Arshita Ravindranathan 2022 - 2023
Computation Design Portfolio
Booklet of selected works throughout Masters in Parametric Design, including concept arts.
photography credits © Pep Tornabell
ARSHITA RAVINDRANATHAN
Bengaluru, India (+91) 7204729676
Architect // Computational Designer
ar.arshita.ravi@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/arshita-r-388a14b0
HELLO,
www.behance.net/paletteofanarchitect
I define myself as a passionate and versatile young architect and computational designer engaged to bringing about a medium of change within the society, and believe architecture is a medium for structural thinking. I am a strong believer in the theory that architecture school teaches you not only the technical skills, but design skills and solutions; it teaches you a way of thinking and perceiving, or other ways rather, that differentiates its students from the rest. I support the correlation and fusion between sustainable and parametric architecture, valuing the role of innovation and exploration of modern trends. Currently seeking an opportunity as a Computational Designer.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION
Council of Architecture // India
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya // Spain
Architect. Interior Designer
Technical drawings for tendering and execution 3d modelling and visualizations with SketchUp via VRay, D5 Render Furniture design and associated drawings Client meetings and site visits
Aug. 2020 - Present
Masters in Parametric Design in Architecture 2022 - 2023
BMS School of Architecture // India
Bachelor of Architecture // VTU Gold Medalist 2015 - 2020
OSSA Architects // Bengaluru, IN Junior Architect
3d modelling and visualizations with SketchUp via VRay, D5 Render Technical drawings for tendering and execution Presentation board designs for meetings Client meetings and site visits Graphic Design for company branding
Feb. 2021 - Aug. 2022
Vivid Kreations // Bengaluru, IN Intern Architect
3d modelling with SketchUp for interior design Master Planning for large scale hospitatilty projects Vastu oriented residence design Material research for projects like Plywood, Solid Acrylic Surface Vendor-contractor-client co-ordination Site visit accompanied by Senior Achitect
Jul. 2019 - Dec. 2019
AWARDS & HONORS Excellent Grade in M.Arch (UPC) securing the highest GPA of 9.5 for academic year 2022 - 2023 VTU Gold medalist in B.Arch securing the highest GPA of 8.81 for academic year 2020 - 2021 University Rank Holder in B.Arch for academic years 2015, 2016 and 2018 Student Council Representative during
undergraduate years through 2016 - 2018
Subject Rank Holder in subjects of Engineering
Graphics in 2015, Arts in 2013 and Hindi in 2013
SKILLS Softwares
Personal Skills
Adobe Photoshop // InDesign // Illustrator Microsoft Office // Morpholio Trace
concept ideation. content gathering. budgeting. design research. context study. presentations. integration of complex requirements. user sensitized ideologies.
AutoCAD // Revit SketchUp // Rhinoceros // Grasshopper V-Ray // D5 Render // Keyshot // Twinmotion Enscape // Blender
time management. mindfulness. positivity. leadership. sketching. organizational. conceptual visualizations.
Architecture Portfolio 2023 // Behance
contents
02 Pentaura Pavilion
July 2023 // Masters // Collaborative A climate shelter at a local school inspired by timber shells and origami.
03 Teules “Shingles” Pavilion
Sept 2023 // Masters // Thesis A material-driven, doubly curved building system with algorithmic improvements, digital structural analysis, and material-based design.
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Tetrápodo
Apr 2023 // Masters // Discretization Quad messhes planarized by strategical algorithms by exploring metrics, properties, algorithm integration and fabrication.
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06
The Great Wave
Linear Park
June 2023 // Masters // Milling Experimenting with patterns and 3D machining with Rhino CAM to craft controlled visual effects and break from formdependent designs.
July 2023 // Masters // Landscape Transforming an underpass into a free-flowing urban park with play areas, green spaces, trails.
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Miscellaneous Works Pixelization & Energy
Feb 2023 // Masters // Optimization Aimed to parametrically model box aggregation using plugins such as Honeybee and Biomorpher, optimizing for energy performance and radiation outcomes.
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2017 - 2023 // Academic & Professional A collection of architectural works and conceptual art through renders, maquettes, and drawings.
06
07
01 TEULES “Shingles” PAVILION The Teules “shingles” Pavilion is a topology based doubly curved building system, based on active-bending of a single plate element. The pavilion was erected at the Art & Gavarres festival in Girona, Spain. The system used is an extension of R. Buckminster Fuller’s plydome research, with an algorithm to improve the overlaps, the digital analyses of the structural models, and to evaluate the panel sizes and bending of the panels. This was a material driven design where the properties of the material helped determine the radius of curvature as well as the bending of the panels. Project Type // Masters Final Thesis and Research Client // Art & Gavarres, Girona, Spain Team // Anna Nasrallah, Arshita Ravindranathan, Bindhuja Reddy, Mariona Rodriguez, Nayib Perez, Shylesh Kumar Tutors // Enrique Soriano, Gerard Bertomeu, Pep Tornabell, Marc Serra, Anna Bauer, Julien Lienhard
Geodesic. Active-bending. Versatile.
