MODULE 3 Shane Siy Cha and Cara Brogno
INSPIRATIONS
The blowfish transforms as a predator or anything unfamiliar to it comes near. This inspired us with our final design because we believe transformation takes place as our personal space changes.
Similar to the blowfish, Sensoree invented the Breathing Wall, which is computer generated that inflates as it senses movement around it. Likewise, our personal space gets bigger as well when we are feeling alert in places or circumstances we are not familiar with.
Joshua Allen Harris’ street inflatable art brought in emotional effects to passerby. People passing by immediately received a message from the street art, even if the art itself was made to not mean anything. Similarly, we would want to show “alertness” with our design as it inflates.
PROTOTYPES
Prototyping the inflatable meant looking for the right material, how to create volume to address the three dimensionality of the 2nd skin, how to let it fit the body, and how to actually put it all together. Different details were prototype such as pleating, adding flaps, creating buldges only to try to see how we could create more volume the the design. We also thought of making a round doughnut shaped inflatable around the neck. However, we wanted to cover the whole body with different details attached to it to create a larger message. We decided to
combine our prototypes together and made a base that would wrap around the body. We found that this created more volume as it is larger. However, once inflated, it was too tight on the inside, which caused the design to keep popping (the tapes breaking). However, the geometry of the final prototype was not right as it was too big.
RHINO
We then finalised our Rhino design to help us create even more volume by panelling the design.
FABRICATION
FINAL 2ND SKIN
Finally, after fabricating, choosing the right materials and with the help of Rhino, our final design has created more volume than it did in our prototype, which was another thing we were aiming for. With the use of a soldering iron, tapes and plastic table cloth, we were able to create our final 2nd skin.