2013-1_Reflection_Student Journal

MODULE FOUR: REFLECTION STUDENT JOURNALS SEMESTER 1, 2013 VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

Faculty of Architecture, Buillding & Planning, University of Melbourne

CONTENTS SEMESTER 2, 2012 VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS JILLIAN RALEIGH

3

RITA LIAO

32

SHIVY YOHANANDAN

53

HANA NIHIL

77

HUANG SHEN SHEN (APPLE)

99

AUDREY DESIREE ONG AI LI

122

BOHEMIA HOOKHAM

144

CATHERINE MEI MIN WOO

169

DANIEL CAGAROSKI

190

JINWOO JUNG

212

SAYA JUNYAO YE

232

TONY HUYNH

261

XEYIING YE

287

Faculty of Architecture, Buillding & Planning, University of Melbourne

Module 4

Carlin Lyon Student No: 637315 Semester 1/2013 Group 9

MODULE 1 IDEAS

DRAWING PATTERNS These are some natural patterns that I initially experimented with, to see what abstract effects I could derive from these subjects.

The images include patterns from wood grain, sea bugs, jellyfish, fish, feathers, and cabbage. I really like the ‘organised mess’ look of the wood and cabbage, however I think that the sea creature patterns are particularly interesting.

ANALYTICAL DRAWING READING Kadinsky’s approach to

1

2

analytical drawing is focused on three steps; finding the essential form of a subject, finding its tension lines which indicate movement but are not ‘seen,’ and reducing the drawing to its concise representation of the abstract form.

The image demonstrates the process of extracting an essential form of an image. The final black line does not necessarily trace the original shape, but it also include implied or hidden relationships between the bicycle wheels, the wheel axes, and the centre of the bike.

1,2,3 Images from ‘Poling, Clark (1987): Analytical Drawing In

3

Kandisky’s Teaching at the Bauhaus Rizzoli, New York’

APPLICATION

To find the simple overall form of a subject, Kadinsky suggests to extract basic lines representing the direction and placement of

The pattern I’ve chosen to develop is of a deep see bug called the Tomopteris. It consists of repetitive scale-like segments, and is symmetrical along the axis of its body.

forms, including obvious and ‘hidden’ relationships between them. I tried to approach my image (of a segmented sea creature)

in a similar manner, following the openly curved direction of the main body in a single line. I managed to find a focal point too.

WRITING THE RECIPE

I initially created a single scale, or segment, from my pattern of a scaled creature, which I found created a unique form (left). I was then curious to see what would happen if I repeated it in a line, and then layered it. I really likes the movement of the scales in a line (middle), however I couldn’t find an appropriate way to join different segments and together. In the

lecture, I saw the various ways in which I could transform my pattern, including scaling, rotating, and using symmetry.

The image second from the right is what resulted when I rotated the row of scales around a central point. I then started to think about extruding the scales, whilst rotating them at the same time.

SHADOW EFFECTS

I really like the effect of the light as it passes through the form below, especially as the form is not linear, and so the shadows are slightly elongated at certain edges. This form however is not very stable on its own, as it tends to flatten out by itself.

This is the model of the extruded form, that I rotated using three key pieces. I think this is a very sturdy and practical form to work with.

Here is the result of the rotation of multiple unit pieces, which sits in the 3D form shown to the left. This model is somewhat less practical than the previous one as the form is easily moved, and so unpredictable.

DEVELOPING THE SHAPE Below are some more detailed sketches representing the overall movement and shape of the lantern that I am aiming to achieve.

I would like the lantern to interact with the forearm, and to reach outward and above, toward shoulder height. I am trying to mimic the scale of armour plating of animals and reptiles, for example like the Pangolin.

Looking back at these drawings however, I think that the idea of scales or armour plating would be more effective if I had larger ‘scales.’

Above are some sketches following Ball’s view in ‘Pat-

tern Formation in Nature’ exploring how natural

patterns can be organised and mathematical. I want to develop the characterstic of repeating segments in my own pattern.

MODULE 2 DESIGN

THE BASIC SHAPE AND PRECEDENT

To develop the base shape of my model for paneling, I revisited my analytical drawings. My first analytical drawing of the original pattern tried to capture the movement of the image, and I found it was represented by loosely curved lines. I tried to translate this drawn shape into a 3D model where the base was narrow, grew wider as it went higher, then

I really Frank Gehry’s Fish Lamps as they have an organic curved shape, yet they have irrgular scales of torn paper.

I now want to make sure my lantern’s ‘scales’ are not too uniform or boring. I want a little ireggularity and variation in shape but to still have an element of overlapping

eventually narrowed down to an end point. The curve itself was a simple single curve, that was more tightly curled at the top, very much like my original pattern shape.

I intend to add spikes/scales later on in the process, as it relates back to the repetative nature of scales in my original pattern.

DIGITISATION

I continued to develop my base curve in Rhino, as I transformed it into its digital version. I found that the pipe tool did not work very well for this shape as my curve changes direction too sharply at the top. I found however, that lofting worked really well, using ‘rings’ that I had extracted from my clay model. The image on the left was my first idea on how to draw

and creating the curve, however, on reflection, I realised that there were too many rings, which complicated the surface.

I then decided to take out some of the redundant rings and tried to loft this.

I found that the end result was a lot smoother than my first try, and also I was able to easily loft the whole structure in one go.

The reading ‘Lost in

Parameter Space?’ talks

about the various ways to translate and communicate an object from a physical and digital model. It also contemplates how a ‘perfect’ model doesn’t need to contain so much information and detail. Carrying this idea, I tried to incorporate the spikes more simplisticly into the base image, without creating

too many surfaces. This was a quick and rough attempt at using a pipe, then pulling points from the spine, which stretched into spikes. The paneling was a lot more successful than I had anticipated, however it was still an unappealing result (super ugly).

I finally decided to use the original shape, and create spikes with panels.

v

2D PANELLING

The first few images were my first attempts to panel the basic shape, using 2D panels. Some panel attempts were more successful than others.

This is the least succesful attempt for paneling, as there are many gaps and overlaps.

I prefer this type of ‘triangle’ paneling over the left one, as this achieves a sharper and less blob like shape.

This is the base shape of the curve with spike incorporated into it.

CUSTOM PANELLING

Like one of the previous attempts, this was unsuccessful as there was minimal contact between panels.

Another method I tried, in digitising my model, in which I incorporate the spikes, was to use circles spliced with triangles (tearshape) as the bands along the curve, which I then lofted separately at each interval. Althogh I really like the end result (left)

I found that paneling was too complicated, as it produced too many surfaces.

Above shown some were not very successful as there were many gaps in the pattern.

3D CUSTOM PANELLING

1

With further exploration of Rhino panelling, I began to find different potential 3D paneling designs. I constructed some of my own custom 3D panels, which aimed to have a triangulated ‘peak.’ This was to try

2

and represent 3D scales in an abstractand striking way, but also I wanted to experiment with ‘throw ing’ directed light; shards of stretched light thrown across a room. I thought that by having a peaked scale,

3

I may be able to achieve this. I find trial 3 the most interesting as compared to most panel types, it has ‘inverse’ pannels; each panel has a base and walls, and has an open top.

PROTOYPING The outcome of my prototype was a lot different to what I had expected, as the peaks of the panels had really wide and flat surfaces. I also added some slits in the panels to achieve the ‘light shard’ effect I wanted.

There was a severity in the the spikes that I thought made the model look quite interesting, and also when I had light from different directions streaming through the prototype, I could achieve overlapping shards of light.

I also really liked the skeletal feel of the prototype, which represented the exo-skeletal characteristic of my original pattern.

During the process of making the prototype I found that my current design had too small ‘joining’ areas between the panels lengthways, which made me think about my future designs.

The orange lines represent the main spines of the protoype, and the ratio of model to tabs. The tabs were small and not practical.

3D CUSTOM PANELLING

1 The drawings here represent my general thought process when I derived my panel shape from my original pattern. The top left is a traced segment of the original pattern, that I have developed with a triangular and repetitive nature.

I initially wanted to have very striking and defined spikes, to give the full effect of the ‘sharpness’ of scales. However, after watching the TED talk by Thomas Heatherwick, I started to understand that ostentatious design is not always more effective or interesting.

I revisited my original pattern and my analytical drawings and discovered this more subtle spiky pattern within the image. Like Heatherwick, I tried to take a more humble representation of my image, and repeat it in a way so that the overall effect and object was a lot more interesting than if I had simply stuck on a few larger spikes.

1. The Seed Cathedral

3D CUSTOM PANELLING

Using the general shape of my previous drawings, I found that this shape was appropriate.

It also had a noticable resemblance with my original pattern and analytical drawings. I find this panel attempt interesting as

it has a softer spikiness which are not as visually striking as my other spiky options, and I believe that this has more potenital with creating different lighting effects. I intend to create a kaleidoscopic effect.

MODULE 3 FABRICATION

DEVELOPING THE PROTOTYPE

Initially I trialed light through the prototype without any gaps or differnt materials used, and found this a bit too uniform.

I then tried to take out one side-panel and replace it with tracing paper. I really liked this effect, however it wasn’t strong

enough . I then trialed more designs where I took out more panels, in different patterns, and found that I liked the ones on the right, as it illuminated the triangular nature of the model a lot more than the one before it.

I came accross this image and thought that this represented exactly what I wanted for my light effects. Looking from above, you could only see snow, however at certain angles, there are ‘hidden’ details where light is refracted through. I think this is a beautiful image and effect.

PRINTING THE PAGES

It was difficult to unroll the panels as I had to find a way for as many to stay in contact with eachother as possible. With my design however it was inevitable that I’d have a lot of smaller pieces. The reading ‘Digital Production’ suggested that with technology, there is a reciprocal relationship between what we can draw and what we can build, where design is limited by both. I also had to make sure my design was practical to make.

Strangely, I found that some of my unrolled ‘strips’ significantly resembled my pattern and original analytical drawings. Although this is likely a coincidence, I thought that it somewhat reflected the overall curve/movement, and ‘spiky’ qualities I was aiming for.

FABRICATION

For the tracing paper areas, I traced certain triangles off the main strips, which I would later cut out separately in the tracing paper.

I found that when I joined two strips together, it was like working a zip. Each row had triangles crossing over to the other, which made it very

secure when I glued them togher. Some times it was a bit fiddly as the pieces didn’t match up cleanly, but overall it seemed to behave quite well.

FINAL FABRICATION

As the base was quite weak, I tried to put rings of card to strengthen it. Initially I wanted to create a rib that ran throughout the whole curve, however I found that this blocked off a lot of my light. I also decided to cap the two openings to make it look a little neater.

Taking Form By the third row out of four, the lantern started to take its shape and became more rigid.

The thickness of the model also became more apparent as the model evolved.

POSITION ON THE ARM

There were multiple ways to hold the lantern I found, particularly concerning the hand. I could either cup the bottom of the model with my palm, or twist my hand around so

that i was holding it backwards (middle image). I like the second way of holding it as the model interacts closely and parallel to the forearm.

Final Product

REFLECTION Throught the design process and fabrication of my lantern, I found that the weekly readings and lectures were useful tools to help guide me or help me to understand the function of design principles. I often found myself brainstorming during the lectures, after seeing architectural images and objects of industrial design, that incorporated many design elements. In one of the first few lectures, the lecturer mentioned that Le Corbusier believed Architecture ought to look like something rather than try to be it. This is a very interesting idea that could also be applied to general design, including with our lanterns. The use of previously existing design is extremely important to ensure we have a sound and considered approach to a design concept. I think this idea can also be applied to tools like technology so that we should use it in a way that helps us achieve what we want, rather than rely on it to create the design for us.

When fabricating the model, it was really important to be aware of the practicality of certain constructing methods. The reading Architecture in the Digital Age was useful to understand the context of design fabrication. It specified the various methods of 2D and 3D fabrication, some where you could subtract physical material from a base shape, or one where you could add on to a starting point, like with 3D printing. The card cutter we had available to us was extremely useful for our fabricatio process. It dramatically shortened the time taken to translate our models from digital to physical form. There were some limitations however, as we had to unroll and ‘flatten’ our digital model into strips of panels, which we then fit on to the card size. Also, the blade could only go in a certain number of directions, so curved lines sometimes looked jagged. Finally, there is a difference between what the printer is theoretically capable of and physically capable of, and so I found that when I asked the printer to cut out fine gaps and really small tabs, it often struggled and torn the paper.

Overall though, it was a very useful tool, if you knew how to use it effectively.

The perception of craft has also been changed, influenced by the introduction and establishment of digital design. Building the Future suggests that in architecture, there is a strong relationship between craft, detail, and the industry it is designed for. Although currently, craft is largely related to the ‘organisation of information’ with numeric codes and digital information. The Third Industrial Revolution also discusses the adoption of digital tools, and I strongly believe that virtual design has changed the way we think about design, and that creativity has become a thing of the manipulation of information. Looking back at my lantern, I was able to develop my designs further using tools like panelling, which became like a digital ‘rule’ when coating the base shape with a repeated unit. This would have never been possible without programs like Rhino, however I do not believe I relied on the software for my designs. The new step towards virtual design can help us develop the detail, and precision of our designs that we would have never hoped to achieve.