Publications // Recognitions
https://www.artigavarres.cat/artista.php?id=106 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374589448_Self-Strutted_Shingles_Shell_Design_and_Construction
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site view // pavilion at Art & Gavarres festival
Objective // Design Aim The core of this research is to explore the distribution of a set of boards so that a plydome structure with an overlap of two boards on each corner could be built. With the use of advanced computational tools, optimization algorithms were developed in order to find the most suitable overlaps. The project was further developed by experimenting the same system and methodology on different topologies to prove and validate the approach. Lastly, the results of different approaches, including the constructed one, were compared and evaluated giving an insight on the best performance.
Site The shell, spanning around 6m, was designed in an academic framework during the Master in Parametric Design in Architecture at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and constructed for the Art & Gavarres in Girona, Spain, a festival that starts from the idea that art can be a tool that helps us reflect and change our view of the landscape.
coarse mesh as base
relaxation 01 // form-finding and diagonalizing the mesh
constructing the panels for the shell (1/8th of plywood board)
relaxation 02 // optimizing the overlaps of the panels as per similar areas and equal lengths
relaxation 03 // projecting the planar panels onto the initial mesh to get bent panels
final form of the dome
Form-finding A base coarse mesh was made spanning 7m, which was dynamically relaxed to achieve the desired form. The mesh diagonalized to extract midpoints for each panels, from which the planes were oriented. This was used to construct panels of a particular size (1/8th of plywood board). The shell was later optimized using the results from the structural analysis done with Karamba3d and Kiwi, which were two plug-ins used for structural analysis. One of the main optimizations was to reduce the deformation or breakage at the entrances, hence the arched openings were stiffened using doubly-layered rectangular panels (1/16th of plywood board). The form of the shell was dynamically relaxed in three consecutive steps using Kangaroo as seen above in the diagram.
09
photography credits © Andrés Flajszer
Model 1 // perspective view 1 Model 2 // perspective view 2 Mockup // bending test and curvature 3 Joinery // M6 zinc bolts-washers-nuts 4
10 mesh A // 138 panels // final
mesh B // 135 panels // prototype
mesh C // 53 panels
0.10m²
0.50m² metric 1 // face area
0.0
1.0
300mm
600mm metric 3 // edge lengths
metric 2 // aspect ratio
The radius of curvature is calculated using J. Lienhard’s formula for bending, The radius is inversely proportional to thickness.
0mm
1800mm metric 4 // radius of curvature
9mm
18mm metric 5 // allowable thickness per panels
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS FOR TEULES PAVILION OF METRICS
11
Day 01 // site setting 1 Day 01 // anchoring the legs 2 Day 02 // stiffening arched openings 3 View // completed self-strutted shell 4
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load combination, ULS_EV max. displacement // 5.96cm
load combination, ULS1 max. displacement // 0.146cm
load combination, ULS2x max. displacement // 5.44cm
load combination, ULS2y max. displacement // 6.56cm
asymmetrical loads, As max. displacement // 2.03cm
point load, P max. displacement // 2.66cm
load combination, ULS3x max. displacement // 3.28cm
load combination, ULS3y max. displacement // 3.94cm
vertical displacements // various load cases
Structural Analysis Brief The structural analysis of the pavilion was done in Karamba 3d and Kiwi, structural plug-ins for Grasshopper. The different analysis done were: 1. Displacement under different load types (deflection) 2. Utilization of elements 3. Stresses across panels 4. Cross-section optimization 5. Displacements with prestressing The factors and co-efficients were taken from the eurocodes, UNEEN 14080:2013 and CTE DB SE-M. Along with this material properties were considered for accuracy. A part of the leg was built as mockup to test the bending and radius of curvature.
