semester six
SONAL ROY | FURNITURE & INTERIOR DESIGN | UG’13
A semester in the scorching heat of Ahmedabad. That is probably enough to describe it. But life doesn’t end there. It was a really happening semester , starting with the winter, seeing the seasons change and finally experiencing the summer heat. Experienced a fabulous fashion show, interacted with so many great minds from all over the world, and learnt so many new things. Yes, surely a great time spent learning, interacting and sharing ideas.
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MATERIAL & INNOVATION
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CONVOCATION DISPLAY
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DESIGN MANAGEMENT
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SCIENCE & LIBERAL ARTS
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DESIGN WORKSHOP II
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COLLAPSIBILITY
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DESIGN PROJECT III
tree house COURSE : MATERIAL & INNOVATION Guide : Ar. Canna Patel & Advait Duration : 1 week
The very first course of the sixth semester... We were lucky to have Architect Canna Patel as our guide through out. The course helped us to develop our design thinking and refine our presentation skills. As the name suggests “ Material & Innovation� made me think about material application in effective ways. It made me realize how the concept of innovation is a majorly dynamic thing. And it comes with proper cause and reasoning.
THE BRIEF We had only one assignment for the course and it was very interesting. The brief was to find a place in the institute campus which might require a tree house. The reasong behind choosing the place has to be fullproof. And finally conceptualize a tree house design after defining all the factors affecting the design decisions. Finally we had to present our proposal with a highly engaging presentation. The presentation needed to engage more than one sense.
After going around the campus and imagining various possibilities, I chose to go with the old BMW peepal tree. This is one of the most lively space in the campus. This is one of the main areas to socialize. Every single person in the campus is an user of this canteen area. Ficus religiosa or sacred fig is a species of fig native to Indian subcontinent, south-west China and Indochina. It belongs to the Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree,pippala tree, peepal tree or ashwattha tree. As an interesting fact, the leaves of this tree move continuously even when the air around is still and no wind is blowing. This phenomenon can be explained due to the long leaf stalk and the broad leaf structure.
It’s not only the hustle and bustle of the place that attracted me towards it. The were certain issues which needed some urgent attention. Before the new BMW, this entire space was used for opening stalls during the convocation for the sale of the student products. Random disorganised cheap furniture hampers the aesthetic value of the surroundings. The concrete furniture are difficult to move around making this place very rigid. Added to these, there are proplems created by dogs and other stray animals.
THE IDEA Finally it was time to fix a direction and ideate. The idea here is to create a seating arrangement in the upper level for 6-8 people and the lower level being used for the sales of the products made by the student community which is entirely handled by the student community. These desicions were made keeping various factors in mind. An indepth analysis was also done.
INSPIRATION Taking inspiration from the existing structure of NID, the AQUARIUM, the display level is kept transparent from the front side. GLASS can be used for this purpose. The lower level needs to be LOCKABLE for safety issue. The flooring could be HARD & LOW MAINTANANCE but provided with CUSHIONS for the added comfort. To allow the view of the foliage FRP/TRANSPARENT MATERIAL can be used with perforation to allow wind to pass. Combining the inspirational images, a mood board was developed.
Eventually ideation sketches were made to get the overall idea across.
convocation COURSE : Design Project Guide : Pravinsinh Solanki Duration : 1 week
CONVOCATION This year the convocation display was a surprise. Generally it is the second year students’ job to design the exhibit for convocation. But this year due to rescheduling of the entire semester the responsibility came on our shoulder as the juniors were away. But I must say it was a great experience and a very different one as compared to the one that we had last year. This year we were given the pit in the old canteen. In the pit, the furniture pieces of the convocating students and the present students were showcased.
Initial ideation for the pit.
Various trunk patterns were tried out to match the theme of hidden treasures.
The Pit.
science & liberal arts Guide : Milind Malshe Duration : 1 week
ART & AESTHETICS For our sixth SLA we had art and aesthetics as our main topic. Being a design student it is very important for us to understand the aesthetic values. It is crutially important for us to know the science of beauty. In this course of one week we learnt about the very origin of “aesthetics”. And how with time various laws were developed and modified with the ever changing mind of human race. Eventually we were divided into groups of four and were given topics to go through and give a brief explanation for the same. I did this assignment with Vsaishnavi Kandwal ( Exhibition Design ), Yesh Chandra ( Exhibition Design ) and Shruti Bumb ( Furniture & Interior Design ). Our topic was “ THE PERIOD OF ENLIGHTENMENT “.