Building my lantern this semester has been a very difficult thing to pursue, as there were often times when I came accross design and digital difficulties, however I now have a much better understanding of the context of design, digitisation, and fabrication, which I do no fully realise yet. I am very pleased with how my lantern has turned out, and it is still interesting to revisit my precedents and chosen pattern, to see the initial roots of my design.

REFERENCES

IMAGES FISH LAMPS

http://www.designboom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/gehry01.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DfTX996wEsI/URGKGXEDN4I/AAAAAAAAFhg/90vqV4IsUR8/s1600/ IMG_4913.JPG http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8467/8432098680_b38af413f1.jpg

THE SEED CATHEDRAL

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/add71b542e3228a838ad7931a9409d9a.jpg

CROCODILE TAIL

http://www.taos-telecommunity.org/epow/EPOW-Archive/archive_2012/EPOW-120611_files/5698_ dwarf_crocodile_closeup_tail.JPG

ICE LAKE

http://www.tapeciarnia.pl/tapety/normalne/169934_gory_lodowe_bryly_zima.jpg

REFERENCES Poling, Clark (1987): Analytical Drawing In Kandisky’s Teaching at the Bauhaus Rizzoli, New York, pp. 107-122 Ball, Philip (2012): Pattern Formation in Nature, AD: Architectural Design, Wiley, 82 (2), March, pp. 22-27 TED talks - Thomas Heatherwick - http://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_heatherwick.html Scheurer, F. and Stehling, H. (2011): Lost in Parameter Space? IAD: Architectural Design, Wiley, 81 (4), July, pp. 70-79 Digital fabrications: architectural and material techniques / Lisa Iwamoto. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, c2009.

The third Industrial Revolution / Jeremy Rifkin. Palgrave Macmillan, C2011.pp107-126 Building the Future: Recasting Labor in Architecture/ Philip Bernstein, Peggy Deamer. Princeton Architectural Press. c2008. pp 38-42 Architecture in the Digital Age - Design and Manufacturing /Branko Kolarevic. Spon Press, London, c2003

Adela Risha Saputra 617260 Virtual Environments Semester I/2013 Group 6

__M1/IDEATION -

__PATTERN & ANALYTICAL DRAWING

RED CABBAGE Brassica Oleracea

By using Kandinsky’s analytical drawing technique: simplification (Poling, 1987), I connected the visible points seen on the cross section of the red cabbage. After analyzing the geometry, it turns out to be a Fibonacci spiral.

__M1/IDEATION -

__NATURAL PATTERN ANALYSIS

01

SPIRAL

02

LOOP

03

FOLDS

04

LAYERING

Throughout my lantern-making process, I always incorporate my natural pattern’s concept ideas to make the surfaces and panels. Most of them are identified from their physical geometry (concave surface) and the cabbage’s growth behaviour (loops, folds, layering, spiral, and scaling).

05

CONCAVE

06

SCALING

My first idea of spiraling comes from my analytical drawing, which is a Fibonacci spiral. The other five are based on my observation of the pattern’s behaviour.

__M1/IDEATION -

__PAPER AND PLASTICINE MODELS

FOLDS

01 PAPER MODEL FRONT ELEVATION

02 PAPER MODEL TOP ELEVATION

SUSPENDED

SPIRAL

04 MODEL SKETCH INTERFACE

03 PLASTICINE FRONT ELEVATION

1. Spiral 2. Suspension 3. Folds

The paper models followed directly the rule of my analytical drawing (Fibonacci spiral), with the concept ideas of extruding and scaling, just as suggested by Paul Loh’s lecture.

Next, the final plasticine model was heavily inspired by the spiral structure of Guggenheim Museum at New York; with integrating the ideas of suspension and folds from the paper model.

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM - NEW YORK FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

MODULE TWO

DESIGN

__M2/DESIGN-

__SURFACE DIGITIZATION

01

First digitization of the raw plasticine shape; separated into two different surfaces.

02

Attempts of creating a single surface but with the same surface complexity as the two surfaces.

SURFACE DEVELOPMENT

TIMELINE The key to my surface development is simplification. Due to the initial complexity of my plasticine model (mostly the curvature), it was hard to digitize the surface without separating them into two surfaces.

05

The idea of layering was incorporated to the surface to create a doublelayer effect.

Pattern concept idea:

CONCAVE

PRECEDENT STUDY REICHSTAG DOME BERLIN

+ EASIER TO PANEL No weird angled or squished surface that messed up the panelling. +MORE REALISTIC The end of the handle is reachable and also made the making process easier.

PRECEDENT STUDY KLEIN BOTTLE

03

04

Another attempt of simplifying the surfaces and creating a realistic measurement for the surfaces (recreating hand to fit to model).

More attempts of surface simplification and decided to go with a single spiral instead of multiple ones.

Pattern concept idea:

LOOP

06

Perfected form of the inner layer (red skin) and the outer layer (grey).

07 Pattern concept idea:

LAYERING

The final surface is a loop, inspired by the surface of klein bottle, which creates a practical way to combine the inner and outer layer of the surface.

__M2/DESIGN-

__PANELLING DEVELOPMENT

CUSTOM 2D PANEL INNER LAYER

FINAL DESIGN OUTER LAYER: X - 12 Y - 18 + More panels in order to highlight the curvature of the surface. + Not all panels have holes in their front faces: to create soft glows.

01

01

02 03

Default triangular

02

Default triangular with arranged offset points to create a spiral movement in the panels.

03

Outer layer: Custom 3D pattern with arranged points for overlapping panels effect.

CUSTOM 3D PANEL PYRAMID WITH FACES IN ALL SIDES

03

Inner layer: Custom 2D pattern with another layer at the end for the diffused lighting effect.

__M2/DESIGN-

__FINAL PANELS ADJUSTMENTS

PRECEDENT STUDY GOLDEN MOON - HK LEAD, 2012

The triangular overlapping panels I decided to take were inspired by this giant lantern (Golden Moon)

by LEAD, which was also a giant ball of triangular faces stacked on top of each row. Moreover, I wanted to create the same lighting effect as seen in Golden Moon. The soft glow shown on each faces create a gradient light effect.

UPPER PART

Previously the panels were sticking out where the surface was very curved.

SOLUTION: Manually adjust each tip so it will stick with the panels above.

BOTTOM PART

Previously the panels were sticking out awkwardly that some panels were overlapping each other; hard to fabricate.

SOLUTION: Manually adjust the panels of each row so it would not overlap the panels above; simplifying the panels.

MODULE THREE

FABRICATION

__M3/FABRICATION-

__UNROLLING & NESTING

UNROLLING MAIN SURFACE

UNROLLING HANDLE

UNROLLING The main surface had 20 unrolled pieces horizontally. Tabs were created by using the provided Grasshopper script.

The handle had 14 unrolled pieces horizontally.

__M3/FABRICATION-

__ORTHOGRAPHY EXPLODED ASSEMBLY GUIDE

Separate the model into two sections (top and bottom).

1

A

1

B

1

1

1 1

A

B A

1 6

joining parts of the same row. the order of row stacking.

B C

1 2

1 9

D

1 10 1 8

1 13

E

1 12a 1 11

1 3

1 15

F

G

1 4 H I 1 5

K 1 12 L

+

M 1 14

1 16

N

1 17

J O

1 7

1 18

1 19

__M3/FABRICATION-

__MODEL ASSEMBLY PROCESS 01

04.

Make the inner layer of the bottom part first in order to install the circuit inside easily.

02

04

03

03.

Half finished for the upper part, continuing to build the bottom part.

MODEL ASSEMBLY

TIMELINE

07

08

(Read from upper-left until rightbelow). For this model making process, I found paperclips extremely useful to hold the pieces together. Following the previous assembly guide, I made the bottom and the upper part separately.

Attatching the circuit after the bottom part has been completed

The switch was placed at the corner of the back side of lantern (just below the handle)

__M3/FABRICATION-

Make sure there are no tabs facing inside the inner layer to make the lights installation easier (reachable by hand).

__MODEL ASSEMBLY

06

05

+

-

09

-

SERIES CIRCUIT

+ +

-

LED lights were attached inside the bottom inner layer of the lantern.

The complete upper part is then glued together with the bottom part

10

+

-

+

-

__M3/FABRICATION-

__FIRST PROTOTYPE VS. FINAL

The failure of first prototype gave many insights in improving the final design: + The upper and bottom part stitches. + The black paper inner layer was changed to white ivory card. + Ideas on how to assembly the loop surface and installing lights inside it.

__M3/FABRICATION-

__FINAL MODEL: ELEVATIONS

01

Back elevation

02

Left elevation

03

Top elevation

04

Perspective view

__M3/FABRICATION-

__FINAL MODEL: LIGHTING EFFECTS

PANELLING LIGHT EFFECT Soft glow emitting in each front closed triangular panel.

PRECEDENT STUDY GOLDEN MOON - HK LEAD, 2012

__M3/FABRICATION-

__LANTERN INTERFACE

LANTERN INTERFACE Held the lantern from the handle like a cup, and held the bottom part with the other hand.

__M4/REFLECTION-

__PROJECT ANALYSIS

MODULE FOUR

REFLECTION At the beginning of the subject, we were briefly introduced to the idea of making a lantern from a natural pattern.

It was really interesting discovering many perspectives from which the pattern could be translated into many simple drawings.

I tried incorporating Kandinsky’s technique of analytical drawing (Poling 1987), because Kandinsky’s try was more open, where I could explore various geometrical shapes and position of my found pattern.

Module two for me was the most challenging part of all. If I go back to where I started from the plasticine model, to the surface that I have now, it is completely different and without this presentation, I doubt anyone would guess both are related. What I made in practice turned out

Paul Loh (2013) gave a profound lecture about “The Power of Making”, and it made me realize that imagining and drawing are only a small part of a long process of making something. What I imagined is more often impossible to be made in reality. That is when digital tools come to help us designers achieve our dreams easier.

‘

DIGITAL TOOLS HELP DESIGNERS

ACHIEVE THEIR DREAMS EASIER

‘

As mentioned by Rifkin (2011), the digital world give powers to designers and craftsmen to make their imagination a reality, whether it is the software and machines for fabrication or promoting their art via Internet.

I realized when trying to interpret my model into Rhino, I encountered many problems which were often technical or lack of creativity, and even both, which occurred if I had an idea but turned out impossible to be made digitally.

As you can see from my above presentation, I had to recreate my surface so many times, editing them to fit the practicality of making, the pattern concepts, and my own criteria of satisfaction. Nevertheless, with the help of my tutors, I succeeded in achieving the most intriguing surface that are both related to my pattern and satisfy my ideation.

Last, module three was for me the most fun process yet most time consuming of all. Even though I only made two lanterns, with one as my prototype, I realized immediately the importance of trial and error in a making process. My first prototype was clearly a mess, which was an essential step in discovering all the faults and beauty of my lantern.

I always see my lantern with flaws, no matter how many times I rebuild it.

However, even though I realize it is not perfect, I still love my lantern simply because it is the fruit of my own imagination. Therefore, it gives me so much joy to see other people appreciate my work as much as I love making it.

‘IMPERFECTION IS PERFECT ‘ Virtual Environments as a subject has given me much more than learning knowledge. It gives me personal experiences that I think is had given me a glimpse or preview of what I will be experiencing in my future career as a designer.

Moreover, my ability to learn Rhino for only two weeks because of pressure had surprised me the most. Even though I was familiar with digital design interface, I learnt them for years, but for Rhino, it amazed me how everyone including myself are able to operate the software so well in just a few weeks time. This shows how I am actually able to learn fast if I wanted to (in this case I was chased by deadlines).

Furthermore, despite the long hours of working, stressful nights before the deadline, struggling for inspirations and ideas and the sleepless nights, I realized that I actually love doing it. No matter what people said, I see those stressful experiences as my way of learning and improving myself as a designer.

One of the most memorable things I learnt in virtual environments is that imperfection is perfect. Before this, I tend to symmetrize geometries instead of exploring the impossible in terms of designing, which I think comes from my previous learning method from high school that heavily depend on logical thinking and memorizing.

However, taking that attitude to virtual environments had caused me many difficulties along the process, especially when creating my lantern surface. My tutor, Samson, told me that imperfection is what make things interesting and not boring, and that I have to be more open with exploring my imagination. I took that advice and I really like thinking differently and being appreciated because of it.

In the end, virtual environments had helped me realizing my own potential and also improving myself to become a better person and a better designer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_cabbage LEAD (2012), GOLDEN MOON, viewed April 16 2013, http://www.l-e-a-d.pro/projects/golden-moon/2664.

Paul Loh (2013) Week 6 Making: Power of Making, Melbourne: University of Melbourne.

Poling, Clark (1987) Analytical Drawing In Kandisky’s Teaching at the Bauhaus Rizzoli, New York, pp. 107-122 Thomas Heatherwick - Building the Seed Cathedral (2011), TED Talk, http://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_heatherwick.html Tooling / Aranda, Lasch. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2006

Metaniawati Limanto MODULE 4 Student No: 618475

Semester 1/2013

Group 6

IDEATION NATURAL

PROCESS Sunflower Disk

Sunflower represents its beauty that really captures my attention once I saw it. According to King (2004), it characterises the brightness during summer and its gigantic yellow flower heads always follow the sun light which portrays the idea of happiness in the summer. Furthermore, its disk depicts the spiral pattern in nature that is related to Fibonacci Sequence (Segerman 2013). Its pattern also shows the brightness proportion which relevant to the Poling reading.

