James and I had the pleasure of speaking at the HIGH5 Creative Conference located in the beautiful Yokohama Osanbashi Hall designed by FOA



The conference theme was loosely based on using the Galapagos islands as a metaphor for a new type of thinking about interdisciplinary design. We choose to present the work of the LAB through the questions we ask ourselves when designing transformable spaces. You can learn more about the conference here on the Hitspaper write-up.

We would like to thank Arata Sasaki, Takashi Hawada, and Hiro for the wonderful hospitality, thoughtful discussion, and excellent Tofu! Also see the cool peapod that the Balloon artist made at dinner…



A little while back Hitspaper asked to interview us for their online magazine. You can read the interview here.

The LAB presented a lecture to SOM’s BlackBox studio, a studio within SOM using scripting and the linking of data with form-finding algorithms to develop more rigorous approaches to design. Check out some of their work here .

LAB Lecture at the AIANYC on May 11th
Speakers:   James Tichenor and Joshua Walton – New Media Leads at LAB at Rockwell Group
For the past 3 years, the Rockwell Group LAB has been building a number of projects that explore the intersection between the physical and virtual through interactive environments. As they look back through these projects, they will discuss how their technology, methodology of prototyping and learning-through-making drive their design decisions, as well as where they see new opportunities for experiences and experimentation.
The LAB is Rockwell Group’s digital interaction design team. The ambition of the LAB is to explore, experiment, and demonstrate interactive experience augmented with digital technology in objects, environments and stories. This activity includes: in house design and creation of interactive environments/objects, scripting software, science and technology consultation, and maintaining networks of technology solution providers. Their toolkit includes working with custom hardware and software for RFID, UPC scanning, video processing, sonar, capacitance, shape memory alloy, LED and lighting technologies, wireless communications, and screen based dynamically composited animation. The LAB embeds sensing and reactive technologies into things and places to create narratives that give people deeper and more valuable experiences.
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2009
Time: 6:00pm to 8:00pm ET
Location: Center for Architecture. 536 LaGuardia Place (Between Bleecker and W.3rd Street), Main Lecture Hall (Lower Level), NYC
Transportation:  6/F Trains to Bleecker St./BWay-Lafayette (Walk 3 blocks West+1 block North)
                        N,R Trains to Prince St (Walk 2 blocks West+2 blocks North)
                        A/C/E/F Trains to W4th St (Walk 3 blocks East+1 block South)
PLEASE NOTE: SEATING FOR THIS EVENT IS LIMITED. YOU MUST RSVP (ehatfield@thorntontomasetti.com) IN ORDER TO ATTEND. Admission: FREE