Virtual Environments Student Jounral 2013 Semester 2 Student: Sijing Liu 395923 Tutor: Rosie Group members: Sijing Liu, Sophie Tran
M1 Ideation Object: Lantern Material system: Sectioning and profile
The object I have chosen for the semester task is a lantern, it has a material system of sectioning and profile, the volume it creates is formed by its wire and the paper connecting between the wires. I explored the volume of the lantern by measured drawing shown on the right, the lantern can be compressed into a flattened state, the wire enables a very flexible structure.
Sketch drawings Plan, Elevation and Section the center of the lantern is set to be the reference point as discussed in the lecture (Loh 2013), it made the drawing easier and more efficient.
M1 Ideation Digital Model
I made the digital model for the lan tern in Rhino to further explore the volume and structure of sectioning and profile. Refering to the lecture, the context of the project will be on human body, this could mean that the design ought to fit the human body. The opportunity of the material system would be by looking at the volume as I stated (Loh, 2013). Therefore I think the design idea at the beginning should not be too specific, and ought to look at various aspects.
M1 Ideation Design brief : Innovative design of a second skin; a wearable volume or surfac accommodates the body. The second skin will explore, measure, and/or negotiate the boundary of personal space
Personal space. Irene Koehler, 2013
Privacy Shell. Veasyble
Define personal space: “is a region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs.� People maintain a distance between each other such that they feel comfortable and safe, the distance they keep indicate how intimate they are. the second skin should be developed to protect and adjust the space a person needs. source untracked
M1 Ideation Design concept 1
sketches by Sijing Liu
USEMorph. Hassan Ragab
sketches by Sijing Liu
sketches by Sijing Liu
the design was adapted from Ragab’s project USEMorph, where using the technique of sectioning to create various shape that fit onto human body. The design uses the concept of sectioning to create panels that are almost parallel and connected to each other which assembles a pair of wings and make the user looks armed, such that people would not feel like to approach the user. The pair of “wings” can be drew back to the user’s shoulders as a decoration, and at the same time make the space that defends the users contract if the users is facing close friends or family.
M1 Ideation Design concept 2 & 3
Ideal 2 on the left deals with the sectioning technique where panels intersecting with each other to form a fluid shape, the panels on the user intersect with each other perpendicularly to create a space on the upper body to resist any intimate approach by strangers, the height of the perpendicular panels are above the users eye level such that he/she can not see anything besides him/her, to clear any disturbance from the sides.
Design 2 Sketches by Sijing Liu
Design 3 Side
Testing Model. Jungho Yeom, 2009
Design 3 front Sketches by Sijing Liu
Design 3 made up with ellipse wires connect parallel by soft material such as plastic bag or paper. It creates a space that expands horizontally to the front side of the user, however from the side view, the second skin is narrow. This allows the user adjust his position to decide whether he wants people come closer to him to keep a distance with them.
M2 Design Precedental research on the material system ContemPLAY Pavillion
ContemPLAY Pavillion by McGill School of Architecturev ContemPLAY Pavillion by McGill School of Architecturev ContemPLAY Pavillion is a public space created by graduate students from McGill school of architecture in Canada, it was designed to create a Moiré effect through form and cladding. As the public moves along and engages with the pavillion, the visual field is modified and interrupted by the interference created by motion and the two layers of cladding. The interference patterns create an interactive and dynamic experience for the users.In our design for “second skin” ,
Moiré effect responses perfectly to our material system section and profile, as it emphasizes on the visual effect created by angle, space and depth, the two layers of cladding would define a physical space around the user and the visual effect generated by the movement of the audience and the object would give them a distorted and psychedelic effect which would therefore create an atmostphere (emotion) around the user.
ContemPLAY Pavillion by McGill School of Architecturev
M2 Design Precedental research on the material system To and Fro Table
The To and Fro table created by Loh and Nex is a good example of using sectioning to create different angles that affect the angle of light penetrating it. The image onthe right demonstrates the effect of light that can be manipulated by the pattern. different parts of the table is monitered by computer software that allow precision, such that the desired effect can be achieved more efficiently, which we can learn from.
M2 Design Development of ideas
Sketches by Sijing Liu
Sketch by Sophie Tran
The final design will combine Sophie’s idea of using panels to manipulate lights and my idea of creating a volume using the sectioning concept. The Rhino model on the right demonstrates the rough idea of the new design, that by changing the angle of the panels, it is interesting to see how the views can change.
Rhino model by Sophie Tran
M2 Design Design Outcomes
Define personal space: protect and able to adjust
Emotional effect: Dominance and power
Rhino model by Sijing Liu & Sophie Tran
The final design of M2 is shown above, we decided to let the second skin locate on the user’s shoulder, covering the user’s head since it is the most important part of one’s body. We used the upstanding and extended fins to announce dominance
and through the gaps of the fins, lights will be manipulated by the user as he/she turns around. Our second skin is made thinner at the side and wider in front to allow user freely control the distance between the user and the audiences.
all the fins fit to a panel that rested on the shoulder, however, the single panel may not support all the fins’ weight by itself, we seek to improve on this.
M2 Design Design Outcomes
From a perspective view of the digital model, we can see that as it rotates the view’s change is really interesting, at the side, the quantities of the fins are denser and in front, the fins are wider spaced. As stated by Loh (2013), a design should achieve certain effect, the effect we want to create here is dominance and power, by putting the crown like fins on the shoulder, it enlarges one’s image and can threaten others somehow.
Rhino model by Sijing Liu & Sophie Tran
M3 Fabrication More precedental examples
The Aqua Tower is a Chicago landmark building made by Studio Gang lead by Jeanne Gang, the multi layers of the outer terrace create a fluid exterior shape of the building, admiring the uneven and dynamic effect it creates by the volume of section, we decided to adapt the idea into our model .