In order to find the analytical drawings, I drew dots on the pattern and followed the movement. At first, I only found one direction of spiralling that I develop further becoming the balance analytical drawing. Then, I found another direction of spiral that goes exactly the same but in a reverse way that made me come up with the symmetrical analytical drawing. After that, I decided to develop the balance drawings even further until I came up with movement analytical drawing.

ANALYTICAL DRAWINGS

Balance

Symmetry

Movement Virtual Environments

IDEATION NATURAL

PROCESS

DIAGRAM

3D PAPER EXTRUSION For the 3 dimensional form, I made up spiral extrusion similar to the movement analytical drawing which are made of triangulars and rectangulars. First of all, I cut the A4 paper in the same width. Then, I folded into three 50% scaling sizes of triangulars and rectangulars. Next, spiral all the big triangulars and rectangulars in one center by 120 degrees angle to form a circle. The biggest size of the triangles and rectangles became the main base. Then stick the smaller sizes to each of them in a higher height. Lastly, tape all the triangles

RECIPE 1. Imagine 5 various sizes of circles from the same center.

Plot 3 points that divides them to three parts.

2. Plot 3 spirals from the center to the points on the perimeter twice with a small gap.

3. Divide the surface to 2 parts.

4. Repeat to each circle.

Virtual Environments

IDEATION PRECEDENT

EXAMPLES

Swiss Re Headquarters, 30 St Mary Axe in London, UK This building was designed by Foster + Partners. This building attracts me because of its shape which is very similar to sunflower disk. Its top represents the center of the disk and the pattern follows by Fibonacci sequence. It can also be seen from a distance that the pattern goes spiralling the building all around and as it goes downwards it gets wider. It is similar to my model that it gets wider on the outside. The purpose of the idea in this building is to respond the constraints of the site that it will reduce wind deflections compared with rectilinear tower of similar size. Therefore, this design considers the environment comfort at the ground level.

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IDEATION DESIGN

DEVELOPMENT

3D MODELLING This model extrudes downwards and outwards. It is started from one centre that follows the curve of the arm then it extrudes downwards. In addition, the sizes of the cones are using scaling techniques so that each of them has different sizes. The height of this model is approximately 600mm.

The way I formed this model is by putting all of the top together as one to be the center. Then, spiral the extrusions and curve each of them outwards in different angles.

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IDEATION EFFECTS

Elisa Strozyk designed a modern lamp named Miss Maple. The design is very unique due to the material she used which is wooden textile as the skin and steel as the foundation. Thus, she did not use plain surface, but broke it down into grids of triangles.

This inspires me to make my model more abstract. I want combine it with another design of lamp that uses diffusion technique which scales as it goes downwards and also uses filtered technique. I plan to make the pattern of my surface spiralling in two ways like sunflower and made of grids to make a textural surface. Moreover, the grids that I want to apply may get bigger as it go downwards.

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IDEATION REFLECTIVE

READING

In the Poling reading, he maintains three stages of analytical approach which were very helpful for me in understanding my chosen pattern. The first stage is about simplifying the pattern itself by noticing its characterization of individual parts of the still life and recognizing the repetitive forms, lines, shapes and shading. This helped me to find the Fibonacci sequence on the disk of the sunflower by imagining the path of the disk as dots.

The second stage is about finding the tensions in the structure by drawing the linear forms on the pattern, considering the colors and representing the dotted lines. This stage made me able to find the balance of spiral on the sunflower that can be seen clockwise and anti-clockwise. The last one is “translation� which focused on making a more abstract solution by examining the construction limits to lines and tensions between forces that will conclude in a range of concealed constructions and exact expressions. To sum up, these stages really helped me to analyze the pattern carefully and able to find new structures from one pattern. As a result, I came up with a few drawings that each represents movement, balance and symmetry in my pattern.

Furthermore, I was introduced to the pattern theory which has a lot of functions such as decorative system, material system, spatial device, static representation and dynamic representation. From the lecture, I realized that all living creatures represent their own pattern. It is related with the Pattern Formation in Pattern by Ball that he maintained how they formed in interactions. This reading helped me finding the idea of the sequence of the seeds in the disk. I did a research and found that they are based on mathematical algorithm which is Fibonacci sequence. Moreover, I followed the seeds on my sunflower pattern by making dots then I found that the amount and movement of the seeds are identical with that formula. According to Biomimicry Guild, Fibonacci sequence works very well in the growth that it will be packed uniformly in the disk. Then I draw a curve from the center until the end of the dots. I found the spiral pattern all over the disk. Biomimicry Guild also maintains that the spiral allows the maximum number of the seeds that it starts from the center and pushes the others outward. Therefore, I made the model bigger as it goes outwards.

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DESIGN ORTHOGRAPHIC

IMAGES

METHOD 1 - Produce contours by tracing profile curves Digitising this model was very complicated due to the branching parts. I used this method only to make the base form of the model and used the paneling tool to make the branches. Furthermore, I used sweep 2 rails command to form this base model which were contained of 2 sizes of circles and one curve. The first circle is located at the top of the handle as the top end of the model. The smaller one is located at the bottom end. This purpose of this hole is to make the 3D panels easier to build. While the curved rail is the spiral movement from the handle that goes bigger in the middle and small in the end.

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DESIGN PANELLING

TOOL

First, I made surface domain numbers for the spikes by using 3D paneling tool and offset the points by using point attractor. Thus, instead of just using the point attractor, I decided to use move and scale commands to stretch the points further and wider.

Then, I made pyramid 3D panels and ungroup the 3D panels to delete the surfaces that were not necessary. Moreover, for the handle, I used the 2D paneling tool to make the triangular surfaces. After that I ungroup it to delete the overlapping surfaces individually and fill the gaps manually by using polysurface command.

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DESIGN DESIGN

ALTERNATIVES

DESIGN ONE In designing my digitised model, I used 2D and 3D grid paneling tools to make it similar to my clay model. First, I used different number of points to make more pattern on the model. I used tribasic for the 2D panels and pyramid 1 for the 3D panels. Moreoever, to make it easier in joining the 2D and 3D paneling, I used the same multiple number so there will be some points which are overlapped. I also used the offset faces border on the 3D panels to make holes for the light effects.

Then, to join them together, I ungroup the paneling surface and delete them one by one. Lastly, when there were some gaps or surfaces which are overlapped, I delete them and make new triangular surfaces manually.

DESIGN TWO Futhermore, I developed my model in the use of offset faces border and number of surfaces in the 2D paneling grid for the second design. In order to develop the variety of the shadow that it would produce, I varied the offset border by using point attractors; so that as it goes downwards the holes will be bigger. Thus, I found that the number of surfaces on the 2D was not really efficient. Therefore, I decreased the number of surfaces so that it would be faster to print and easier to fold.

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DESIGN DESIGN

ALTERNATIVES DESIGN THREE

PARTIAL PROTOTYPE

This time I developed my model further in the 3D paneling. I tried to use the custom 3D grid. It was made of a basic pyramid, but each surface was made of 2 triangulars. On my first attempt, all of the panels were curved which was impossible to be build. Then, I did the triangulate faces so that all the curves became triangulars.

Therefore, it turned up to be like the pictures below. In this model, I made the offset border clearer so that it can form a better shadow as well. Thus, similar to the second design, I used fewer number of surface on the 2D panel.

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DESIGN PROTOTYPE

ONE

The 3D panels in this prototype represents the spiral of the sunflower pattern. The idea of the scaling trianglar holes also inspired by the pattern that as it goes further from the center, it becomes larger.

When I put the light in parallel, the light effects that I obtained were diffused and filtered effects. This corresponds the light effects which I desired from module 1. The use of paper as material brings the possibility for the light to be filtered. In contrast, if I use a thicker material such as mountboard, it may need more techniques to build.

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DESIGN REFLECTIVE

READING Thomas Heatherwick in the TED video was really interesting.

One of his designs, U.K. Pavilion that won a competition, was inspired by seeds. His idea of seeds which always unseen was very simple that he managed to make and develop it in a very interesting way to express the idea of seed and its growth. This also relates to the analytical drawing by Poling that he noticed the characteristics of one seed instead of everything. Thus, he develop his idea further in more abstract way until he came up with the idea of forming outward projection hairs like the PlayDoh toy. The most interesting is the material for the hair is elastic that in the windy day they can move rhythmically to wind.

Lastly, in designing, he did not only concern about the design, but also the lighting, material and function of the building to make a fascinating building.

In Scheurer reading about Parameter Space, I found the differences between abstraction and reduction. Abstraction has a little information and complexity but still has a clear picture and not ambiguous. It is divided into three parts which are shape, material and detail. In relation with the lecture, the composition of a form can also be defined as abstraction of shapes which are 1+1=1, sandwich, interference pattern, pun and resolution instead of mesh and nurbs that are maintained in the reading. Moreover, the abstraction of material and detail should be able to create a beautiful optimal design that each component can suit together. On the other hand, reduction is about finding a method to conduct it and rewrite the description without changing it. It is also divided into normalization that terminates anomalies and refactoring that cleaning up a model. This is also related to how Poling introduced me to analytical drawing that we need to simpler the objects in order to develop it further.

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FABRICATION

PROTOTYPE TWO

For the second prototype, I revised the outer surface to be a closed surface so that the cables that will be put inside can be hidden. Thus, instead of using point attractors for the offset border, I used the fixed size.

The effects for this prototype was not satisfying and need to be explored more. Morever, the movement of the spiral needs to be emphasized more to get the idea back to the sunflower pattern.

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FABRICATION

FINAL MODEL

The final model is the final revision for the prototypes. As the previous prototype, the holes were only on the inside part so that I could hide all the cables and LEDs when I did the lighting. Moreover, in order to get a better light effects, I made the holes as a variety of triangular sizes. The scales represents the sunflower disks that goes bigger as it goes outwards. Thus, the spiralling of the spikes is more emphasized in this model in order to show the idea of sunflower spiral.

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FABRICATION

FINAL MODEL: DESIGN PROCESS 1

3

2

This prototype has changed the spiralling of the spikes and the effects on the inside parts. The way I did the spiral on the spikes was by twisting the base form and the offset points using twist and gumball.

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FABRICATION

FINAL MODEL: ISOMETRIC H

H Sa

Sb

Sc

Sc

Sa Sb

Sc Sb

This isometric explains the steps of how I made my model. It starts from the handle by its own. Then I stick the last layer of the spikes together, followed by the second and the first. Finally, stick the handle and spikes together.

H = handle

Sc

S = spike Virtual Environments

FABRICATION

FINAL MODEL: MANUFACTURE PROCESS Furthermore, I tried to make a small triangulars manually by using polyline tool after I unroll and baked the surface using gumball.

Then I delete the offset borders I made and re-make holes manually by using polyline.

The pattern I used for my model is a varieties of triangular sizes. As it goes to the smaller surface, it gets smaller.

This final model used 7 pieces of 900x600 ivory card 150gsm. The tabs were made by using Grasshopper with 1 cm width and I did some part 2 cm manually to make it stronger.

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FABRICATION

FINAL MODEL: LIGHTING

All the lighting cables and batteries I hid them in the handle. I used 2 set of lighting and put them in one switch. The first big set was the light for the spikes which used a 12 volts strip LED and 8 batteries of AA. In order to make the light as a ball, I rolled it on a stress ball and tape it. Before I stick the cable to the battery pack, I attach the handle’s cap in first. This was as the place for the battery pack to be sticked to make the handle construction stronger to hold the batteries.

The second is a small lighting set for the handle it self. I used one lithium battery and one LED to make the handle form the light effect as well. Thus, I make holes on the cap so that the light from the strip LED can also reflected on the handle. Then I put all the cables together and stick them on the handle to go to the top of the handle with the switch as well. Lastly, I put all the surfaces together.

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Fabrication process

FABRICATION FINAL

MODEL

The hand follows the handle when holding the lantern that may be also similar to the way of an adult holding the hand of a child.

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FABRICATION FINAL

MODEL Virtual Environments

FABRICATION

FINAL MODEL

The triangular holes exploded the light effect which is similar to the disk of sunflower. This can be referred as diffused and filtered light effects since the lights come through the holes. It aslo give brightness to the whole surface. Moreover, the variety of sizes also refers to the size of the disk that scales.

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Virtual Environments Robert Williams 585 138 Semester 1 Group 4

Chosen Pattern and Analytical Drawings I chose the skin of a pineapple for my natural pattern. I like how it is a little different and quirky because of its context.

From the Kandisky reading I created a series of analytical drawings that focused on the lines and shapes within the pattern.

Triangles are a major element and are able to be used to express symmetry, balance and movement.

Symmetry

Balance

Movement

Workshop 1 Emerging I translated the flat image into a 3D form. Focussing on the top layer of the skin I identified the scaling involved to replicate the form. Using peaked pieces of paper I copied the gradual increase and decrease of the extrusion.

I then made an iteration of this by using curved bases rather than rigid triangles, forming a tear drop shape and continued to explore the scaling concept by attaching them smallest to smallest and largest to largest, creating a line of these scaling groups.

Further Development

I revisited my emerging form using the peaked pieces paper (above) and thought about how to join them together to create one surface. I used folded paper to create three surfaces that incorporated an angle and when attached to together formed an arch. I made multiples of this form in different sizes and looked at how to attached them. I decided on a using symmetry to create a geometric ring. To join the rings together I continued with this line of symmetry and rotated each ring to create a grouped arrangement.

