STUDIO AIR Jichuan Yu 657686
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Content A.1. DESIGN FUTURE
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Carboard Cathedral
The Island City Central Park
A2 Design Computation
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Museo Soumaya White Noise
A3 COMPOSITION/GENERATION
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Urban Agency A shift to Computational Architecture
A4 CONCLUSION
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A5 LEARNING OUTCOMES
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A6 APPENDIX
20-21
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Self Introduction
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My name is Jichuan Yu and Gary is my English name. I am currently in my third year of architecture degree. I was borned in Japan and raised in Beijing, China and now studing in Melbourne. I always enjoy experiencing differnet culture and leaning the history and architecture of a city. The first time I felt the strong power of digital method in design was when I taking the subject Digital Design and Fabrication last semeser. At the begining, I think me and my partner came up with some good idea for design, however we found the highly customised components cannot be got from the market, which would stop us achieving the desiered outcome. However, we finally managed achieve our desired outcome by using digital moddelling and fabricate all the customised product by using 3D printing and laser cutting. This was tiime when I realised how much the digital and computational method could enhance the design process and explore more potentials. I am looking forward to futher developing my digital skill and understanding of computational design in through the study of Studio Air.
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A.1. DESIGN FUTURE Carboard Cathedral
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here is no doubt that our world is going through massive and rapid changes in almost every aspect. This include technology, social and natural environment and ideologies of people around the world. Therefore, it is important for designer and architect to take a moment to think about what is a better design to fit in the future and make the response to the future context.
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he Cardboard Cathedral in New Zealand project done by Shigeru Ban expresses the idea in the future architecture vividly. shigeru Ban is currently devoting himself to the reconstruction after the Japanese
Tsunami in 2011. Shigeru Ban creates a temporary cathedral that has capacity of 700 people after the previous Christchurch was devastated by the earthquake. Cardboard tubes are used to support the whole structure, which also makes the fast and economic construction become possible. The local Christchurch has no sufficient fund to rebuild a church need this building for the post- earthquake reconstruction period. This building shows great flexibility and sustainability and more importantly give people insight about the future way of design.
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The Island City Central Park The Island City Central Park designed by Toyo Ito is located on an artificial island near the Hakata Bay. The shape of building is mainly composed of the ripple spreading the island and the ripple further form craters and mound. Those components together contribute to an beautiful organic shape of building. The beauty and complex form of this building not only derived from the innovation of the designer but also a result from merging with the topography and undulation of the landform. In order to achieve this unique and complex structure method, a innovative design approach is called “Shape and Analysis by Optimization� is applied. By using this method, computer stimulation can help to obtain the optimal shape by study
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bending stress and wrapping energy. Therefore, the free form of this building is finally established by repeating this design process for both architectural and structural aspect. I admire this building because this building not only display a fascinating form but also create a wonderful user experience. The entire surface of the roof is covered with the green vegetation and there is a stroll route is designed to follow the shape of building and link between interior and exterior space. The user can have good spatial experience both inside or outside the building on the above level.
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A2 Design Computation T
he Museo Soumaya project in Mexico is a really good example showing how the computer aided design assist and help designers to achieve the desired design outcome. In the initial stage of the design, the exterior form of the Museo Soumaya Museum is designed and refined by using the physical study model. The technology of Laser scan is used to create a digital model. And the shape of surface and form of the exterior is ensured as 26 curved columns and steel rings that support the shade. The collaborative work of designer and engineer play an significant role in the selection of structural components at the same time the digital model is also essential in helping the team to accomplish the result. The design intent is to use hexagonal aluminum panels to compose the faรงade. By using the Gaussian analysis, the initial study and analysis results in over 16000 unique panels in shape, which is almost impossible to achieve due to the fabrication and cost issue. However, the parametric modeling is used to group similar panels together and allow all the data to be extracted and applied to the surface again. Therefore, the similarity of panels are analyzed and grouped together, following this process the team is able to make adjustment and comparison to achieve the desire results of panel.
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This is a good example hoe the computational design help the designer to solve the problem and achieve the result. The computational program is truly more capable of calculating and solving some problem that almost impossible for human, however, it is important to notice that the program would not design itself. It is designers that set up the frame work of the process and computational design tool would allow those information to be explored and help the designers to find a better solutions and results.
