M3 Journal Final

DIGITAL DESIGN + FABRICATION SM1, 2017 M3 JOURNAL - GLAMM Madeline Bosaid, Grace Keysers, Laura Brennan, Marco Bastos 640178, 803051, 916924, 757993 Amanda Masip, Tutorial #7

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Introduction After completion of M2, our group was given some vital feedback that has enabled us to move forward into the next stage of our design. Firstly, we were asked to consider extrusion from our base frame and how that would relate to personal space. What kind of materials would we use and why? What is the reason behind placing certain elements where and how could we communicate this effectively in our prototype? We need to take our idea and push it to its limits.

Utilisation of colour to represent the concept of personal space - employed so that others may perceive the design before coming close. Gives fair warning and lets the viewer know which areas not to get close to.

A flowing structure that follows the curvature of the body that covers the points of the body that are most sensitive to intrusion. It has a single layer that is made up of the repetition of a hexagonal panel.

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Design development

To create more diversity in our design, for aesthetic and for practical reasons, we have decided to play with the scale of the hexagons.

The shapes will range from large to small, the small aiming to promote flexibility and movement, and the large aiming to promote rigidity and solidity.

During our design process we came up with a few idea to do with the use of colour. We thought that the use of colour would be a deterant and not be a great deflection of personel space. The use of black white and clear perspex justifies the idea of personel space in a more realistic fashion. The use of colour would aslo make the desing look tacky and cheap. The use of monochromatic colours flows well on the body and also bleeds well into each other.

A decision was made about the colour scheme to emphasise a natural gradation of colour form dark to clear. We would represent this over the parts of the body where personal space was to be most preserved.

We also came to the solid decision that we would not have the individual hexagons layering over the top of one another. We would make it clear that they will not intercept with each other, rather, be connected at the edges via links.

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Design development + fabrication of Prototype V.2 White was used around the shoulder and waist area to give an idea of solidity but to not be as striking and oppressive as the darker black. Areas that still need to be protected but do not have as much importance as the chest area.

Experimentation with a form that is forced to be rigid - creates extrusion without having to add any extra material.

Makes use of the spape of the base structure and pushes it outwards to form volume.

The solid black was focused around the chest and back area. We decided that, especially for a woman, is a personal area that would make us uncomfortable if intruded upon.

Chest piece that employs a layered effect - added reflectivity and colour dimension.

Clear Perspex was used as an edging and to give structure without imposing visually. Areas that are the least crucial to protect.

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RIGID FORM

The black perspex promotes reflectivity and a mirrored effect.

Due to the connection of the pieces, fluid movement is possible, without compromising the overall shape of the design. Movement is not restricted at all by the design.

Lightweight and holds to body well - the shapes flow with the natural curvature of the body.

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Reading Response Wk 6 Architecture in the Digital Age - Design + Manufacturing/ Branko Kolarevic, Spon Press, London c2003

Briefly outline the various digital fabrication processes. Explain how you use digital fabrication in your design?

There are many ways in which one can digitally fabricate these include: Two-Dimensional Fabrication: This is when a flat piece of material is laid onto a CNC machine and placed under a cutter head be it plasma arc, laser beam or water jet. The material is cut into its designated individual pieces which is then assembled to make a 3D piece.

Subtractive Fabrication: This involves the removal of a specified volume of material from a solid. The cutter can be electro, chemically or mechanically-reductive milling. This process can be 2D as well as 3D which is done by cutting through multiple axis.

Additive Fabrication: This involves the incremental forming by adding materials in a layer by layer fashion which is the total opposite of milling. The process involves several methods to solidify the material including heat or chemicals. Newer technology involves laser beams which melt metal, ceramic or plastic powders to create a solid. The process is limited to the size of the machine as well as its cost effectiveness and time consumption.

Formative Fabrication This involves the mechanical forces, restricting forms, heat or steam are applied to a material as to forms it into its desired shape for example a material can be deformed permanently by stressing a metal past its elastic limit, heating metal and then bending it while it is in its softened state. Can be used in the production for moulding glass, plastic sheets and for curved stamped metal.

In our design, we use a two-dimensional approach to cut out individual hexagonal pieces of different sizes to which we then assemble to make a 3d model. We laid out each individual hexagonal piece on a flat surface in Rhino which was then sent to the FABLAB in digital format ready to be transferred to a 6mm piece of Perspex.

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Reading applied to design How does the fabrication process and strategy effect your second skin project?

We found Two-dimensional fabrication to be cost effective, quick as well as the best suited method of fabrication. We chose Perspex as our materiality which comes in flat sheets, perfect for a two-dimensional CNC machine. The process of two-dimensional machining allowed us to create individual pieces which would then form the basis of a whole, creating an effect of solidity. This effect was intentional and with the machining techniques we could overcome this problem and create the effect we wanted.

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Reading Response Wk 7 Digital Fabrications: architectural + material techniques/Lisa Iwamoto. New York: Princeton Architectural Press c2009

Describe one aspect of the recent shift in the use of digital technology from design to fabrication?

Like traditional drawing, digital production is a generative medium that comes with a host of both restraints and possibilities. Digital practices have the potential to narrow the gap between representation and building, and the affordability between design and fabrication. Practical building became a must in the industry, and the manipulation of a twodimensional material that is computer fabricated became an intrinsic part. Subtle variations of system elements and the transformation of recognisable materials have been digitally redesigned into a glossary by which architectural language is transformed. Thanks to recent experimentation, we have experienced a fertile generation of architecture that focuses on the expanding possibilities of materiality and the methods of production.