The Formation Process Translated Into Rhino I researched how a pineapple gains its shape and found that growth up and outwards was a major element in it’s development (Figure 1). This fitted nicely with the scaling concept that I was already exploring in my work.

The third utilises a central point and using the 3 Point Plane Mirror function I expanded out from the central ring; branching out in different directions but not altering the scale.

Fig. 1

Using the development of a pineapple as inspiration I used the basic ring component to create forms that visually explored the concept of growth.

The first uses copy, rotate and scale and looks at the various angles that I can connect the rings.

However this creates a reasonably flat arrangement.

With trying to expand the overall structure I used the Polar Array tool to copy five rings spaced vertically in my second attempt. I used different scaling and rotations to fill the gaps, which created clusters of shapes to show growth.

The Fourth led on from this central point concept.

Still using the mirror function I made a spiral down the bottom and went upwards and out, creating more natural curves; appears as a more organic structure.

The Fifth is another cluster but explores what lighting effects I could create through layering the rings on top of each other. I elongated some rings making them resemble crystals and used ranging sizes to create this closely connected form.

Further Development of the Lantern Form I created sketches of possible forms relating to growth and how they would integrate with the hand and arm.

I took inspiration from how the pineapple plant grows as it produces the fruit, as well as previous Rhino forms. The red arrows indicate the direction(s) that the form is ‘growing’.

Proposed Lantern Form For this design I have merged my first and last forms, taking the growth from the palm of the hand and the tentacles wrapping around the shoulders, neck and head. The layering of shadows from the growth at the palm and the direct lighting around the head add to the presence of the combined forms.

Desired Lighting Effects of My Developed Form

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Employing the Lighting Effects in My Lantern The lighting characteristics that I would like my form to possess are a mixture of direct and layered lighting. The layered lighting would be from the cluster of components on the palm of the hand and as the form expands up and around the shoulder direct beams of light would be emitted from the line of components, creating walls of light around the neck and head of the wearer.

The images illustrate the elements of which I would like to use.

Figure 2 (controlled roof system) shows the use of direct lighting and the pattern it can create on a surface. This image uses geometric shapes like my form and shows the hard lines in the shadows separating the light from the dark.

Figure 3 shows the layering of shadows and how they can be used to distort a space and give it a new perspective. The cluster growing close together and out from the hand in my form would create these intersecting shadows to depict centred energy of growth like in a plant.

My lantern will be made up of connecting individual components in lines. Because of this construction, each component has a hole in the centre in the shape of a irregular pentagon. In this sketch I combine the hole locations of the rings and the light direction to show the clustering and layering of light around the hand. The light then disperses up and out around the shoulders of the human form.

Simplified Lantern Mock up Having thought about the lighting effects that I wanted to achieve I made a paper model to see what kind of result I would actually get. I decided to base this model on the growth in the hand to see how the projections would work together when the ‘fingers are grouped. Since the form is made up of the individual ring components I represented these joined rings by cutting holes into opposite sides of the ‘fingers’.

To the right are the projections achieved from the direct cuts into the paper. I used a small LED torch, with the light travelling along the whole of the shorter ‘fingers’, but not quite reaching the end of the longer one.

Exploration Continued I extended the model further by adding a piece along the arm. Again I simplified the form to run straight up the arm rather than twisting around as shown in the previous plasticine representation. I did not intend for the paper model to be appear 1:1, I have just made the extension to long in taking inspiration from my earlier sketch (left). Overall the form is in the wrong proportions to the body, needing to be thicker. However this gives an idea of how the lantern may be wired with LEDs in future fabrication. It also shows I would need to have at least one LED in each ‘finger’ and many along the extension for it to be effective. As a result this would mean a lot of wires and lights which will make it complicated to fabricate.

Simplification Thinking about Paul’s comment of not making my lantern too linear and having looked ahead at what is required in creating a contour model in Rhino and the panelling tools available, I realised that I had complicated my design and decided to bring the lantern back to a simpler representation.

I brought the ‘fingers’ growing from the palm back to one expanding mass of cubes representing the rings, with a single line of components running along the outside of the arm (not twisting around). At the shoulder a similar expanding mass but with smaller growths suggesting ‘finger’ like forms protruding alongside the head (like the original sketch) From this I created a singular volumetric form.

Digitisation Contour Method 3 Variation

The extra ‘fingers’ were created separately because of the separate contours.

I found drawing the contour lines onto the model quite difficult and so the lines aren’t as neat as I would like but I when I cut the model into sections it clarified the lines, finding that not all the lines were necessary; especially around the protruding ‘fingers’ at the top.

Unable to make the ‘finger’ hollow so light would pass through it. I was shown how to do this but I was unable to repeat the process successfully.

Development of New Form Having tried to digitise something a little too complicated for my skill set, I thought a singular organic form was best. This earlier sketch (left) demonstrates this growth through the expanding spiral up and around the arm. This simple representation of growth is what I would like to replicate but in a smaller size to reduce the complexity. Having reflected on what I have done so far, I feel that my form was still too complicated and that I didn’t consider the constraints that I brought with me, like my own skills and the time available.

In these sketches I tried to keep it simple. The first is another version of the form modelled above but smaller and with only two twists. The second and third relate more to the pineapple plant and the pineapple growing from the centre of the mass. The fourth utilises scale to show this growth by starting thin at the bottom and being the thickest at the top. The fifth is simplification of the fourth starting in the hand.

Scaled and Orthogonal Views Top

This is my simplified form represented in 1:5 scale. I feel it is the best option in terms of depicting growth in a simplified way which will be easier to digitise and fabricate. Because of its simplicity it leaves plenty of options to be manipulated using the panelling tools plug in.

Bottom

Side

Front

Back

Panelling Designs

Alternative 1

Isometric view

Unrolled strips with cuts

Side view showing the scaled sections

Sketch of scaling cuts when arranged

This design separates the form into three sections of different numbers of control points. Since I was having difficulties creating my own 3D custom panels, for this panel system I used the 2D ‘TriBasic’ pattern in the provided library to make sure the panelling worked correctly and achieved a level of simplicity. To begin with I looked at communicating this transition of scale upwards as simple as possible; a direct solution. To do this I used simple cuts mimicking the shape of the triangle panels. To emphasise the growth of the lantern the bottom section has no cuts, the middle has small cuts and the biggest section at the top has the largest cuts. This system is easy to fabricate with simple shapes and communicates the ideas of growth and scale effectively.

Paper Prototypes Testing Material Properties and Lighting Effects Alternative 1 I used 80gsm white paper for these prototypes which made it light weight and delicate. The paper itself was not thick enough to block the light completely so the rings tend to glow, however in each case a clear projection of the cuts were produced.

I made prototypes of these panels and tested for what lighting effects could be achieved in terms of direct lighting and possible layering.

Change in Direction Prototype Fabrication From reviewing Module 2 it was felt that I had fulfilled the requirements but had lost a much better form in the process. Since I wasn’t happy with what I had produced in the module, I went back to my earlier form (right) made up of the individual geometric rings.

For this prototype I unrolled each ring and printed it onto 80gsm white paper and cut out each section by hand. Working out the best size to work with was tricky because of the limitations of a A4 Printer so my first attempt was a little small. The next print out I worked out where the tabs went along the edges of the surfaces, deciding that 4mm wide was the best size for the tabs. Each ring was identical so I repeated the same process until I had made enough components to create the form.

This prototype was also used to work out how to connect the rings together. I looked at connecting them using the same sides (far left) but this method didn’t allow a dramatic curve.

But by similar triangles I was able to better replicate the spiral at the bottom of the form.

Prototype Fabrication Continued I continued making the components and connecting them in sections using sticky tape. The 80gsm paper that I used however was not very strong and could not support the weight of the branches at the angle that they protruded. The components under stress would buckle and became crushed by the other components. There was a point where the form could be balanced but was not very stable (shown by the series of photos below).

The prototype portrayed the concept of growth up and outward well from the front, however the profile view was very flat and didn’t convey this concept at all. This ‘flatness’ will be developed so the whole form from either view point is in keeping with the concept of growth.

Positive characteristics though are the geometric feel of the form overall, with the many triangular faces and pentagon openings in each component. The spiral at the bottom of the form is also an attractive part, with the spiral configuration beginning just in front of the hand; ‘growing’ from this point. The other curves that make up the form are also aesthetically pleasing because of the interaction between the rigid outlines of the components to create a curving outline.

Reflecting on the Physical Properties of the Prototype

After completing the initial prototype I looked at how the light was going to travel through each component to reach the ends of each ‘branch’. In the physical model I had used similar sized triangles on the components to attach them to each other, however when cutting these unneeded panels out the triangles would not always line up, with gaps forming which would allow the light to escape (shown below).

From this result I went back to the Rhino model and adjusted the components so the surfaces joined to each other right around the edge. This allowed me to remove the internal walls as a means for light to travel throughout the whole form.

Through the process of joining the components in this way I was able to make a hand grip in a similar position to where I held the paper prototype. This involved closing up one side of the of the components to protect the hand from possible heat but mainly to provide a strong section in the lantern to carry it by.

Components joined using similar triangles. They weren’t all the same size and so left gaps between the connections (red ring).

Original unjoined components, some intersecting with each other

Joined components

Hand grip incorporated into the lantern form

Addressing the Form of the Lantern As mentioned earlier, after making the paper prototype I noted that the profile view was very flat and did not portray the idea of growth very well. To change this I added extra ‘branches’ coming off the form, bending outward. The prototype also had problems in balancing and by having the extra branches ‘growing’ in the opposite direction it will help to balance the form when being held.

Revisiting the Lighting Effects

Precedent images

Arrangement of shadows from Module 1

Experimenting with the complexity of the triangles by closing up the ring

Scaling cuts system from Module 2

I still wanted to have a mixture of direct and layered lighting effects and so went back to my earlier modules. The sketch of the shadows (far left) depicts a different form but the idea of the cuts helping to depict growth through the concentration of the light is something I would like to retain. In Module 2 I came up with a scaling cuts system through separating the form into sections and panelling in accordance to the section (left). The lowest would have no or very few small cuts, the middle would have medium sized cuts and the top section would have the largest to produce the most light.

In transferring these ideas to the components I looked at totally enclosing the bottom rings, so there were no holes for the light to escape. In this exploration I tried to simplify the geometry and levels of triangles (going left to right) however I prefer the first arrangement because of the complexity of the shape but feel the hole in the centre helps to emphasise this complex arrangement of the triangles. I decided then that the cuts would be on the triangles that create the hole and would change the frequency and size of the cuts depending on the components position within the form.

Individual components showing the change in cut sizes

Prototype component

Scaled cuts showing direction of growth

Fig 4. A’Beckett Tower, Melbourne, Victoria

Creating the Cut Panels Using the ‘Dupboarder’ and ‘Offset Boarder’ functions as before, I created cuts in the triangles that made up the holes in each component. I made the decision not to cut into the triangles that made up the width of the components so as to avoid too much complexity. If I were to apply cuts to these triangles as well, I feel that it would make the form to busy and confronting to the viewer. Another factor was the strength of the material and to allow it to be self supporting. By having these spaces intact, it increases the strength of each component.

I made a prototype component using the offset boarder technique (second from left). It works well in letting light out but the thinness of the struts is a concern. The paper started to bend and did not hold it’s shape if knocked. This may also be the strength of the paper, so in future I will trial thicker, sturdier card and increase the width of the struts (which were only 2mm).

Another issue was the tabs being slightly to big and protruding past the width the of the struts themselves. In the next trial I will make sure the tabs are better positioned and of the same width as the struts.

To convey the concept of growth I applied these cuts to the whole form, starting with none at the beginning of the spiral and as the it comes to the hand grip small cuts appear (bottom section), with their frequency and size increasing as the form grows.

When it reaches the point when the components are branching off, the cuts become larger in size (medium section). As the branches continue out, the cuts become more frequent and larger. This growth continues towards the end component until the last ones are reached, where the struts are 4mm thick and create the largest openings (this is like the A’Beckett Building but in reverse) with every triangle cut into. The overall effect of these cuts is impressive and through the complexity of these openings, their frequency and concentration portrays the growth up and outwards of the form of the lantern (right).

Fully panelled form

Fabrication of Prototypes Prototype 1

Prototype 2

Prototype 1 is the section that accommodates the hand grip and I wanted to see if this was modelled correctly in the software and found it was successful in providing this function.

The material I used was Ivory Card. This was easy to cut and manipulate into shape but I feel that it won’t be strong enough to support the upper section of the lantern.

For Prototype 2 I chose one of the upper branches because it has complicated connections and cuts into nearly every face, making it appropriate for testing lighting effects. The material used was Mount Board and is much stiffer than the Ivory Card. This makes it much stronger and has a higher chance of supporting the whole lantern. However it proved difficult to manipulate compared to the thinner card. Another outcome was the need for dashed lines rather than scored on one side. The dashed lines would allow the two way movement the faces need.

Prototype Lighting Tests Testing Prototype 1 with LED lighting I found that the material was thin enough to allow light to transfer and results in a soft glow given off from the section.