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his pavilion project designed by Soma Architecture is located on Salzburgis. This project is used as a mobile pavilion for cultural events. The structure mainly consists of simple repetitive aluminum rods. The structure firstly is composed by a numbers of arches, which are constructed with multiple layers of aluminum rods. And those layers are connected to each other with circular studs. The most important concept and program involved in this project is called Karamba plug-in. This Grasshopper plug- in can be used to optimize the structural performance through a series of calculations, which means this computational method can give people the optimized result of the structure in the real world. For example, in this White Noise project, the Karamba is used to predict the behaviors of structure under loads and help to choose the orientation of elements for minimal displacement. With the optimized result, the designer can use the proper structural geometry to achieve the desired outcome.
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A3 COMPOSITION/GENERATION ‘The processing of information and interactions between elements which constitute a specific environment; it provides a framework for negotiating and influencing the interrelation of datasets of information, with the capacity to generate complex order, form, and structure.’ --------------------Sean Ahlquist and Achim Menges
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Urban Agency
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his is a ver y good example of generation design process. This project is shows a very insight concept in the process of generating form. This is not a proposal of architecture, however the study shows the potential of morphological development, which may be applied to the field of architecture under the influence of computational method. This design agent firstly is scripted to have a series of attribute to control their behavior. Then those responses determine the movement and add the architectural insertion
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One of the key thing in this organism is the information it receive to achieve the development and generation of form. There is no doubt that the structure is capable of autonomously drift and develop architectural form, however, what directing those changes are the information it received from the outside environment. The designer can primarily control the rule of algorithm and after that it can develop and extend the ability of designer. In my opinion, that is the charm of generation and computational design. It is a process of exploring opportunity and various outcomes.
A shift to Computational Architecture
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his shift in the working methods involved in the heritage buildings conservation is also a good example showing the shift for all the design industry. We are in the shift from the ‘model and state’ work to a ‘data and flaw’ regime. The historic heritage buildings are mostly craftwork that purely produced manually. This brings difficulties to the remodeling and reproduction of the building without the help of digital and computational approach. While the traditional analogue methodology is not impossible, it is very costly and time consuming.
building via computational technology. The pictures above show the replication and conservation of a granite dragon carving work of Yueh Ching Temple by using 3-D scanning, modeling and 3-D printing techniques.
The large amount of data of points and mesh surface people obtained from the historic craf twork via computational methods enhance the precision of the result. This field of study and methods have been largely applied to the industry of surface reconstruction, visualization of large data A r e s e arc h p ro j e c t c a r ri e d o u t at t h e sets and global registration. Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) showing people how they get the digital information of the historical
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A4 CONCLUSION The first part of the study about designing future gives me a insight of what kind of era we are lining in. Human are facing the a series of problems and most severe one may be the insufficient amount of natural resources. This also triggers me to think what kind of adaption and change human need to achieve. Furthermore, as an designer, it is also important to reflect what are the responsibilities of a designer, what kind of design can be made to help to achieve a better future. The computational design as a new design approach certainly gives designer a opportunity to explore more possibility of the design and achieve more dramatic outcomes. I think it is undoubtedly a revolutionary change happening in the architecture and design industry. And it helps me to understand in what way it change the industry. In third week, the contents help me learn how the computational is more beneficial than the design approach before by looking at the shift from composition toward generation.
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A5 LEARNING OUTCOMES I think I have gain much more understanding about the computational design through the first 3 weeks study. Before learning the idea of the computational design, I think the computational program and approaches are only advanced technologies that only make the process of designer more convenient. However, the computational design approach is not only a change in the design method but rather a change in design concept. The computational design program is not a drawing tool like pencil; it is a more like a extension of designer’s thinking and ideas. It help designer to explore more and achieve more. After understanding the potentials and features of those digital design tool, I hope it can enhance my design and thinking in the future.
