UmbrellaFORMS
Parametric Design & Sustainable use of materials
Laura Graden M.ARCH Candidate 2012
Integrated Design Project Report
Editorial
Project Proposal
4 5-13
Research Agenda Case Studies
15-29
Schematic Design
30-39
Fabrication Final Structure Conclusions Works Cited
40-48
Seeyond Winnipeg Skating Shelters Corogami Change Hut Overliner Voussior Cloud
Materials Program Delineation University Information Principal Explorations
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49-53 54 55
CONTENTS
Digital vs. Tactile:
The Material Culture of an Architectural Education Somewhere between the sleepless nights in studio and the drudgery of assigned readings, it is easy to forget that, as architects, we will deal in the substance of materials and experiences. In studio, much of our learning experience becomes sterilized and streamlined by the digital tools that support our very existence. The traditional tools of the architect –pen and paper– have been replaced with the glow of an LCD screen; the ergonomic plastic computer mouse. While architecture deals fundamentally with the synthesis of raw materials into a formal and physical experience, studio seems to be more about producing a set of printed boards. This distance from the literal material of architecture is disturbing. It is tiresome working toward the end goal of digital, intangible files from which no building will ever be produced. This is not to say that digital tools are not valuable to the architectural profession. Indeed, they become invaluable in the process of creating and managing form, structure, systems integration, and even materiality of a final finished product. The main difference is that a studio project is never translated into built form. In studio, the focus becomes the digital production itself. I want to change that focus. How can these valuable digital tools help us create something physical? I want to return to the idea that architecture is fundamentally a series of formal explorations. At its core, the architectural course of study should teach us to deal with these tangible and physical ideas. Is there a place for digital tools in this education? Absolutely. Are these tools a substitute for the tactile, sensual experience of a built structure? Absolutely not. In my final project, I want to emphasize that digital and analog technologies can relate by designing and constructing a small-scale built project. By exploring how digital technology influences our understanding of built form, both positively and negatively, I hope to step outside the box of a typical architectural education, and into the realm of architecture. — Laura Graden University of Idaho M.ARCH Candidate 2012
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Project Background History:
Folding is not a new concept in architecture. Nomadic tents and Native American Teepees are constructed of folded fabric. Many other kinds of vernacular tents and pavilions also operate under the same basic guiding principles established by pre-historic fabric dwellings. Although these dwellings are temporary, modern architecture can adopt many of the same principles. These include adaptability, recyclability, and ease of construction. More recently, contemporary architecture has utilized folding to generate complex internal volumes or eternal forms, in a high-style application, such as Frank Ghery’s Disney Concert Hall or the Selfridges flagship in Birmingham, UK, designed by Future Systems. Many of these “elite� structures come under fire for their seeming willingness to disregard practical concerns such as functionality and affordability in favor of self-aggrandizing grandiose formal compositions. So why consider folding to generate sustainable-use forms?
Reasons for Considering Folded Forms:
Firstly, many folded designs are actually shipped flat-packed and tessellated or assembled on site. Flat-packing is far more energy and spatially efficient than shipping large pre-assembled structures such as truss-joists. Folded designs can allow for a greater degree of modularity, and therefore a greater degree of flexibility in use. Reconfigurable spaces allow a greater degree of programmatic flexibility over time, while other elements, such as window or door openings, can be more easily adapted to various environmental conditions in a folded structure. Folded structures can also be portable, adding an even greater degree of flexibility. If properly tessellated, folded forms can easily produce zero product waste. This is rarely possible with traditional structures. Add to this the fact that many folded structures can be constructed with minimal crew and in shorter amounts of time than more traditional structures, and origamic structures seem like a natural addition to the sustainable repertoire.