One draw back from the thinness is that the tabs can be seen as darker shadows. I would prefer that the components are joined seamlessley as they continue up and out; create a sense of flow and continuality rather than the end of one component and the start of another.

Prototype 2 was more successful in controlling the light through the cuts and produced some promising results with projecting the triangle cuts onto the wall.

In having to wire these prototypes I found that my hands were to big for the openings and so it was rather time consuming to wire them. When constructing my final lantern I will build the components into smaller sections such as two or three and work out the wiring lengths for the next section before attaching them.

Final Lantern Fabrication Process

I had the Fab Lab use the Laser Cutter to cut out my surfaces. I then used a stanley knife to detach each piece from the board.

I used a steel ruler to guide the knife as I cut off excess tabbing.

To make it easier for myself I cut the board up into sections, so I could rotate each one separately to ease the cutting process.

I then folded and glued each component.

Piles of finished pieces.

From the folding process I was able to find more excess tabs to mark and cut off.

Some completed components.

Pile of waste from the cutting process. Because of the irregular shapes I’m not sure if I would have been able to reduce this.

Because some of the cuts were quite large compared the panel area it made the edges weak. To bend accurately I used at metal ruler.

Excess tabs. (Quite a few)

The mount board has two layers and if the tab wasn’t bent far enough before gluing, the material would sometimes split.

When joining the components together I found that a cut out had been flipped and was inside out. After gluing the component together I had to undo it and fold and glue it the other way. This solved the connection issue but now glue residue was obvious and burn marks were on the outside rather than the inside. Thankfully this only happened with two components

The 40 completed individual components.

Components connected in slightly larger groups to help construction.

Attaching the components into small groups.

Tested where the optimum position for the LEDs were. This section is the start of the spiral and so only requires minimal lighting to show growth.

Marked LED positions inside the components.

Sections with wiring prepared.

Used solder to connect wiring and LEDs and held in place with masking tape.

I wired the LEDs in parallel because the multiple directions needed and protection from LED(s) failing and breaking the circuit.

First two sections connected with wiring.

Measuring the wire out over the sections.

Next section attached with wiring.

Marked positive wire with black dot.

I made the wiring for the following section in preparation to attach it.

Finished lantern viewed from behind.

Next section attached with wiring.

Finished lantern viewed from the front.

Next section attached with wiring.

I added a battery pack and switch.

Attached end of branch with wiring.

Added extra card to support connections in stress areas.

Top section attached to finish branch.

Assembly Drawing of Lantern My lantern had a very complicated assembly process so I chose to explode groups of components outwards. Each connection is different and that is why the connections look slightly rotated when compared to each other.

Nested Cutting File Due to the irregular shapes of each surface this made nesting them together a little challenging. It was hard making the most of each page, especially in the curves of the pieces. As shown in the fabrication process there was a considerable amount of off cuts. I would estimate around 30% waste in total.

Lighting Effects First Impressions The lighted scaling cuts in the components help emphasise the growth in the form.

The projections are defined as well as layered, which was the effect I was trying to achieve.

Post Fabrication Lantern Detailing In an attempt to improve the surface quality I experimented with using white spray paint to remove burn marks, glue stains and reduce the prominent brown middle layers of the mount board.

I tested this method on Prototype 2, with the spray paint creating an even surface with a gloss finish. However it didn’t reduce the appearance of the brown cut lines and this was the main aim of the using the spray paint.

My final lantern does have some burn marks and glue stains but I believe are minimal in comparison with the whole form. Using the spray paint would be a nice finishing touch but I believe not entirely necessary.

To try and make my lantern more stable I created another component to finish the ring and provide support for the upper sections.

This was a sound solution however I feel that the concept of growth from a central point is now lost because the extra component provides conflicting two origin points.

Lantern Design

Lantern Effects

Reflection The process of getting to the end result was interesting and sometimes challenging in using the digital software to achieve the outcomes. I had the most trouble with digitising my plasticine models; translating the physical into the virtual. In attempting to achieve an accurate translation I went through a simplification process because I felt my original form had so many individual contours it would be impossible to translate accurately. Because of this decision I brought my form to a simple curving shape that I accurately represented in Rhino but lost the original and more appealing form by doing so.

Through trying to meet the requirements I did learn about panelling, the functions to create custom panels and the use of grid points to create panelled surfaces upon desired forms. So it was more of a detour than a dead end and I used the panelling techniques I had learned to create the panels on my final lantern. This period of time was definitely one of “to program or be programmed” and because of my limited skills it was Rhino that was dictating my design outcomes. I also feel that if I hadn’t taken the detour I would have ended up with a lesser design, so I feel it was a part of the learning experience of using digital means to aid the design process. The regular presentations also helped to realise the desired outcome and being able to discuss what was working and what wasn’t was also productive.

The design outcome itself is complex because of the detail in each of the components and the shear number of them. These factors create the overall impressiveness of the form, however this was time consuming and challenging to fabricate. I’m not saying that I regret putting in the extra effort to build my lantern, because I am very pleased with how it turned out, but I feel that I did not utilise the resources available to me as well as I could have. Grasshopper did help in creating the tabs and dashed lines in a time efficient manner, but because of small imperfections in the connections within some of the surfaces it confused the plug-in and caused it to created random lines criss-crossing over each other. When I first starting using the plug-in I did not know that the imperfections were the cause of the outcome and thought it was the complexity of the unrolled shapes when comparing it to the example shown. So I ended up manually drawing in most of the tabs and the dashed lines for the majority of the surfaces in Rhino; which added to the time spent on preparing the file for the Fab Lab. This allowed me to be in complete control of the outcome which was not a bad thing, but it was definitely the long way round. Having gone back after finishing my lantern I worked out the issues and was able to use grasshopper more effectively. I was able to draw tabs for the surfaces it didn’t like and still use it to create the dashed lines for the edges of the surfaces. This method cut the time spent by at least half, which in a time restricted situation it would have been much more favourable and less stressful.

Looking back I feel that the readings and lecture content guided my thinking and I am glad that I incorporated this information into my design process. The early lectures on how we perceive our world and how this can relate to design was a very new concept for me but through the texts on pattern theory and abstraction such as Kandisky, it helped to create the connections and made my process more informed. The Kandisky reading forced me to identify the main elements of my pattern. It expressed a way of representing the essence of the pattern using reduction and abstraction and I feel it was very valuable to do so. Through this exercise I identified the triangles present in the arrangement and the growth and scaling elements that were present as well.

The lecture on Composition was a huge influence on my work. The analogy of 1+1=1 really illustrated what we were required to do in bringing many different elements together to create a functional form. Researching how the pineapple grew in its natural context supported and influenced the composition of the form and the integration of the panelled cuts. The transformation process of the pineapple growing from within the plant translated to the depiction of growth up and outwards from a point, becoming the main theme that I used throughout the Modules and helped to guide my decisions when considering the composition.

By finding precedents of the lighting effects it clarified what I was trying to achieve and having the visual image helped understand how the light was behaving in those instances. The controlled roofing system shows the direct cuts used to project defined shapes onto a surface, with the lampshades creating a layered pattern to provide a spatial effect. By combining these outcomes I create an ‘aura’ around the lantern of continuous growth from the lighting effects.

Kandisky inspired abstraction of pattern.

Layered and Direct lighting effects.

A’Beckett Tower, Melbourne, Victoria.

Fig. 5 The Great Hall of Sydney’s University of Technology.

The A’Beckett Tower in Melbourne (Fig 4) illustrates the idea of growth through increasing scale of the rectangular window ‘eves’. This transformation in the facade gives the effect of being able to look through the building at lower levels and as the building goes up this view diminishes from the increasing size of the ‘eves’. The use of a patterning system such as this is what I applied to my panels but in reverse; as the lantern grows the cuts start small but gradually grow in size right up until the final components are reached.

The use of triangles to create an angled surface was the focus and was almost like a puzzle. This sum of parts to create a singular entity relates well to the Composition Lecture; 1+1=1. The ceiling of The Great Hall of Sydney’s University of Technology (Fig 5) has a sense of randomness but achieves uniformity through creating the one surface. This randomness of size is definitely evident in my final lantern through the varied panels that I have used to create a singular form, much like the ceiling of The Great Hall.

Module 4 Reading Responses

Drawing inspiration from the reading and your own learning from the last 10 weeks, describe how digital technology has changed your view on design, making and the context of the built environment?

By using Rhino to design the lantern it reduces the margin of error in the fabrication process by using the CNC Laser Cutter as the ‘technique’. Because of its accuracy it removes the time used to refine the design through repeated trial and error. However it is not the solution to creating a singular form that will succeed straight away and because of this prototyping is still necessary but to a smaller extent. Understanding how materials behave when used to construct the form was pivotal in reaching a solution. The design itself had physical risk in that I was not certain that it would be able to support its own weight, because of the unbalanced curves within the form. I added more branches to improve the chance of success, but still relied on the final outcome as to whether further adjustments were required. The choice of material still came from the prototyping phase since the digital version was unable to identify appropriate means but how I had the material cut was dictated by the digital realm through clean, scored or dashed options. My fabrication process also introduced the ‘workmanship of risk’ to some extent. Considering that the each component was drawn and cut through digital information it was accurate, however in assembling these components I was responsible for the accuracy of the joins and connections between them and the sections that these created. If a join did not hold, the section would be compromised and in turn compromise the form. I did improve the success of the joins through adding larger strips of card inside the components to create more ‘workmanship certainty’ for the form to work.

The digital revolution has made so much more possible. The internet provides a huge amount of resources readily available and allows communication between people across the globe. I feel that the only boundaries that exist are the ones that I bring with me and that this is a period of time through learning about digital design that these restrictions can be removed. Being able to draw a form in a digital program and then have it electronically cut out with such precision is ridiculous to think of when compared to the past where it was done by hand. My only reservation of this kind of technology is that it removes the ‘master craftsmen’ from the fabrication process. Through machines creating the objects it removes the skill of humans. However thinking of how the direction of the economy is changing with the social elements, there will always be people that are experts so the description of a ‘master craftsmen’ changes with this movement. Considering that it broadens the access to people that have an interest in design and fabrication and that it allows them to do it themselves it can only be positive. This kind of new ‘individual design’ is mentioned in the reading through the introduction of 3D Printers and how this creates mini production lines within private homes. The digital realm also allows for forms to be designed that were once difficult to define, but through this new technological age it is able to be visualised accurately and can be tested. In relation to the built environment BIM software (Building Information Technology) can design a building in great detail, test how it would respond to forces in the environment and instruct the designer on the process of building it. Again the possibilities are much greater than what was available in the previous industrial revolutions, which makes this a very exciting time.

Evaluate your process of designing and making the lantern against the notion of Craft outlined in the reading. Have you included a degree of design risk in your work?

Module 3 Response to the Assigned Readings Design and Manufacturing

2D Fabrication or CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) Cutting consists of a moving head (2 axis motion along X & Y) or moving bed which the material is attached or both working together. It can use three different cutting methods, A Plasma Arc- An electric arc passes through a compressed gas jet in the cutting nozzle, heating the gas into plasma; which converts back to gas as it passes the heat to the cutting zone.

Water Jet- A highly pressurized water jet is mixed with solid abrasive particle and directed through a tiny nozzle to create a focussed stream. This creates rapid erosion of the material, providing clean accurate cuts. This method can cut almost any material.

Laser- High intensity infared lights combined with pressurized gas is used to melt or burn the material. This method however is used only to cut materials that absorb light energy.

Subtractive Fabrication is the removal of a specified volume of material using electro, chemically or mechanically reductive processes (multi-axis milling processes). The milling can be axially, surface or volume constrained. Lathes are an example of a axially constrained method. Surface constrained is identical to a cutting machine. 2D Subtractive Fabrication consists of a 2 axis milling router, using a rotating drill bit following the X & Y axis’. The 3D method is an extension with the Z axis added. These methods are limited with the 4 & 5 axis millers able to create a larger range of forms.

Additive Fabrication involves incremental forming by adding material layer by layer. The model is sliced into 2D layers and this information is transferred to the processing head. There are a range of processes that fall under this method catergory: Selective Laser Sintering uses a laser to melt a metal powder layer by layer to create solid objects.

Laminated Object Manufacturing is a method of laser cutting sheets of material (paper or plastic) that have been laminated together into the required shape.

Fused Deposition Modelling consisits of each cross-section being produced by melting plastic fillament that solidfys when cooled.

Multi-jet Manufacture uses a modified printing head to deposit melted thermoplastic material in very thin layers.

These methods however require costly equipment and have long production times, resulting in little application in building design.

Countour Crafting is a recent development using a fulling automated method which combines extrusion of the shell and a filling process by pouring or injecting material to form the shape. Computer controlled trowels then shape the ouside edges of the object.

Formative Fabrication utilises mechanical forces, restricting forms, heat or steam to transform material into the desired shape.

The constraints of the CNC Card Cutter and Laser Cutter are the size and scale that a model is able to be produced, however this is already addressed in the brief. The machines are unable to cut curved shapes to represent a curved form accurately. Triangulation or tessalation of the form are possible solutions. The positives of using the machinery are their accuracy in cutting; much higher than by hand, the process is non-labour intensive and much faster than manual operations.

Digital Fabrications

“Digital Technology streamlines production effectively by blending upstream and downstream processes that are typically compartmentalised.”