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A6 APPENDIX
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References http://3.design-milk.com/images/2014/03/Shigeru-Ban-Cardboard-Cathedral-1.jpg http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2392573/New-Zealand-Christchurchs-cardboardcathedral-opens-demolished-2011-earthquake.html www.skyscrapercity.com www.toyo-ito.co.jp http://resources.altair.com/altairatc.com/country/Mexico/Soumaya.jpg http://www.baunetzwissen.de/imgs/1/0/1/5/2/4/7/b8a4d8c570213a06.jpg http://www.baunetzwissen.de/imgs/1/0/1/5/2/4/7/07f96d59dce2b762.jpg http://www.kokkugia.com/URBAN-AGENCY Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought, March/April 2013 Volume 83, Issue 2. John Wiley & Sons Ltd Liu, Y. (2007). Distinguishing digital architecture : 6th Far Eastern International Digital Architectural Design Award. Basel, Switzerland : Birkh채user, c2007.
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B
Content B.1. Research Field Strips and Folding
26-27
B.2. Case Study 1.0 Seroussi Pavilion
28-37
B.3. Case Study 2.0 ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010
38-41
B.4. Technique: Development
42-47
B.5. Technique: Prototypes
48-53
B.6. Technique: Proposal
54-55
B.7. Learning Objectives and Outcomes
56-57
B.8. References
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B.9. Appendix
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d folds, as one of the most interesting pattern in architectural and structural application has been largely used in the virtual an her hand, the strips and fold method can also be used as strategies to form or assemble a complex geometry or surface. For exa more simple strip geometry. In Loop_3 project, the complex geometry are derived from planar strips elements.
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nd computational design world. ample. In the Loop_3 project, the rationality of the complex geometry can be understood and studied by construct them usin
B1 Research Field
Strips and Folding
Strips and folds, as one of the most interesting pattern in architectural and structural application has been largely used in the virtual and computational design world. What makes me choose this field is the great potential and design possibility of strips and fold structural. The strips and fold structure can achieve the a fluid and dynamic outcome in an surface therfore to further push the design possibility. It is a way to explore the expression of curvatures. On the other hand, the strips and fold method can also be used as strategies to form or assemble a complex geometry or surface. For example. In the Loop_3 project, the rationality of the complex geometry can be understood and studied by construct them using relatively more simple strip geometry. In Loop_3 project, the complex geometry are derived from planar strips elements.
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B2 Case Study 1.0 Seroussi Pavilion
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Introduction Continuing with the Strips and Folding, I also to explore the idea of indeterminacy in architecture structure and form. This idea have a strong emphasis on the vagueness of the structure and form. It make the formative and generative fabric become possible. The Seroussi Pavilion, is a project developed by Biothing and organized by art collector Nathalie Seroussi. It is a ground pavilion project located in Meudon, near Paris. The design of this project is inspired by the Sculptures habitacles on site, the main concept of this pavilion is an idea of maze to be integrate in the pavilion structure to achieve the purpose of organizing the spatial pattern and fabric. I think the reason that I am interesting in this project is the complex indeterminacy applied in this pavilion. The computational design method allow designer to create this complexity in its various facets and the pattern can be self-modified with the programming and achieve the indeterminacy. This project is a good example of idea of generation in computational design.
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Methodology The programming of this pavilion is mainly based on the behaviors of electro-magnetic fields. They firstly made arrange field and computed the logic of attention and repulsion in plan view. Following the field logic constructed in plan view, sections of each micro arches are lifted by programming and at same time they are given different frequencies to create the complexity and diversity of the pattern. From the original center point, each branch curve are capable of extending and growing further differently on the basis of variable field condition. The site condition create the parametric information to direct each curve to adjust its
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direction of growing. At the end, the interesting structure is formed and constructed by those intricate line work. The programming method of electro-magnetic field attracts me the most in this project because it give me a new perspective in the study of computational design. This logic of attention and repulsion again make me relies the potential of computational design. This method allow the patterns of structure become self-modified and create greater possibility of the form and structure. The volume of the pavilion is mainly defined by the curves formed by field attraction and repulsion forces, therefore it create a sense of separation but at the same time, it is coherence of this structure is also displayed clearly.
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Point Charge and Spin Force
Line Charge
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3 Dimensional Point Charge
Defined Boundary and Pattern
Mesh Surface
Selection of Iterations
I would like to use this kind of waving and fluid structure to achieve my design proposal of building underwater structure.