Material Panels // 9mm thick birch plywood Base // 9mm thick birch plywood Connections // Stainless Steel plates Spirafix (anchors) The plywood properties were taken from the Handbook of Finnish Plywood by UPM, namely, Modulus of Elasticity, E = 11395 N/mm² Modulus of Rigidity, G = 620 N/mm² Tension, fc = 40.8 N/mm² Compression, ft = -28.3 N/mm² Density, p = 680 kg/m³ **Tensile strength utilization at 60%
Load and Combinations The load types and their combinations were taken as per the European and Spanish guidelines. The different load types are: Dead load or gravity, G Wind loads, Wx and Wy (Zone A with base velocity of 5m/s) Point loads, P (1 kN) Asymmetrical loads, As Simulated loads, P1-P2-P3 (varying conditions and loads) The load combinations included Ultimate Limit State (ULS) and Serviceability Limit State (SLS) combinations. Results Total no.of panels: 138 (after stiffners) No.of anchor points: 24 (base) No.of joints: 620 (bolts) Mass: 247.73 kg Maximum displacement: 4.576 cm Maximum stresses: 1.60 kN/cm² Range of displacements as per load combinations: 0.108cm To 6.559cm
load testing // stationary-dynamic loading
(maximum limits)
13 Model A // Analysis from Karamba • •
• •
prestressing not considered results of verticcal displacements taken for comparison between analysis done with Karamba and Kiwi utilization of elements, principal stresses, equivalent stresses calculated additionally cross-section optimization using material properties, utilization of elements and maximum displacement
Model B // Analysis from Kiwi3d • • • • •
0.00cm
0.02cm
0.08cm
0.00cm
gravity or dead load, G max. displacement // 0.08cm 0.32cm
prestressing considered prestressing helps evaluate true vertical displacements to its maximum limits maximum deformation observed mainly in panels along the arched entrances bending capacity, shear capacity and axial capacity calculated using various load conditions vonMises stress, S < bending strength of material, B
0.32cm
0.28cm
0.55cm
1.84cm
0.00cm
point load, P max. displacement // 1.84cm -3.79cm
gravity or dead load, G max. displacement // 0.28cm
-1.11cm
2.26cm
1.25cm
4.16cm
envelope load, ULS_EV max. displacement // 4.18cm -2.90cm
point load, P max. displacement // 2.26cm
1.76cm
4.02cm
envelope load, ULS_EV max. displacement // 4.02cm
structural performance comparison // Karamba and Kiwi
Calculation // Load Testing
0.34kN
0.22kN
0.34kN
0.12kN 0.22kN
Loads Similar load conditions were simulated to calculate and analyze the results from the structural model done in Karamba. Hence, the loads are placed at approximate positions and distances to get similar results to that of the observed results from the real-scale constructed shell. Load conditions Condition I: Bag of bricks suspended Condition II: Adult weighing 68kg (distributed evenly along two points) Condition III: Adult weighing 87kg (even distribution along 4 points)
Observations On suspension of loads, the vertical displacements are observed to be experienced locally, not globally. Thus preventing collapse of the whole shell These can be observed by bending of panels at the nodes (overlaps). Due to the bolt-washer-nut joints, the whole structure has rigid connections that result in the previously mentioned local failures.
0.12kN
0.00cm 0.13cm 0.26cm displacement, condition P1 with load of 0.242 kN
0.00cm 0.37cm 1.73cm displacement, condition P2 with load of 0.68 kN
0.00cm 0.41cm 0.81cm displacement, condition P3 with load of 0.87 kN
14 variant models
metric 1 // shell thickness
metric 2 // structural performance
The plydome by Buckminster Fuller is considered as base model to evaluate the curvature and overlaps
model I // Fuller’s Plydome // predecessor
0.00cm
0.56cm
2.79cm
0.00cm
0.13cm
0.26cm
0.00cm
0.31cm
1.04cm
0.00cm
0.89cm
2.21cm
The proposed shell is a variation of its predecessor, where the size of panels were optimized to reduce the material wastage
model II // Teules Pavilion // proposal
This topological mesh, spanning 8.35m, with a larger height is used to evaluate the efficacy of the algorithm.. It can be observed that the change in subdivisions help determine the panel overlaps.
model III // topological mesh 01 with 5 legs
Similar to the above variant, the placement of singularities are evaluated and located at strategic areas to get better overlaps and have same or similar panel sizes. Another factor that aids in better design is the scale factor.