design management Guide : Krishnesh Mehta Duration : 1 week
THE APPROACH This course was all about going to the actual work field. In this course we learnt how to compose a convincing approach letter with going over the top. But the main thing is learning ones own value. During this course we evaluated all the data and calculated the worth of each Under Graduate Designer studying in NID an thus to be conscious when we actually step into the real world and beware of exploitation.
connecting pole JON ROGERS & UNBOX CARAVAN Duration : 1 week
This was actually a course for the third year students of Exhibition Design and Product Design. But after seeing the awesomenss I found it really difficult to contain my excitement and chose to have classes with them as well. People from various parts of the world gathered togather to whip up something amazing and the added bonus was learning Arduino Uno and travelling in this beautiful city.
kitchen & bathroom COURSE : Design Workshop II Guide : Bhadri Sonpal Duration : 2 week
KEY PLAN
THE BRIEF The first week of the course was dedicated to bathrooms. We were given the master plan of the house and we were assigned the toilet too. The constrain was to use only Jaquar products for fixtures and Kajaria products for flooring and tiling to make our learning less confusing. It started with understanding the standard dimensions of a bathroom and its various components. We were taken to the site for better understanding .
Bathroom Presentation Plan.
Bathroom Flooring & Tiling Plan.
Bathroom Electrical Plan.
Bathroom Working Drawing.
KEY PLAN
THE BRIEF In the second week we focused on the kitchens. We were taken to a modular kitchen showroom in Ahmedabad to have a look at how various components are made and assembled for modular kitchens. Here also we started with understanding the standard dimensions first. We learnt about the various shapes of kitchen and where to locate the specific tasks. for the most effective use.
Kitchen Presentation Plan.
Kitchen Flooring & Tiling Plan.
Kitchen Electrical Plan.
Kitchen Working Drawing.
collapsibility COURSE : Collapsible Structure Guide : Dr. Ranjit Konkar Duration : 2 week
The course was for 2 weeks. And the basic agenda was to understand collapsible mechanisms and to understant what is called collapsible and what is not. We learnt about the basics of collapsibility and fially worked on a group project. There are 12 basic principles of collapsibility. Present day designs are based on one or more of these principles. The complexity of the product increases with more combinations. The basic principles are : 1. FOLDING 2. CREASING 3. BELLOWS 4. CONCERTINA 5. HINGEING 6. SLIDING 7. STRESS 8. ROLLING 9. INFLATION 10. ASSEMBLY 11. NESTING 12. FANNING
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In this course we also learnt about various types of mechnisms which are mainly based on geometry. It included various linkages like the 4-bar and the 5-bar linkage. To understand the mechanisms better we used paper and pin mockups. It enabled us to understand where the joinery should be to bring about particular movement.
THE BRIEF For the final assignment we were divided into six groups and given 2 principles to work on. And we desided to apply the principles to design softboards. Softboards play a major role in our day to day life and we most of the times feel that the softboards are not designed keeping our requirements in mind. Therefore, this excercise was a good initiation to explore in this field.
IDEATION Some of the initial ideations based on the principle of stress were sketched out. Finally we decided to combine the rolling principle with stress to come up with the final product.
We finally decided to study the mechanism of the measuring tape and use the same spring steel in our prototype as well. This was the very first time we were working with spring steel. We developed the mechanism keeping the size of the vailable spring steel coil and bobin in mind. Pvc pipe was used as the supporting barrel.
Prototyping based on the princople of Stress.
Prototyping based on the princople of Concertina.
folding furniture COURSE : Design Project III
Guide : Mr. Ujawane & Mr. G. Upadhyaya Duration : 8 week
UNDERSTANDING The first week was all about studying the folding mechanisms and the existing folding furniture and hand drafting them. The hand drafting was done in 1:1 scale. It was a very laborious task but the understanding one gets is quite extraordinary. The minute details that one might miss out by just seeing it gets captured beautifully while you are observing it to draft. The imperfections of a design become more visible. And we understand the value of each and every element. This exercise helped to communicate better. I learnt how to make working drawings of a furniture, the representation of valuable data, which measurement is required where and how the production would take place. And eventually realised the assembly process too. Throughout the process I even got to learn about the form of the furniture too. The use of curves and straight lines were very measured and served a particular purpose. The details of the folding mechanism were also observed properly.
In the following week we were asked to choose a space and choose a piece of furniture that can be made using the principles of folding. I wanted to venture out into the various fields apart from the generic domestic furniture. From childhood I was very fond of travelling. Therefore, I chose to go forward in the field of travelling. For the design project, I further narrowed it down to adventure travelling, mainly focusing road trips. Initially I wished to focus on motorbike road trips and connecting it to various flagship events conducted by various motorbike brands and various groups. But through the process the idea got moulded. But it was my initial inspiration. And the initial brief was formed during this time.
