// Portfolio // Ă˜yvind Andreas Limi // Student, Architecture and Extreme Environments //
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
Portfolio
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Climate _ The Amazon Basin and Manaus_Research and Infographics
Global Mechanisms and Anomalies - Local Effects South America and Africa _ Humidity, Wind and Sea Currents Map Horse Latitude 30°N Tropic of Cancer 23.5°N
d
s
de Tra
in W
Equator 0°
e ad Tr
Wind
ind W
Warm Current
s
Cold Current
Tropic of Capricorn 23.5°S Horse Latitude 30°S
s li e er st We
Hyper Arid Arid Semi Arid Dry Sub-Humid Humid
Precipitation
Aerosols _ Neutrients
Inter Tropical Convergence Zone
Trade Winds
ITCZ is a convection zone created by the converging trade winds, just north of the equator. It spans the intire atlantic ocean and mainland south america where it provides the Amazon Basin with precipitation through the distribution of humid sea air.
The trade winds are created by varm waters in the oceans close to the equator and blow consistently from east to west, picking up humidity on it´s way towards South America. This humidity provides the Amazone Basin with approximately 50% of it´s annual rainfall.
Provides the Amazon with:
50%
of its annual precipitation
Transpiration The Amazon’s cover of rainforrest fuels its own precipitation through transpiration. Transpiration is the trees own ability to recycle water and release it back into the atmosphere through their biological processes.
Sahara Dust Provides with:
the
Amazon
25% to 50%
of its annual precipitation
Dust from the Shara provides the Amazon with vital neutrients. An annual estimat of 27.7 million tons is carried by the trade winds across the Atlantic to reach the Amazon. The dust contains an aproximated 22 000 tons of phosphorus, which plants need to build protein. The amount is almost enough to replenish the phosphorus that is lost through when decomposing material is washed away by the river.
Flood and Drought Anomalies
The Amazon can receive as much as
22.000 tons of phosphorus annualy from the Sahara dessert
El Nino and La Nina El Ninio and La Ninia, or the Southern Oscillatin are reoccuring events that cause anomolies in the South Pacific and South American climate. In the event of an “el Nino” the cold water current that provides the South American Pacific coast with fresh cold water from Antarctica is reduced or reversed resulting in warm temperatures and high surface pressure. In the event of a “la Nina” the same cold water current increases and will result in colder temperatures and low surface pressure. These events will last up to four years with varying intensity
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Global Mechanisms and Anomalies - Local Effects Flood Map Manaus _ Record Levels
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
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Climate _ The Amazon Basin and Manaus_Research and Infographics
In Meters above sea level
Manaus Contours every 2 meters
30m
06
S6
W, Altitude : 0 °01 20
-5
3m
Man a
us,
Br az i
l,
° 03
25m 1997 Draught - El Ninio-related - Rioa Negro level at 16 m
2005 Draught - Rio Negro level at 15,5 m - Possible cause, low pressure anomalies in the tropical north Atlantic ocean causing reduced convection and percipitation
2010 Draught
20m
- El Nino-related - 62.000 families affected - Cost 13.5 billion usd in aid money - 8 billion tons of co2 released (China: 7,7 billion tons annualy)
2009 Flood - La Nina related - Cost 5.5 million usd in aid money - Rio Negro level at 29,6 m
2012 Flood - Possible cause, Cool South Atlantic, warm North Atlantic -Rio Negro level at 29,97
15m
10m
7m
2014 Flood - Possible cause, warm conditions in the western Pacific-Indian Ocean and with an exceptionally warm Subtropical South Atlantic. The South Atlantic SST gradient is a main driver for moisture transport from the Atlantic toward south-western Amazon, and this became exceptionally intense during summer of 2014.
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
Page 5
Climate _ The Amazon Basin and Manaus_Research and Infographics
The Amazon Basin Annual Total Precipation by Area
Avergage Monthly Precipitation
Toatal Annual Precipation
(by Latitude)
Average Monthly Temperature (by Latitude)
(by Latitude)
Total Annual Temperature (by Latitude)
Manaus Average Monthly Temperature
Day
Average Monthly Precipitation
Night
Temperatures in Manaus are fairly stable throughout the year and seasons are based on wet and dry seasons. Being possitioned right under the equatorial belt means that Manaus receives a constant exposure of sunlight all year around at almost a 90 degree angle.
Average Monthly Humidity
Day Seasons in Manaus are influensed by the amount of precipitation. June to November define the dry season and December to May make up the wet season with its peak in March.
Average Yearly Windspeed (kmh) according to Beauforts scale
Night
Humidity levels in Manaus are fairly constant during the night and vary more, according to the amount of precipitation and sunlight, during the day.
Winds Speeds are constant throughout the year and will mostly vary during the day when the the temperature fluctuations are higher than on an avergae yearly basis.