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Reading applied to design

The implication of design fabrication has helped our design in the sense

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Referencing from the lectures and readings, what is the implication of digital fabrication on your design ?

that we have been able to get a physical model out of the digital process.

The process of folding a planar surface (Perspex) into a three dimensional one has helped us gain stiffness and rigidity, being able to span a distance that is self-supportive and flexible. This process enables us to use a material

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that is economical and visually appealing as well as being able to use multiple scales. Folding expands the three-dimensional vocabulary of a surface by naturally producing deformation and inflection.

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Prototype development - Extrusion and Placement At this next stage, we need to add a layer of volume. Having the base layer on its own is not enough to represent personal space.

Again, keeping in mind simplicity and the idea of keeping to the material that we have, we created a simple, linear, rigid extrusion. This idea could be hard to attach to the base and could even be dangerous, however.

Expanding from the Perspex, we found polypropylene to be a more flexible and diverse material to build with. It basically has the same appearance as the Perspex, but is more diverse as it is thinner and can be bent easier. This design proposal is a series of “spines” that are nicely closed when the structure is straight, but splay upwards when the design moves. Creates a nice animalesque aggressive appearance.

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We fabricated a “cube” / polygon extrusion to imitate a more bulbous form. Had the idea of not introducing a new material, but rather we would create uniformity by keeping to the same Perspex shape. However, the links jut out quite noticeably, and once attached to the body, may hinder movement.

Here, we designed cleverly placed polypropylene pyramids, that create a spike like, spiney appearance.

The usage of cloudy material will help to diffuse potential light underneath.

We mapped our combined sensetive areas over a model, to show which areas we would least like to be touched and from what distance.

This was a mutual group decision, and found it to be mostly the same between genders and size. This is the launchpad upon which we mapped the pyramid extrusions.

After receiving feedback, we have decided to now settle on only two colours: black and clear. We were afraid that the design was looking more like a soccer ball and were questioned on the relevance of having a between colour.

It makes more sense to only have two colours in which to strongly represent the areas we would most like to protect.

After deliberation and provided feedback, we decided on the pyramid extrusion. A draft is pictured to the right. The material is diverse and easy to work with.

The black block out visual areas and the cloudy diffuses light and contrasts with the heavy black areas of the base design. Visually, it makes a clear statement for people to stand away and draws from typical thorn or spine shapes from nature - both threatening imagery.

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Prototype optimisation - Effects

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STRIP LIGHTING Strip lighting is visually effective but cannot be separated into individual pieces. There is no point in our design that could conceal a long strip / that is completely straight.

LEDS IN A CIRCUIT Linked LEDs in a circuit - this requires manual sourcing of each individual component, then precise building.

There is a high probability of a fault occuring or incorrect wiring to be done.

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PRE-HOUSED LED LED already housed in a structure, meaning less technical witing, less room for a fault and mistake, non-visible and unexposed wiring.

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VISUAL The lighitng piece that we ended up settling for was a stroke of innovation and intrigue. This LED, small and compact with the mechanics already housed in a small circular case, saved hours of technical difficulty and area for faults.

We chose to go with an orange light to contrast from the monochrome colour scheme of the base design. Orange is typically a colour of warning and danger, letting people surrounding know that the wearing does not want anyone to come near. We feared that a standard white wouldn’t convey this message of threat, nor would it particularly stand out.

SOUND

Pieces layer over the top of one another, creating a plastic clacking noise.

A flickering effect has been added to the small LEDs to make the piece highly noticable from up close and afar. It captures attention and gives an added layer of diversity.

By placing several strings of smaller hexagons at the edges of the design, we have created an effect through sound. The jangling sound will warn pople surrounding the wearer to not come close and to keep at a distance. By incorporating light and sound, those even at a distance to the wearer will know to stay back.

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Prototype optimisation - Fabrication

900.00 Due to the simplicity of our design, our fabrication methods have remained very stable throughout the process.

We created a file on Rhino that had every hexagon, to scale to be sent to a laser cut, CNC machine. We were able to save time on and money on the cutting process as the design needs no more complexity. We worked out how to arrange the hexagons in order to optimise the cutting process, eliminating any curvesthat doubled up.

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Pictured to the left, are the individual nets created to form the pyramid-like extrusions. Each of them vary in base width to be placed on top of the different sizes of hexagon. They also differ in height to create different spike lengths.

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A justification for clustering the individual triangle pieces around the point, and not the hexagon itself.

The less efficient method, pictured below, requires more cutting then the chosen method, and, due to all of the openings that would be created between each triangle, the structure’s integrity and overall

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MED 35mm

LARGE 50mm

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Prototype optimisation - Material Usage

The cloudy polypropylene that we chose to fabricate the pyramid extrusions from was highly effective in creating the effect that we wanted to convey. An idea of strong, powerful light that can be seen from afar anf that would illuminate the entire shaft. The cloudy platic diffuses light, without it being too direct or overly bright.

The decision to move from the fishing wire to the strong links was one with the best interest of the design in mind. The fishing wire that we had used previously was hard to measure, cut, and tie.

Dexterity was a real issue, and the jewelry links that we used in its place removed this problem.

We hed to use more reinforced links in areas with great weight to avoid warping and breakages, but in its current form, the links are visually and 16

practically well used.

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2nd Skin final design

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Fabrication Sequence

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Assembly Drawing

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2nd Skin

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Appendix (1) http://www.daniels.utoronto.ca/sites/daniels.utoronto.ca/files/old/branko_kolarevic.jpg (2) https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/04/02/14/13/led-306562_960_720.png (3) http://lumitex.com.au/wp-content/uploads/LUMSTRPK4KHB.png (4) http://www.thermotec.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Clearacrylic.jpg

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