This technology allows us to continuosly alter and develop designs with little effort, rather than making the prototype to be able visualise the form and then changing it. 3D modelling provides an accurate description in the virtual world, satisfying the need for lots of intermediate models throughout the design process. Physical representations are still practical means of communicating ideas, however this new technology has broadened what we can design and the communication of these ideas.

For the fabrication of my lantern I am using the 2D Fabrication methods of the card and laser cutters. Because these machines only operate on a X & Y axis, there is no depth to the model being created and so the form needs to be unrolled. Because of the restriction of the 2 axis’ ability to create curves in the form through depth, there is the requirement for the form to be flat when unrolled. To create these flat surfaces that can be reassembled into curved 3D forms, I have used triangular configurations to provide the curvature in my lantern.

Module 2 Responses For my proposed form I took inspiration from the growth of a pineapple plant and the position of the pineapple as it grew. Transfering this process gave meaning to my form and allowed me to intergrate it with the preexisting conditions of the human form effectively. I also merged two previous ideas together to create the singular form: The way the pineapple bush separates in the middle to let the pineapple emerge is used except its the head that the form is parting to allow.

Connecting the torso with the form mimicks the growth of the arm from the torso and branches out like the fingers from the palm in the human form.

This assimilation with the human form could also be seen as implementing the ‘resolution’ strategy, with the human body uniting the two concepts to form a new entity.

Thomas Heatherwick Talk Discussion I found the apartment blocks in Kuala Lumpur really clever in that by taking away parts of the base or giving the towers a ‘small bottom’ and then placing these parts at the top of the building it provided more ground area around the tower as well as more space at the top. The unique shape of the apartment blocks interrupts the usual skyline of tall, straight buildings in that area and changes the relationship between the buildings and the environment. Another aspect of the design is the utilisiation of the roof area by turning it into rainforest. Heatherwick changes it from being ‘dead space’, to reconnecting with the natural landscape around it. So rather than a collection of rooms clustered together at the top of the towers that are claustrophobic, the roof top rainforest cures this as it expands across the entire area, allowing for inhabitants to experience these wide open spaces. Another achievement of this design is that the towers do not take over the landscape rather they become a part of it.

Figure 6

Lost in Parameter Space Response Abstraction is the action of reducing infinite complexity to a more managable description of an object. A model is an example of an abstraction, with a perfect model being one that uses as little information as possible to describe an object. When abstracting detail in an object it is the systematical development of a general solution suiting all individual components that is used. For the analytical drawings of my base pattern, the second drawing would be an abstraction because it holds the basic information to describe the shapes present whilst removing unnecessary lines as shown in the first drawing. Hence no important detail is lost and no one gets distracted by unnecessary detail.

Reduction is finding the optimal way to transport this information by rewriting the description and not altering the content. Much like the Kandisky approach, it is how to represent an object in the most effecient way. This can be achieved by removing rendundancies; information that appears more than once.

References Figure 1: Birgit Bradtke 2007, Tropical Permaculture, accessed 16 March 2013, < http://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/growing-pineapples.html> Figure 2: Elsevier B.V. 2012, Heuristics rendered preview, Science Direct, accessed 23 March 2013, < http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0926580512001148> Figure 3: livebreathestyle 2012, Gorgeous lighting at Hotel Sorrento, Blog at Word Press, accessed 23 March 2013, < http://livebreathestyle.wordpress. com/> Figure 4: John Gollins (2011) ‘A’Beckett Tower’. Architecture Australia Nov/Dec 2011, 51 Figure 5: Brett Boardman (2012) ‘A series of chevrons built into the surface mantle accomodates track and accent lighting’. Architecture Australia Mar/ April 2012, 26 Figure 6: Thomas Heatherwick, Kuala Lumpur Platinum Park Residences, Heatherwick Studio, accessed 5th April 2013, < http://www.skyscrapercity.com/ showthread.php?t=1600839>

Rafflesia

Paper lantern : Geometric rules from natural pattern

Keryn Liew 610143

Virtual Environments Semester 1/2013 Group 11

DESIGN BRIEF

A curvilinear for m with panelized sur face that inter face only with the hands and forear m. It is a paper lanter n, derived from geometric rules based on patter ns in nature, and serves to the exter nal atmosphere through light and shadow.

1.Ideation PATTERN FORMATION IN NATURE

Rafflesia, a type of parasitic flowering plants, has its initial structure grown outwards from the point

of center. The processes of the Rafflesia, which are the segments that branch out from the center, creates a miraculous emergent behavior.

It is also to be amazed by the nature of Rafflesia that there is a balance of symmetrical diverting segments to connect the encircled part. A spontaneous pattern formation is emerged.

In spite of the complicated symmetric pattern, the central part of the Rafflesia is formed naturally. There is a force within the flower to maintain its consistency of the symmetrical pattern. The arbitrariness of spots on the huge petals creates an aesthetically uneven movement across the petals. This is explored as the oscillating chemical reactions, the switching on and off of the pigment-generating genes.

These notions are what Philip Ball observed : natural patterns are raised through interactions of many integrant of one system.

IDEATION: NATURALLY OCCURING PATTERN

Intrigued by the uniqueness of its pattern, the largest flower in the world, Rafflesia is explored as the sample image.

Symmetry | Balance | Movement ANALYTICAL DRAWINGS

Aroused to view objects from nature in a very different perspective besides The whole image is identhinking analytically about its basic structures, patterns that are not perceived tified into smaller parts in directly by the eyes have to be examined. the first stage and this is where the approach of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Analytical drawing is an investigation of the structural relationships among drawings based on the idea of symmetry comes objects.â&#x20AC;? - Kandisky. in. Logically, the image A condensation of a diversity of shapes is therefore, used as an underlying is investigated based principle of analyticity. on the proportions and changes that gradually vary within.

The second stage views the object on its tension of the structure.

The aspect of balance is integrated. Connections of dots and focal points are networked to develop the sense of equilibrium within the structure. Parallel construction and major contrasts are considered. The contour of the image is represented.

A very radical framework is approached at the third stage. Extreme simplicity and energy characteristic of the image are expressed. The aspect of movement is incorporated. Termed as translation, it is at this point, the image is regarded into the utmost simplification that is comprehensible.

RECIPE OF GEOMETRIC RULE 1. Elongate the segment in anticlockwise direction.

2. Divert the ends into two small parts to reach the initial structure.

IDEATION: PHYSICAL AND DIGITISED MODEL

The focus is on the central point of the Rafflesia.

The Y-shaped curve is further explored.

SYMMETRY AND BALANCE - An extruded pentagon is the backbone of the whole model. Perpendicular strips are connected within the oval and circle.

CROSSOVER - The intersecting ends of the two curves are joined to form an enclosed rhombus-like shape.

MOVEMENTS - Curves are used as the representation of huge petals and the oval is extended with these curves forming a wave-like structure as its border.

TRANSLATION - The patterns are mirrored, forming an enclosed shape in the center. A variety of heights based on the extruded Y-shaped curve are joined together. A radii of a new emerged pattern is formed.

IDEATION: PRECEDENTS AND EXPLORATIONS

New Taipei City Musuem, Taipei

Anchored from a base in the center, these extruding curvatures in the first precedent are similar to the concept of the central part of the emerging form model. Another distinct design is the base of this museum, where trusses are arranged to form a consistent pattern that has a rotating effect towards the center of the ceiling.

ArtScience Musuem, Singapore

This amazing roof structure in the second precedent is designed in a way to allow both light and air to be integrated to the building. The crossover characterestic from various Ys is a conceptualisation that could be incorporated - the symmetrical diverting segments attribute to the formation of the model.

Clay Model

IMAGINARY LANTERN Preserving the component of a Y curve as its essential principal, the design of layering various Y curve in different directions is examined for the evolvement of the angles that could be created by the joints of all Y curves.

The lights that penetrate between the multiple layers would give several effects - an effect of glow at certain openings and a diminished exposure of light in some divisions, in which the rule of diverting one segment to two separate parts is explored.

Considering the consistent geometric proportion, the repetition of the Y-shaped curves in various directions then formed a newly emerged structure, where the complexity is actually based on simple principals from nature.

Based on reflections of the Y curves could produce, the base of this model is abstracted from the emerging form model where various heights of extrusions are incorporated.

While the light from the central midpoint would be a sharp laser-like penetration, the effect of light from the base would create an opposite effect due to diffusion. This is when the role of reflections come in to create an illusion of diverting lighting effect.

2.Design ABSTRACTION AND REDUCTION “Involving human intelligence and perspectives, the information is simplified while its properties are still remained” - Lost in Parameter Space.

Relating this to the analytical drawings back in IDEATION, symmetry, balance and movements are the abstraction of details from the selected pattern in nature.

The optimal way to transport the information is done through normalization and refactoring via reduction. The details are described and reproduced in an appropriate way without changing its content. This is shown in the recipe and hence characteristics of Rafflesia are exploited.

First Refined Form

This interpretation of the shape of the model would be rather direct from the rules. Also being relatively not that solid to be a lantern for further paneling development, a transformation is developed.

With this, a form of the main characteristics featured in the two imaginary lanterns in IDEATION are combined.

As inspired from the lecture on how geometry should interact with the forearm, this expanding base would be interacting with the wrist and hand, in which the effect of diversion from center could be delivered.

“Design is not an immediate process, it needs to be worked through” - Lecture (Designing Effects)

The whole model still retains the parasitic characteristic, as its shape could be cling on the forearm.

Hence, the transformation of digitised model. + simplification from first form + general Y form Second Refined Form Using the contour method of cutting and tracing sectional slices, the clay model is then digitalized.

Final test form to be panelled

Art et Flortude (France) Betwin Space Design

DESIGN: INSPIRATION

Art et Floritude (France) shows a distinct shades by the layers of geometry. Attracted by the various tones produced,the layering effects of these designs could be applied to the design development. Sophistication of the Rafflesia could be shown through shadows and layers.

Intrigued by the uneven 3D layers of this design by Betwin Space Design, and rather directly exposed to the atmosphere, application of layers could be done. This would hence depict the shadows to be beneath the layer of the Rafflesia.

DESIGN: DIGITAL PANELING EXPLORATION

Instead of using 3D panels, exploration of 2D panels that could form layers of different shades is tested. Filtering effect is used where shapes of a modified Ys are formed to make holes on the panels.

Applying inspirations from Art et Floritude, the panels are customised by having the effect of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;layered roofâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; on top of another. Combined Ys are still applied as it is the base emerging form.

Inspired by Betwin Space, another panel where a shaded layer is covered over the offset borders is customized to investigate the effect on layered diversion.

DESIGN: PROTOTYPES AND REFORMING “The mainstream design of buildings is soulless and cold.”

- Heatherwick.

Influenced by the materiality and soulfulness of things, the implications of benefiting geometrical patterns could be seen in Heatherwick’s designs. Using the approach of movements in nature, spatial effects are created.

The structure of lantern is hence reformed from the very start, the Y-curve segment, by applying Heatherwick’s conceptualisation and the recipe of the geometric rule.

As motivated by Dr Alex Selenitsch from Lecture (Composition: Form & Matter), the customized panels are based on the concept of assemblage. Panels where light testing are crucial are scrutinised through prototypes that would contribute to the final designed panels which would be combined in further fabrication. + Direct overlapping shadow effects + Divert shadows by covering with layers

Elongate each segment in anticlockwise direction

Divert the ends into two small parts to reach the initial structure

The process of changes from a Y to the final form

DESIGN: STUDY OF FINAL FORM

By using offset borders on basic library panels, the desired diverted concept from the recipe would be shown through shadows.

Third Refined Form

+ parasitic and dependent on arm + overlapping layers + pores of rafflesia Customizing 3D curves on top of the 2D panels in particular parts of the form to emphasize the movement along the form as inspired

by Heatherwick.

Parasitic characteristic and its several ways of handling the lantern

3. Fabrication CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION As mentioned in Lecture (Digital Fabrication), mass customization is definitely the key term in FABRICATION as the design has to be unique but also cost-efficient due to time constraints.

FABRICATION: DESIGN OPTIMISATION REFINE IN DETAILS Before applying the desired panels onto the surface, + unifying the face directions + planar surfaces have to be added

surfaces UV directions are not equal

connection among the three different segments is clearly not joined

MASS CUSTOMISATION Considered tough in paper making process due to time restrictions, the complex form of this lantern hence has panels that were kept simple which do not lose the desired layering effects. Previous precedents were recapped and the nature of rafflesia is integrated into the design. Pores are then the core design of the form too.

FABRICATION: ASSEMBLY DIAGRAM AND CUTTING TEMPLATE

900 x 600mm 250gsm Ivory Card

FABRICATION: EXPLODED AXOMETRIC VIEW

FABRICATION: CONNECTIVITY “The interdisciplinary approach is illustrated indirectly where designing and constructing are affiliated.” - Branko Kolarevic.

A design that is buildable, yet not to be restricted in reducing the uniqueness of the design based on the fundamental recipe is conveyed.

EXPLORATION ON CRUCIAL PARTS Offset borders too large leading to fragility.

SOLUTION: Remove offset borders for this ring

Messy connection of tabs created by using double-sided tapes and later joined with UHU glue.