To go forward with it a background research was required. In this week I did some minor research on some existing tents and how they work. some of the existing models were tested and studied. I visited decathlon to have better idea about the present trends, the materials used, etc. and finally ideation began. On left : Types of tents based on size - (anticlockwise) Family tent, Camping tent, Lightweight tent and Trekking tent. On top : Types of tents based on structure - (anticlockwise) Tunnel tent, Dome tent and Geodesic tent.
POLE SLEEVES DOUBLE WALLED FABRIC POLES DOUBLE WALLED DOOR PROVISION FOR GUY LINE GROUND SHEET PROVISION FOR PEGGING
COMPONENTS
PROBLEMS Beside is the most commonly used tent in present day for adventure travelling. After talking to travellers and interviewing them it was clear that these tents take a lot of time for pitching. And the poles might damage the fabric while inserting. It takes a lot of time to disassemble as well. And this might create problem during some emergency situation.
Beside is another most commonly used tents. They claim to pop up in 2 seconds. It is based on the principle of stress. The travellers mentioned that though it pops up in seconds, it is a major task to put it back again. They also mentioned that this type of shelters do not give enough structural stability.
THE BRIEF Finally after keeping the various factors in mind, a brief was generated. The brief is to design a three season (summer, autumn, winter) tent for hikers or bicycle travellers. The tent would •Accommodate maximum 2 people. •Be assembled/disassembled easily by 1 or 2 people. •Be assembled/disassembled within 10 mins. •Be portable and light weight. •Be weather proof (water & wind resistant).
1100 mm
1100 mm
2200 mm
1600 mm
1600 mm
VOLUMES The basic dimensions required for making a tent for two was laid down at first to start off the process of ideation. 2200 mm
It was important to keep the postures used in the tent in mind too.
POSTURES
FACTORS The tent is meant for outdoor adventure and a short stay therefore there are some natural factors that should be kept in mind. The factors that influenced the design decisions are: • Weather • Terrain • Proven principles in tents. • Short comings in existing tents. • Kinds of uses. • Trends in camping - Standard procedures, rules & regulations, dangers & accidents, typical environment, equipments used, people & their psychology. • Material properties. • Cost & scale. • Production.
And there are other factors like the specifications of the tent which includes : • Free strandability. • Minimal guy ropes. • Shock cording. • Ventilation. • Lugguage storage. • Terrain adaptability. • Size/weight/space ratio. • Visibility. • Proofing : ground, rain, insect, wind, storm , fire. • Door overhang. Along with all these come the factors of ERGONOMICS, HUMAN INHABITANCE, USER PSYCHOLOGY, TRANSPORT, etc.
IDEATION Finally ideation started. I tried to use various principle of collapsibility like bellows, hingeing, stress and folding to come with a better mechanism to save more time and energy. All these ideas were sketched out. Finally we narrowed down to hingeing and folding as it was best suited for the project. I chose to keep the support structure integrated with the tent fabric itself.
A few dirty mockups were made to understand the structure better. And my final inspiration was the arm of an umbrella and its collapsibility.
Understanding the form diffrence and its effects.
Components for the support members. For prototyping purposes I used 12X12 mm MS square pipes of thickness 1.2mm and for the joineries I used MS sheet of 1.2 mm thickness which was bent to make the joinery. But for the actual tent aluminium would be used as it is light weight yet gives the required strength.
The Tent fabric with its water resistant ground sheet.
Render of the actual model.
What the interiors might look like.
The support members.
GUY LINE
DOUBLE WALLED FABRIC SLEEVES FOR SUPPORT MEMBERS SUPPORT MEMBERS DOUBLE WALLED DOOR GROUND SHEET PEGGING
COMPONENTS
That’s what the tent might look like in real life. The renders are done using Keyshot followed by Photoshop. At last I would like to say that this journey was not on the easier side but I did learn a lot. The aspects of structural stability was understood during this course. There were times when the ideas would not work but with time and patience they all resolved.
This had been a really eventfull and busy semester. It would not be possible without the constant guidance and support of the faculty. I can not be more greateful for the everlasting love and support of my friends and family. And for my Design Project I would like to thank my DP guide MR. L. C. Ujawane, Mr. G. Upadhyaya and Mr. Ranjit Konkar for guiding me through the technical aspects. Thanks to our coordinator Mr. Pravinsinh Solanki . I would like to thank the NID workshop staff for their constant help and Rakesh bhai for the paint job. I would like to thank Kamlesh kaka and his trainees for helping me from time to time. Lastly thank you J for entertaining me throughout...
(C) SONAL ROY | 2016