model IV // topological mesh 02 with 3 legs
6.5/9mm
18mm
Span vs Mass 6.000 Topological Mesh 1
Mass (kN)
5.000
Graph 01 // span vs mass 1 Graph 02 // displacement vs mass 2 Graph 03 // overlap percentage per panel 3
Fuller's Plydome
4.000
Teules Pavilion
3.000 2.000 1.000 0.000 6.80
7.00
7.20
7.40
7.60
7.80
Span (m) Linear (Mass (kN))
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS FOR ALL VARIANTS
Topological Mesh 2
8.00
8.20
8.40
8.60
15 metric 3 // radius of curvature
0mm
metric 4 // allowable thickness
1800mm
6.5mm
metric 5 // face area
18mm
x<0.32
Mass (kN)
Fuller's Plydome
2.50 2.00
Topological Mesh 1
Topological Mesh 2
1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
Max. displacement (cm)
4.50
5.00
5.50
6.00
Average overlap per board (%)
3.50 3.00
x<23%
x>0.32
Tolerance(%)
x>23%
6.00
Teules Pavilion
4.00
Tolerance (m²)
Face area of panels vs % of overlapping areas
Displacement vs Mass 4.50
metric 6 // area of overlaps
Teules Pavilion Fuller's Plydome
4.00 Topological Mesh 1
2.00
Topological Mesh 2
0.00 0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
Average area of board (m²)
0.40
0.45
0.50
0.55
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17
02 PENTAURA PAVILION The Pentaura Pavilion, located at the open area of Escola de Turo can Mates, a local primary school in Sant Cugat del Valles in Barcelona is a shelter designed to be used as a roof for an outdoor classroom as well as a play area for the primary school kids. Inspired from the thin timber shells and the concept of origami, the Pentaura, a five legged corrugated shell was designed using grasshopper for the geometric variations parametrically, which was later analyzed using Karamba and Kiwi3d plug-ins for the structural analysis. Project Type // Collaborative Studio Construction Team // Abiodun Shonibare, Adriana Moreno Chavez, Anna Nasrallah, Arshita Ravindranathan, Bindhuja A. Reddy, Cristian Cabezas, Imma Bigas, Mariona Rodriguez, Nayib Perez, Nerea Gardner Egusquizaga, Miguel Cruz, Rob Fuse, Shylesh Kumar Mentors // Enrique Soriano, Gerard Bertomeu, Pep Tornabell, Dragos Naicu, Marc Serra, Anna Bauer, Julien Lienhard
Origami. Integrative. Geometrical.
Publications // Recognitions
https://www.totsantcugat.cat/actualitat/educacio/escola-turo-can-mates-presenta-primer-refugi-climatic-sant-cugat_2188126102.html https://parametric-architecture.com/pentaura-pavilion-utilizes-a-technique-influenced-by-gaudis-hanging-chain-models/
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photo credits © Pep Tornabell
site view
Design // Methodoloogy Form-finding The corrugated shell was inspired by the Miura pattern in origami. Due to the constraints of the brief, the shell spans 9m with a maximum height of 3m. The base mesh was relaxed using Kangaroo to get the initial mesh from which corrugations were made and optimized. An optimum gap of 20mm was left between the 15mm thick panels for aesthetics and flexible connections. Metal plates varying from 60° to 179° were used as connecting members with M8 bolts and T-nut spiders to have seamless connections. Five bases of 18mm ply, in three layers and hardwood joists were used to anchor the whole structure to the ground. A 1:10 model was made to study the assembly. Methodology As the project was being erected for a located school, there was a need to get the approval of the Town Hall of Sant Cugat, Barcleona. For this, the workflow included: 1. Graphic Documentation (planselevations-sections) 2. Bill of Quantity 3. Structural Documentation (as per Eurocode
base coarse mesh with skeleton
relaxation 01 // coarse mesh to get refined mesh relaxation
relaxation 02 // mesh further relaxed to achieve the desired form
sorting the annular ribs to make the triangular panels
scaling the corrugated mesh to achieve the desired span (9m)
14mm offset of the triangular corrugations // rounding the edges of the panels
Construction Stages The construction process was split into three main stages, namely, Stage I // Prefabrication
Included processes such as fabrication of plywood panels, cutting-bending of the metal plates, ordering the bolts and spiders
Stage II // Off-site preparation
Done in the school workshop Includes sanding, cleaning, painting varnish, drying and hammering spiders into the predrilled holes in the plywood panels
Stage III // On-site constuction
Site setting, anchoring bases to ground with spirafix, assembling clusters
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Step I // building the 12 clusters 1 Step II // building the spine 2 Step III // adding the remaining clusters 3 Model View // assembled model 4
20
wind load in directions, 0 ° and 45°
vertical dispacements, SLS
load combination, ULS1
load combination, ULS2
wind load in directions, 90 ° and 135°
load combination, ULS3x
load combination, ULS3y
load combination, ULS4x
wind load in directions, 180 ° and 315°
structural analysis // various
Structural Analysis Brief The structural analysis of the shelter was done in Karamba 3d. The different analysis done were: 1. Displacement under different load types 2. Utilization 3. Stresses (tension and compression) 4. Cross-section optimization of the shell (with different thicknesses) The factors and co-efficients were taken from the eurocodes, UNEEN 14080:2013 and CTE DBSE-M. Along with this material properties were considered to get accurate results.