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I found the line charge component can help me define the boundary and make a clear arrangement of the elements, which I think would be very helpful in building real struc-
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B3 Case Study 2.0
ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION 2010
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ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION 2010 The most important concept involved in this ICD Pavilion 2010 is [Material Behavior Computes Form]. In the physical world, the form and shape and the internal and external force is also considered interconnected. The physical form and the force is always interacting with each other and influence the way they perform. However, in the virtual design, the generation of the form and the force involved in the structure are also treated as two separated things. However, this pavilion provide a good example and give people insight on how the generation of form or geometry is related to the force applied and how this idea is applied and achieved by computational design method. By using the computational design method, the architectural form, material property and structural performance is considered and designed in this project.
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FORM GENERATION AND MATERIAL BEHAVIOUR For this pavilion, it is built on the basis of the most common and material behavior, which is elastic bending. The material of strip is birch plywood strips and they are all robotically manufactured planar element and subsequently connected to each other in order to allow the elastic bent and tensioned areas to alternate along the length of strips. Furthermore, for the purpose of avoiding the concentrated bending moment at a single connection point. The connection points between neighboring strips adapted to changes along the strips. Therefore, 80 different strips of patterns are resulted due to requirement of changing connection points and they are finally more than 500 geometrically unique parts used to construct the structure. By using the bending, the force is stored in the bent region in each strips, which holds the structure into shape and increase the stiffness and structural stability at the same time.
The process of the design and construction of this pavilion is also a good reflection on how the computational method help designer to achieve the innovative result and allow more design possibility. From the initial stage of the design, the prototype pavilion is designed with computational design tool, where relevant material behaviors data are integrated as parametric information based on both physical and computational test.
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B4 Technique: Development Reverse Engineer Step by Step
The three initial curves are used to define the shape pavilion and create the volume.
Move the cuve to opposite sides.
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Divide each curve and connect point to curve in each branch.
Loft the curve to form the strips of pavilion.
Use this planar surface to solve the intersect between the curve and this surface to make sure the strips are all planar.
To evaluate each curve and gain more control in each curve to make sure the strips can have more flexibility.
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Species 1
Species 2
Species 3
Species 4
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Species 5
Species 6
Others
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B5 Technique: Prototype
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Bending
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This is an imitation of the joint used in the ICD Pavilion 2010. I basically built a cut section of the 3 strips to study how the joint can be used to hold them into shape, with one applied with bending force while two stay planar, I think this joint can be very useful for a bending structural because the joint between neighboring strips works very well in holding the strips under bending and constraining the movement.
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Detailing
This joint is designed and 3D printed to connect the neighboring strips and also, the arched nots can fit the strips very well in the prototype, and I designed three notches with different angles which can be used in different connections. The problem is would this joint work in the real scale project, where larger pieces of strips and larger bending force may be encountered. Issues of material and other possibilities need to be further explored and considered.
In this prototype, the bending test is not very successful because most of the strips I used are deflected and failed to achieve the active bending. I am still looking for a more suitable material to achieve the active bending.
This is a base I designed to allow the strip to sit on, and I think it successfully allow the strips to stand very well, and it is very stable. The joint can be assembled from two parts which adds more adaptability to this joint. 52
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B6 Technique: Design Proposal Fishway
Fishway I would like to design a structure basically located in the spot of existing Dights Fall Fishway. The Dights Fall is located in the junction of Yarra River and Merri Creek. The Yarra River is supporting 17 species of native fish and 11 of them need to migrate between salt water to fresh water environment. For this kind of migration, the fall has been considered as a major barrier for fishes. A fish way, is a structure designed to facilitate diadromous fishes’ natural migration. And after looking at the fishway example, I realize I can add more design feature into this interesting structure. And make this structure to be more noticeable that make people to admire the structure and at the same time thinking the natural eco system. My goal is making people to have a thought at the natural fish migration and by doing this to achieve the interaction and communication between human and nature.