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Personal Background My interest in folding forms: From a young age, I developed a passion for sewing and clothing design. With this, comes a specific knowledge of the shapes required to cloth the human form. While many techniques exist to achieve desired clothing silhouettes, the most basic is called flat-patterning. This method transforms a 2-D piece of fabric can by folding it backwards onto itself and rejoining it to form a new 3-D volume. The shape of a form or volume can be completely changed depending on where the attachments are made. This knowledge is what first piqued my interest in folded architecture. Along with clothing design came an interest in costume design, and with that, an interest in set design. The basic 2-D nature of a theatre set mimics some of the necessary properties of folded architecture, such as creating false perspective, or utilizing rotating set elements during scene changes. Such constructions are usually temporary and designed with ease of constructability and deconstructability in mind. The implications on sustainaibilty of such temporray strucutres was interesting. Were the materials designed to be discarded or used in futrutre projects? What challenges does disposability pose to sustainaibility. I am also interested in focusing on the materiality of a built structure, and how this material affects the spaces, as well as reducing material waste in a built structure.
Why? To explore and investigate unique methods of form generation within the parameters of resource conservation and sustainability
Precedents Mascahiro Chatini A Japanese architect and professor, Chatini is considered to be the creator of “origamic architecture”, or the three-dimensional reproduction of architecture using cut and folded paper. graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1956. He became an assistant professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1969 and an associated assistant professor at Washington University in 1977, and was promoted to full professorship at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1980. It was around this time that he created what is now known as “origamic architecture.” He became a professor emeritus fifteen years later, and continued to lecture at a number of institutions, including the Japan Architectural College, Hosei University, and the Shizuoka University of Art and Architecture.[5] After his retirement from active professorship, he continued to travel around the world, giving exhibits, demonstrations, and seminars on architectural design and origamic architecture.
Sophia Vitzyoviti Sophia Vyzoviti is the author of three books on form-generating experiments in architecture and design: soft shells, supersurfaces and the best selling folding architecture released by BIS Publishers Amsterdam. She has published extensively in Greek and presented papers at international conferences. Her work has been exhibited at La Biennale di Venezia, Architectural Biennale Rotterdam, NOUS collaborative, The Archive and a plethora of exhibitions in Greece. She has co-curated international architectural exhibition synathroisis. She has received distinctions in architectural design competitions including a first prize in EUROPAN 5, and a runner up in UIA ‘Renewable energy sources and bioclimatic architecture for shells to shelter people affected by natural disasters’.
Lisa Iwamoto Iwamoto teaches design studios and graduate seminars at Cal Berkely. Her research focuses on digital fabrication and material technologies for architecture, and includes development of the CAD/CAM lab in the Department of Architecutre. She has taught previously at the University of Michigan where she was Mushcenheim Fellow, and at Harvard. Iwamoto is a principal of IwamotoScott Architecture, a practice formed in partnership with Craig Scott. Committed to pursuing architecture as a form of applied design research, it engages in projects at multiple scales and in a variety of contexts consisting of full-scale fabrications, museum installations and exhibitions, theoretical proposals, competitions and commissioned design projects, including my precednet Voussoiur Cloud.
Richard Sweeney An English artist, Richard Sweeney discovered a natural talent for sculpture at Batley School of Art and Design in 2002, which led him to the study of Three Dimensional Design at the Manchester Metropolitan University, where he concentrated on the hands-on manipulation of paper to create design models, which ultimately developed into sculptural pieces in their own right. Combining hand-craft with CAD and CNC manufacturing techniques, Sweeny’s pieces maintain an experimental, hands-on approach. His whimsical folded paper sculptures utilize complex mathematical geometry, although some appear deceptively simple. His main palette includes watercolor paper, corrugated cardboard, and plywood.
Design Investigations What impact does the folding of singular surfaces potentially facilitating flat packing of building elements have on the sustainable use of materials? Is this method of form generation any less wasteful or more efficient than traditional methods? Sustainable Issues: Sustainable issues to investigate include measuring packaging waste, investigating shipping efficiency or energy saved in the shipping process, and construction waste reduction. Ideally, folded designs are easily reproduced, easily constructed, and use materials and production time efficiently. Other issues to investigate are the ease of systems integration into potentially complex geometries, the ease of integration of passive systems, and the flexibility of use of the structure during different times of day, and well as adaptability during different seasons.
