Gaia - a guide to nature's forms

gaia a guide to nature’s forms

Gaia, the mother of Earth.

Nature has countless forms that can be a

source of inspiration,

innovation and ideas.

I believe Communication Design practice can benefit from the application of

natural forms.

Gaia is an exhibition design inspired by nature and a compilation of open source forms for designers and anyone who has an appreciation for science.

This project was an opportunity for me to break free from the bookshelf, and expand my practice into exhibition and experience design.

Index animalia bacteria

02 Chambered Nautilus 03 Yellow Leather Coral

protista life

01 Acorn Barnacle

04 Diatom 05 Diatom

eukaryota fungi

06 Cracked Ear 07 Scarlet Elf Cup 08 Lily Pollen

archea plantea

09 Cypress Vine 10 Rumia

fold cut glue till cutmark apply glue

flap

Acorn Barnacle

Semibalanus Balanoides Acorn Barnacles are mostly found in cold salt water.

They like to attach to hard surfaces. They eat plankton by sucking in the water around them, while closing their teeth and opening their mouth. Then they lick all the plankton that got stuck in their teeth.

The Acorn Barnacle is usually 3-4 inches across.

The shell is made of six big pieces of shells connected by smaller pieces of shells.

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02

Chambered Nautilus Nautilus Pompilius

Nautilus means “the sailor” in Greek. Nautilus pompilius is the best known species of nautilus. Inside of the shell displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral. The shell also exhibits counter-shading, being light on the bottom, and dark on top. This is to help avoid predators, as when seen from above, it blends in with the darkness of the sea, and when seen from below, it blends in with the light coming from above. Having survived relatively unchanged for millions of years, nautiluses represent the only living members of the subclass Nautiloidea, and are often considered “living fossils.”

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25Ëš 1

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In order to produce the spiral curl, remember to glue each piece to the previous one with an approximate 25Ëš angle.

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19

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note: if you prefer the structure to fold, instead of gluing you can attach the parts to one another with Chicago screws.

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Yellow Leather Coral Sarcophyton Elegans

Sarcophyton Elegans, also known as the Yellow Leather, is similar to a toadstool leather coral in shape and pulpy structure, but definitely has a unique look.

Most soft corals have this unique curved edges called hyperbolic surfaces—which is one way organisms grow and increase contact with the environment. If you take any point on a hyperbolic plane and move away from it, the space around it expands exponentially.

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#2

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#2 hexagon

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#1 heptagon

#3

#3 hexagon

#4 hexagon #2

#3

note: for each heptagon you will need to attach 7 hexagons. In the order of 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 4, 3.

06

Diatom

Actinoptychus Senarius

Diatoms are a major group of eukaryotic algae, and are one of the most common types of phytoplankton. Most diatoms are unicellular, although they can exist as colonies in the shape of filaments or ribbons, fans, zigzags, or stellate colonies. Fossil evidence suggests that they originated during, or before, the early Jurassic Period. Diatom communities are a popular tool for monitoring environmental conditions and they are commonly used in studies of water quality.

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Diatom

Braarudosphaera Bigelowii Braarudosphaera Bigelowii is an extant species of unknown affinities which produces 12 pentagonal plates. These include forms with heavily ornamented pentaliths and pentaliths with concave sides. They sometimes occur in enormous abundance in sediments suggesting that Braarudosphaera can form massive blooms. At present day, Braarudosphaera occurs sporadically in shelf environments, usually under conditions of lowered salinity.

This 12 sided shape is called dodecahedron in geometry.

note: the center star shaped folds are optional.

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Cracked Ear Crepidotus

Crepidotus is a genus of fungi in the family Inocybaceae.

They all have small, convex to fan-shaped sessile caps and grow on wood.

Early descriptions of the genus contained between 6 and 46 species, depending on the author. Currently, approximately 150 species are widely accepted, although many more have been described.

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Scarlet Elf Cup Sarcoscypha coccinea

Sarcoscypha coccinea, commonly known as the Scarlet Elf Cup, is a species of fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family.

First described in 1774, the saprobic fungus grows on decaying branches in damp areas and its fruit bodies are usually found during cooler months like winter and early spring. The brilliant red interior of the cups contrast with the lighter-colored exterior.

The fungus has a widespread distribution, and is found in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North America.

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Lily Pollen Lilium pollen

Pollen is a powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the sperm cells. Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the cells during the process of their movement.

When pollen lands on a compatible pistil of flowering plants, it germinates and transfers the sperm to the receptive ovary.

The individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail.

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note: add the pyramids to one another until they form a sphere.

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Cypress Vine Ipomoea quamoclit

Ipomoea quamoclit is a species of morning glory native to tropical regions of the New World from northern South America north to Mexico. The flowers are trumpet-shaped with five points, and can be red, pink or white; flowering is from early summer to late fall.

It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant throughout the tropics, not surviving temperate zone winters. In warmer climates though, this plant can be extremely invasive.

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Rumia

Rumia Crithmifolia Rumia Crithmifolia is a fruitlet of a species which is a member of an aromatic plants family with hollow stems, commonly known as the Apiaceae. Rumia is a peculiar monotypic genus that grows in dry steppe habitats of Crimea—an autonomous republic of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea. The spongy, sinuous ridges of the fruit wall, which create a brain-like pattern, lower the specific gravity of the fruitlets, facilitating wind dispersal and keeping the seeds afloat on water.

note: make the folds first then start gluing pieces together, only 2 slices at a time back to back.

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Thanks to:

Sharon Romero, instructor

Design & Illustrations:

Pinar Undeger

Photo credits:

source: Flickr user: amanderbear link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ amanderbear/394352656/sizes/o/ image used on pg 6

source: Media Photo Bucket link: http://media.photobucket.com/image/ chambered+nautilus/derekcs005/Palau% 202009/IMG_ 4228.jpg?o =12 image used on pg 8

source: Get a Huge Tank category: Corals link: http://www.getahugetank.com/ images/Yellow_Leather.jpg image used on pg 10

source: University College London category: Department of Earth Sciences link: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/ micropal/diatom.html image used on pg 12

source: Tree of Life Web Project link: http://tolweb.org/onlinecontributors/ app?page=ViewImageData&service= external&sp =30900 image used on pg 14

source: Tree of Life Web Project link: http://tolweb.org/onlinecontributors/ app?page=ViewImageData&service= external&sp =23341 image used on pg 16

source: Tree of Life Web Project link: http://tolweb.org/onlinecontributors/ app?page=ViewImageData&service= external&sp =26931 image used on pg 18

source: Science Photo Library link: http://www.sciencephoto.com/ reference number: B786/630 Pollen grain, ESEM image used on pg 20

source: Flickr user: jpwchi link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ jpwchi/2884026162/ image used on pg 22

source: Fruit - Edible, Inedible, Incredible. pg 56 publisher: Firefly Books, 2008 authors: Wolfgang Stuppy & Rob Kesseler ISBN 978-1554074051 image used on pg 24