Foundations of Design : Representation SEM1, 2018 M3 JOURNAL - PATTERN vs SURFACE Marissa Samrai 1003391 Anastasia Sklavakis
1
WEEK 6 READING: SURFACES THAT CAN BE BUILT FROM PAPER IN ARCHITECTURAL GEOMETRY Question 1: What are the three elementary types of developable surfaces? Provide a brief description. Developable surfaces are ruled surfaces with vanishing Gaussian curvature, which can be unfolded to the plane without distortion. There are three basic types of developable surfaces; cylinders, cones and tangent surfaces of space curves. The net of a cylinder is illustrated by the authors as being defined by rd and pd; the height and circumference respectively. However, cones consists of a curve ‘p’ and a vertex ‘v’ where all lines connect these two points. Tangent surfaces of space curves are essentially defined by a polygon where three vertices of a discrete polyhedron define a face plane.
Question 2: Why is the understanding of developable surface critical in the understanding of architectural geometry? Choose one precedent from Research/Precedents tab on LMS as an example for your discussion. The arise of large-scale freeform geometries in modern day architecture poses many challenges for fabricators. Having knowledge of developable surfaces is especially crucial to ensure efficiency whilst executing the desired aesthetic quality in a construction. The seamless integration of landscape, materials and overall architectural design achieved by Plasma Studios in the ‘Greenhouse’ located in Xi’an, provides an exceptional appreciation of how panels can overcome both the intricacies of hillside topographies and accommodate for the vast scale of the project. The masterpiece embodies an uncomplicated, patterned, geometric surface in the panels; presenting and expresses them in a visually and physically interactive and compelling manner.
2
PANELLING PATTERN
2d Panelling, Pattern: Triangular
3D Panelling Grid
3D Panelling
3
VARIABLE 3D PATTERN
4
3D PANEL TEST PROTOTYPE & TEMPLATE
The test prototype allowed me to trial the process of constructing each shape and visualising how they fit together within each geometry. This step was essential in ensuring the shapes were the correct dimensions and their scale remained accurate during the exporting stage. Furthermore, as all 10 sheets were printed together, it was vital to confirm that there weren’t any errors on the any of the pages. During the test stage, I used regular A4 paper instead of 290gsm Ivory Card. This step was not a test of the durability or functionality of the paper but instead simply a check to test that the shapes retained their original scale when exported from Rhino. When physically modelling the shapes, I was also able to test my equipment and skills in cutting, scoring, folding and gluing. To be most efficient, a logical methodology was adopted where each step was isolated from the other to avoid confusion and complications later on. Lastly, the labelling of coordinates and the later grouping of geometries with the same letter, saved time during the final stage of assembling the entire terrain.
5
WEEK 7 READING: DIGITAL FABRICATION Complete your reading before attempting these questions:
Question 1: What is digital fabrication and how does it change the understanding of two dimensional representation? (Maximum 100 words) Digital fabrication aims to connect the gap between the generation of a design and the physical construction. Although technology has some limitations, it can enable us to achieve an exceptional connectivity between the virtuality of a digital model and the physicality of a three dimensional construction in reality. Digital fabrication provides a link between design and construction and thus enabling architects to develop streamlined design processes where a complex possibility such as laser cutting becomes highly achievable. However, the majority of buildings are composed of manipulated two dimensional materials, whose architectural language has been digitally redefined.
Question 2: Suggest two reasons why folding is used extensively in the formal expression of building design? (Maximum 100 words) Lisa Iwanmoto states that flat surfaces are transformed into three dimensional surfaces through folding, a method that is materially economical and effective in multiple ways. Firstly, folding is the most literal material operation. Iwanmoto probes the idea of making the material that is being folded to perform in a manner consistent with the overall architecture of the structure as seen in Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum. Secondly, folding any material was automatically creates a third dimension through the properties of deformation and inflection. These two advantages of folding ultimately achieve a self-supporting and visually appealing method for fabricating form and generating geometric structures.