The View from the Spot
The Exsisting Fishway
In order to achieve the goal, I would like to get people involved in the Fishway but in a way not disturbing this natural migration. I would want integrate a viewing platform and pavilion above the underwater fishway structure. And the underwater structure should be visible by people by making the platform transparent so that people are able to take look at the undder water structure while they are in the pavilion.
B7 Learning Objectives and Outcomes
In the study of part B, as I get more familiar with using Grasshopper, I feel the design po the design process, however, the computational design tool not only visualize the design sign possibility. This the part that attract me most and push me further in the learning o because it taught me a way on how to find the solution in a design and solve the difficult would be the difficulties in a design and how to solve them.Prototyping is way of testing t ideas need to be able to achieve in physical world. And I believe the process of doing pro process of making change and adaption of idea is essential.
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ossibility can be enhanced. The program can always be a tool to help n idea of designers but also enhance the design by creating more deof computational design. I found Reverse Engineer part is very helpful ties. It taught me what is important in the design process, and what the idea in virtual world physically. It is very important to understand, ototype is very important. While tasting the idea, it is ok to fail, but the
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B8 References Moritz Fleischmann, Jan Knippers, Julian Lienhard, Achim Menges andSimon Schleicher. (2012). Material Behaviour: Embedding Physical Properties in Computational Design Processes. Architectural Design. Volume 82, Issue 2, pages 44–51. Alisa Andrasek. (2015). Indeterminacy & Contingency: The Seroussi Pavilion and Bloom. Architectural Design. Volume 85, Issue 3, pages 106–111. Wolf Mangelsdorf. (2010). Structuring Strategies for Complex Geometries. Architectural Design. Volume 80, Issue 4, pages 40–45 Inst. for Computational Design. (2010) ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010. Retrieved from http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458 Hassan Mohammed Yakubu. Seroussi Pavilion |Biothing. Retrieved from http://www. arch2o. com/seroussi-pavilion-biothing/ Melbourne Water. Dights Falls weir and fishway construction. Retrived from http://www. melbournewater.com.au/whatwedo/projectsaroundmelbourne/pages/dights-falls-weirand-fishway-construction.aspx
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B9 Appendix
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C
Content C 1 Design Concept Site Introduction
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Design Proposal
64-65
Precedence Study
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Methology
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Materiality
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C 2 Protype Study Prototypes
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Joint Profiles
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Assembly Drawing
96-97
Cladding Design
98-107
C 3 Final Detailed Model
108-115
C 4 Reflection
116-117
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B S C 62
BIKE SHED CERES
C 1.0 SITE INTRO “The Bikeshed is a resource centre, not a charity. The aim is to provide bikes affordable by people without much money, not to give bikes away. The team strives to help people do things for themselves, not to do things for them. A central idea is to work with people, not for them. This is part of maintaining local culture. The Bikeshed also sustains local traditions of bicycle recycling and framebuilding and provides a place for older cyclists to come and tell their stories.�
According to the Bike Shed organization website, the Bike Shed is a place and organization of resource center. The idea of bike shed is helping people to work themselves, therefore the volunteer group here in the bike shed would not help people to do the work and the main aim of this organization is to provide people with bikes as well as bike components. Therefore, there are a lot used and recycled bike parts around the work shop such as spokes, rims and tires. There is also strong idea of sustainability involves in the organization, the team in the Bike Shed focus on the bicycle recycling and maintain the local culture of CERES and Merri creek Community. The natural environment in which CERES is located, offers both natural lighting and shading. The Bike Shed is currently situated under the canopies of eucalyptus trees; in the form of a dome, an array of bike wheels are welded in series, attaching the mesh which covers the structure with cable ties. All the materials used are readily attainable on site and therefore is an affordable and sustainable construction outcome.
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BIKESHED CANOPY A new design of bike shed canopy.
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There are is arch of bicycle wheels in front of the Bikeshed. This structure mainly define a work palace for the volunteer and people. As it is shown in the picture, the structure connect recycled bike wheel by welding and using this method to create a dome shape canopy. It use a very simple but effective way to define a space and provide people with a work place.However, there are certainly things or features can be improved through design from both functional and aesthetic perspective. For example, this structure currently is not able to shelter the space from sun and rain.