Material Panels // 15mm thick birch plywood Base // 18mm thick birch plywood 50 x 50mm hardwood joists Connections // Stainless Steel plates Spirafix (anchors) The plywood properties were taken from the Handbook of Finnish Plywood by UPM, namely, Elastic Limit = 225 MPa Modulus of Elasticity, E = 210 GPa Modulus of Rigidity, G = 81 GPa Poisson’s co-efficient, v = 0.3 Thermal co-efficient, a = 2.10 Density, p = 680 kg/m³
galapagos optimization // position of metal plates
Load and Combinations The load types and their combinations were taken as per the Spanish guidelines, from the UNE-EN 14080:2013 and CTE DBSE-M. The different load types are: Dead load or gravity, G Snow loads, Qs Wind loads, Wx and Wy (Zone C with a base velocity of 29 m/s) Asymmetrical loads, As Point loads, P (kids’ loads on climbing) The load combinations included Ultimate Limit State (ULS) and Serviceability Limit State (SLS) combinations.
21
photography credits © Andrés Flajszer
Day 01 // building base clusters 1 Day 02 // building arch clusters 2 Day 03 // building remaining clusters 3 Load Testing // 9 water cans of 8L 4
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photo credits © Andrés Flajszer
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03 TETRAPODO Across diverse architectural marvels like the Persepolis Entrance Pavilion in Iran and The Opus in Dubai, planarized quads have played a pivotal role in constructing facade panels, frameworks, gridshells, and more. Extensive study was done, delving into the utilization of quad meshes in construction, dissecting their metrics, geometric properties, and exploring methodologies to integrate algorithms across various structures. This meticulous study was then put into action on the “Tetrapod,” a four-legged form, ensuring optimal outcomes in planarity, surface precision, aspect ratio, linearity, and the fabrication of both convex and concave surfaces within the structure. Project Type // Digital Fabrication // Rationalization Team // Adriana M. Chavez, Arshita Ravindranathan, Cristian Cabezas, Miguel Cruz Mentors // Enrique Soriano, Gerard Bertomeu, Rudy Riachy
Planarity. Quadrangular. Linearity.
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top view // constructed planarized tetrapod with tabs for connection
Methodology Planar Quadrangular Meshes A quadrilateral mesh doesn’t inherently possess planar faces and might consist of single or double curved elements, although the latter tend to be more costly.
circle packing after using “tangent incircles”and “planarize” goals
Advantages of PQ meshes: reduced material usage due to fewer edges, simpler nodes, and easier manufacturing. Drawbacks: increased expenses for double curved elements, and stability against in-plane forces might require additional diagonal support or face material utilization.
Paramaterization Mapping the surface onto a planar domain is key for forming a regular quad mesh. Two methods, conformal and harmonic parameterization, enable this. Conformal mapping, preserving surface angles, transforms it onto a planar domain, followed by techniques like Quadtree Decomposition or Circle Packing to construct the quad mesh.
mesh I // subdividing the coarse quad mesh using catmull clark and C-Sharp
mesh II // triangulated mesh relaxed with a criteria for circle packing
mesh III // triangulated mesh converted to a quad mesh and then subdivided for better
Strategies Planarity measures the deviation of a panel from a plane. This was gauged through two approaches: 1. distance measurement from three corners to the fourth to create a plane. 2. evaluation of the shortest distance between two diagonal lines. Various methods explored for planarizing a quad mesh: 1. Smoothing 2. Simplification 3. Parametrization 4. Optimization (e.g., DR optimization)
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Variants
Mesh
Mesh Faces
Planarity (in mm)
Edge Length (mm)
Surface Deviation (in mm)
Aspect Ratio
Face Area (in mm²)
#
Mean
M.A.D
Mean
M.A.D
Mean
M.A.D
Mean
M.A.D
Mean
M.A.D
Base
544
0.009
0.014
28.7
6.3
2.64
1.82
1.001
0.005
815.8
277.0
Variant 1
206
0.009
0.018
54.1
16.4
3.20
2.13
1.001
0.009
1876.1
1048.4
Variant 2
65
0.021
0.036
83.8
38.5
4.64
3.99
1.004
0.037
5206.8
3888.5
Variant 3
773
0.005
0.009
26.1
7.0
3.09
2.34
1.001
0.005
539.5
262.4
Variant 4
916
0.006
0.008
23.7
6.0
3.04
2.21
1.001
0.006
471.5
202.5
Variant 5
2733
0.004
0.006
13.1
2.9
2.79
2.21
1.001
0.006
168.0
58.2
Graph 01 // planarity vs no.of faces 1 Graph 02 // face area vs no.of faces 2 Graph 03 // surface deviation vs no.of faces 3 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MESH VARIANTS WITH REGARD TO FACES
26 method I // quad remesh
method II // circle packing
method III // structured mesh
The meshes were planarized using methods described previously where Kangaroo2 solvers were used for relaxation with criteria such as planarize, tangent incircles, smooth mesh and more. The planarity values derived from this is mapped between 0.00 (planar) to 1.00 (non-planar). 0.00 To 0.10 (tolerance)
x > 0.10
metric I // planarity analysis
average length // 29.2 mm tolerance // avg. + 10% of avg. (mm) x < 29.90 mm
Tolerance (in mm)
x > 29.90 mm
metric II // edge lengths
This represents the deviation of the final planarized surface from the original surface. average deviation distance // 237.36 mm tolerance // avg. + 10% of avg. (mm) x < 237.36 mm
Tolerance (in mm)
x > 237.36 mm
metric III // surface deviation
average area // 874 mm tolerance // avg. + 10% of avg. (mm²) x < 874 mm²
Tolerance (in mm²)
x > 874 mm²
metric IV // face area
average aspect ratio // 1.00 tolerance // avg. + 10% of avg x < 1.00
Tolerance
x > 1.00
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF METRICS FOR DIFFERENT PLANARIZATION METHODOLOGY
metric V // aspect ratio
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optimization 01 // building clusters (without a stream filter)
An optimization was done with a plugin “Galapagos”, which aims to minimize the number of clusters. The K-Means clustering is used as Genome, while the Fitness uses the average of the distance between the lines from the curve closest point to Fit Line.