6
EXPLORING 3D PANELLING
My final design combines three different iterations of a basic shape, creating a focus on the use of repetitive elements with slight variations, and a subtle contrast throughout the whole piece. The terrain that I was given elevates in particular areas, hence accentuating the taller geometries in my design. Consisting of only three iterations of the same geometry, my design appears unique, and more detailed, consisting only of three iterations of the same geometry. I chose to include only closed pyramid shapes in the design, thus relying heavily on the focus this draws to the topography of the terrain to interest the viewer. A major aim of the design from the beginning was to distract the viewer from the grid-like formation these shapes occupy. The transition across the piece therefore appears seamless and integrated rather than static and constrained by the boundaries of each square.
7
UNROLL TEMPLATE OF YOUR FINAL MODEL
The nets created from the unfolding of my design in Rhino were organised on 10 pages, each corresponding to the 10 rows in the terrain. The time constraints of this module restricted me from trailing the creation of nets that combined more than one shape together, therefore altogether there were more than 230 shapes to individual cut, fold and construct. This process was extremely time consuming and tedious, however I had few alternate options. An advantage of having nets of individual shapes was that there weren’t any issues when constructing the final composition, because it was clear where each shape belonged and fitted.
8
PANELISED LANDSCAPE
The angles I explored during the photograph stage aims to capture the notion of breaking away from the boundaries of grid like arrangement. Many of my images are taken at an angle looking across the grid to encapsulate the patterns and layers the geometries create. Furthermore, the terrain natural curls upwards at both edges and was thus used as a background, shown in the second image. The main aim of the piece was to draw the viewers eye to the of the patters and layers built up by the geomteries and how this creates movement through the terrain. The second photo, in particular, is insightful in the sense that the viewer can appreciate both the front elevation of the geometries and also the plan view in the background, which in all, conveys a seamless transition though the geometries in the terrain.
9
APPENDIX My workspace was organised such that the alignment of my original hand drawings corresponded with the orientation of my Rhino model, as shown in the image.
During the design process I created many different iterations of my final design using the geometries constructed in the previous stage. On the whole I used the point attractors function to place and disperse the shapes, however I also experimented with the curve attractor and random command. There were several limitations of these tools, thus it required many attempts to create a design that I was satisfied with. This stage was extremely time consuming; given more time, I would have researched a tool enabling the customisation of each shape individually, rather than relying on the programming of the computer functions.
Altogether I created over 10 iterations of my design, each incopertaing nine different geometries, far too many for this project. This resulted in a an overcrowded and complicated terrain. I wanted to achieve a unique and sophisticated style, unfortunately I was approaching this from the wrong perspective. Initially I assumed that the terrain was larger and I would have more time in the terrain to transition between different shapes, but this was not the case. Instead, I needed to create variations of relatively simple geometries which work together in the overall terrain to achieve a visually aesthetic and compelling design.
My final design combines three different iterations of a basic shape, creating a focus on the use of repetitive elements with slight variations, and a subtle contrast throughout the whole piece. The terrain that I was given elevates in particular areas, hence accentuating the taller geometries in my design. In the Rhino program, my design appears unique, and fairly detailed, consisting only of three iterations of the same geometry.
10
Setting up my workspace in an logical way allowed me to organise all stages of the modelling process. The large desk space enabled me to do this effectively. My workspace remained similar in the cutting, folding and glueing stage for each geometry. I had seperate areas for waste paper, the flat 2D nets, my cutting mat, the Stanley knife and ruler. The constructed nets were then moved to a separate area to dry. It took me approximately 40 - 50 minutes per strip during this stage, however this does not include glueing each shape together to make a single geometry. The stage of creating single geometries was left until the end, prior to gluing together the entire terrain.
I started by labelling each geometry with its corresponding coordinate from the guide, I had designed earlier. Although there are 100 squares in the entire landscape, in my design each square had two or more geometries, therefore there were more than one of each coordinate (two A1 coordinates for example). I largely relied on the Rhino file to help determine where each geometry had to be placed. Despite being a time consuming process, it definitely pays off when physically constructing the model. Using scissors, I roughly cut around each individual shape and organised them according to their strip letter. In view of the strict time constraints for this assignment, I was unable to put two or more shapes together in one net, as this process required trial and error for multiple different shape combinations. Therefore, each shape is individual, and two or even three shapes join to create one geometry.
11