Project Parameters & Goals: Tactility:
The foscus for this project was to combine digital and analog media resulting in a final, buildable project.
Constructability:
To facilitate the actual construction of this porject, the materails must be easily acessible, transportable and relatively inexpnesive. The connections should not be overly complex or expensive, and the project should ideally be buildable in 24-48 hours by only a few people.
Sustainability:
This project will focus specifically on efficient and selective use of raw materials, control of waste during production, and ease or efficiency of assembly of the built form. Other issues, such as shipping and energy efficiency are less applicable to a local project, but no less importatnt to the overall concept of sustainable design.
Accessibility:
Universal design issues to consider include ease of construction, portability, and maneuverability of the structure or pieces of the structure, as well as universal access.
Flexibility:
Ideally, folded structures are some of the most responsive and flexible structures in regards to environmental and temporal stimuli. These issues include the range of motion of finished design, which can accommodate not only programmatic changes, but lighting, ventilation and seasonal changes as well.
Goals: • Study the impacts of folded geometries on sustainable use of materials, energy and construction efficiency and formal qualities. • Design and build a pavilion or installation using folded forms.
Definitions Parametric:
In mathetatical terms, a parametric equation is one in which a contant is substituted for a variable, altereing the output geometry of the equation. For instance, the equation for a circle 2pR, can be parameterized by subsituting the variable t for radii R, thereby altering the output circle of the equation based on the flexible input t. In design, any number of outputs can be parameteierized, from the fixed distance of a door from a wall, to an entire form-generative equation that controls the shape of a strucutres roof.
Generative:
A generative equation or program is one in which an eqaution or series of parameters defines the shape of an object, rather than the designer modelling a pre-determined shape.
Developable:
A developable surface is one that folds out from a curved or shaped surface into a surface with zero Guassian curvature. A cube is a relatively simple example, “unfolding” from a 3D cube into a series of 6 flat squares.
Development: Net:
The “plan” of a unrolled surface.
The geometric equivalent of a development. Net is used to refer to unrolled polyhedra, ie. cubes, tetrahedra, or dodecahedra. Geometric Net are explained in further detail on page 35.
Dart:
In sewing, a dart is a triangular section of fabric removed from areas of clothing in order to facilitate the curve required to fit the human form. They are most often found on women’s blouses or skirts. Darts are explained in further detail on page 37.
Geodesic:
In mathematics, a geodesic is the single shortest straight distance between two points on a curved space-time. Bucky Fuller developed a strucutral system based off the mathematical geodesic and the C60 atom. Geodesics and their implications for the project are further explained on page 36.
Overview Sustainability:
Folded architectural forms can help prevent material and resource waste.
Impact: Flat-packing building elements can direct the building industry to a more sustainable future.
Interest:
Efficient architecture can be material and beautiful through the use of folded form.
Research Agenda: Design Intent: To design and build a pavilion or installation using a parametrically designed structural system, and assess the impacts of folded forms on constructability, flexibility, and sustainability of the structure.
Laura Graden M.Arch Candidate 2012
Background: Origami, the art of Japanese paper folding, started in the late 17th century. Through complex patterns
of scoring and folding, single planes can be manipulated into forms representing flowers, animals, and potentially complex architectural elements. The goal is to transform a flat sheet of material into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques, and the use of cuts or glue is not permitted. These folded forms have a potentially deep impact on the use of flat planar surfaces to represent space, volume, and form. What implications does Origami have for architectural surfaces? Can the practice of paper folding be translated into planar architectural applications such as traditional plywoods, drywall, or concrete formwork? Is a system of using a small number of fold types applicable to an architectural application? How do these forms attach or ground themselves in an architectural sense where bolts or adhesives may be required? What impact do these new formal applications have on the sustainability of a project? Could they potentially reduce material waste or improve the efficiency of construction? Is a folded structure potentially inhabitable long-term, where many of the non-rectilinear forms may compete with traditionally designed furnishings?
