EARLY POD CANTILEVERED BENCH

A privacy screen for health checkups in a public area

Year: 2022

Location: Superstructure

Role in Project: Computation Designer, Fabrication

Involvement: Conceptualised, Designed, Resolved Fabrication Details, Installation

EARLY POD is a mass producable privacy screen built as a series of pop-ups aimed at making preventive care accessible. These mobile units will be integrated into heartlands and community spaces, raising awareness for early detection and treatment as key steps to a prolonged health span.

The pod called for a semi-pourous facade to create a sense of privacy for the users inside, while a the same time allowing for outsiders to understand what the purpose of the pod is. Therefore, I opted to use the moire principle to fulfill that concept, and vertical fins were lined up around the perimeter of the pod creating a wall. All the parts of the pod were creating using 3 axis machining. Each fin was also different, and were held together with horizontal bracings. I also designed the pod to be held together using a series of lap joints and bolts to enable the pod to be taken apart and put back together easily into 2 base plates and 4 wall segments. The bolts were also standardised to M8 bolts, so that only a single tool was needed. All this was achieved computationally, as each shape was different, and allowed for quick iteration including design and nesting for fabrication.

A proposed cantilevered bench made from steel rebar and timber planks

Year: 2021

Location: SUTD

Role in Project: Team Member

Involvement: Compuation, Fabrication

This project challenges the idea of creating fluid profiles that gives rise to a Moiré effect. Taking advantage of the moments of convergence and divergence due to the bending of rebar, the project creates illusionary visuals for the user beyond its functional use. By using tangent arcs and biarcs the complex looking bench is simple to fabricate as the curvatures of each rebar are predetermined, allowing for easy assemblage on site between each of the rebar members.

This project challenges the idea of creating fluid profiles that gives rise to a Moiré effect. Taking advantage of the moments of convergence and divergence due to the bending of rebar, the project creates illusionary visuals for the user beyond its

Computational tools were used to generate and parameterise the form of the base biarc curvature of the rebar. Using Karamba in grasshopper, the form of the bench was then further optimised to ensure the structural integrity of the bench under various stress conditions. The horizontal and vertical loads were kept constant, while the radius and number of arcs were varied. After optimising these variables to discover the most structurally sound design, we proposed construction details for easy assembly.