SOLUTION: Adjust all tabs to equal dimension of 5mm

ASSEMBLING IN DETAILS

Materials: + Penknife, metal ruler, cutting mat + UHU glue, masking tapes, bull-dog clips

FABRICATION: PROTOTYPING As mentioned earlier, Lecture(Digital Fabrication) emphasis on this two key terms creativity + imagination in this designing process, this model fabrication process is considered a puzzle making process where precision is not only important but also solving the problems encountered too. It is then a pathway to explore the constraints of paper and the process of digitalization/fabrication that would eventually leads to a design that has a distinct understanding concept.

Black strips are unnecessary in the role of design and the rule of rafflesia. It is thence discard.

Using only ivory paper, the lighting effect could still be depicted; whilst inspired by the natural pigment of rafflesia, a gradient of red would be integrated. The bizzare lighting tone served to the surrounding atmosphere is just like the concept of pattern formation on rafflesia, expanding from the centre and divert outwards for its aim to be the central point of glow.

FABRICATION ASSEMBLING TIMELINE

FABRICATION: BEHIND THE BIRTH OF THE RAFFLESIA LANTERN + 4 LED strips and 1 12V battery + soldering iron and masking tape + plastic coating with red gradient highlights This internal LED wiring is done throughout the assembling of the paper lantern.

4. Reflection Twelve weeks, this period of time, with all the inspirations from lectures, understandings from readings, communications from tutorials and the all-nighters in the midst of confusions, one thing for sure: this is a remarkable learning experience.

It is as if I have come to a point where I gradually understand the formations of every objects: nature or manmade. The patterns and structures of all nature are something that has existed for no reason but to create a design that is unexplainable. The endless beauty in Mother Nature is something we could view and by exploring these patterns from nature, we could seamlessly abstract a rule that would be a stimulation and prime structure for designs in architecture, arts or even landscapes. And indeed, this process of designing is truly inspiring.

As seen from the design changes in my first two modules, there is undeniably an unjustified arbitrariness when the process comes along. However, I realized the need and importance of process development, and hence I understand that this weak point is something I should scrutinize on, in order to search for the optimum and satisfied design that relates back to the very first underlying rule of formation. Apart from that, lectures have highlighted the fact of designing is based on several components that would impact differently on the viewers. This is where, the motivation comes in - creating a design that viewers could perceive clearly, as it has a basic yet fascinating foundation behind.

Rifkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emphasis on the industrial revolutions is definitely to be amazed due to the transformation of human thoughts and the systems in general that function in the world from the past to present. Digitalization is omnipresent in this era and rather than a top-down command, system making in recent years are all linked and integrated as a collaboration. Back to the initial point of this design process, visualizing an idea may seem tough at some points; nevertheless, digitizing it is one of the learning processes where familiarization of digital fabrication is so crucial. Also relating it back to Roudavski in the Lecture of Augmented Space, he has introduced how important it is to be familiarized with digital software. And in this case, using rhino and understanding rhino is two different things where I would reach a risk of being dominated by the software. This distance between understanding and communicating is hence vital in optimizing the best design outcome and refining the digitized model. Needless to say, the exposure to digital technology has driven me to the understanding of efficiency, consistency and mass customization that would be far-reaching in the context of architectural design.

A design with precise fabrication is crucial but the importance of its stability and function is significant too. Craft versus digital technology is where the risk of design and assembly is evaluated, Deamer and Bernstein (2008). This design process highlights the importance of testing, exploration and problem solvings to possibly produce an optimized outcome. Through design optimization, prototyping and rebuilding, this is the pathway where a development of increasing precision is thrived.

Ideation, design and fabrication... the process to this end, a paper lantern formed, it seems beyond the realms of possibility, yet, with the learning and experiences gained throughout these twelve weeks, it is attainable!

RESOURCES

CONTEXT Architecture in the Digital Age - Design and Manufacturing /Branko Kolarevic. Spon Press, London, c2003 Ball, Philip (2012): Pattern Formation in Nature, AD: Architectural Design, Wiley, 82 (2), March, pp. 22-27 Building the Future: Recasting Labor in Architecture/ Philip Bernstein, Peggy Deamer. Princeton Architectural Press. c2008. pp 38-42 Digital fabrications: architectural and material techniques / Lisa Iwamoto. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, c2009.

Loh, Paul (2013) : Lecture Week 5 - Designing Effects (Designing prototype) Loh, Paul (2013) : Lecture Week 8 - Fabrication (Digital Fabrication) Poling, Clark (1987): Analytical Drawing In Kandiskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Teaching at the Bauhaus Rizzoli, New York, pp. 107-122 Roudavski, Stanislav (2013) : Lecture Week 9 - Augmented Space Selenitsch, Alex (2013) : Lecture Week 4 - Composition: Form & Matter (Composition + Strategy) Scheurer, F. and Stehling, H. (2011): Lost in Parameter Space? IAD: Architectural Design, Wiley, 81 (4), July, pp. 70-79 TED talks - Thomas Heatherwick - http://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_heatherwick.html The third Industrial Revolution / Jeremy Rifkin. Palgrave Macmillan, C2011.pp107-126 PRECEDENTS http://www.annakaran.com/?p=436 http://www.archdaily.com/119076/artscience-museum-in-singapore-safdie-architects/ http://www.archdaily.com/164361/new-taipei-city-museum-of-art-proposal-ota/ http://www.artetfloritude.fr/

Stefanie Judd

Student No: 638809 Semester 1/2013

Group 5

My Natural Pattern

Analytical Drawings

I First started by tracing out the pattern that joined each of the tips of the petals in a rough circular shape. http://www.flickriver.com/photos/21654792@ N03/4329196400/

I then used â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Tooling / Aranda, Lasch. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2006).â&#x20AC;&#x2122; recipe for cracking as a guide to create my pattern. I drew lines from the centre of the outline and connected them to the points on the shape.

I then repeated the second step - finding the middle of the shape then drawing lines to connect to the points of that shape. This represents Movement as the shape of the overall image can be forever changing if we continue this process.

My Recipie 1. Draw a series of dots that roughly resemble a circle 2. Connect those dots 3. Mark the center point of the shape 4. Draw straight lines out to all the points on the shape 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 untill content with the pattern

Model 1

For my first model I chose to use the triangles from my original pattern, as shown below:

I initially started by using this base triangle and connected it to another of the same dimensions so that the emerging shape appeared symmetrical.

After creating two of these shapes I continued to experiment with the dimensions of the same base triangle. I first extruded the walls of the triangles and made them significantly higher - as can be seen from the blue arrow. I then continued to enlarge my original triangle keeping the height the same as well as keeping the basic shape. Finally I applied both transformations to my original triangle and ended up with a triangle that was both greater in height and a greater scale than the initial form.

I then tried various methods of putting these shapes (the two triangles stuck together) together.

Initially I could not make the shapes tessellate, however after moving them around I found that a star shape begun to emerge - as seen in the image to the left. I continued to piece together my model until I had used all the triangles and was left with the final model photographed to the left.

Model 2

For my second model I continued using the theme of triangles, which I obtained from my analytical drawing shown on the previous page.

The dimensions of my triangles are as shown in the photograph to the right, and are the same as used for the original triangle in the first model. I taped the two ends of the paper together to form a triangle.

Height = 1.5cm

6.7cm

3.7cm 15cm

4.6cm

Model 2 Continued I was able to create the three dimensional object shown in the photograph to the left by connecting only one side of the two triangles, rather than both side which I have done in my first model. By only connecting one of the sides the triangles flared out creating a shape with more volume and a greater 3D aspect.

After creating this basic shape with the two triangles I was able to connect them along their edges to form the three dimensional shape shown to the left.

Once I had joined ten triangles together I connected the first and last triangle together to form an enclosed shape. This shape I later found, formed a star at the top of the overall shape.

Shadow Cast by my Model I was able to fit in another layer of triangles by tessellating them in the opposite way that I did before (the triangles were flipped upside down and slotted into the gaps.)

I also decided to experiment with light and see what effects this model created when light was shone through and I got very interesting results. The star shape from the centre of the model was projected onto the wall and surrounding it were various triangular shapes.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9G--dAxqDuk/SXzb7Hz4XSI/ AAAAAAAAApk/5P6swo0vQHs/s400/maufoto.jpg

In one of the lectures Paul talks about interference systems, which is the overlaying of one pattern over another to form a new pattern, this is layered light. I find this idea interesting in that you can have two very simple patterns and combine them to form a pattern you otherwise would not have seen.

The image to my left depicts this idea of layered light. You can see light entering the slits in the wall in two different angles (red and green lines), when these lines intersect we can see distinct changes in pattern, mostly in the colour of the light/shadow. Lighter squares form where the two lines of light intersect creating an almost chequered pattern.

I am considering using this method of layering light in my plasticine model.

Plasticine Model

My third model also takes on the idea of a flower once again. This particular lantern design is handheld, it sits in the palm of the hand. My main idea was that there would be overlapping patterns, so that when light shines through we not only get one pattern but also another, creating an entirely separate and new pattern in itself. The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;moundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the middle of the flower shape is designed to be very similar to my paper model - it is similar in shape and I liked the lighting effects caused by the paper model, this would create the first pattern. The petal shapes would provide the second pattern, a second barrier that light would have to travel through in order to leave the lantern. This lantern is not designed to shine downwards as it is handheld, however this will not affect the overall effect.

Lecture 1 and Reading Response This weeks lecture introduced the concept of information being made real through representation. We were also shown different examples of how patterns formed in nature, such as trees and their branching systems. All information can be reduced to a very simple system of rules, the simpler the rule, the greater the complexity of the system. Many artworks and even buildings use this idea of a rule system to create a detailed pattern which can often be inspired by those found in the natural world.

The lecture helped me gain a greater understanding of analytical drawings, in particular, how they are created and the ideas and thought processes required to understand them further.

The three stages of analytical approach advanced by Kandinsky as discussed in Poling, Clark (1987): Analytical Drawing In Kandinsky’s Teaching at the Bauhaus, Rizzoli, New York, pp. 107-122 are: 1.

Simplifying the whole image into one overall form, representing the whole formation in the briefest way possible, whilst still being able to identify the pattern with the original image. I did this by reducing my photograph of a flower to a simple ‘zigzag’ line, which ran along the edges of the petals.

2.

‘Development of the Structural network’ - making tension clear in the artwork through the use of broader lines and varying colours.

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Presenting the pattern in the most concise and analytical way possible, I was able to do this by using only one line (in one of my drawings) and repeating it over and over again whilst rotating it around to form a circular yet angular shaped pattern.

Reading Question

Pattern Formation in Nature [Ball (2012)] In Phillip Ball’s ‘Pattern Formation in Nature’ he talks about how very common features of natural patterns result from mathematical analogies.

As a person who is interested in maths and the logic it ensues, I found I had to deal with a very logical and structured pattern. I initially used the method of cracking to form my analytical drawing, and extracted the basic triangle from that pattern. Using triangles I rotated and shifted them around to form a very geometric set of shapes, in both a symmetrical and controlled way.

Ball also writes about how spontaneous patterning is complex and made up of many components, components which are formed by a relatively simple set of rules. In the formation of my model I applied this idea of using simple rules to create a more complex pattern. I simply rotated my basic shape (the two triangles) around an axis and connected them all together to form my final product.

RMIT Swanston Academic Building Whilst in the city on my way into University I saw this well known building and it caught my attention. As my chosen shape was triangles I found this building particularly interesting as it uses triangles and angular shapes to attract attention. This building was designed by Lyons, and is a very modern building which is highly contrasting to the older and more dated buildings surrounding it. As my analytical drawing for both balance and symmetry both revolved around triangles, I thought this building would help inspire me when creating my model.

The repetition and symmetry of the triangles, as well as the 3D element (the triangles jut out from the building at various points) caused me to think about how I could make my model more sharp on the edges contrary to my initial model which was completely flat. This RMIT building also contains curvature on the edges which contrasts the angular shapes such as triangles with the curved edges of the building. I used this idea of meshing the two shapes together in my second model. I managed to curve the outside of my model to create an almost oval shape - that is if you were to drape cloth over the outside it would form a more circular overall shape.

http://c1038.r38.cf3.rackcdn.com/group5/building44719/media/jvfk_2.jpg

Digitised Model

Step 1

Step 2

Using Paneling Tools

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Step 4

Steps to create my digitised model: 1. The first thing I did in creating my lanterns shape was to create a sphere 2. I then turned gumball on and used it to elongate and pull the sphere into an oval or egg shape 3. Using another oval shape overlapping the original shape at an angle, I was able to use the Boolean difference command to subtract the overlap of the second oval from the first to create figure four.

To create the ‘skin’ of my lantern I used paneling tools on Rhino. I created a grid so that I could apply different panels to the outside of my lantern. Initially I used the wave 2D panel, however it did not line up correctly and there were visible gaps between each triangle.

I then changed the wave to a simple triangle because it fit together better.

Step 5

Step 6

Final Product

5. Step five involved pulling up and pushing down parts of the side of the shape until it resembled my clay model.

6. To complete the model and create the ‘bump’ in the centre I created the shape shown in the step six capture and once again used boolean difference to create a cutout in the base of the model created in step 5. I then placed the curved ‘bump’ shape back into the centre and my model was complete.

Further Developing My Design

Design Alternatives - Using 3D Paneling

Main outer section This is the outermost section of the lantern, and will be the most visible. I went into the paneling utilities and created these triangular holes in each of the larger triangles.

