Final

REACTIVE DYNAMISM A SECOND SKIN

BY ANNA PETROU ARVIN LOURDENADIN & MICHAEL WONG

M1 IDEATION

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

MEASURED DRAWINGS AND RHINO MODEL

Much of the inspiration for the current iteration of the design comes from the measured drawings of the artichoke. Drawing it made me really think about how you can repeat a simple geometry to produce a more complex geometry.

PANEL AND FOLD

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STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

SKIN AND BONE

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PERSONAL SPACE

BODY LANGUAGE AND BOUNDARIES

Our concept of personal space is not concerned with the actual distances as much as the idea of exaggerating the body language which indicates an invasion of personal space and using this to establish a boundary or “warning” aimed at “invaders”.

We are working with shoulders because we think they are important when expressing boundaries. They create personal space for your head and move upwards when you feel insecure.

We’re also lo oking at arm movements as a common action is crossing your arms.

CONNECTIONS WITH THE SECOND

Because we want our second skin to imitate and exaggerate body movements it is important to think about how it may be connected to the body and how we can make those movements a part of our design.

In this drawing I lo ok at how crossing your arms could pull a string and create the necessary tension to move a part.

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M2 DESIGN

SKETCH DESIGNS

REPEATED PANEL

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SKETCH DESIGNS

KINETIC SKIN

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FIRST ITERATION

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M3 FABRICATION

PROTOTYPING

KINETIC WRIST PIECE

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PROTOTYPING

FULL ARM PIECE

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PROTOTYPING

The way the panels were initially nested for the first prototype was inefficient in terms of both time and materials.

In the final design the panels were nested much closer and with shared lines. This meant the panels could be cut faster using less material.

NESTING

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FINAL PIECE In the construction of this prototype the wrist piece connects with an above series of another 3 series of panels. Here we decided to change the way in which we direct the strings. The strings connected according to the panels that fell between their vertical line instead of the elastic strap that they are on.

This worked extremely well meaning that the string did not falter due to the angles it got caught on.

DESIGN ADJUSTMENTS

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FINAL PIECE

The pivots used on our previous mount board prototype were much different. The previous pivots were unique to each of the different panels. It was very messy and inconsistent as it did not match the smart repetition of the panels. To change the aesthetical lo ok of the pivot they were molded using pliers. You are able to see a much cleaner and refined lo ok that it emphasizes.

The re-design of the pivot was also created from thicker wire to result in a sturdier product. Additionally the design of the pivot creates a tunnel-like feature which aids in guiding the string in the right direction. It works better than the previous pivot as it is much longer,this helps to avoid the fishing line getting caught on angles which could prevent the panels lifting.

PIVOT REDESIGN

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FINAL PIECE

POLYPROPELENE

MATERIALITY

WIRE

FISHING LINE

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FINAL PIECE

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FINAL PIECE

With both our final full-scale prototype and our final “second skin� the mechanism tended to work consistently well with a large and smo oth panel action.

However with our last prototype we found that dissembling the design and reassembling the design became extremely confusing and many things would become tangled up. Thus we made separate elastic straps to guide the strings and we organized it into two sections. This meant that instead of putting one very large piece on you put 2 or 3 pieces with much less string.

Additionally in the other prototype the mechanism was triggered by the opposite arm and did not show a huge extension of the correct body language. So in this we used the action of folding your arms or tensing to trigger the panels to unfold. This seemed much more suitable.

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