M3 journal

Virtural Environments M3: Fabrication Semester: 2/ 2013 Group: 5 Kevin Huynh & Sarah Chan Student No: 639492, 641728

PRECEDENT - GABRIEL DAWSON

The artworks produced by Gabriel are very unique and interesting to look at. It creates an image of the integration of various colours produced by strings. We found that these patterns or interlocking of colours represent and establishes a sense of interference which is relevant to our theme and what we want to portray.

We were able to gain inspiration from her artworks and bring forward these ideas to create our design.

We believed that using string could further enhance our desired theme of blindness, especially when forming a dense barrier with the strings, and also reflecting personal space.

READINGS #1

Architecture in the Digital Age- Design and Manufacturing This reading introduces the various digital fabrication processes that can be used, such as three dimensional scanning, coordinate measuring machine or using a laser light to illuminate the surface of the scanned object. A great example of using digital fabrication in our design was the Frank Gehry’s Nationale-Nederlanden Building in Prague.

This building has glass panels that were cut using digitally driven cutting machines.

These are the different fabrication techniques: • CNC cutting (two dimensional cutting) There are three techniques of cutting material.

There’s plasma arc, where gas is heated and it turns into plasma, using a laser beam and water jet.

• Subtractive fabrication This is also known as milling, where the axis is used to remove a specified volume or area of a material from a solid.

• Additive fabrication Involves incremental forming by adding material in layer-by-layer fashion • Formative fabrication Mechanical forces are used to restrict forms and heat or steam applied to material so as to form into desired shape • Assembly After the component is digitally fabricated, it can be assembled with digital technology Technology has now become more common as they are found in building components on site, such as electronic surveying and laser positioning. We are already using laser cutting as students through fablab, which is a fabrication technique.

It is likely that in the future, architects will be transmitting design information to a construction machine that will be automatically cut and assembled by technology.

Architecture is becoming more and more digitally driven where it has come to the point where objects are no longer designed, but calculated, says Bernard Cache. There are both positives and negatives to this topic. Although using technology may be faster and efficient, we as architects and designers are gradually losing the old fashioned way of mastering sketching. However, using technology is definitely a forward for bigger and better things in the future.

READINGS #2

Architecture in the Digital Age- Design and Manufacturing Digital media and emerging technologies are expanding; therefore it is hard to imagine designs without computers now, as it is very common.

Computers are used in both the architectural and the construction process, where digital fabrication requires digital data in its fabrication process. An example is ‘computer-aided design and manufacturing’ (CAM) which is a computer driven machine that build and cut parts.

Sectioning: Architects originally used sectioning in ways of getting cross sections through form, therefore was initially a representational method. Although, after the use of computerised cutting tools, such as laser, water-jet and plasma cutters, designers envisioned sectioning as a building technique.

Tessellating: It is a collection of pieces that fit together without gaps to form a surface. Software provides an array of tessellating possibilities and data are fed into robots such as CNC machines that direct their work.

This is why tessellating patterns are more common.

Folding: Creased surfaces, folded plates and wrapped volumes are within the purview of folding. It is visually appealing as it transforms two dimensions into three. Programs such as Rhinoceros have enabled the translation from three dimensions to two.

With our second skin, we were able to use a fabrication process where the material had to be laser cut. Putting our design into a two dimensional layout in the program Rhinoceros, our material, Perspex, was cut at the Fablab. It was a convenient process as we were able to have it cut to our exact measurements that we provided within Rhinoceros.

SURFACE DIGITIZATION

Surface Development Timeline

Attempts of creating a single surface from many different spanning structures. As the number of spanning structures increase, the more compact and dense the volume became adding to the theme of blindness. Additionally with the twisting of the bone structure, a more dynamic affect is generated.

02

01 We experimented with a variety of shapes and skins and found that regular shapes seemed to be more appealing than those of an irregular shaped frame.

The rectangles and squares are placed in a certain area to represent our mapped area of personal space. Where our back and left side are most vulnerable, requiring much more boundary.

The asymmetrical proportion of the shape gave a varying magnitude of hierarchy, fitting with an asymmetrical personal space.