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
Page 6
Climate _ Qualities of the Rainforest_Transpiration and Evaporation
Mechanisms of Transpiration, Evaporation and Osmosis Cooling Through Surface Evaporation
Rainfall Amazonian rainfall is destributed over a wast surface area provided by the canopees and leaves of the trees and plants of the forest. A surface area far greater than that of the soil itself. When distributed like this the water is not emidiately allowed to accumulate on the ground and flow else where. The enormus surface area and the prolonged time the water is exposed to airflow means that it will evaporate rather than drain into other water systems.
Transpiration and Evaporation The plants of the Amazonian rainforest release water through their leaves making the water molecules come to a full sircle. The ground water and rain water that is picked up through roots or else where on the plant is distributed through out the plant by complex processes, mostly involving the capillary effect caused by microscopic water pipes, and into the leaves of the plants where it takes part in photosyntesis. Aditional evaporation is simply caused by water that clings to the surface area of the plants after a rainfall or a fog.
Evaporative Cooling Water that evaporates provides cooling through conduction of heat. Exited water molecules will build up enough energy to escape the solid state of water and become water vapor. These molecules have a higher energy level than the rest of the water meaning it escapes with some heat. As the water cools down it will conduct heat from the surface area it inhabits, causing this in effect to be cooled down as well. Low humidity content of the air and rapid airflow will increase the evaporation, whereas the oposite will slow it down. However, as long as the air isn’t a hundred prosent saturated and there is a sertain amount of airflow, water will evaporate.
Osmosis Water enters a plant through its roots allong with vital neutrisions. The roots have special “root hair cells” that provide an exposed surface area the water will cling to. Water enters the cell through osmosis when the sugar content inside the cell is higher than ouside and is attracted in order to equalize the difference. The water flows onwards into “root cortex cells” and “xylem vessels” where it gets distributed further into the plant.
Surface Area The surface area provided by leaves is essensial to plants in order to conduct photosynthesis effectively. When there is no need for photosyntesis on the other hand, after sunset, some plants will curl up in order to reduce evaporation (in this case a fern) and maintain its water content. This dynamic behaviour is common amoung plants and a method of responding to the environment.
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Initial Experiments _ Surface Vaporising
Experiment 1 Cooling through surface evaporation
08.10.15 Surface Vaporizer Goal: Reducing the temperature within a container with a vaporizing surface. Description: The container is provided with a surface that will cool down as water is vaporizing off of it. The temperature inside the container is thereby reduced through convection. Water is sprayed on to the surface covering the container and as it starts to vaporize it cools down. Different materials are applied to explore the potential of these as vaporizers and insulators. In order to keep the cooled air inside the container and minimize conduction through the plastic casing I experiment with mylar and Styrofoam as insulators. The Styrofoam is quite successful. Thicker materials stores water within it’s volume and thereby vaporizing it more slowly, producing a weaker result than the aluminum with a perforated surface. The perforated surface provides the water with an increased surface area and breaks up the surface tension of the water, that would otherwise reduce its surface. With the perforated aluminum as a vaporizing surface and the Styrofoam as an insulator I am able to reduce the temperature within the container with 2.5 °C. This effect is accelerated by increased airflow.
Results:
Reduction in Temp:
+ Increased Aiflow:
Alluminium 2.0 °C Perforated Alluminium
2.5 °C
Spunge 1.0 °C Lichen like Material
1.5 °C
4.0°C
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Prototypes
Prototype 1 Modular System Goal Creating a structure that is able to expand its surface area and cool down its interior. The structure will consist of modules that have a structural quality as well as being flexible and able to respond to its environment through a multitude of configurations. Hexagons The modules are based upon hexagons because it provides a shape in which a multitude of assemby options are available. In order to maintain the idea about one standarised module that will be able to create a overall structure, aditional pieces are needed to give the modules the angle they require in order to take on different shapes, as well as covering the gaps appearing between them. This becomes a secondary structure, or secondary modular based system. Expanding Surface The module consits of two parts with a fabric in between them. The outer hexagon is able to slide up and down on three metal rods or rails fastened to the base hexagon, in order to increase or decrease the surface area. The fabric is not stretchable so the increase in surface area is a question of “unfolding the the fabric�.
Manufacture The hexagons are lasercut in mdf and painted so that they aquire some water resistence. Two hexagons for each part is fastened together, one inside the other with the fabric inbetween them. The friction is enough to keep them together, reducing the use of bolts and the like . The secondary structure is made by carving pieces of wood that will fir together, providing a framework for the modules.
