Bastos bosaid brennan keysers m2 REVERSE

DIGITAL DESIGN + FABRICATION SM1, 2017 M2 JOURNAL - GLAMM

Grace Keysers, Laura Brennan, Marco Bastos & Madeline Bosaid 640178, 803051, 916924, 757993 Amanda Masip, Tutorial #7

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DEFINITION OF PERSONAL SPACE Personal space is an invisible perceived bubble around an individual, which if breached, can cause discomfort or even anxiety.

It varies with culture, age, gender, and also varies from individual from individual. Most people have an innate sense of their own, and other’s personal space, however a situation can become awkward if one person’s perception differs greatly from another’s.

Circumstances however sometimes dictate that the boundaries must be breached, for example public transport or medical examinations. This may explain why many people are uncomfortable with travelling on public transport or may have anxiety about visiting the doctor.

On the other hand, where two people are involved in an intimate relationship, these boundaries completely disappear.

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GRACE’S ORIGINAL CONCEPT MARCO’S ORIGINAL CONCEPT

LAURA’S ORIGINAL CONCEPT

MADELINE’S ORIGINAL CONCEPT

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

This diagram provides a visual representation of the ideas taken from each of our M1 individual designs. In viewing this flow diagram, it is evident that a common theme of frame/skeletal structure occurs. Each of these potential designs emphasise the use of a distinct skeletal configuration, using a variety of membrane materials to determine the opacity of each design. There is limited solidity evident in these potential designs. The shared theme of a defined skeletal structure combined with the skin membrane opacity manipulation, was the grounding concept that we chose to take into our final design.

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DESIGN IDEAS

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2ND SKIN PROPOSED DESIGN V.1 Our first design combines all of our original concepts into one complete form.

Moving away from the hexagonal shape and focusing upon a skeletal system and opacity allowed us to create this design. This design is diverse and allows layering of materials to be manipulated easily. Areas of opacity and transparency can be created freely as desired thanks to the materiality of the string. The hexagonal shape of the frame is a design aspect that remained consisted with all our designs. The idea to use Perspex as the frame material creates the impression of a floating barrier, as the thread will appear to be suspended from nothing.

The transparency of the Perspex creates this effect. We feel that this design reflects our definition of personal space, and has the potential to be manipulated even further in M3.

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Testing Effects

This sketch model explores how the string/thread would perform in concealing the human figure. As pictured, the layering of the thread creates a barrier for the human face, however a sense of transparency remains. It is interesting that the opacity of the string/thread can be so easily manipulated. This manipulation will allow our design to be opaque in areas of extreme privacy and more transparent in areas that are less significant.

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Prototype

Whist the shape of Perspex laser cut replicates (at a smaller scale) the envisioned shape of our final design, the structural qualities were extremely difficult to work with.

As the Perspex laser cut was so thin and structurally weak, it was very difficult to wrap the thread in an ordered manner. In creating the Perspex frame prototype, we found that the structural design of the M3 submission must be altered to meet the tension demands of the string/thread.

Approaching the final design, we will need to address these structural issues and design the Perspex skeleton much thicker and structurally stronger to allow for the thread/string to be easily wrapped around.

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2ND SKIN PROPOSED DESIGN V.2

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This design combines the protruding shape of Design Development Version 1 and hexagonal nature of Second Skin proposed Design 2.

The defined skeletal frame and the lattice like nature of the hexagonal creates a protective space for the individual. As represented in our physical modelling processes, we found that hexagons were extremely difficult to arrange in a flat and ordered manner. This difficulty would cause potential distress upon the physical creation of this design in M3. Upon reflection, the design was simply too uniform for our liking with the hexagons juxtaposing too hard against the skeletal frame.

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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - VERSION #1 The design splays out in several arms, much like the precedent image. It creates controlled fluidity and an almost bubble-like sphere around the wearer.

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A design that shows the fluid nature of the DNA model explored in M1.

Stemming from geometric hexagonal shape of the precedent image, this design plays with the concept of fluidity in a protruding structure. The shape of this design clearly determines an area of personal space with the twisting nature of the DNA lattice remaining flowing.

Upon reflection, this design lacks depth as it does not incorporate key aspects of all our original ideas.

However, the shape of this design acting as a protruding personal space bubble is an aspect we all favoured.

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“11:11”, Winde Rienstra, 2012

FRAME, SIMPLIFY, TENSION, PERCEIVED SOLID, INFILL

DescripƟon of precedent A very unique approach to the skin and bone system, it plays with the concept of elements in tension and perceived density. By over laying the fine strings, an illusion of solidity is created. Fluid forms start to arrise from the geometric angles of the string.

The design is comprised of a leather frame with a thin white string arrayed in the opeing of the polygonal shapes. Certainly projects past the body as if to push away, while still enabling a sence a transperancy and visabilty.