B 1.1 Design Proposal
1 Shelter from rain and sun
for the canopy – some of its properties includes the flexibility and durability whilst being readily We believe that the feature of sheltering fromwa- available on site. ter and sun would provide a people a more comfortable working space for people. In addition, 3 Ease of Fabrication and Construction this would also provide important protection to The structure should not be complex in terms the recycled equipment and bike pars stored of installation and fabrication. This also relates within the space to enhance the recyclability. back to the function of Bikeshed. 2 Affordability and Sustainability Relating back to the sustainability systems in CERES and as a reflection of our client, the Bike Shed, spokes are our choice of framing material
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C 1.2 Precedenc
This project is done by CAAD MAS CLASS 10/11, the uses kuka robot as a generative tool and it is being tested in forming parts. The structure is made from CNC produced components to form a very simple and base structure. And by using parametric system, the structure mean to create more complexity and variation. All the components used in this system is designed according to the whole structural system and in a way allow the simple installation and fabrication. One of the most important experiment in the initial stage of his project is finding the basic pattern for the whole structure. The project is trying to find a connecting method to connect all of the single units no matter in what shape and what orientation they are in. They found the material performance and design intent are inform each other. The overall geometry, in response to the physical property, is constantly adapts to the curvature of the overall shape.
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ce Study Bendend & Twisted 02 by MAS CAAD ETH Z端rich
There are a couple things we can learn from this, firstly it is the pattern. After studying this pattern and gained a better understanding about the mechanism in this structure, we found that this is a very innovative and structurally stable method of connection. And it is actually some we can apply to our structure composed from spoke. In this pattern, the triangle pieces are applied with active bending forces and in this way, the structure would stay more stable and strong.
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C 1.3 Methodology
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Following the study of the pattern of the precedence, we firstly wanted to use three spokes to form the base triangle. And similar to the MDF pieces in the precedence, we apply bending force into each spoke to ensure the stability of this structure. Each triangle unit would be interconnecting each other, and form the whole structure.
The middle piece is very important not only for the design intent but also for the structure stability. The middle piece should be made from strong material that would not fail under the pulling force triggered from the spokes. Each unit in this structure is connected with the middle piece therefore the connection should be well considered and solved.
Instead of 2D single unit in the precedent project, each single unit of the pattern in this project is a 3D structure. The center point in each base triangle is lifted and there are 3 other spokes used to form a tetrahedral shape. The apex points are very important because it is used to accommodate the cladding elements.
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C 1.4 Materiality The huge potential of the bike spokes for use as the structure components is beyond our expectation. The first advantage of bike spokes are the affordability the recyclability because there are a large amount of used bike spokes in the bike shed. And we have contacted with bikeshed volunteer, they are willing to give us for free. Using this material also comply with the idea of Bikeshed. Secondly, we need to explore the material performance of bike spokes, we need to test how strong it is under bending force. It shows very good outcome in terms of stiffness. The bending stress is also in a very ideal range. The link below shows the video of our bending test. Before using this material, the only thing we need to do is just trim the end of them. They are not in exactly same length, but very close. What we did is measuring them and cut them all in the same length.
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C 2.0 Prototype
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C 2.0 Prototype 1.0
Ideas As the very first starting point, the main idea we are trying to explore in this prototype and all the other prototype is how the single unit composed of 6 spokes can be forced into a shape. We found that the spokes would not only require joint at the end of connection but also a mechanism in the middle to applied the bending force into spokes to make the unit strong enough to form a structure.
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Issues Although we can start to see the basic shape coming out by using those connecting method, there not very rigid and strong at all, the spokes used in this prototype is not completely in active bending. And we realized the stiffness of MDF is another issue needs to be addressed.
All the standard spokes we collected from the Bikeshed site comes with nipples and a bended end. In the very first prototype we did, we were trying to those this features of bike spokes to form our basic single unit structure. We designed a circle plate with three holes to hold the end of the spoke. It works very well in constrain the spokes from moving.
The middle plate is added to constrain the three spokes on the top from moving. It also apply force in to the top spoke and apply bending force to the spokes. The main problem of this middle plate is the structural integrity because there is no force applied in the top end of the spokes, the middle plate is not strong enough to hold the unit in shape.
