{"id":2403,"date":"2017-01-31T13:29:59","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T13:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/graphicdisplayusa.com\/blog\/?p=2403"},"modified":"2017-01-31T13:30:38","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T13:30:38","slug":"tron-inspired-dibond-playhouse-constructed-by-architecture-students-raises-funds-for-non-profit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/3acompositesusa.com\/blog\/tron-inspired-dibond-playhouse-constructed-by-architecture-students-raises-funds-for-non-profit\/","title":{"rendered":"Tron Inspired Dibond Playhouse Constructed By Architecture Students Raises Funds For Non-Profit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nNew Mexico Appleseed<\/a> is a nonprofit organization responsible for the creation of the Parade of Playhouses<\/a>, an annual design event aimed to raise funds for hunger, child malnutrition, family homelessness and poverous families in New Mexico. The nonprofit was instrumental in passing legislation for children to receive free and reduced meals in local schools, which has proven effects on student academic performance. The proceeds of the design competition and subsequent auction are utilized to assist in those issues.
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\n\"ToyOne of the design participants of the 2015 Parade of Playhouses were students from the University of New Mexico\u2019s School of Architecture and Planning<\/a>. The students completed two playhouses, one of which was the \u201cToy Factory\u201d which utilized white Dibond aluminum composite material and zinc metal.
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\n\"Toy3A Composites Graphic Display USA spoke with former UNM professor Matthew Gines who explained, although supervised by faculty, the design and execution was student-led by the undergraduates. Some of these students had never built or utilized machinery before, making the end result of what they created that much more impressive. Gines explains, \u201c\u201cIn this case you need a material that can be easily thought through and experimented with\u2026Dibond is really good for those exercises, good to experiment with, with some immediate and dramatic results.”
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\nThe design for the \u201cToy Factory\u201d was inspired by the movie Tron. The futuristic tale encouraged the use of high tech materials, influencing the decision to create the playhouse with metal panels. \u201cIt is [Dibond] a material I knew was going to lend itself to the look the students were after. It\u2019s very clean and was easily able to look space age or very high tech. It is an easy material to work with, easy to cut on the CNC router and a good material that can do a number of different things,\u201d Gines explains.
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\n\u201cTron lines,\u201d as Gines\u2019 students referred to them throughout the project, were created with the clean cutting ability of the Dibond ACM. \u201cAnytime you specify a product, you\u2019re looking for some durability of course, and then some workability,\u201d says Gines. Together, with experimentation and fabrication, the project utilized 20 sheets of Dibond aluminum composite.
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\nPhotography courtesy of New Mexico Appleseed and students at the UNM School of Architecture and Planning
\nFor more information including a time-lapse video of the playhouse\u2019s construction view the video below
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