with machines.

Hand sewing in a very slow work, requiring time and ability.
http://www.gettyimages.it/detail/85210070/Digital-Vision

The sewing machine made this work a lot faster and simple.
http://www.gettyimages.it/detail/78325162/Brand-X-Pictures

Fast food vs. Slow food

Different ways to eat and live


The industrial food of our days is in effect prepared in accordance with standard recipes, essentially in a scientific and fast way: the ingredients are always perfectly measured in the same quantities, they are cooked and / or thawed by machines and the hand of man appears only in the assembly. Even the taste is “chemical”, artificial; this is in contrast with the good old recipes of our grandmother, often elaborated and so slow to prepare; this is why food is a good argument to discuss about Fast/Slow from the Industrial/Artisanal point of view.

http://www.ahioo.net/gpz/?p=53

FAST FOOD: Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly; typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.

Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, or fast food restaurants. The concept of ready-cooked food for sale is closely connected with urban development: also in Ancient Rome cities had street stands that sold bread and wine.

In the last 50 born and spread all over the world many fast food restaurant chains, such us McDonald’s and Burger king above all, that are generally connected to the globalization phenomenon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_food

SLOW FOOD: Slow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986, to resist the opening of the first McDonald’s restaurant in Italy, near the Spanish Steps in Rome. It strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and promotes farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of the broader Slow movement. The movement has since expanded globally to over 100,000 members in 132 countries. Its goals of sustainable foods and promotion of local small businesses are paralleled by a political agenda directed against globalization of agricultural products. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_food