Aqua tower. Studio Gang source: studiogang.net
M3 Fabrication Stage 1|Rhino model
Learnt from previous mistakes, we decided to apply the concept of abstraction (Scheurer & Stehling 2011), instead of making each fin individually, we create a volume of the second skin and used the command ‘sectoin’ in Rhino to outline the fin lines, it made the process much easier and we are able to create uniform shapes. Therefore at the first stage of M3, the model has been developed to enclose the head as the head is the most fragile and important part of the body, it is also the eyes and mouth locate, which serves to communicate with people. The volumn that it creates protects the important part of the person and the sapce between the fins helps the user adjust the extent he/she wants to communicate with the outside world. The fins are plucked into 2 supporting plane which contains two hollow circular shape in the middel in order to allow the user’s head to fit in.
Digital model by Sijing Liu & Sophie Tran
M3 Fabrication Stage 1 |physical model
This model demonstrates the desired visual outcome by arranging the number of fins and angles, however, side fins are too heavy that almost damage the supporting panel, the side fins are also not fitting to the shape of the head. the front fins are to short to demonstrate the visual effect. And upper fins tends to fall apart, those are shortcomings we need to improve in the next stage of model designing.
Physical model by Sijing Liu &Sophie Tran
M3 Fabrication Stage 2|Rhino model
the second model extends the front fins and keep same distance of space as the previous model. the side fins are made into a concave shape to reduce the weight at the shoulder and also to fit the shape of the head.
we found that the lower supporting plane are not able to hold the fins together and the fins tend to fall apart by gravity, so we decided to move one of the supporting plane up to hold the upper fins together
in order to stabilise the model on the human body, the lower part of the fins are trimmed to fit the human shoulders, such that the second skin model can lie on the shoulder without wobbling forth and back.
M3 Fabrication Stage 2 |physical model
Audience’s view at front
User’s view at front
Audience’s view at side
User’s view at side
Model by Sijing Liu & Sophie Tran
M3 Fabrication
Photo by Sijing Liu & Sophie Tran
M3 Fabrication Stage 3|Rhino model
the 3rd model has improved by adding one more supporting plane because we decided to use perspex for the physical model which would add more weight than boxboard, therefore a third plate is crucial in preventing the planes from breaking. In the lecture, Loh (2013) mentioned uncertainty in making, considering the laser mark that left on the surface of our model, it makes our model has a dirty looking. however, perspex allows a shining surface that could reflext which gives more interesting views to the model.
M3 Fabrication Stage 3|Perspex
the model made by perspex has a shining surface that reflect views by the panels, that add one more view to the original in and out lights which gave the design more depth. The supporting plates are made of plywood and painted white, because plywood is much stronger in compression. model by Sijing Liu & Sophie Tran
Reflection The whole design process of the subject is generally challenging and meaningful as it introduced a new software to us, using software to design and digital fabrication has changed my perspective of designing, the traditional designing process is mainly made by hand, it took long time and lack precision. However, with new technologies such as 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional fabrication which allows machine head move not only in a x-y axis but also the z axis (Kolarevic 2003), in our project, we only used the laser cutter, as the material system and material we selected is straightforward, however, with perspex, the laser cutter seems less efficient as it takes the machine a few times to cut through the perspex board. Throughout the design process with Rhino, we have always been careful with the possible outcomes, the physical model might not be the same as the digital one, in reality we have to consider the weight and ductility of the material, for example, we used boxboard at the beginning stage because it is light and pliable, it is good in tension so that all the fins can fit perfectly into the supporting plates. However, it turns out that boxboard is not so good in compression as the fins tends to break the supporting board, and it has a dirty marks on the surface left by laser cutter. We later changed to use perspex but we found that it is bad in either compression or tension despite its pretty looking. We therefore use plywood for the supporting plates and finally it worked out. The lectures and readings are very useful as they related closely to our project. I was a little confused with the concept sectioning at the beginning, but the lectures clear the problem as Mr Loh has provided plenty of examples and most of them are very innovative. By researching on precedent examples I have also gained an understanding of structures and concepts, our project was informed by those examples well. Because of the characteristic of our material system, we have relied a lot on Rhino to make models, unlike those who are doing inflatables, we have to create the physical models by digital fabrication, the main thing I have learned from Rhino is that it is sometimes an alternative solution to look at the volume of the designing object rather than looking at the individual part of the object. This has affected how we changed the Rhino model after module 2. In general, the learning and making experience is very delightful and educated.
Reference Kolarevic, B 2003, ‘Digital Production’, in Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing, Spon Press, London, pp. 31-53. Loh, P 2013, Design Effects, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, viewed 27 October 2013, <http://app.lms.unimelb.edu.au>. Loh, P 2013, Designing Ideas, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, viewed 27 October 2013, <http://app.lms.unimelb.edu.au>. Loh, P 2013, Material System, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, viewed 27 October 2013, <http://app.lms.unimelb.edu.au>. Loh, P 2013, Power of Making, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, viewed 27 October 2013, <http://app.lms.unimelb.edu.au>. MSA, 2011, ContemPLAY Pavillion, photos, eVolo, viewed 31 October 2013, < http://www.evolo.us/architecture/contemplay-pavilionmcgill-school-of-architecture/>. Scheurer, F & Stehling, H 2011, ‘Lost in Parameter Space?’, IAD: Architectural Design, vol. 81, no. 4, pp. 70-79. Studio Gang, 2004, Aqua Tower, photos, Studio Gang Architects, viewed 31 October 2013, <http://studiogang.net>.