This two pieces are interlocking each other through the notch and the spokes are put through the holes in the two pieces. The same function as the middle pieces, it is used to help the spokes in the bottom in shape by constraining them from moving.
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C 2.0 Prototype 2.0
Ideas The connection detailing of the last prototype is a good starting point but it is not solved neatly and beautifully. The detailing would be a big part of this project and we believe if we cannot solve those connection detail invisibly, we have to find a way to turn them into architecture element in this structure. That is the reason why we are trying to create a pattern in the middle of this tetrahedral.
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Issues The pattern in the middle creates more detailed connection to be considered, and it would not be stable in the testing of this prototype because of the material performance. If it is not sophisticated enough, the middle pattern would become a burden for the structure.
This geometry is designed to be put in the center to hold the hole tetrahedral in the ideal shape. All the connecting point in the geometry is interlocking each other to secure the shape.
3D Printed joints aer introduced in this prototype because we found we need really customised joint which we cannot get from market. This create more opportunity and ways of solutions. w
A notch is created for the middle piece to be inserted into the joint.
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C 2.0 Prototype 3.0
Ideas The idea of middle pattern is abandoned because we found the 3D printed joint is strong enough to hold the entire unit in shape. And now the structure would be mainly constructed by using the strength of joint and the middle piece.
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Issues The idea of middle pattern is abandoned because we found the 3D printed joint is strong enough to hold the entire unit in shape. And now the structure would be mainly constructed by using the strength of joint and the middle piece.
We do not think we need to the middle piece anymore, because the 3D printed joint is strong enough o hold the structure tightly and in shape. The middle piece at this stage would only be a weak point for this structure.
As I mentioned above, the center piece in the middle is not only a decoration but also an important connecting point for each unit. Only nipping it with joint is not secure enough, therefore we create a hole on the joint for screws to fix them tightly.
The natural curvature formed due to the material performance is one of the major issues we need to deal with. As it is shown in the picture, the bottom triangle would be forced and form a curvature. This curvature would be the curvature of the whole Dome shape canopy. Therefore, we need to control this curvature very well to achieve the desired shape of Dome Canopy.
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C 2.0 Prototype 4.0
These prototype we shown above are our attempts for trying to connect the all the components in the single unit. There are some really interesting ways of connection. And some of them works really, but considering the real environment of this canopy, most of them are not strong enough to survive in the outside environment. This is mostly because the MDF material and also we found the more complex the connection mechanism the weaker it is.
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We also tried other different kind of joint. Purely from the perspective of design intent, we think the joints we tried above look better than basic cone and cylinder shape joint. However, we choose the basic shape joint because it is much stronger and would benefit the structure in a much better way.
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C 2.0 Prototype with Problems
By this stage, we believe we have found an effective way of connection. However, there are a couple of issues are still remain to be refined. Firstly, it is the middle piece in the middle. We need to find a more reliable material instead of MDF. Secondly, there are still a lot potential improvement of 3D printed joint to be make. And after solving all the problems in the single unit, we need to figure out how to use this kind of single unit to form desired shape of canopy and at the same time to be structurally stable.
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This curvature we found in building the model affect us the most because it is not expected. When bending force is applied to the spokes. The triangle in the bottom would also be push upward and therefore form the curvature above due to the material performance. This is really good because we intended to build a dome shape and with this naturally formed curvature we can just continuing building it and it would form the dome itself by developing. However, the unexpected curvature would bring more trouble cladding design, due to a different result between virtual and physical model, it is hard to model the cladding elements. I believe this is a good example of prototyping study where we need to realize the difference between the digital and physical model and by studying the prototype we could make final refinement on the final model.
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C 2.0Final Structure Model
Refinement 1 We changed the material of the middle piece from MDF to Perspex. From the perspective of design intent, the transparent material would reduce the visual complexity of structure. In term of the structural integrity, Perspex id less likely to be broken compared to the MDF.
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Refinement 2 As I mentioned above, we need to find a way to way to control natural curvature formed by those single unit. After trying different ways, we found that tilting the holes in the joint is the most effective way to do this. It works very well and we managed to make the structure less curvy and so that we can achieve our desired size of dome canopy.