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Prototypes
Prototype 2
Prototype 3
Modular System
Modular System
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Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Prototypes and Manufacture
Material and Manufacture Study Clips and Sliding Mechanisms In order to reduce the time of manufacture and assembly when creating a high amount of similar parts and modules I conducted a study in creating parts that would use the qualities of its material (in this case acrylic) in order to solve problems that would otherwise require more steps of assembly, production and parts created. Clips In order to create a system where modules can be assembled quickly and easily taken a part, I looked into lasercutting acrylic clips that could hold the modules together. These are easily manufactured and they rely on the flexibility and tension of the acrylic to function without any aditional parts. Release Trigger This was onse again a study into how a release function for allowing the modules to slide up and down the rails, but fixed when let go, could draw upon the tension and flexibility of acrylic. This mechanism creates a spring as well as a grip for handling the module. When pushed it will relieve the rails of tension and allow you to move the plate it is fastened to. Multiple versions were made that explored the relation between material strength and material flexibility. Ease of handling and stability was also a important paramaters. Rail Fittings I also conducted a study of how the holes that the rails slide on to could be made as precise and snug as possible. To ensure the module would be stable when handled and moved the holes had to provide a precise fit and help prevent the plates from rotating. I experimentet with discs made of acrylic and rubber that created a three layered rail fitting that was deep enough for preventing rotation and provided enough friction for the plates to be cept in place when reliesed. This prinsiple could be evolved to replace the release mechanism, providing an even simpler solution.
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Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Prototypes and Manufacture
Prototype 4 Hexagon and Pentagon Module
Desicription This prototype is of the final version but without the material standard necessary for the finnished modules. The design remains the same and represents the solutions I have found through my studies. Hexagons and Pentagons In order to create a geodesic dome, the modules consists of both hexagons and pentagons. Fabric The fabric is made of cloth and polyester to ensure that it is capable of absorbing water as well
as being flexible enough to aquire the whished expansion in surface area. Size The size is a moderate one and relates to the intended purpose of handling, assembly and transportation, more than the required to create a space one can inhabit. Double Surface The module consits of three parts connected by a set of rails and two surfaces. The module folds inwards and creates a double surface, maximising its surface area. Both surfaces can be regu-
lated individually. Rails Each module has three rails that provide stability and the ability to expand and retract that is essential to the project. There is no release machanism that allowes the module to expand and retract as well as remaining fixed when not handled, but the fittings around the rails contain a layer of rubber that provide enough friction for the moving parts to remain fixed when released.
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Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
Page 12
Prototypes and Manufacture
Manufacture Production Methods and Techniques Surface The expandable surface is hand sown and designed to work with the directiona nd the qualities of the fabric as well as providing a surface that is practicle and not over or under dimensioned when the module is expanded, flattened or anywhere inbetween.
Lasercut Acrylic Acrylic is chosen because it is water resistent and does not deteriorate in the humid climate of Manaus. 4mm thich acrylic is chosen to achieve the nevessary stenght.
Rubber Gaskets I hav produced special tools for cutting rubber discs for use in between the layers of the modules where friction and pressure distrubution is needed
Lasercut hexagonal and Pentagonal Plates The base plates are sandblasted as to not be completely transparant when assembled and to diffuse any light that may shine within or onto the structure, making it glow.
Metal Rails The metal rails are made from 3mm thick metal rods. The ends are provided with threads to make them able to assemble with regular nuts.
Surface Behavior and Stretchability Test
The top parts are painted white to make them reflect sunlight and reduce the effect of heat radiation from the sun.
Stensils for Cutting the Fabric
Finnsihed Surfaces
Aditional Parts
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
Page 13
Device_Drawings and Spesifications
Device Elevation Drawing 1 : 5
443 cm
16 Modules
Surface Area
10 Hexagonal
3000 cm2 - 8260cm2
6 Pentagonal
1680 cm2 - 4146cm2
Total 4680 cm2 - 12406cm2
945 cm 50 cm
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Device_Drawings and Spesifications
Device Elevation Drawing 1 : 5
Function The device is functional in that it is modular and easy to assemble and transport. The modules are aslso easily reprodused. The dimensions respond to a human scale where the modules are easy to handle and operate and the over all size of the assembled device has an interior space that can be occupied by a body part, fex. a head. Through expanding its surface area the device exposes itself to the conditions of its environment. It absorbs and contains water rather than repelling it, mimicing the behaviour of the rainforest. This water is distributed over a surface area that can be expanded. An increase in surface area will increase the rate of evapoartion, simultaneously cooling down the device as well as releasing humidty to the atmosphere. It is a study in modular structures and functionality, but mostly an exploration into the abilities of a coherent surface to create cooling and interact with its environment in the same way plants does, or rather the human skin. It does this with the intent of investigating the potensials of more dynamic structures and facades in the built environment, especially that of tropical environmnets where heavy rainfall and high temperatures are conditions buildings have to deal with. The modular system and overall structure is a way of engaging the challenges of performance and production required in a building component. Performance The device is thought of as a selfcontained entity that responds and interacts with its environments trough mechanisms built into its construction. The modules making up what is a geodesic dome have an interior and a exterior. It responds to its exterior by either expanding or decreasing its surface area, alternatively making configurations which vary the modules expansion. It creates an interior space that is regulated and confined by the structure, acting as a temperature membrane rather than allowing for air to flow freely through the structure. The heatexhange of the interior space is a passive one and the structure that envelopes it is the active part, responding to the external conditions and creating the internal conditions. It is thought of as a device that interacts with beahviour and measuremnts taken by a operator. This enables an operator to engage with the conditions that it responds to and reading the temperature results as well as seeing them manisfested in the configuration of the device.
