Svetlana Nazaruk 640423 Virtual Environments Semester 2/2013 Group 12
MODULE 1 IDEATION
MODULE 1/IDEATION MATERIAL SYSTEM Material systems, such as Inflatable, Skin and Bone, Panel and Fold and Profile and Section were presented to us at the beginning of semester. My system was Panel and Fold, which was explored using artichoke as an example.
DRAWINGS:
1. PLAN Using knowledge gathered in Lecture 1 and in Mirallese’s and Pinose’s “How to lay out a croissant”, drawings of artichoke were created. A combination of photography, computer scaling and ruler were used to produce the final outcome. Material system of
2. ELEVATION Panel and Fold in the artichoke is evident through a pattern of overlapping leaves, salmost identical in shape and varying in sizes in order to cover the body of a plant. The split in the leaves allows them to hold on to the stem when the new leaves are
3. SECTION envading the area. The pattern of growth is repeated throughout the Artichoke’s structure. Almost ideally symmetrical placement its leaves makes it an outstanding example of naturally occuring panel and fold system.
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MODULE 1/IDEATION DIGITAL MODEL
RECONGIGURATION OF AN ARTICHOKE In order to get an insight on the Panel and Fold system, manipulations with an artichoke were undertaken.
Being new to Rhino, it was a challenge to produce 3D model of an artichoke. Making it gave me a deeper understanding of the connections between the plant’s parts and how do the leaves hold on to the stem.
The same pattern as in the plant was used, only layed out on the flat surface.Strong bond.
Again the same pattern as in the plant, only this time it was layed out on a flat surface continuously. Leaves tend to fall off the top and do not hold intact.
Based on color and age, the leaves were placed in a circle. This really shows the difference in the geometry of artichoke’s leaves.
Using superglue, I tried bonding the leaves together in a spherical shape. The bond was not strong, and leaves were about to break any moment. Very fragile construction.
Here I tried the inverse of the first manipulation. Now the leaves were upside down, revealing their most fragile parts.
Leaves vere placed vertically using superglue. This is a fragile construction, as oonly having one point of support, the leaves were fallling down continiously.
I tried composing the leaves of an artichoke into one continuous element. It was hard, as the leaves were of a particular bend form, which would not allow easy manipulations. It was hard to fix them together, even using superglue.
MODULE 1/IDEATION IDEAS GENERATION Design 1 was based on the idea of leaving traces of personal spaces behind. It meant that when person moves in space, his personal space does not instantly follow his body,
but instead stays at one place for a couple of seconds before catching up with the owner. Physical protection is envolved with the use of spikes, nature’s own protector, which would be threatening for an intrudor into the personal space.
Design 2 was inspired by my study of an artichoke. It evolves around the fact that both plants and animals use shields in order to protect them from intruders. The shields
cover the most vulnerable parts of that object and keeps them safe. Leafy pattern, covering the whole 2nd skin provides protection to the most vulnerable parts - heart, back and the shoulders.
Design 3 is based on the idea that objects, that are looking sharp and threatening from far away would be unlikely approached by anybody of a fear of hurting
themselves. And so, by creating a spherical like space around the body using very thin arches, personal space will be protected from intruders. The acrhes would have larger radius at the back, as to protect it from behind, where there is a blind spot.
Personal Space. The behavioral basis of design (Sommer R.) In his Personal Space. The behavioral basis of design Robert Sommer defines personal space as “an area with invisible boundaries surrounding a person’s body into wich intruders may not come”. He also states that an ivasion of personal space is considered an intrusion into person’s self-boundaries. Which, in conclusion need to be protected. In his book he presents many examples of how people protect their personal space from intruders. Personal Space. The behavioral basis of design was very inspirational and gave me many ideas for this design.
MODULE 2 DESIGN
MODULE 2/DESIGN PERSONAL SPACE
PROTECT
BACK + SHOULDERS as the most vulnerable
Joshua Chan 2013 Martina Wylie 2013
When working as a group, we all agreed that the most vulnerable area of our bodies was where we could physically not see without the aid of technology. Our backs; especially the top half of our backs, were therefore thought as quite vulnerable.
Martina Wylie 2013
The shoulder was also agreed to be a part of the body that required protection. This was because all of our ideas had shoulders covered up.
GROUP MEMBERS:JOSHUA CHAN, MARTINA WYLIE, SVETLANA NAZARUK
MODULE 2/DESIGN PRECENDENT: MANTIS SHRIMP
The shrimp's exterior/shell is extremely hard for that of a shrimp and is closer to the hardness of a lobster shell. The shrimp is a very strong predator and is able to inflict serious injuries on others and its victims ranging in much bigger sizes. It’s hard protective surface and is also able to act as a weapon, the shrimp uses its claws to pierce items or shoot out bursts of hot bubbles to attack/fend off others. The mantis shrimp has the ability to simultaneously observe most of its
surrounding environment due to its complex eye structure. This ability is able to link to the second skin design, as the design is not just a 2D design, it is observed in movement from different views, each view is unique as the design has certain leading lines wrapped around the body of the wearer for the viewers to see. Then there are sections, shown as the shrimp has a segmented body. Each segment is a different size in order of them to slot into one another. The body system of the Shrimp is
able to relate to all three systems our group is in-cooperating into our design. Skin & bone, Panel & fold, and Sections. As the Shrimp is a living marine creature with an exoskeleton, the mantis shrimp contains it’s skin and bone function to hold all its body parts together while still creating movement.