Design Goals:
Through careful study of previous architectural projects involving folded planes and the use of parametric modelling software, I will design and construct a pavilion or installation-scale project that addresses these questions and examines the impact of parametrically designed spaces on the experiential and spatial qualities of a form. The project will serve as a hands-on study of the formal and spatial qualities of folded planes, the impact on the use of materials in similar projects, and the efficiency of construction in such applications.
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Case Studies
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Seeyond Architectural Solutions Minneapolis, MN Seeyond “uses parametric technology to help create complex forms for non-load bearing walls, wallmounted structures, ceiling clouds, column wraps and partial enclosures”. Their specifically developed program, dubbed Tess™, can take any parametrically designed surface and break it into a series of tessellated and panelized surfaces that can be shipped flat and re-assembled. The systems are fabricated using “Cellular resin”, made from either HDPE or polypropylene (PP). Both are 100 percent recyclable. Manufacturing waste is minimal, since all the tesselations are broken into roughly rectangular shapes. Most waste results from the rounded tab shapes and perforations. The majority of waste material is reused in the production process. The self-structuring system has less embodied energy than other interior partition systems, and requires only small metal pins as additional non-strucutral fasteners.
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Construction System
Seeyond systems are specifically designed to be easily constructed , and a re often assembled in 2-3 days by 3-4 people. They are usually installed by Seeyond specialists, but can be shipped WorldWide, and, as such are designed to be easy to install for anyone.
Skating Shelters Patkau Architects Winnipeg Manitoba, CA
Designed as a series of pavilions for a competition, the skating shelters it directly on the ice of the The Red and the Assiniboine Rivers, which converge at the center of Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg. Temperatures can drop as Low As -30 -40 F, which can feels like -50, with wind chill. It was imperative that the shelter withstand harsh winds and protect it’s inhabitants. Each Shelter accommodates only a few people at a time, and the shelters are clustered like a huddle of penguins, helping to share the heavy wind load by diverting it. The shelters are made of thin, flexible plywood, which is given both structure and spatial character through bending/deformation. This project was an important precedent, because it illustrates the ability of wood to hold curved deformations permanently. Two layers of 3/16th inch thick flexible plywood are laminated and perforated using pre-determined panels baed on the required curvature and structural stress analysis. The perforations allow the panel to bend without breaking under deformations created by wind stress. The panels are attached to a timber frame, which provides a large amount of the required structural support, as well as the attachment to the ice. Although seating is designed to mimic the form of the shelter, it is not a part of it.
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Corogami Folding Hut David Penner Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA
Although also designed for the Winnipeg skating shelter competition, this shelter is much different that then one designed by Pat Kau. The completely collapsible changing hut is built of laminated twinwall PP and brass fasteners. The hut was constructed with laminated twinwall polypropylene (coroplast) and brass paper fasteners. The folded arch spans sixteen feet and provides an eight foot deep shelter, and collapses into four inch thickness. The entire structure weighs only two hundred pounds. The plywood base is especially site conscious, using only water frozen to the ice to resist wind uplift. The construction budget was only $900.
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Overliner Joel Lamere + Cynthia Gunadi MIT Campus, Cambridge MA
This temporary stair installation was part of FAST, the Future Forum on the Arts at MIT. Designed by MIT lecturer Joel Lamere, an expert in digital modeling and fabrication methods, and Cynthia Gunadi, a fellow Harvard graduate and Principal at Gunadi Lamere Design, the Overliner mimics the specific stair structure of the public stair in the Whitaker Building on MIT Campus. “Origami on a large scale�, the project focused specifically on the impact of curved and repetitive folding on form. Translucent polypropylene sheets spiral around a steel frame, which attaches to the staircase structure. The folds themselves provide structural stiffness through the use of multi-directional curved folds, which transform the PP into rigid beams, much like the stair tread on which they are modeled.