process // optimization & unrolling clusters
optimization 02 // orienting all clusters in the same direction (z-axis or vertical)
Clusters of quads were flattened, and tabs were created on the edges to facilitate connection between adjacent clusters.
fabrication // clusters sent for lasercut
final result // prototype perspectives photo credits © Andrés Flajszer
DIGITAL FABRICATION // DIGITAL OPTIMIZATION TO HANDS-ON CONSTRUCTION
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D5 visualization // truchet screens
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04 THE GREAT WAVE The program’s objective centered on streamlining work processes within strict limitations. Under the guidance of Juan Pablo Quintero from Medio Design, the exploration encompassed patterns, 3D machining, subtractive manufacturing, milling, and various techniques using RhinoCAM. This exploration extended to fabricating these techniques on a plywood stock panel measuring 400 x 400 x 15mm. The primary focus was on achieving a controlled output to generate specific visual effects, like creating illusions through shadow casting or caustics. The overarching goal was to move away from designs that relied solely on the final form, aiming instead for a more adaptive and versatile approach. Project Type // Digital Fabrication // Milling Mentors // Enrique Soriano, Gerard Bertomeu, Rudy Riachy, Juan Pablo Quintero (Medio Design Studio)
Subtraction. Patterning. Generative.
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truchet pattern after applying variations depths of curves and brightness
tool path and resulting truchet curves
application // waves in truchet pattern
Concept // Methodology The Great Wave of Kanagawa Hokusai, a Japanese artist from the Edo period, crafted a woodblock print showcasing a vivid landscape: a tempestuous sea with three boats navigating its waters, set against the backdrop of a mountain. This print skillfully employs perspective to create a captivating scene. Notably, the waves take center stage in the artwork, defined by curved lines that seamlessly extend into the water’s surface. Drawing inspiration from this masterpiece, a panel was customized with meticulous attention to suitable methodologies, employing tool paths and tips.
Application The resulting design offers versatility, capable of being replicated or tailored to serve as room dividers, wall panels, decorative pieces, and more. The intricacy of the milled surface can be prone to collection of dust, hence the panels could be designed for indoor spaces like living rooms separating dining and kitchen, or as main doors.
reference // The Great Wave of Kanagawa
curves simplified to emphasize the waves only
square or hexagonal base used to draw arcs from centers with variable directions
a set of tiles with the completed truchet pattern
Patterning & Methodology Truchet tiles, square tiles adorned with non-rotationally symmetric patterns, are created using an algorithm that draws lines, curves, and splines with varying noise, altitude, or depth. This method generates undulating curves, achieving the distinctive Truchet patterning. The main factors considered were: brightness with bezier tangents and rotations, like varying angles for base beziers (90°, 180°) and varying limits (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°). The design’s efficiency and the milled outcome were assessed based on the tools used— specifically, the 22.5°-45°-60° vee-mills and r9.50-r16-r25 ball mills—and the provided material. Numerous compositions and patterns were experimented with, including circle packing, dynamic wave lines, basic geometries like diamonds, and growth patterns.
