module 2 design

Module 2: Design Weeks 4 & 5 Gianni Mancuso 637 278

University Of Melbourne, Virtual Envirnonments: ENVS10008

Orthographic Images of Overall Form Model

TOP In order to digitise my model I first determined the manner in which I would do so.

I chose to use my images as references and thus had to take appropriate images.

The top view, to the right shows the lateral curves, while the right view to the right shows the vertical curves.

RIGHT

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

The Digitised Model As mentioned before, I digitised my model using the image references that I imported into Rhino. This aided my in drawing the main curves. However I experienced troubles using this method due to the nature of my curve, and the way it spirals. Through trial and error I found that by using a single spiral I could create my overall form. I then used the Pipe command to create a rough version of my proposed overall form.

The spiral shape evidently has issues, and I had to work to rectify them. This includes the fact that the spiral was initially three lines, and this effected the Pipe result.

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

The Digitised Model: Further Development This stage was interesting, but fairly simple. I experimented with different circumferences with the Pipe command, and fixed previous issues with the spiral.

Initially i wanted my lantern to have tapered, smaller ends, however I didnt like the look of that shape. I then moved onto a larger end, with an open end. I removed the issues with the spiral to make it more uniform. I feel that the final result best reflects my aim, to create a lantern that gently spirals around the human form, from the neck to the forearm.

The following models represent the final form I chose to experiment with.

Notice they are more uniform and smoother.

Both these models are not very appealling, they are uneven and the small ends dont create a sense of fullness and solidity.

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

The Digitised Model: Panelling Experimentation

Panelling allowed me to explore the different ways in which I could construct the geometry of my lantern. It allowed me to experiment with a lot of different shapes such as boxes, diagonal boxes, triangles and diamonds on an overall form that was of an abstract nature. It has allowed me to think beyond simple logical shapes, and try to create a unique form for my lantern.

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

The Digitised Model: Panelling Experimentation I found that while the simple square shapes presented a simple, clean form, the effects of the trianglular shapes in 2d panelling were more interesting.

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

Prototype 1 When I started this module I had to find a way of converting the ideas of my emerging form to a more practical form. I based my emerging form on the shape of a semicircle, but found that I didn’t like it. I exchanged it for a triangle, which is still able to convey the spiral movement I wish to create.

Rendered View

Prototype 1 uses the basic concept of a triangle to create a four-sided model - one with an opening. The opening will hold light.

Overall Form #1 Technical View

Module 2: Design

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Prototype 2

This Prototype is based again on a triangular base shape. It has triangular openings at the top of the module as opposed to the opening on the side. The base shape has also been extruded to the left of the module.

I think that this prototype was succesfull to an extent, and I think that the extrusion to a point helps to emphasise the overall spiral formation of the pattern.

Rendered View

I think that if I hone in on the actual physical design of this prototype I can make it work structurally while retaining the desired effect.

Overall Form #2

Technical View

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

Prototype 3

The third prototype I made still emphasises the concept of movement through the use of the triangle. However I have complicated the surface of the shape, by making the openings on the sides of the module instead. The larger triangle surface emphasises the idea of spiral movement in this case.

I think that this was the most successful prototype, as it is a bit more complex than the others. If I were to use this during the fabrication phase I would further complicate it by adding ectruded edges to the triangle openings. This is demonstrated in the two images to the left but not in the model.

Rendered View

Overall Form #3 Technical View

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

Prototype 2: Model Prototype Model 2 wasn’t very structuraly sound, but it did however produce the effects I intended. I wanted each opening on each of the modules to capture the light that was shone through. As you can see in the bottom right corner image I was succesful in doing that.

The point at which the four corners of the panels came together was unstable and kept breaking, so I had to glue them another way.

However the failure of this model has allowed me to look into other ways of designing a new module with the same concept.

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

Prototype 3: Model The model for prototype 3 was probably the most structurally sound out of the two I was able to make.

The point where the four panels joined was in fact fairly strong.

The effects produced were interesting, but still not exactly what I was looking to produce. The shadow effect on a white background was however something I would like to try an experiment further with.

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

Lecture Review: Composition and Composition Strategy & Readings TED Talks: Thomas Heatherwick

Thomas Heatherwick in TED talks demonstrated some truly inspirational architecture, and more importantly ways of thinking. Heatherwick uses design to create spatial elements in a variety of interesting ways. Heatherwick frequently uses the environment surrounding the project as a context in which the design must operate within. He wishes to create buildings that have a ‘soul’, and are not empty and meaningless. For example the energy plant in England was designed based specifically on a social aspect. The design was intrinsically aimed towards eliminating the ‘closed fence’, ‘industrial’ aspect that inevitably comes with power plants, and creating a power plant that fostered community and allowed the people to be proud of where their power is produced. The spatial effect of this design was essentially to eliminate the overbearing industrial aspect of power - and create an environment that would not only be valuable to those that live in it, but also aesthetically pleasing and something that removes the disconnect between power and the people.

Lost in Parameter Space

Absraction and Reduction differ in several ways. Abstraction refers to the act of minimising the amount of information present in models as representations of components of the real world. The purpose of abstraction, as pointed out by Schreurer and Stehling in Lost In Parameter Space, is to reduce the amount of information in presenting something such as a model, in order to present information unambiguously. This idea of abstraction is often lost from model makers to 3d programs with infinite data storage. On the contrary, reduction is about determining the most efficient way to ‘transport’ the data being used (Schreurer & Stehling, 2011). For example the process of normalisation involves eliminating the redundancies present in a model. A redundancy is a piece of information that occurs more than once, and thus adds ‘weight’ to the model.

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal

Module 2 Reflection Module 2 was in my opinion far more interesting, and at the same time challenging than module 1.

It challenged me to think about the practicality of my designs, and how to design something that is logical and could be constructed with the given material. I think that choosing an overall form that interacts with the body in such a different manner has presented more challenges in designing panels but at the same time more opportunities to create interesting spacial effects.

Prior to this module I had trouble creating an emerging form, but I worked to create something that could be used in this module to aid in the design of my custom panels. I chose to base my panels around different forms of extruded triangles that could represent movement in the nautilus shell, much the same as a semi-circle did. Therefore on each of the panels I designed there is a main triangle, which in fact is representative of the spiral movement.

The prototype that I would like to experiment with during the fabrication phase would have to be prototype 2. It presents the most interesting effects and stays true to the effect that I wanted to achieve.

Module 2: Design

Week 4&5 Journal