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Voussoir Cloud Iwamoto-Scott Architects
SCI-Arc Gallery, LA, CA
Possibly the most important precedent for this project, the Voussouir Cloud tackled several similar problems faced by the UmbrellaFORM. Designed by Lisa Iwamoto of Iwamoto Scott architects, the Cloud “explores the coupling of potentially conflicting constructional logics – the pure compression of a vault”. It utilizes parametric design to form a series of structural ribs using three different semi-triangular folded panel shapes. These modules are formed by folding paper thin wood laminate along curved seams. Each panel is unique, and generated based on it’s position within the structure, and type of panel. Panels closer to the bottom of the compression vaults become smaller and pack more tightly. The curvature of each panel produces a form that relies on the internal surface tension to hold its shape, which helps combat the pure compressive forces of the vaulted structure. The project “intentionally confuses the structure and material strategies”. By beginning with a material operation, the design process is focused on calibrating the relationship of digital model to physical result using preexisting parameters.
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Process and Construction Documents
Schematic Design + Process
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Material Explorations Material
Bending Plywood/ Veneer
http:// mywoodworkingtools.blogspot.com/2011/05/all-aboutbending-plywood.html
Cardboard/ Chipboard, etc.
http://www.ryan-mccaffrey.com/projects/furniture/
Pros • • • •
• • • • •
Polycarbonate/ Acrylic/ Polyethylene • http://hechuang.en.made-in-china.com/product/ • mouQwnHlsXkJ/China-Polycarbonate-Sheet-Hollow.html • •
Fabric
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd270/ louiseschelde/P1010055.jpg
Lightweight Translucency Aesthetics Sustainability
Cons
• WeatherPermeable • Difficult to fold • Potentially expensive
Readily available • Weather Affordable permeable Sustainable • Aesthetic Issues Easy to manipulate Inherently structural Bendable Durable Extremely strong Different color/ translucency options
• Bendable/ pleatable • Durable if the right kind • Extremely strong • Different color/ translucency options
• Expensive • Not sustainable • Not cuttable on the available laser cutters
• Potentially Expensive • Not inherently structural • Weather Permeable
Milk Carton Paper: The final material was chosen for it’s availability, recyclability, and aesthetic manipulation potential. All raw paper supplies were donated from Potlatch Corporation’s existing sample stock.
Folding Studies The following paper studies were explorations of how folding created form. From these explorations I learned about the stiffness and structural properties of the paper, how certain folds affected final forms, and how modular origami shapes can be combined to form a singular, more structural application.
Program: Reading Shelter Rather than allowing the program to define material choices, the program was dictated by the material. The chosen program of a reading shelter references the original use of paper in reading materials, and the cable ties used in construction reflect this specific paper’s industrial origins. The cable ties also serve as structural stiffening, and allow for extremely precise tensioning adjustments.
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This illustration depicts how the final structure might be utilized in a library setting as a smaller partition of an existing space. The protective arm-like structure creates an enclosed feeling, while the subtle perforations still allow the occupant and passers by to be aware of one another. The structure is not overly isolating to its occupants, but still allows a relative degree of mental seclusion in the event that the user wishes to study or engage in other singular pursuits.
Polyhedra “Net”: Net is the mathematical term given to the “plan” of a 3d form. In parametric terms, surfaces that can be produce nets must consist of a series of planar surfaces with zero Gaussian curvature. These surfaces are known as developable surfaces, and their nets are know as developments. A series of developable surfaces can be combined to re=produce surfaces approximating positive or negative curvature.
