MOSS
Gabriella Larissa Marina Silva Nara Tumkus Vitoria Moret
AN5DP Models and Prototypes Prof. Denivaldo Leite
ANALYSIS We can verge the beginning of art history starting from the technological development. Without the available tools and instruments it would not be possible, for example, to paint the human primitive representations that humans left inside cave walls; much less carving clay walls with graphic representations of writings, such as the ones done by the Sumerians centuries ago. To establish the relationship between the improvement of techniques and media with their application in the areas of art and design, it is the most efficient way to pave the way for reproducibility in the digital age. In various artistic manifestations and industrial processes, the diversity of techniques for project development becomes essential to generate innovation; on this account the solutions already known only bring already known results. With the development of software in post 90s era, the areas of architecture, design and visual arts have gained new possibilities to explore new paths. These software enabled a breakthrough in the work of two-dimensional drawings, photo realistic renderings, detailed production processes and constructions, composition and referencing, etc. However, using them only to reuse the same creative method is not enough. We must turn to questions that guide the great works of the past twenty years: the use of programing and computer as a support tool for digital manufacturing projects. Currently all major design and architecture companies already use multidisciplinary teams to develop such projects. As Mark Burry said, the first reason to program is productivity. And these tools bring great freedom of operation of manufacturing and design methods, including issues such as materiality, global cooperation and sustainability. This contributes to the disruption of methodological traditions within universities and the market and increased decentralization of knowledge, which in turn encourages a sense of community and expansion of social orders. Both major companies and anyone with access to software (usually free) and Internet can develop highly complex projects using essentially the same concepts.
Nicholas Negroponte crafted this disintegration of information and support in 1995 in his book Being Digital, which conceptualize the changes of the new era “atom to bit�. This change is easily perceived if we consider the materialization process, where the object with its deconstructed information accordingly changes the way we design. The digital age brings a greater emphasis on connectivity, because we have many supports to work the same information (laptops, desktops, mobile phones, etc.); encourages diversity and simultaneity; the co-participation and global cooperation, which brings ecological and social responsibility; raises decentralized social organizations (Marshall McLuhan, 1960), which develop unreserved knowledge to the media or government entities; and also brings a flow of deep events that change culturally and technologically the universe of objects and their relationships, as mentioned by Frazer. The use of some specific tools based new processing methodologies of the new era, including the algorithm, which is a developed modeling on the programing language, capable of expressing executable instructions for computers and form finding, known as an alternative approach that explores systems complexes and their structural associative relationships between materials and geometric shapes. Moreover, we can mention the Kangaroo program, which develops double curvature geometries, possibility to use meshes rather than surfaces. It is necessary to introduce such tools, especially in the world of students, as these are essential for developing innovative designs and new capabilities of exploitation of forms and functions, continuing the technological and industrial development flow.
3D PRINTING Creating a digital parametric object involves a few steps one needs to go through in order to “bring it to the real world�. After the conceptualization, it is necessary that you experiment the various possibilities of forms that will illustrate the idea. Then, the best form is chosen and it begins to be produced and tested. That process can be done on either a 3D printer or a laser cutter machine, which will need some work later on to stick the pieces together. There are other ways to transform digital into physical, but for this design we`ve used a 3D printer to make the entire process. For the creation of a lamp, we`ve used one software and two plug-ins, Rhino, Weaver Bird and Grasshopper. First, we made a few format experiements, exploring the evolution set up of visual programming (we used Grasshopper and Weaver Bird in that stage). The axis curve that gave the form of the lamp was drawn in Rhino, then set up in Grasshopper and Weaver Bird was used to give it its rounded format. Finally, we chose the one that most applied to the concepts we had decided in the first steps. After that, we sent it to a 3D printer for fabrication. We followed this last stage remotely. The filament used was ABS 1.75mm. After the object was completely printed, we extracted the extra parts the printer had made that served as basis to the printing process, in the areas where there was no sustenance. Just before it was ready to use, we sanded it and put some lubricant, so the surface was softer. The whole process was done digitally. First, from the process of creation, with form exploration and digital manipulation, we came up with a final form that was exported to the 3D printer. After the 3D printing, we finalized the object with sanding and lubricating. As it was a lamp, we`ve made a couple of roles in the basis of the piece to add electric cables that were connected to the lamp socket.
CONCEPT When given our brief we decided to create something mainly sustainable, because we believe that contemporary design should always make sustainability a top priority. Our briefing was to build an installation within university walls and we wanted to build something useful and that would positively affect the daily life of students, so through research and case study we decided to focus on vertical gardens, and the challenge to unite a technological process with earth’s natural resources proved to be excitingly entertaining. Since we are working with organic matter the garden's final form will be geometrical; a circle, as suggested by our choice in presentation, the circle has many mystic meanings behind it's form, in Buddhism, the Enso symbolizes a moment that is free from any bounds, a state of enlightenment, perfect continuity and balance, and that is poetic and inspiring enough to coexist with the daily life of design students in the Centro Universitario Belas Artes, nature has always been known for bringing a sense of comfort into human lives, achieving that through design is a job well done.