03

After testing the volume of symmetrical shapes, and eperimenting using layers of squares and rectangles in an asymmetrical manner. It turned out to be a very interesting volumetric shape, especially after the rotation of a few frames.

05

Attempts to simplify the skin to give a homogenous effect, however with a simple spanning skin, the effect of interference was minimal, therefore the more dynamic the shape is, the more interference pattern is shown.

04

The decision to have three layers was made because it created an interesting exterior, because it increases area for more patterns of string threading.

SURFACE DIGITIZATION

Surface Development Timeline

We changed the rotation of the frames to our desired angle that would best represent our blind maps. Therefore areas such as the left and the back of our design protrudes out the most, creatng a boundary.

The random polygon shapes does not capture the blind activity map, which is why we did not decide on random shapes lie these.

06

07

08

Drawing from Gabriel Dawson’s artwork, the final surface of the personal space volume was developed. Using a similar pattern, interference was established through the use of layering, colour and geomerty. Having a ratio of even to odd sides allows there to be a visual bending effect combined with an overall interference pattern creates the desired patterns of personal space.

SURFACE DIGITIZATION Rhino Final

Bone

Skin and Bone

The final design represents and highlights the theme of skin and bone, additionally showing aspects of the parasol we found interesting. The design is intended as a headpiece drawing parallels to the theme of blindness and blocking sight through the design.

SURFACE DIGITIZATION

Orthography View

The structure has two main sections; first, the bone or the supporting prespex structure made from nine different piece assembled in a unique manner and second, the membrane or the string interference pattern established by the threading of different types of string.

The supporting structure plays two main roles in the design. The first is that it supports the weight of the structure and the threading, and secondly it supports the headpiece on the person. As these structures are placed in certain areas it adds to the stability of the design in the head without additional head supporting aids.

SURFACE DIGITIZATION Unrolling

SURFACE DIGITIZATION String Distribution

Back

Front

Focusing on specific areas where some areas will have more string than others. Areas such as the front will be much more condensed with strings to deter the individual’s natural vision to look forward.

Right

This string distribution is more dense in the front and back leaving the side less dense.

Left

SURFACE DIGITIZATION String Distribution

Back

Front

This design also restricts visual communication from the wearer to the audience, however not as much as the pervious design.

Instead of following the linear pattern, the strings can overlap each other, creating triangular shapes and forming gaps in between a desired area, where we would prefer more exposure to the outside world.

Right

Left

STRING DISTRIBUTION Prototype One

The decision to have three layers was made because it created an interesting exterior.

We were able to change the rotation of the frames to our desired angle that would best represent our blind maps.

This first prototype uses notches that have a thicker end, stopping the string from moving around. This was very effective and worked quite well. We were also able to see the twsited effect that can be formed when both the frames are twisted diagonally in opposite directions.

This is a smaller version of the hook system and did not work as well. This is because the hook is shorter and does not trap the string in place like the first design.

A lot of tangling occurred and making a pattern with this hook system was very unsuccessful as presented in the image on the top.

STRING DISTRIBUTION Prototype One

This desgin separated the strings a lot more than desired, because of the spacing between each hook. The hook system of this was still able to create the same effect that we wanted, although we would also prefer it if the hooks were closer to each other.

The twisted effect is still desirable and works effectively with this different designed hook system.

The only con about was its large spacing between each hook.

This design is very effective because it requires the string to loop around the circles and it will not lose its position. The large holes allowed the string to loop through a couple of times, creating a thicker and condensed appearance.

Twisting the prototype, we could see the thickness of the string. This was very successful as the strings stayed in place by looping them through each hoop.

We only tried a linear and parallel pattern, but have decided to experiment with many other patterns that can create a different appearance and also find ways of creating gaps in between the strings.

MODEL ASSEMBLY Prototype One

This is our first prototype that was to half scale. We originally wanted to use thick cardboard as depicted in the images on the left, although we found that it was very flimsy and not rigid enough.

The longer lengths would bend and a curved shape can be observed. Therefore the bone structure did not work, and we would have to look into another material that could withstand the strings pulling it.

The bone structure is ideal so we have decided on keeping the elements of the holding structures.