Cube
Icosahedron
Tetrahedron Great Dodecahedron
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Geodesic Dome Bucky Fuller developed this famous structure which mimics the connection of a C60 atom. These are known mathematically and scientifically as a “Buckminsterfullerene�. In architecture, the geodesic dome developed by Fuller mimics this structure. Each structure is composed of a variable number of hexagons, grouped around 12 pentagons. The pentagons reduce the connection angle between the hexagons, which ordinarily tessellate across a flat surface. This forces the curvature, creating a dome. This structure was the inspiration for the UmbrellaFORM.
Geodesic Sphere net
Angle forces Curvature
The “Dart” In garment construction, flat patterns are used to generate 3D forms that must conform to the curvature of the body. In order to accommodate this curvature in a simple, economical way (sewing multiple sizes and irregular angles together in order to form curves is not an economical use of a rectangular fabric, especially since fabric cut at a 45 degree angle, or on the bias, stretch, leading to a warped garment if the grain of the fabric is ignored. A simple triangular section is removed from the center of the garment, instead. This principle is exactly the same as the angle found between a pentagon and hexagon in a Bucky development. This triangular space, called a dart, can be rotated around a fixed point and combined with other darts to alter the fit and placement of curvature of a garment. It is always the angle, never the length of the triangular segment that affects the curvature. This is why only 12 pentagons are required to force a sphere, regardless of the number of hexagons found in a geodesic dome. The angle between each connection is always 6 degrees, regardless of the length of the sides of the geometries. This principle was applied to the form to ensure an economic layout of material on the 18” x 24” paper sheets.
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Hexagonal Tesselation
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9VFPJHdGBo/Snj6iejObfI/AAAAAAAAC0U/ VqcXLqZCZow/s400/origami3.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/mancinerie/3694387648/in/photostream/
http://origamiblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/andrea-russo.jpg
All geometries tile across a flat surface in what is known as tesselation. The more efficient the tesselation, the less material waste is produced. Of the various geometries, hexagons produce some of the most efficient tesselations. Hexagons are also a main component in geodesic structures. The folded origami seen at left are examples of strictly folded tesselations, and illustrate some of the translucency and musicality hexagons are capable of producing. Unfortunately, these tesselations have no inherent structural capacity, so a panelized structure more like a geodesic dome was produced for the final design.
Final Parametric The perforations in the panels respond to the greatest degree of Gaussian curvature required by the panel. In the hexagons, the greatest stress is found in the center of the panel. In the heptagons, the greatest stress is located at the center of each triangular segment. The pentagons were not allowed any perforations to keep them as stable as possible. The graphic seen below is the final exported image from the Grasshopper plug-in for Rhino. The panel forms themselves were not created using Rhino or grasshopper, because the developments exported from these parametric equations created over 100 unique panels, straying from the original parameters of constructability, flexibility and sustainability.
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Fabrication + Construction
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This model, constructed by hand after a series of explorations regarding other geodesic-type structures, served as the basis for the construction of the fullscale version.
Scale Model
Laser Cutter Layouts PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Hexagons: 24 total - 20 normal -4 Double sided
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Y AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Heptagons: 2 total
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Pentagons: 6
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
These layouts show the break down of the full-scale panels as required by the max material sizes of the laser cutter used for fabrication. The paper was donated in 24x36 sheets, which were cut in half to fit the Universal 460 Laster cutter’s max dimensions of 18x24. The panels were broken down to fit these dimensions. As is evident, quite a bit of material waste is created at the panel edges.
Patching Panels
Showing the re-patching of full-scale panels after fabrication.
These layouts show the possible waste saved by tessellating the shapes over a larger area. Using an 8’x4’ sheet as an example of a common industry standard dimension if the project were to be constructed in wood, these larger layouts show a much more efficient layout for materials. Less re-patching of the panels is required, and only three total sheets of material is required, a total surface area of 96 ft2 as compared to the 234 required for the laser cutter.
