Laser Cut Acrylic

This is a color mixing toy featuring two layers of laser cut acrylic arcs that form concentric rings, all constrained within a clear acrylic plate. This toy was designed as a fun, interactive way to teach children about color mixing and the effects of neighboring colors on one another. By swapping out arcs and/or rotating the top layer, a wild and varied color display ensues.  My current progress on a stop motion animation piece using this toy is below.

This is a stop motion animation (really) for Flying Lotus' "Do The Astral Plane" using a laser cut acrylic color mixing toy I created. Every element, action and video effect corresponds to a particular sample within the song and syncopated to the underlying beat structure. The individual acrylic elements were photographed independently using multiple layers to create color combinations and then animated together in Adobe Premier Pro. For more information on the toy, http://michaelturri.com/?p=784

The updated version of these light sculptures took off on fab.com in May 2012. You can learn more and buy them at betablocs.com.

Reclaimed Architectural Glass Block + Electroluminescent Wire + Electronic Controls

This is one of my favorite projects, created during Bill Burnett's Formgiving class for the Illuminating Object assignment. Modular Beta Blocs were created from reclaimed architectural glass block and electroluminescent wire that plug into a purpose-designed control box. They are dimmable and can be programmed to a respond in various ways to a wide range of external stimuli including ambient light, sound, touch, temperature, humidity, proximity, etc.

This animated gif shows how a new version responding to sound.

The video below shows the very first prototype responding initially to the sound of bubble wrap popping, then to the vibration caused by me shaking it vigorously.

From a design perspective, I chose to explore the physical principle of Brownian Motion, or the seemingly random movement of particles suspended in a liquid or gas. The 25' - 40' of EL wire are fed carefully into a painstakingly drilled hole in each block. The path of the EL wire is primarily a function of the block's internal volume and features, enabled by only minor aesthetic input during the assembly process.

SolidWorks rendering.

This pen concept was created in the style of one of my design heros, Ettore Sottsass for Bill Burnett’sFormgiving class. I was particularly inspired by some decidedly science fiction drawings found in 700 Drawings: Sottsass.

Cast acrylic block and aluminum.

This pen prototype was created in the style of one of my design heros, Shiro Kuramata, for Bill Burnett’s Formgiving class. The three-part acrylic cast block was milled, polished and drilled. The pen was turned on a lathe and annodized. This was my first attempt at acrylic casting. My advice? Outsource this process. Even cured under vacuum it was difficult to get very good results.

Painted Delrin and aluminum.

This pen prototype was created in the style of one of my design heros, Michele De Lucchi (c. 1983). It was crafted during Bill Burnett’s Formgiving class, turned on a lathe and painted by hand.

Below are my early SolidWorks renderings.

Created for Stanford University's Human Values and Design Innovation class (ME313), DigiPen is a revolutionary interactive surface input device designed to promote effective collaboration among junior high and high school students. Created by Purin Phanichphant, Christin Staubo and Michael Turri at Stanford University. © 2009

Created for Stanford University's Human Values and Design Innovation class (ME313), DigiPen is a conceptual interactive surface input device designed to promote effective collaboration among junior high and high school students.

The following presentation details the research and ideation underlying this concept.

DigiPen was a collaboration with Purin Phanichphant and Christin Staubo.