GROUP MEMBERS:JOSHUA CHAN, MARTINA WYLIE, SVETLANA NAZARUK
MODULE 2/DESIGN DIGITIZING
PROTOTYPES(SHOULDER PIECE)
Joshua Chan 2013
The final version of this model has been panellised. There were initially problems with connecting all panellised elements within this section together. The group then used the ‘Extrude curve to point’ tool to link all parts together. This section of the model was previously only composed of smooth large shell shaped spikes which resembled slightly to the ‘Sydney Opera House’. Parts of the design were then panellised in 3D triangular shapes instead of the 2D triangular panels. This was done to link the back section’s design style to the spikey shoulder section.
Week three’s reading on ‘Surfaces that can be built from paper’ had a very large influence on our group’s progression in designing the second skin. The reading mentioned the works of Tony Wills. These works partially inspired the form of the shoulder piece and it’s rather organic shape.
As mentioned within one of our first few Virtual Environments lectures, the process which led to our final product was not a forward brainstorm- design- modelmake process. There was a lot of going back and forth the steps to reach the stage our group was at that time. Most of going back and forth was due to different opinions about the design and therefore conflicts in group. After Module 2, our group was split into individual projects. Joshua Chan 2013
GROUP MEMBERS:JOSHUA CHAN, MARTINA WYLIE, SVETLANA NAZARUK
Martina Wylie 2013 White Ivory Card was used to produce prototype number 1. It proved itself too soft to hold the rib structure in rigid position.
Second prototype was created with matchsticks and stuck together with a sticky tape. Highly unstable structure that will not be used in the final design.
MODULE 2/DESIGN RESPONSE TO LECTURES AND ASSIGNED READINGS LECTURES: During week 4, the Thomas Heatherwick TED Talks Video Clip + the Virtual Environments lectures taught our group to “Think outside the box”. Heatherwick and his group’s imaginative designs (for example the unfolding bridge) influenced the way we tried to connect personal spaces with our second skin design. We were also more focused on the concept of “Form + Function” as we wanted an aesthetically pleasing design which still describes our group’s imagination on personal space.
THOMAS HEATHERWICK: BUILDING THE SEED CATHEDRAL: A few point's Heatherwick made were to: consider a method of standing out within a world of stimulus. Within this world of advancing technology, the dependency on nature within our designs may have over time diminished. In-coorperating a natural element within our designs would be a possibility to attracting viewers. The designer also talked about needing a design brief and boundaries made for yourself. This includes cost, time structure etc. These boundaries may aid in the development of the design's form vs function. The designer always has to challenge oneself, to consider other alternatives and to make decisions for creating a better design. Many of Heatherwick and his team's design's consider both the form and the function of their re-designs, abandoning some traditions to create better, fresher ideas which fit in tighter with our current environment. E.g. saving space, more nature, aesthetics One of the project's Heatherwick used was the contracting bridge. This idea was made by first analysing other examples of retractable bridges, observing their flaws (in this case it was the look of the bridge), and then changing the motion of the bridge yet keeping its main purpose.
SCHEURER, F, STEHLING, H 2011, “LOST IN PARAMETER SPACE?”: In ‘Los in Parameter Space?’”Reduction, in contrast to abstraction, is not about reducing the amount of information but rather about finding the optimal way to transport it, hence rewriting the description without altering the content.” (pg 75) Within our design task, we could use abstraction to make our design more simple to read when making, or at least there could be an abstract version as well as a more realistic version for two types of communication processes. The abstract versions would be more suited to viewing the design system as a whole and then the detailed parts would describe the seperate parts being connected together. These readings then also link to the lecture for this week as the lecturer was talking about prototyping and how the first prototype is the base of which you then continue to fix. There is usually always something to be fixed in the first prototype. By using reduction and abstraction, the first process of prototyping could become a lot more simple as there is less to read. Reduction is also a good method to use as repletion’s within the design could be displayed as one which could possibly simplify the making and understanding process. The ‘Lost in parameter space’ reading influenced our group when we were modelling our design up onto Rhino. We used the process of reduction and abstraction within our CAD modelling (e.g. for the back section of the design we decided to model each ‘shell’ off the other, taking out extra time to make different shapes)
MODULE 3 FABRICATION
MODULE 3/FABRICATION NEW PRECEDENT - NATURE’S SPIKES
For the individual project, I decided to concentrate on physical protection of the body, and especially the back and upper shoulders, which were determined by myself and both previous group member as the most vulnerable. Physical protection of personal space would require the design to have a scaring effect, the one that would make the intruder back off. This will be achieved using spikes, as they are nature’s means of defence. Both animals and plants use them for protection and to scare the enemy away.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XMNVIIzgQKo/Tbt2OAzb-iI/ http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/assets/images/article/jourAAAAAAAAA1k/MkO489Dv-7w/s1600/cactus-plants-3.jpg nal/01_dragons_9208_crSteveKWilson_gal.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcs9vb84sD1rcgyrwo1_1280.jpg http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/199/2/e/nature_spikes_by_ adam0309-d57oej2.jpg
The final design is purely based on physical weaknesess of the body and its most vulnerable parts, which I consider to be the back and the upper shoulders. By scaring people away, frightening them, the sense of security can be achieved. In order to do so, spikes of different sizes were allocated along the spine and upper shoulders area. In fabrication, black optix card was used to emphasize the unwillingness of the person to cope with intruders in his personal space.