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRO
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATI
AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
UCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Hypothetical CNCouts lay-
Unit Folding 1
7 4 5 6
3
2
1
7
Single Unit Folding sequence 1. Crease Tabs
7 4
5
6
3
2–6. Crease main panel body, one triangular section at a time. 2
7- Crease “dart” tab down, and overlap dart section, 7 creating the final 3D form
Unit Connections
The panels are connected using plastic cable-tie connectors. Chosen for their flexibility at odd angles, they can pass through the holes in each panel’s corner tab and can securely connect as many panels as necessary (in this case, three) at a single point. Cable Ties also provided a great deal of structural stiffening, and can be adjusted millimeters at a time to achieve the correct degree of tensioning. Once secured, the cable ties can be trimmed and are nearly invisible. Cable ties were also used in the Voussouir Cloud precedent.
Construction Phases
Supplies
Stacked units
Hanging suspension hardware
Creasing panels
Securing tabs
Assembled base
Securing zip ties
Base unit attached
Hoisting assembly
Final check of zip ties
Partially hoisted
Final Assembly
Securing final position
Final Structure
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The preceding pictures illustrate the scale and scope of the final structure, as well as details of the interior and suspension system.
Conclusions Sustainability:
Folded architectural forms can help prevent material and resource waste, if properly positioned and tessellated across the raw material. A larger tesselation allows more efficient material usage. Flat-packing building elements can reduce shipping bulk, waste and cost. In the case of this particular project, and area approximately 300 cubic feet can be condensed to less than 2 cubic feet when the panels are flattened. The original parameters required over 100 completely unique units, which is not sustainable. Using the geometries as the main parameter, only 4 unique panel types were required. Parametric design is a powerful generative tool, but it rarely results in materially efficient fabrication methods, which has problematic implications for sustainability, and lifetime cost of a structure.
Structure: From the folding studies, I discovered that folded paper is strongest in compression, but this design utilizes the folds in tension. While most of the structural capacity comes from the tabs, which act as structural ribs, the miscalculations in the connection angles greatly reduce the load-bearing capacity of these tabs. These gaps keep an otherwise stable structure from being completely self-supporting. I believe if the tabs were correctly calculated and able to be secured, that these stability issues would resolve. If the structure was made of wood, these issues would not occur; however the mitering and precise calculations required for each panel to fit exactly would also prevent quick or easy construction.
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Works Cited “Corogami
ture/>.
Folding Hut.” Graze in the Land of Folds. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://www.pleatfarm.com/2010/03/15/corogami-hut-david-penner-architec-
“Create Differentiated Space.” Seeyond / Imagination Delivered. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://www.Seeyond.com>. Davidson, Scott. “Sample and Example Files (260).” Discussion Forum. McNeel. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://www.grasshopper3d.com/forum/categories/ sample-and-example-files/list ForCategory>. “Discussion Forum (4).” Discussion Forum. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://www.grasshopper3d.com/forum>. “IwamotoScott Architecture - Exhibition.” Southern California Institute of Architecture. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://www.sciarc.edu/exhibition. php?id=1237>. “Joel Lamere + Cynthia Gunadi: Overliner.” Arts at MIT. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://arts.mit.edu/fast/fast-light/joel-lamere-overliner/>. Jackson, Paul. Folding Techniques for Desingers: From Sheet to Form. London: Laurence King, 2011. Print. Kolarevic, Branko, and Kevin R. Klinger. Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print. Moussavi, Farshid, and Daniel Lopez. The Function of Form. Barcelona: Actar, 2009. Print. Rutzky, Jeffrey, and Chris K. Palmer. Shadowfolds: Surprisingly Easy-to-make Geometric Designs in Fabric. New York: Kodansha International, 2011. Print. Vyzoviti, Sophia. Supersurfaces: Folding as a Method of Generating Forms for Architecture, Products and Fashion. Corte Madera, CA: Gingko, 2006. Print. “Warm up to Winter.” Canadianarchitect.com. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://www.canadianarchitect.com/news/warm-up-to-winter/1000363282/>. Special Ispiration derived from: www.pleatfarm.com
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