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tooltip // ball mill 19 machining operation // engraving finishing depth: 2mm
step I // conceptualization & algorithm
After initial experimentation with tool tips, several variations were explored. Curves were adjusted along the Z-direction, considering the brightness filter from the image for depths and other parameters. To optimize time and material usage for the final result, a section of the previous panel was scaled accordingly.
step II // experimentation with tips
Fabrication process shown from setting the tool tips and tool path to setting up the melamine covered plywood atop the machine to the milling to cleaning and smoothing the board
step III // digital fabrication
final result // prototype perspectives
photo credits © Andrés Flajszer
DIGITAL FABRICATION // CONCEPTUALIZATION PROCESS TO MILLING
32
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05 PIXELIZATION The goal of the Pixelization project was to construct a parametric model displaying a cluster of boxes through Grasshopper’s Honeybee plugin, utilizing the solve adjacencies function. This model was designed to allocate programs, schedules, and structures. The optimization phase focused on energy efficiency, particularly cooling and heating requirements. Biomorpher, another plugin, was employed to refine the forms while maintaining a consistent unit of unchanged boxes, optimizing for maximum and minimum radiation outcomes. Project Type // Energy & Geometry Optimization Mentors // Gerard Bertomeu, Alfonso Godoy
Morphology. Optimization. Energy.
34 K-means Clusters
The designs are clustered into 12 groups based on paramater (n-dimensional) similarity. These figures on the left display each groups of representative closest to centroids. Other settings to achieve the evolution of geometry designs include: population size, crossover rate and mutation rate. These are generated in branches as seen in the diagram below where the performance is optimized in regard to parents whose genes will be used for the next design generation by suitable criterias. design representation of aggregations
biomorpher // morphology iterations of various aggregations
Objective
Situated in the city of Kochi, Kerala, a state in India, the analysis timeframe spans from 10:00 to 14:00 on June 21st, during the summer solstice. The variations in forms explored include L-form, U-form, courtyard or closed form, and a tower, each with sliders for optimization criteria such as attractor point location and heights for the tower.
aggregation I // L-Form aggregation II // U-Form aggregation III // courtyard
The base form maintains cuboids sized at 6.80 x 4.60 x 3.00m, incorporating 250 units (550 for the tower), resulting in a volume of 23,460 m³. These are maintained for every aggregation for a better comparative analysis.
aggregation IV // tower
Geometry The primary objective of the project involves optimizing various forms utilizing Biomorpher, a Grasshopper plugin by John Harding and Cecile B. Olsen, with a consistent number of units. The focus is on determining the maximum and minimum radiation on vertical faces, and conducting monthly analyses using Honeybee for the optimized form with the maximum footprint.
Minimize Total Radiation on Vertical Faces
type 01
type 02
Maximize Total Radiation on Vertical Faces
type 03
type 04
footprint area: 1532.72 m² footprint area: 2283.44 m² footprint area: 1564.00 m² footprint area: 2033.20 m² tot. face radiation (V): 199.36 tot. vertical faces: 229.01 kWh tot. vertical faces: 290.80 kWh tot. vertical faces: 233.55 kWh
footprint area: 2471.12 m² footprint area: 2958.80 m² footprint area: 2627.52 m² footprint area: 2690.08 m² tot. vertical faces: 199.36 kWh tot. vertical faces: 295.30 kWh tot. vertical faces: 273.78 kWh tot. vertical faces: 286.77 kWh
footprint area: 3409.52 m² footprint area: 2846.48 m² footprint area: 2596.24 m² footprint area: 3190.56 m² tot. vertical faces: 273. 21 kWh tot. vertical faces: 254.70 kWh tot. vertical faces: 304.32 kWh tot. vertical faces: 301.39 kWh
footprint area: 3190.56 m² footprint area: 2846.48 m² footprint area: 2596.24 m² footprint area: 3409.52 m² tot. vertical faces: 416.03 kWh tot. vertical faces: 430.99 kWh tot. vertical faces: 408.31 kWh tot. vertical faces: 462.53 kWh
GEOMETRY MORPHOLOGIES FOR DIFFERENT AGGREGATIONS
35 Aggregation Type
Volume (m³)
Footprint Area (m²)
Exposed Area (m²)
Total Radiation (kWh)
Total Heating Demand (kWh)
Normalized Heating Value (kWh)
Total Cooling Demand (kWh)
Normalized Cooling Value (kWh)
L - Form
23,460.00
2064.48
6434.88
11,923.35
48.62
0.006
2.87e+6
46.81
U - Form
23,460.00
2658.80
7840.40
14,515.31
25.36
0.003
2.82e+6
50.04
Courtyard
23,460.00
3378.24
8229.94
17,478.96
31.68
0.004
2.71e+6
93.03
Tower
23,460.00
1126.08
6434.88
11,517.25
74.31
0.004
6.51e+6
-378.59
The radiation, cooling and heating demands for all the aggregaations were computed with Honeybee considering: location // Kochi, India orientation // 3.75° N
aggregation I // L-form arrangement
aggregation II // U-form arrangement
aggregation III // courtyard arrangement
aggregation IV // tower arrangement
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RADIATION ANALYSIS ON VARIOUS MORPHOLOGIES
36
AI visualization // natural zone
37
06 LINEAR PARK The narrow stretch of site for the park is located in Sarria, Barcelona. These narrow site is a concrete underpass with stretches of greenary on either sides. The aim of the proposal was to design an urban park with a freeflowing arrangement of spaces for public activities such as kids’ play areas, lush green areas for picnics, recreation trails, canopies and lighting. The park was designed with respect to its immediate context, where the site was extended to include the open areas that envelope the immediate buildings. This helped determine the organic allocation of spaces within the park. Project Type // Planning and Landscape Team // Arshita Ravindranathan, Nerea Egusquizaga Mentors // Gerard Bertomeu, Marc Serra
Organic. Clustering. Multifunctional.