MODULE 3/FABRICATION DIGITIZING. TAKE 1.
DIGITIZING. TAKE 2. Model needed to be simplified in order to better communicate the ideas of fear and physical protection. Using the shoulder pieces I created simple back mesh to make the sharp and neat spikes along the spine area. The design will repeat my body shape,
1st finished 3D model A segment of 2nd skin, a shoulder piece, was taken for fabrication at 1:1 scale.
The final prototype came out to be not quite what I wanted to achieve in my final design. I still need to work on the fact that ends of pieces do not come together as a whole and leave a big gap in between. This does not allow me to achieve the effect of sharpness of the spikes in my design. Also such little pieces take too much time to get together and therefore in my final design the size of the parts will significantly increase in order to finish the project before the submission. For the final, the surface will be cut out of 300 GSM Optix Card to increase the bending quality and make the spikes sharp and “scary�.
Material -
Black Optix Card(200 GSM)
Final model is simple, striking and makes a person wearing a second skin physically unapproachable from the back and untouchable at upper shoulders.
Final model ready for fabrication.
MODULE 3/FABRICATION FINAL PROTOTYPE From the 3d model, total of 57 surfaces were unrolled. Then tabs were added manually and labels were created to make it easier to assemble later. Rhino file was ready to be cut using the card cutter in the student workshop.
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1 4 2
5 The pieces were cut out and glued as cones individually. Then, after the cones has been assembled, all 57 of them were stuck together using sticky tape, which would allow the model’s movement and bendiness, since I want it to repeat the shape of my body.
MODULE 3/FABRICATION
ASSEMBLY DIAGRAM
MODULE 3/FABRICATION FINAL
I believe my final model is successfull. I wanted to protect the most vulnerable parts of my body, which I consider to be back and upper shoulders and the model surves this purpose. The spikes are neatly cut and feel sharp on the edges, keeping people from touching them. Black, bulky model is seen from far and looks frightning, which creates a sense of my security. It is very comfortable to wear, as it takes a shape of my body at the back and bends as I want to bend it. Light and hardly noticable for me when wearing it, it looks completely opposite to strangers. Black optix card creates the daunting feeling and emphasizes the unwillingness of the person wearing the second skin to cope with intruders into his personal space.
MODULE 4 REFLECTION
MODULE 4/REFLECTION REFLECTION The semester of Virtual Environments was really interesting and opened many new perspectives both on design, and on interactions between coworkers. Module 1 was about Ideas and for me it was evolving around Sommer’s “Personal Space the behavioral basis of design”. It really gave me an insight on the whole 2nd skin project and created many ideas about my own design. Module 2 was no less challenging , it taught me to work in a group with people whose ideas vary from mine. The experience was not so pleasurable as many conflicts and arguments were met amongst us, but at the end, my final work is influenced by those people working with me through Module 2. During week 4, the Thomas Heatherwick TED Talks Video Clip + the Virtual Environments lectures taught our group to “Think outside the box”. Heatherwick and his group’s imaginative designs (for example the unfolding bridge) influenced the way we tried to connect personal spaces with our second skin design. We were also
more focused on the concept of “Form + Function” as we wanted an aesthetically pleasing design which still describes our group’s imagination on personal space. The 3rd Module, Fabrication, was no less challenging. Fabricating made me think about implications such as money and time, as both influenced the outcome of my work. I only produced two prototypes in Module 3, but those differ dramatically according to my constraints. I was trying my best to make the 2nd prototype perfect from the 1st time. Looking at the final Module, I think I succeeded at my task and my finished design is looking great. Visual Environments was very interesting and I enjoyed the semester.
MODULE 4/REFLECTION BIBLIOGRAPHY
H.Pottmann,A.Asperl,M.Hofer, A.Kilian (eds) 2007 “Surfaces that can be built from paper” in Architectural Geometry, Bentley Institute Press, pp 534-561 Heatherwick, T (March 2011) Thomas Heatherwick: Building the Seed Cathedral [Video file] retrieved from http://www. ted.com/talks/thomas_heatherwick.html Miralles, E, Pinos, C “How to lay out a croissant” El Croquis, 49/50, pp. 240-241 Scheurer, F, Stehling, H 2011, “Lost in Parameter Space?” AD: Architectural Design, vol 81 pp. 70-79 Sommer, R 1969, ‘ Spatial invasion’ in Sommer, R, Personal space : the behavioral basis of design, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J, pp. 26-38