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ICD PAVILLION 2012

The ICD pavillion was successful in playing with transparacy and the use of two planes to create a 3D system with lines. THe use of colour helped gain opacitiy. The translation of both precedent images merged into one idea of enclosure.

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FRAME, SIMPLIFY, TENSION, PERCEIVED SOLID, INFILL

How can you use this precedent to influence your design ?

The fragile and thin sting elements add a nice delicacy to the weight of the hexagon. However, the shape of the hexagon is almost becoming too much of a diluted concept. It doesn’t necessarily combine the heart of all of our original designs. The hexagon doesn’t sit well either with a bold frame. Playing more with the linear element of the precedent might be a more practical way to advance our design.

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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - VERSION #2

Having played with different shapes and fluid geometric forms (as depicted on the right) we decided that the most important areas of the body to protect were the shoulder and neck area.

The asymmetric nature of this design was an aesthetic choice.

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The inspiration for this design was taken from the shape and regular structure of the umbrella, the lattice of the crate, the fluidity of the DNA and the form created by the wires of the hanging basket. This design was intended to reflect a simple and diverse geometric form that can be easily manipulated and folded.

Upon reflection, it was clear that this design was not an accurate representation of panel and fold nor skin and bone systems. The concept of a floating structure was simply not feasible nor realistic, plus the uniformity of the overall shape was simply too fluid.

This design has the potential to develop further, however the concept of personal space needs to be addressed more extensively.

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FINAL PROPOSAL

The layering of each individual hexagon panel has the potential to explore opacity and texture.

It creates an almost scaler-like armour that falls with relative ease acroos the body whilst protecting key areas of personal space.

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The inspiration for this designs stems from the concept of a shield/ armour, and the idea of this armour protecting individual personal space.

Following on from the hexagonal shape in Second Skin Design One, this design reflects a more tangible and realistic model.

The model allows the individual to move freely whilst wearing the amour, yet also protects vital areas of personal space. Pushing forward, we wanted to expand on the panel and fold system. We created a concept of panels that can easily be folded/ layered together, creating a sense of fluidity through the rigidity of the hexagonal Perspex.

This model has great potential to develop further, particularly with the transparency and size of the Perspex hexagons.

The hexagons have the potential to be printed in various colours and opacities

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REFINED SKETCH MODEL

We wanted to play with the idea of transperancy - as depicted by the model, it is completely see-through which enables visability and the ability to play with different layers of opacity.

Through the exploration of materiality, the fishing line and its connection to the Perspex hexagons proved to be very fiddly work. It was very difficult to manipulate the hexagons to create a rigid form that was reflected in the Rhino model for Second Skin Design Two. However, what was exposed through this exploration was a delicate and malleable form which has the potential to play with transparency and fluidity.

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Appendix Lost in Parameter Space There is no doubt that the need for computer design in architectural design is paramount today. Thanks to the increasing use of mathematics in the architectural design processes, digital design programs such as CAD, CAM and CAE all aid in communicating design ideas, plus enhance accuracy and precision throughout the design process. Sadly, 2-D plans no longer work for complex shapes. There is a loss of vital information when a complex shape is translated into a 2-D drawing, then attempted to be reconstructed back into a 3-D object.

Digital design programs rely on the use of meshes and NURBS to create digital objects/designs. A mesh defines a series of points and connects them through a collection of straight lines, whilst a NURB allows the creation of shapes through a plethora of control joints. Any mathematical information on the model should not be repeated twice within the program, as it will increase the weight of the model without enhancing detail. This process of eliminating irrelevant information is called normalisation. You may also refactor or clean up a model by disregarding superficial aspects and simplifying mathematical points. This process will essentially keep the model clean and efficient, especially when it is being used by more than one party.

Abstraction “to systematically develop a general solution based on algorithms and defined parameters that suit all individual components” Reduction “In contrast to abstraction, reduction is not about reducing the amount of information but rather about finding the optimal way to transport it, hence rewriting the description without altering the content.”

Throughout our design process in M1 and M2, we incorporated many of the techniques and concepts outlined in the reading ‘Lost in Parameter Space’. In abstracting data and information using NURBS, a variety of 3-D surfaces were created. Reduction was also crucial in eradicating redundancies and maximising the efficiency the model. It was outlined in ‘Lost in Parameter Space’ that an ideal model should not encompass every single detail, but as little information as possible to describe and reflect the key aspects of the object ambiguously. This was a noteworthy concept that we incorporated into our design process.

In future design processes, it will be interesting to abstract materiality on Rhinoceros. It is suggested that digital materiality must be based upon the life like material qualities (for example, bending characteristics) with this information then abstracted into the mathematical patterns of the program. Without this true information, an honest reflection of the materiality will not be created and the fabrication process will be affected.

Scheurer, F., & Stehling, H. (2011). Lost in Parameter Space?. Architectural Design, 81(4), 70-79.

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