The triangular holes increase in size as they approach the opening at the top of the lantern. These shapes I created are similar to that of my emerging form where I used many triangles and connected them to form a 3D shape with a star opening.

The Bump in the Middle

Figure 1 shows my emerging form paper model I created. I used my emerging form in the design of my lantern, by extracting the base shape i used to create it, the triangle.

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This is the innermost layer. I used the same method as the other sections to create the triangular shapes and cut-outs.

This is the first layer the light will shine through, so will direct light through the other layers.

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Inner Section This inner section is the middle section of the lantern, between the yellow and red part. The Idea is that I will put tabs on the edges of each colour part so that I can connect each part to form three layers so that the light travels through these three layers and creates an interesting shadow.

To create this first design I used 3D paneling using a triangular based pyramid. I first created a paneling grid, then offset my points. I then used the command in Rhino â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;offset faces borderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and experimented with that tool to create varying sizes of holes to in the end, create different lighting effects.

Prototypes - Design 1 Part 1 Design 2 To create the flatened out version of my panels I first grouped together each row downwards this can be seen in some of the coloured panels and use the unravel tool in Rhino. Using the grasshopper tool I was then able to create tabs for my panel to stick together(far right).

After creating the tabs, I then changed the colours of the lines according to how I wanted them printed, and printed the panel onto ivory card.

My second design, rather than incorperating triangles, uses rectangular shapes as the base for the 3D paneling. I decided to use this to experiment with another shape and see how the effects differ as well as to see which shape would create a more aesthetically pleasing design. I found with this design it was hard to prevent the panels from overlapping, however I thought the rectangular shapes gave a different perspective on what the lantern could look like.

Part 2

The printed and folded panel is from the outermost layer of the lantern design - the biggest â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;shellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; part.

I chose design 1 as my lantern skin, this is because I think the lighting effects would look more interesting and I would like to experiment with the triangular shapes to create different patterns through layering of paper.

This is the middle part of my model, it has smaller holes in the skin (the triangle cut-outs) so that when the light shines through this panel and then through the outer panel, different shapes form, in terms of shadows.

Part 3 This is the very middle section of the model, it has the smallest holes to once again allow for variation in the lighting effects. I created the panels in Rhino in the same way as I created the first and second parts.

When gluing the card together I used mini bulldog clips to fasten the tabs together as they dried, I used this method because it is more accurate and efficient than holding in between your fingers.

Lighting Effects Various lighting effects can be achieved through layering of paper models of different shapes and sizes. These photographs show the shadows each panel creates individually, as well as when they are all placed together. It is very hard to show the effects created when all the panels are connected as the light source is too large and not shinging from â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;withinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the lantern as there is not enough panels to create even the slightest curve for the light to be placed within.

The shadows genergated are similar to that of my emerging forms shadows as both have the triangular shapes.

The light shinging through seems like very sharp light, however I did test the lighting with the light in the model to try change the lighting, but it did not change it at all, probably because the holes in the paper were too large to make any different lighting effects.

Week 4 Lecture and Reading Response This week’s lecture was given by guest speaker Dr. Alex Selenitsch.

He talked to us mostly about form, composition and matters. A major theme of the lecture was the idea that 1+1=1, and that two things can come together, just as two things can come apart. I have used various methods or strategies of composition in the creation and growth of my lanterns design. I used the composition idea of interference patterns.

My lantern has three distinct layers which all allow light to pass through creating a new pattern when the light overlaps. ‘Assemblage’ was also used in my design, as there are various triangles of different size joint together to create a circular over all shape.

Thomas Heatherwick is a well-known designer and Architect, using the ideas of special effects in many of his studio’s projects he is able to create designs that interact with their surrounding environments. For example; in Heatherwick’s TED Talks (2011) video we see his famous ‘Rolling Bridge.’ Though the design of the bridge is intriguing to those who see it, it is less the design that people are drawn in by, but rather the movement of the bridge as it changes from a flat ‘normal’ bridge into a ‘work of art.’ It is different and unfamiliar as it is unlike any other bridge that opens up, this one rolls into a polygon/circular shape.

Scheurer & Stehling’s “Lost in Parameter Space” investigates the variation between abstraction, and reduction. Abstraction is lessening the complexity of reality so that it can be defined more simply and easily. On the contrary, reduction is determining the best way to transport it, whilst at the same time not altering it.

These ideas link to the readings in module one, we can see parallels between the way Kandinsky created more abstract pieces though abstraction, and Polling’s focus on developing individual and separate designs.

Final Digital Model

Unrolling in Rhino NB/ I used grasshopper to create the tabs and 2D lines seen in the images.

This is my final digital model from different views.

My aim is to recreate my prototype as similar to this model as possible

First Prototypes These are my initial prototypes.

They are prototypes of the panelling that I chose not to do, so have no relation to my final model. I found that they were both too large and flimsy due to the large holes I made using offset faces border.

These are screen captures of the files I sent into the Fab Lab to be cut by the card cutter.

I used four sheets of 900 x 600mm ivory card to print off all the pieces for my prototype. This eventually became almost exactly what I used to send into the Fab Lab the second time for my final lantern, however I made tabs bigger and adjusted a few minor details.

Red lines on these images mean that the lines must be scored, and the black - that they must be cut. I was sure to ensure that there were a couple score lines on the outside of each shape so that no pieces popped out and got stuck in the cutter while my pieces were being cut out.

The words next to each piece correspond to the colour of each strip on the 3D model

Full Prototype Part 1 The Middle Section

This is the centre of the lantern completed. I found that this section though appearing neat from afar, was not as perfect as I wanted, so I aim to make the final a bit neater.

The center of this section is seen to be pointing in, however in my digital model the points were supposed to be pointing out. I will fix this by making the score lines less frequent to strengthen the folds.

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Prototype Part 2 The 2D section

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1. This image shows one strip of the 10 that make up this whole section and has only just been cut out of the card.

2. The second step in creating my prototype was folding along the tab lines and score lines so that it was easier to stick together.

3. I then used the hot glue gun to stick together the tabs. The only problem was if hot glue got on my fingers, so I was very careful 4. I then stuck together each piece in step three and formed the rest of the middle section.

This photograph shows a single piece of the 2D section of my prototype. It has only been cut from the sheet of paper, and there are no folds as it is only 2D

The middle section and the 2D section put together.

Prototype Part 3 The Outside Skin

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4 1. I folded along tabs and score lines 3. Glued the tabs of a single strip together.

3,4. I glued each strip together until a round shape was formed.

5. Glue on the horizontal strips of paper to form the wave shape of the top of the lantern.

5 When I finished sticking on all the pieces to create the outer skin or shell of the lantern, I dusted it a little, because the hot glue gun created stringy glue â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;spider websâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; everywhere and made it look messy.

Creating the Whole Prototype

This image depicts the different sections side by side before I glued them together.

The full prototype is shown fully stuck together in this image, with no lights on on the inside of the lantern.

The lights are now just sitting in the bottom of the lantern to show an effect of what the lights look like without it being dark. The reason the lights are sitting in the bottom, is that I did not stick together a couple of panels on the side so that I could access the lights, especially when I plan on adding in the circuit. This however proved to be an issue as putting my arm in and out of the lantern caused it to weaken in that area and rip slightly. For my final I intend on putting the lights in while the lantern is still like it is in the first image.

Problems Encountered 1. This problem was that the pieces did not fit together properly, as I by mistake printed one of the pieces backwards anddid not bother to manually create dotted cut lines along the tab to ensure clean folding of the tabs. This is simple to fix, all I have to do is flip the piece around in Rhino.

3. As can be seen, there are score lines on of these pieces, however not on the other. This is because I printed it off backwards and to make the pieces fit together, I had to turn the piece around, hence the lack of score lines. As I mentioned for the first image, to fix this I only have to flip the pieces around in Rhino.

2. The reason this join looks so messy, is that the tabs were much too small to stick together neatly, the glue oozed out of the tabs and made the visable part of the lantern look very messy. To fix this I will make larger tabs in certain areas.

Final Model Construction

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Method 1. Cut out the tabs 2. Cut out the small triangles from the inside of the strip 3. Glue together the strips together to form the base of the shell 4. Glue together the horizontal pieces forming a ring 5. Join the ring and the base together to for the full outer skin of the lantern.

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This is the construction of the middle section of the final lantern.

1. I cut out the individual strips from the larger sheet 2. I glued together each strip separately 3. I then glued each strip together to form the whole shape 4. Due to issues to do with adding in the lighting with the prototype, I put in the lighting before I connected anything. Sticking the circuit to the top of the center piece, and the bottom of the outer shell allowing the switch to hang out the bottom.

The image above shows a single piece that was cut out from the sheet of card. I then cut out the rest and stuck them together forming the shape shown in the second photograph. Unlike my prototype, my final did not have the same issue of having pieces flipped the wrong way around. I was able to resolve this issue and this section looked much better because of it.

I then glued all three parts together to form my final lantern.

Final Lantern

Lighting and Effects

From these images it can be seen that the lantern creates an interesting lighting effect. The 2D section creates a glow while the rest of the lantern lets light through and creates the pattern shown on the wall.

The photo shown directly above depicts how I would like the lantern to be held. - The hands underneath with outstreached arms. Perhaps angled in a certain way to allow for the best dispersion of light.

Readings and Lecture Response Briefly outline the various digital fabrication processes. List constrains and opportunities provided for you through the use of CNC cut cutter or laser cutter?

There are various fabrication processes for example: The two dimensional method – this means that objects are cut from a flat material placed horizontally and then assembled (each of the separate andindividual little pieces) to form a larger model which can often turn out to be in three dimensions, depending on the design.

Subtraction – This is where a material is worn away or carved out, this leaves a structure where specific areas have been worn or carved away. For example ice sculptures or woodcarvings; artists begin with a certain amount of ice or wood then chip/carve away at it until they achieve the shape they want.

Additive formation – This is when layers are added on top of one another (layer manufacturing) for example: 3D printing. I used this method when building certain parts of my model. I unraveled sections horizontally creating rings and then stuck them upon one another. This process can be considered as the opposite to subtractive fabrication, as suggested in their names.

Computer Numerically Controlled Cutting otherwise known as CNC is a fabrication process which involves only two dimensions, and is the most commonly used. This is discussed in ‘Architecture in the Digital Age – Design and Manufacturing’ by Kolarevic.

Various cutting methods include: - Plasma- arc - Laser-beam - And water – jet Due to the range of cutting techniques able to be used by the CNC cutter and laser makes it useful , however as it is a very good machine for 2D printing, it is not suited as much to achieving threedimensional fabrication. Different methods apply different ‘rotations’ of the material bed and cutting head, creating diverse fabrication results.

Describe one aspect of the recent shift in the use of digital technology from design to fabrication? How does the fabrication process effects your lantern construction?

A recent shift in digital technology is the ability to use three-dimensional software. Recently it has been much easier to create and modify a 3D design using only computer software’s, where in the past this was not possible. This is however, only good when excluding curved surfaces, as these require other means to fabricate. I learnt this when fabricating and unrolling my model. At one point some of my edges on my model were curved, and when I went to unravel them, they simply did not work. This design was obviously possible, it just required extra time to be created by hand or other means.

The fabrication process effected my lantern because it enabled me to cut out my model using the card cutter much more accurately. This means that pieces meet up perfectly, and as a whole the model looks neater, as it is cut using perfectly straight lines and cut cleanly, and this is difficult and time consuming by hand.

Final Lantern Lit Up

It is unmistakable that digital technology aided me a great deal when I was trying to take the ideas from my mind and drawings on paper and make them into a three dimensional virtual image. There are limitations in programs such as Rhino, I have experienced this. My model appeared to be joined together perfectly virtually on Rhino, however when I printed off the pieces, they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fit together as I thought they would. Doing things digitally doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow us to physically create models and therefore doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t accommodate for discrepancies in materials and building techniques.

Though it appears that my prototypes did not appear to change much over the three different models, little things were changed such as; the size of the holes cut out of the paper, the size of the tabs, the number of dashed lines. All these little things I fixed made my final model more stable, neater and created a more desirable lighting effect.

I did have a design risk when putting my lantern together.

My lantern was made up of three sections, the middle two sections have in fact no designated way of connecting together, no tabs to connect, no set places to glue.

This could have turned out to be an issue if I was unable to find suitable points to glue the middle two sections together, however I overcame this issue by using very strong glue and prototyping the design first.

Line Drawing

Bibliography Ball, Philip (2012): Pattern Formation in Nature, AD: Architectural Design, Wiley, 82 (2), March, pp. 22-27 Building the Future: Recasting Labor in Architecture/ Philip Bernstein, Peggy Deamer. Princeton Architectural Press. c2008. pp 38-42 Architecture in the Digital Age - Design and Manufacturing /Branko Kolarevic. Spon Press, London, c2003 The third Industrial Revolution / Jeremy Rifkin. Palgrave Macmillan, C2011.pp107-126 Scheurer, F. and Stehling, H. (2011): Lost in Parameter Space? IAD: Architectural Design, Wiley, 81 (4), July, pp. 70-79 Digital fabrications: architectural and material techniques / Lisa Iwamoto. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, c2009.

Poling, Clark (1987): Analytical Drawing In Kandiskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Teaching at the Bauhaus Rizzoli, New York, pp. 107-122 Tooling / Aranda, Lasch. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2006