Sepideh Garivani - CITA Studio portfolio - 2017-2018

Sepideh Garivani, Cand. arch.

CITA Studio 2017-2018 - Thesis project

T R I A X IAL WE AVING

Workshop series by Phil Ayers, Paul Nicholas, Martin Tamke, Alison Grace Martin, Svenja Keune and Daniel Lee

In this workshop series, we engaged with the logics and handcraft of triaxial weaving and produced woven structures that exceed anthropomorphic scale. We sought to re-engage and fully exploit the attributes of interlacing as we approach architectural scale, and explore its architectural potential (and limits) across production, performance and use.

We gained insights into the interdependencies of local geometrical pattern and global shape, and the potentials and limits of construction , informed through material performance and material scale.

Our point of departure was Flora Robotica project in which triaxial weaving is used to produce a pre-determined scaffold for hosting biological and robotic agents.

In collaboration with Leonardo Castaman, Martin Petrov and Sofia Stylianou September - October 2017

[01]

[3D Sc an & Analy s is Methods ] 3D scanning was our source of inspiration and information for design.

The challenge with the resulting Point Clouds is to find ways into the raw data for architectural design. In “Triaxial weaving and biorecepcivity� workshop we learned about workflows to analyse and process the data and to visualize the results in two- and three-dimensional media.

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[ 3D Scanning and D efor mation Anal ys i s ]

[Ma t e r i a l l y i n formed si mu l a t i on] For strutural testing, the structure was pulled upwards and deformed along its planar parts, while double-curved and cylyndirc elements stayed rigid and structurally untouched. Using these analysis and material testings, we programmed customized design for individual strips to enhance the structural behavior .

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K A G O M E A S S TRU CTU RAL S TRATE G Y F O R ARCH ITE CTU RE Thesis project supervised by Phil Ayres

For my thesis project, I investigated the application of Kagome (triaxial) weave structures to the design and repair of bazaars in seismic regions of Iran. This application exploits the resilience, robustness and material efficiency of weave, whilst having a social dimension in the fact that it is an ancient craft that can be easily transferred and mastered.

Through this, I used computational representation of Kagome weave, preliminary structural analysis of the effects of geometry controlled through strategic placement of topological singularities and developed a rich spatial vocabulary that integrated performance, ornament and a spatial hierarchy.

January - June 2018

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[Simulaton and representation] To be able to incorporate the friction-based material system in the design process, there was need for modeling a design tool that could simulate the tranformation of 2D weave pattern to 3D woven geometries. For this purpose, I developed design methods of triaxially woven structures with inspiration from the researches done by Flora Robotica.

Triaxially woven shapes are all geodesic geometries since they always have intersection of geodesic curves in 3 directions.

[06]

Analyse of material properties Production Evaluation

Simulation and precalibration of deflection

[D ig i t a l p r o t o t yp i n g ]

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[Geometry properties] In this workflow, the geometry was discretized to smaller patches using K-means clustering algorithm. The algorithm subdivide the surface based on geometry properties that were defined using different mesh analysis methods.

Directionality and depth

Structural behavior in different scales

Different methods of curvature analysis

[Fabrication data generation] For example, the curvature analysis helps placing the joints on the flattest point of each strip. Then the weaving pattern of each patch is used to generate fabrication instructions for hand fabrication.

The graph represents the interlacing as a series of connections, in which each intersection of woven strips receives a unique ID, and the under or over condition of a strip is indicated by a sign attached to the intersection ID.

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[Genetic Algorithm Based Form-Finding] By design of a recursive subdivision method of primative mesh as the way of form finding (in this case for a dome on octagon plan ) a large set of well performing shapes were generated with the aim of acheiving diverstiy in the topologies and search for the best performing geometry using an evolutionary algorithm.

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[Design proposal for a shading and seismic retrofitting structure] Context: Adobe structures in the earthquake prone zones

Bazar Haji Seid Hussein Kashan

Conditions of the structures after earthquake

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