DIGITAL DESIGN + FABRICATION SM1, 2015 M2 JOURNAL - PAPER UMBRELLA Hanxuan (Billy) Bi, Xing Yi, Aye Banez
(673831) (692049) (698701) Michelle James Seminar 1
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Sketch Design Development
We each took an aspect of our ideas from Module 1 and put them together to create a developed design that we thought responded to personal space.
COMBINING IDEAS
Billy’s idea focused on an object opening and expanding like an umbrella to extend the boundaries of the wearer’s personal space when the object is open.
Billy’s idea
Xing’s idea
Aye’s idea
Xing’s idea was using the skin element as an opaque covering of the body, placed over the bones in a strategic manner. Aye’s idea was establishing the different layers of the wearer’s personal boundaries which varies for different parts of the body.
Like a jackfruit, keeping people away by its fearsome thorns 2
Irregular clothes with opaque coverings---prevent people to see through the body
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We went through a series of sketches combining our ideas together and the drawing on the left is a rough sketch of the developed idea we all agreed on. Refering back to the page 3, it uses the mechanism of the umbrella which opens and closes or expanding and retracting to respond to different situations that the wearer is in. Because the wearer is not always in a situation where his/her personal space is being invaded, the object should allow interaction with people the wearer has a close relationship with. Between the three of us, we valued our personal space around the shoulders and back area, hence why the second skin is placed on the back with varying sizes with more focus on the shoulders.
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Refined Sketch Model
Taking Aye’s reconfigured object from Module 1, we can incorporate the idea of placing the skin only on specific areas. In certain angles, the second skin can block the view of the invader which can at least lessen the feeling of uneasiness the wearer might feel in this situation.
We can also incorporate the way the object has been constructed, more specifically the back of the reconfigured object. This mimics the construciton of the umbrella where the bones all meet at one point. Each rib is connected to a stretcher which creates the fold. And because the set of stretchers connect at one point, it allows the fold to curve, thus creating the form similar to the panel in our developed design.
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2nd Skin proposed design
PLAN
ISOMETRIC
ELEVATION 6
The idea was to structure the skin in a manner that would reflect the wearer’s idea of personal space; only blocking certain parts of the body that could make the wearer feel uncomfortable once the personal space is invaded. Therefore the skin element of the design does not cover the bone structure, leaving areas to be hollow.
This shows the second skin expanded which ideally should also cover the parts of the body in which the wearer would feel uncomfortable if that part was exposed.
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Precedent Research Burnham Pavilion by Zaha Hadid Architects
STRETCHED SKIN / TENSION
In order to create the pavilion, the bones have to differ in size which is shown in the diagram. The skin is stretched over the bones which acts as cladding for the structure. In hind sight, the bones Description of precedent are concealed as the skin is placed over them, however because of the material used and the tension in the fabric reveals the bones holding the structure together. And the superimpositions of spatial structures with looming hidden traces by using stretch- As seen on the analysis drawing above, instead of using whole piece of fabric attach on the bone able fabric is a highlight of the whole design. structure, Burnham pavilion distributes each claddings in different size and special comformation to place them over the bones. 8
Precedent applied to design STRETCHED SKIN / TENSION
initial skin idea
How can you use this precedent to influence your design ? Initially, we were going to manipulate the materials to be used as skin to mimic the shape of the stretched skin on the precedent, however this changed to actually using a stretchable fabric to cover the bones and also incorporate the idea of indistinct traces. And the change of not unified length of each layers apply to the different size of claddings on Burnham pavilion. 9
Design development
ELEVATION
PLAN 10
ISOMETRIC
OPEN Ideally, the skin would be shear to show the bones of the model. Similar to the sketch model from Module 1, some areas will be left empty or without skin and those with the fabric will either be 1 layer of the sheer fabric or 2 layers to create opacity. The Rhino models on the right show the bones both open and close.
CLOSE 11
Prototype
Our first prototype focuses on the idea of pulling the panels open which requires more force . The panels are all connected by a wire at one point to allow rotation and string is used for the movement.
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This prototype explores a similar mechanism with the pivot point, however instead of pulling, the string is released which allows gravity to help ease the opening of the object. The bottom layer is also fixed to a base to be attached to the wearer’s body.
Using the laser cut option, we assembled each layer of a fragment of the second skin design. These were then attached together to mimic the sketch prototype on the previous page with the pivot point.
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Testing Effects
Our group’s second skin maps the bondaries of the wearer’s personal space where it changes along with the situation. If placed within a comfortable space, the wearer can have the second skin closed. People with an intimate relationship with the wearer are allowed a much closer distance between the wearer and person. The wearer also has control over the boundaries of the personal space by simply releasing the string in varying degrees. This responds to the middle layer of personal space which is for social situations. There becomes a fine line between comfort and discomfort. Lastly, by completely relasing the string, the wearer opens the second skin completely preventing any close contact with the wearer in an uncomfortable situation. There are different distances for each panel as certain parts of the wearer’s body have different personal space boundaries. 14
Appendix - extra prototypes
detail of the joint
These were other experimentations with how we could create the design, mostly focusing on joints rather than the mechanism. Eventually, we opted for the joint system on the bottom photo.
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These were other experimentations for the skin of the design. A long strip of fabric was wrapped around every panel. We didn’t go for this as it ressembled our first developed idea.
This was a simple exploration of how the skin might look over the bone structure of the design where it is stretched over the bones.
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