Virtual Environments Module 1 - Ideation

CHOON SIEN WONG 640103 VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT ENVS10008 SEM 1, 2013 GROUP 7 MODULE 1 - IDEATION (WEEK 1-3) choonw@student.unimelb.edu.au

Alibaba Headquarters

Research

The Tape Project by Numen/For Use

The headquarters of Alibaba Company was designed by Hassel Architects They used the concept based on connectivity,clarity and community, where the buildings are linked by an ornate latticed roof that wraps around the exterior and serves as a sun shade.

They use the design of a spider web to create a positive and healthy environment to encourage informal and creative meetings throughout the complex.

Numen/For Use was established in 1998, as a collaborative effort of industrial designers consisting of Sven Jonke, Christoph Katzler and Nikola Radeljković.

Tape project is one of their spatial experiments, base on the main idea of an attempt to record a visual residue of a choreographed dance. The movement is translated into a solid and strong object, capable of withstanding human weight. The sculpture is weaved using sticky tape.

The project was so far executed in Vienna, Frankfurt, Berling, Belgrade and most recently in Melbourne.

The entangled surface presents a unique relationship between man-made materials and natural organisms inside an environment.

This is an example of a showcase of bio-mimicry as explained by Phillip Ball in week 2 reading.

Natural Pattern of a Spiderweb

Image converted from colour, to Black and White and is sketched using pencil.

Spiderweb is a device created by a spider out of a spider silk extruded from its spinnerets.

There are many types of spider webs design which includes: 1) Spiral orb web 2) Tangle web 3) Funnel web 4) Tubular web 5) Sheet web

spiral orb web

tangle web

funnel web

tubular web

sheet web

Analytical Drawing and Recipe

Balance

Symmetry

Movement

Base on the Analytical Drawing article by Poling, a pattern can be written out into 3 images, balance, symmetry and movement. An image has a combination of these 3 characteristics and from the drawings, I was able to form a recipe.

A simple transformation of copy and scaling was used.

Recipe for Spider Web Pattern 1) Pick a centre point.

2) Draw multiple lines extending outwards from the centre point with gap of around 10-20 degrees angle.

3) Draw sets of triangles with different scales within the boundaries of the lines.

Using Aranda Lasch principle of recipe for pattern formation, a basic geometry shape and algorithm was used.

A set of repetitive triangle with different scale is used to form the spider web structure.

As shown in the recipe, we can see that each section of the larger triangle can fit up to 6 smaller triangles, just like the rule of six in the formation of snowflakes.

Paperwork Process

A4 Papers are cut vertically in a portrait manner.

The strips are folded into a triangle and a zigzag pattern.

The zigzag strip is then fitted into the empty space of the triangle structure.

This is similar to the radical web lines designed by the spiders on the spider web.

The triangle model is then arranged around the base pattern to form an extrution of our chosen pattern

Using week 1’s analytical drawing and the recipe, a 3D form of the base pattern is form.

Bending, folding, and movement was used to design the 3D spider web.

The structure is held together by glue-sticks, sticky tape and stapler.

The repetitive pattern of the spider web is the triangular shape.

The triangle is used as a bsis to structure the model Using the skills that we learned from Rhino, rotation and scaling was used to design the model.

Rhino Work Using the Rhino 5.0 program, a 3D model structure was formed.

The basic transformation of copy, move, and scaling was used to form this spiral structure.

I used the triangles to replicate sequences and expand the structure in a spiral movement.

The triangles are stacked on top of one another.

The 3D Model Top View

The 3D Model Perspective View

The 3D Model Side View

Light Effect Lighting changes the feel of a room and it is important to have the right level of lighting to suit a space according to the room function.

There are 4 type of lightings, natural, ambient, accent and task lighting.

Diffraction of Light

Light has the ability to behave as a wave and as a partical or EM wave or also known as “wave-particle duality”. It undergoes diffraction, which refers to the apparent bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading of waves past small openings.

The behaviour can be explained by Thomas Young’s double-slit experiment. He uses a monochromatic light source through an aoerture. This causes interference, creating light and dark bands of light on the screen, just like the imgaes on the left.

Lighting Effect on Paperwork A light source is shot across the base pattern and the resulting light effect can be seen.

This is an example of ambient lighting. The shadow form on the wall creates an effect and mood in the room.

The blending of shadow and light produces a contrast and an intriguing pattern on the wall.

The other image shows the effect of shadows on the paper work design, showing contrast of light and dark bands.

Lighting effect and sketches.

I chose this image as a reference to how I want my lantern effect to achieve. This is because of the uniqueness and the relationship between the curvature lines linking and the light source produces such eye-catching shadows on the ground.

I would like my model lantern to mimic such effect as it has a similar feel with a spider web. The image contains many lines tangled, either randomly or with a certain recipe has a similar bio-mimicry as a spider web.

Base on the sketch, multiple spherical shape with different scales are clustered together and with the LED light fitted inside, it will produce lights similar to that of the image that I have chosen.

Clay Modeling

Clay models done in the workshop

The clay model is based on the relationship or patterns form inside the spider web.

The red lines shows there are many repetitive pattern of a star-like line.

The pattern is used to model a potential lantern form.

By using the extrution of the base design as a guide, flatten clay is used with different scale and stacked on top of another to form a structure that mimics a pine cone shape.

