Virtual Environments Module 2 - Design

CHOON SIEN WONG 640103 VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT SEM 1,2013 MODULE 2 - WEEK 4 to 5

choonw@student.unimelb.edu.au

Orthographic images and contours Top View

Perspective View

Panelling with 2D Pattern

Front View

Right View

Contour curves

Rhino 5.0 Works - 3D Panel Modelling

PROTOTYPE MODELS

Prototype 1 uses a basic pyramid 3D form.

It uses a longer height of triangle to form a 4 sided isosceles pyramid The model shows off a spiky effect, and the cuttings in the pyramid provides a unique lighting effect.

The pyramid has a high centre of mass, making the light needing to travel further and produces different light effect.

Prototype 2 uses the same pyramid shape as in prototype 1, but this time the height of the pyramid is lower.

It uses an equilateral triangle to form the pyramid.

It produces different light effect compared to prototype 1, as the need for the light to travel to create the effect is shorter.

Prototype 3 is developed further, this time increasing the pyramid sides to 6.

It uses an equilateral triangle to form a hexagon shape (6 sided pyramid) The light effect is produced at many angle, and the lighting may overlap other effect, and this creates a unique light effect.

Prototype 1 -Long 4 sided Pyramid

Lighting with white paper board in the dark

Lighting with white paper board.

Lighting with black paper board in the dark.

Prototype 2 - Short 4 sided Pyramid

Lighting with white paper board.

Lighting effect with black paper board in the dark

Lighting effect with white paper board in the dark

Prototype 3 - 6 sided Pyramid Hexagon Lighting effect of the black paper board pyramid in the dark from many different angles.

Lantern model

6 isoceles triangle are joint together to form a hexagonal star shape.

This is to make the hexagonal 3D model to fill in the big hole in the middle of the lantern.

The hexagonal pyramid is the part where the lantern will be held like a torch fire.

Lighting effect on the lantern model

front view

top view

light effect on the wall

overall light effect from far away.

Week 5 Journal Response One of Heatherwick project, the Seed Cathedral, is a building designed for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai had 66,000 seeds implanted into a fibre optic glass rod that illuminates the entire building. He focused mainly the natural sunlight to provide light through into the building. The question he had before starting the project was how to bring light to expose the seeds, giving details and make it seem precious. The film “Jurassic Park” gave him an inspiration, especially the DNA that is trapped inside the amber that could bring enormous information. So, using this idea, the seeds were filled into the ends of the fibre optic rod. The square building had 66,000 holes drilled through which allows light to penetrate the entire site and optical fibre glass with seeds inside it is inserted into each hole. This presents the opportunity for the viewers to have a closer look on these seeds with the help of the light illuminating through the rod. Each rod brings light to the centre of the building.

His building design was actually base on an advertisement on a hair dough toy, where it imitates the projection of the hairs made by the toy.

In the Scheurer and Stehling’s article “Lost in Parameter Space?”, they discussed on the comparison between an abstraction and reduction. Abstraction is the removal of the complexity of a design details to a level where it can be simplified and describe without difficulties. For example, in Module 1, I removed several patterns and lines found in the spider web to find a common geometric shape. As for reduction, it is about rewriting/resurface the information and transporting it without distorting the content. In my design, I used the common shape of the spider web to form an extrusion and a 3D model consisting of transformation of triangles. This allows information to be contain within the context.