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C 2.1 Joint Profile We have put a lot effort and time on designing the joint because we believe the joints is the most important part in term of the structural stability. All the connection between spokes, bottom plates and cladding elements are achieved by the 3d printed joints. We have to make surer the connection point is not a weak point that would lead to the failure of the structurer. We makes change on the joints so many times because 3D printing enable us to make changes very quickly and the quality of the connection method can always be improved. The following section is more detailed description of our joint prototype.
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Joitn Profile 1.0
This the initial attempt of making 3D printed joint. It is a good start but a lot things need to be improve.
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Joitn Profile 2.0
Compared to first one, we add screw to fix the bottom plate to make them secure enough.
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Joitn Profile 3.0
The main change in this joint are the holes. They are all being tiled to achieve the desired curvature of the structure.
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Joitn Profile 4.0
The main change in this joint are the holes. They are all being tiled to achieve the desired curvature of the structure.
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Joitn Profile 5.0
We found that the joint is actually bending the middle piece and it is weakening the middle if we simply put the notch planar. Therefore we tried to rotate the notch following the curvature of the bottom triangle. But it fail because the joint become very weak in this way.
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Joitn Profile 6.0
This joint would be used in the final model because the fixing detailed is very well solved therefore it is very strong.
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Joitn Profile 7.0
In order to make the joint stronger, we reduced the depth of the notch and tried to put them in different direction while printing. This one work very well and it is very strong. Considering all that, this is would be joint we use in the final model.
This is a simple test we did for this joint, the joint on the right is the final joint 7, and joint on the left is joint 5. The joint 5 is very weak compared to joint 7.
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Joitn Profile 8.0
This just an alternation of the final joint. Instead of making the depth of notch, we create addictive material on above the notch to increase the thickness of the weak point to improve the performance.
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C 2.2 Assembly Drawing
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1. Use 3 joints to connect spokes and form the bottom triangle shape.
2. Add three spokes c and form the Tedrahe
4. The joints connecting the plates would be also used to connect the spokes in of next unit.
5. Put spokes of next
connected with top joint edron single unit.
unit into the joints.
3. Put the middle plate incenter of bottom and connected with three more joints.
6. Repeat the steps above to assembly the whole structure.
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C 2.3 Cladding Design
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Constructive Drawing
Cladding Elements
Cladding Pattern
Structure
Bottom Plates 100
The main function of the cladding element is shedding water and providing shading to the users in Bikeshed. And by using the parametric design method, a great range of different pattern for cladding can be generated and this once again make me realize the power of computational design. We found great potential design possibility and development on the cladding pattern. The only thing we need to do is choose one and make them in physical world. For the final cladding, we chose the circle shape as cladding and a triangle as the cladding pattern.
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Cladding Design Iterations
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Cladding Final Design
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C 3.0 Final Detailed Model
The Following link below is the strcture test. https://vimeo.com/145018780 117
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C 4.0 Reflection In Part A, I was first introduced to the computational design and I have learned the basic idea of the computational design and I believe this give me a good starting point. Through the study of Part B, I have felt much more comfortable with using the grasshopper as an essential tool in computational design. I have gained a lot knowledge and skill study in Part A and Part B, which is really helpful in enabling me achieve the design outcome in Pat C. I learned the most from Part C because Part C requires us to come out from virtual model and make them a real physical project. This part not only require us the technical skill in virtual world but also the ability to solving a problem in physical world. I believe this part would be the most influential part to me as a n architecture student, because one of the most important things in architecture is about making and building things in the physical world. And it is not until this project did I know how different it is between physical world and digital world. For example, as I mentioned above, after we connect a few units together, we found the natural curvature it forms is not expected in the digital model, and that would be a key point in designing the whole structure. Therefore, we need to go back and remodel the digital model to make sure there are the same as it is in the physical world so that we can proceed to next stage of design. And making the model is not simply following the digital model and build. We need to consider many things such as the material performance, feasibility and methods in making physical model. We encountered so many problem in the process of building but it is the part I learned most. I gained a lot knowledge, skills and experiences. I would like to thank all my groupmates and special thanks to Karen. And finally thanks so much to my tutor Chen who is always so supportive and helpful. You are the best.
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