After modeling the clay, an extension is modeled and attached to the bottom of the largest base.

The extension is used to cling on the arm of the user.

Another model, where the structure with a large base spirals upwards to form a pointed top.

This model will be the basis volumetric structure for the transformation of the base design.

Using the cone shape model clay layout, a much more improvised model was formed.

This model mimics the roof of the Chrysler building in New York City.

Instead of using a squared base, a triangle base is used.

This follows the pattern found in the spider web.

The design uses flat sheets of clay and stacked inwards and upwards until it reaches a pointed top.

The flat sheets of clay uses different scale, from big to small as it rises upwards.

The model is held on a hand and is pointed upwards.

Large cube (black) is placed at all the centre points, medium cube (red) is placed at each adjacent gap of the large cube and lastly the smallest cube (blue) fills up the remaining gap.

This clay model uses the base design to form a cube structure.

The cubic structure is build with different scale and is attached to a round or spherical base.

A repetitive pattern is of cube is used on each side of the face.

This design uses the concept of lighting effect that I want to achieve.

The model is repeated with several different scales and is structured into a grape-like volume structure.

Week 1 Journal Response The lecture started off with a big question mark on our faces, “how do we see our world?” The main character in Matrix, Neo sees the world in digital codes and numbers, but how do we view our world in daily life? Virtual environment is a subject that encourages us to view the world in different perspective and in different ways. Virtual is used as a representation of information. Pattern is the very basis of virtual information, for example, the spatial pattern, natural pattern and abstract pattern. Pattern can also be used as a recipe or rule of forming virtual information. The example of growing tree branches was a given example during the lecture. The tree branch grows in a simple rule, grow a little and divide, grow a little and divide and so on until it becomes a complex structure of a full grown tree. This rule makes the tree a representation through the growing of branches. Another example is the flight part over the Heathrow Airport. Lines scatter in the sky to produce a pattern that is a representation of the flight the plane is under taking above the sky.

In the Analytical Drawing by Kandisky’s Teaching at the Bauhaus by Poling, Clark (1987), analytical drawing discuss the relationship among the structural objects and nature. It involves simplification of the structure, emphasizing the tension forces, and translation. The drawings are basically an analysis on the balance, symmetry and movement of the structural object. Simplification of the structure is through the geometric forms of the object. This step was used to recognise the structural geometry of the design I had chosen. Bolding of lines and the distance apart between two lines is used to show movement and balance. Through analytical drawing, a still-life drawing transforms into a more spatial image.

In the Tooling reading by Aranda/Lasch, we were introduced to the term ‘algorithm’ which simply means a series of steps or rules. The introduction of the reading starts off with the unique patterns of the snowflakes. An algorithm, the rule of six is used by Wilson Bentley to describe the fact that all snowflakes are six-sided and that no two are alike. To further understand the basic steps in each algorithm, a recipe is vital. It provides simple step-by-step process of forming a shape or pattern.

Week 2 Journal Response

A spider web is a unique structure made of silk and is one of the strongest fibre(5 times as strong as steel). Its formation is complex and but can be explained by a few simple rules. The spider produces a Y-shaped web in the initial stage of spider web formation. It then lays more frame threads between various anchor points. The spider then lays out radius threads from the centre of the web to the frames and later lays more non-stick silk to form an auxiliary spiral, extending from the centre to the outer edge of the web.

The formation of this structure can be used to re-create the pattern with basic rules. A centre point is determined and a Y-shaped line is formed. Multiple lines are then used to connect from the centres to the frame. Triangle shapes are then fitted into the gap between the lines. From the centre to the outer edge, the triangle gets scaled up. Some of the pattern formed can be seen as if mirroring transformation had occurred.

This can be deduced that spider web pattern has specific moment of transformation, i.e. symmetry, scaling, mirror and repetition.

The article by Philip Ball describe that some pattern formation are self-organised (dunes and sand pattern) and some patterns formed due to biological evolutionary that takes into account of physical forces and chemical processes (living organism, i.e. zebra and clown fish pattern on the body). Spider web is a self-organised pattern, where the spider is its own architect and engineer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grozdanic, L. , Numen/For Use� Creates Web-Like Structures from Transparent Adhesive Tape. Available: http://www.evolo.us/architecture/numenfor-use-creates-web-like-structures-from-transparent-adhesivetape/#more-14499 [2011, 10/31].

Zimmer, L. , Alibaba Headquarters Wrapped in a Spiderweb-Like Solar Shade . Available: http://inhabitat.com/hassell-architects-alibaba-headquarters-bring-a-sense-of-community-to-an-office-complex/ [2011, 3/17].

Poling, Clark (1987): Analytical Drawing In Kandisky’s Teaching at the Bauhaus Rizzoli, New York, pp. 107-122 Ball, Philip (2012): Pattern Formation in Nature, AD: Architectural Design, Wiley, 82 (2), March, pp. 22-27 Tooling / Aranda, Lasch. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2006 Barss, K. 2007, , Fun Fact About Skyscraper: Chrysler Building [Homepage of Pearson Education, Inc], [Online].

Available: http://www.factmonster.com/spot/skyscraperfacts.html. ,Stunning interior design lighting r http://www.factmonster.com/spot/skyscraperfacts.html