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aerial view // overall site
Workflow // Program Concept The concept is to have free-flowing spaces where a medial axis would divide the park into public and semipublic zones. The main idea is to encroach the immediate context to open the site and break the linearity. One of the approaches to the design was to include the local species of lawn grass, flowering bushes and trees to create a green environment nested within the urban environment. The main constraints while designing the park are: topography, drainage, wind direction, light and shadows, axis and circulation, and vegetation suitability.
Goals • Create a buffer between the adjacent roads and the park • Bringing in playfulness with colours and textures • Creating spaces with a sense of safety
Methodology
New Terrain: Creating a new site where the site is extended, with an organic boundary Layering: Building the site in layers with
terraced slabs > cavities > intermediate site > final terrain
Analysis: Affects of the site slopes, drainage pattern, radiation, noise Space Allocation: Defining the spaces with respect to results from the previous analyses Path Definition: Main pedestrian axis for circulation, motorways, running tracks etc Planting Pattern Definition: To understand the types of vegetation (grass cover-shrubs-
trees) using the height difference between the two surfaces (existing and proposed)
39 layer 1 // terraced slabs // 450mm thick layer 2 // cavities // 75x50mm modules
layer 3 // intermediate surface // existing layer 4 // final surface // proposed site
SITE // LAYERING
north Zone III picnic areas, lawns Zone II rainwater harvesting ponds
Zone I jogging, cycling tracks Zone IV playground, sports areas Zone III open air theatre
Entries/exits pedestrian only // multiple
Zone II therapeutic or healing gardens
Path I pedestrian (red coloured main axis to accentuate the paths) Path II vehicular (mixed paving) Entry vehicular only
PROPOSED PARK DESIGN
40
vegetation clustering // defining paths // space allocation
Design Features Paths // Vegetation The types of paths defined are pedestrian, tracks for jogging, cycling and walking, and motorways. The pedestrian and vehicular paths are accessed throughout the site from all four directions to reduce walking distances. The exercising tracks are placed in a slightly secluded place to separate the public and semi-public activities. The patterning for vegetation is defined by clustering using factors like heights between intermediate and final surfaces, results from slope-drainageradiation analysis. The species were allocated using Lands Design.
LONGITUDINAL SITE SECTION
Activity Allocation: Zoning Zone I: Exercise zone like jogging tracks Zone II: Natural zone like basins (ponds), therapeutic gardens, zen mounds Zone III: Leisure zone like amphitheaters, picnic areas, lawns, sculptures Zone IV: Recreation zone like sports areas, kids’ playgrounds, rock climbing installations etc
Activity Allocation: General Some interesting components that can be used to create points of interest and to redirect focal points are: 1. Coloured canopies 2. Rock-climbing installations 3. Small fountains along the rainwater ponds/ basins 4. Interactive installations in the form of seating, sculptures, components for play areas 5. Playful mounds along picnic and play areas
41
Z2.Natural Zone // pond 1 Z4.Recreation Zone // play area 2 Z3.Leisure Zone // amphitheatre 3 Z3.Leisure Zone // picnic area 4
42
keyshot visualization // dendrogram
43
07 MISCELLANEOUS WORKS Compilation of selected fabrication, architectural visualization, artworks and graphical works. I was one of those people who wanted to study architecture because I liked to sketch and travel. I personally think sketching is one of the ways to brainstorm and translate ideas to something viable. This has helped in translating concepts and ideas to tangible things. In addition to this, making maquettes was used as a way of visualization at different stages of design process. This helped me analyze the best forms, spatial and material relationship. Softwares such as Grasshopper, V-Ray and Blender were used.
Visuals.
Imageability.
Graphics.
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concept models // blender // grasshopper
45
wintess analysis // line network // hand-made models
Arshita Ravindranathan 2022 - 2023 +91 7204729676