The three polygons are attached by another piece that has slits on the ends of them, perfectly fitting through the polygons and holding it up, Due to the light and flimsy material, we had to use tape to hold it.

The notches were created using small pins inserted between two cardboard pieces. This was a difficult and tedious process where some of the pins would not stay in place. We overcame this dilemma by using masking tape over each of the pins.

MODEL ASSEMBLY Prototype One

There was no specific pattern used when attempting the skin with this prototype. Most of the time, the string was wrapped on pins diagonal to it, creating a random pattern and enhancing the theme of interference. As you can see in the images below, the cardboard did not work great in holding the structure. It looks very weak and will not be capable to withstand the tension from the strings.

The strings also became quite loose and did not stay where it was hooked originally. Overall, the materials we used were not suitable for our design and we later moved on to other methods and materials.

MODEL ASSEMBLY Prototype Two

Instead of having hooks or notches, our second prototype used holes. This worked effectively because the string would not come out or get loose.

Also, using holes holds the structural integrity of the design.

We were right in using the material Perspex as it could endure the tension from the strings. Although, when the strings were tightly wrapped around the exterior bone structure, bending would occur. This is why we had to resist threading it through too tight. Also using clear Perspex the structure of the design could be hidden.

We also created different patterns from the string, where there were overlapping of strings to portray interference and forming shapes such was triangles. Overlapping the strings formed density in the design, which would represent our blindness theme, where viewers would not be able to see the individual wearing the model.

We drew inpsiration from this image for our supporting structure. There are four rods displayed in this image which we took inspiration from.

We measured the shoulders’ width and the circumference of the head in order to have the correct measurements to fit the body and sit perfectly on the shoulders.

MODEL ASSEMBLY

Process

01

02

Here is the timeline of the frabrication of the final model. Throughout the process of making the model, through prototypes and mock-ups there has been learning experiences so mistakes can be avoided in the final. Constructing the final was time consuming, especially threading the string through the hole as preivous hook systems did not work.

03

04

The timeline is so follows: 01: Rhino 02: Prespex structure assembled 03: Threading stage one 04: Threading stage two 05: Finished product

05

MODEL ASSEMBLY

Obstacles

The shape and the size that we decided on for our design had to be large enough to fit our head and give off the theme of interference. Due to the large scale of our model, supporting structures had to be incorporated into the design in order to connect all the pieces together. The supporting structures did not work out for our second prototype because we did not have a connecting joint. In the final model, the supporting structures and the outer shape had a slit that would interlock and fix the two together; supporting the model itself.

Initially for our bone structure, we used cardboard, but later found that it was a very weak structure and the cardboard was very flimsy. This did not hold up the structure well, especially when the strings were wrapped around it.

After using cardboard, we decided on using Perspex, which was not as flexible and much more sturdier. It could withstand the string’s tension a lot more, but when the string was wrapped tightly, it would create a bending effect. This is why in the final model; we made sure not to tighten the strings excessively. Some strings were also too loose, therefore had to ensure not to go too tight or too loose.

The hooks were also an issue because we originally started with notches where the strings could be wrapped around each notch. This failed because the thinner strings easily came loose, which is why we decided not to have the hooks and to have holes cut through the bone structure.

FINAL MODEL Elevations

RIGHT

BACK

FRONT

LEFT

FINAL MODEL Activity & Effects

Sight plays a major role in personal space, because in order for personal space to be experienced, an individual must be able to observe their surroundings to determine their own definition and experience of personal space.

When we are restricted from our vision, this significantly affects our personal space. In the blindfold activity, our vision was completely taken away, where we were aware that viewers could see us, but we were unable to visually see anyone or anything. This elicits feelings of apprehension and accentuates other senses such as hear and touch.

We were also very cautious with the movements of our body because everything was an uncertainty.

As displayed in the images, when wearing the model over our head, we are more competent with walking around the area. Although people cannot see us, we are able to see everything and anyone outside our design. This broadens our barrier of personal space because we are able to view others without feeling self conscious from the judgment of those observing us. To them, we may seem to be blinded and handicapped, but our model is purposely designed to assist in forming a personal barrier that will increase our confidence.