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Device_Drawings and Spesifications
Device Exploded Section 1 : 2
Composition The modules are composed of three layers with a skin and three rails connecting them. A base layer fixes the module to the rest of the construction as well as the rails allowing the two subsecuent layers to move. The outer layer (layer3) expands both fabrics and can be pulled to the full extent of the rails potentially maximising the surface area of the module. The middle layer is able to regulate the ambiguity between an exposed and confined “state� enableing the modlue to have an exposed outr surface and a retracted inner surface. This might be beneficial when retaining some water in a dry environment while creating cooling, or if the not so exposed inner layer induces more heat than it conducts away. Potentially it is pulled all the way back and maximises the surface area of the module, creating a double surface.
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Device_Drawings and Spesifications
Module Hexagon Module_Isometric 1 : 2
Isonometric drawing illustrating the expansion of the module’s outer skin.
Isonometric drawing illustrating how the mechanism inside the module operates when expanding and retracting
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Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Device_Drawings and Spesifications
Module Hexagon & Pentagon Dimensions and Assmebly
10 cm
Dimensions The two different modules have different dimensions but the same sidel lenghts, ensuring that they fit to gether in a geodesic structure
17,3 cm
Clips Acrylic clips are designed to provide the correct angle when the modules are assembled in to a geodesic dome. It exploits the flexibility of he material in order to click into place and grapling onto two oposing modules with the notches on either end
20 cm
10
cm
15,4 cm
16 cm
Geodesic Dome The dome contains an interior space as well as an exterior surface. Five hexagonial modules connect to one pentagonial module and the drecrease in the outer dimensions of the pentagon (it has one less side) causes the modules to rotate into a struvtural positions
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Fieldwork_Manaus_Investigations and Data Collection
Fieldwork Manaus and the Amazon Rainforest Manaus Architecture and Extreme Environments field trip 2015 went to Manaus in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest. We stayed there for 16 days, experimenting with our devices and gathering information and data from a multitude of different sites, environments and urban contexts.
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
Page 19
Fieldwork_Manaus_Investigations and Data Collection
Deployment of Device Method of Assembly and Deployment
Assembly View of modules fastened with acrylic clips and tape for extra support while assembeling
Device stand The stand is used for positioning and testing. It provides stability to the structure as well as lifting it up from the gound allowing for tests both conducted inside and outseide the device. A Therometer is installed in the stand for quick reading of the internal temperature.
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Fieldwork_Manaus_Investigations and Data Collection
Deployment of Device Moving Through the City The device is light and easy to move providing one carries it over ones head. This provides the device with an aditional dimension in terms of allowing the user to interact with the interior of the modular structure. Although it makes manouvering more difficult it lets one experience the effects of the structure on ones body as one moves around he city. When one arrives at a desitantion the device is put down and the relationship between that of the observer and the test object is reestablished.
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Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Fieldwork_Manaus_Investigations and Data Collection
Deployment of Device Night Time Sites in Manaus and in the Jungle
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Study: The Amazon Rainforest
AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
Page 22
Fieldwork_Manaus_Investigations and Data Collection
Deployment of Device
Location Cacheira Berro D’agua, Balbina-Am
Temperature and Evaporation Investigations in the Rainforest
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Portfolio
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Fieldwork_Manaus_Investigations and Data Collection
Deployment of Device Temperature and Evaporation Investigations in an Urban Environment / Public Park
Location Praca Heliodora Balbi, Manaus
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Portfolio
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Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Fieldwork_Manaus_Investigations and Data Collection
Deployment of Device Temperature and Evaporation Investigations in an Urban Environment / Bus Station
Location Term. Pca. Matriz, Bus Station, Manaus Harbour
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
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Deployment of Device Temperature and Evaporation Investigations in a Forest Environment / Botanical Garden
Location IPA. Instituto Naciaonal de Pesquisas de Amazonia, Manaus
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AEE. 5 year, 1 semester Portfolio
Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Location: Manaus, Amazon Basin, Brasil Fieldwork_Manaus_Investigations and Data Collection
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