Week Six Virtual Design Rebecca Mahoney 584252 Group 6
Mar 10, 2016
Week Six Virtual Design
Rebecca Mahoney 584252 Group 6
Virtual: Summa4on of process
The strangler fig starts its life by being ingested by a bird or small animal which then deposits it in the upper branches of a tree aCer diges4on. The strangler fig then germinates, sending lots of roots upwards for sunlight and downwards for nutrient. Eventually, we the strangler fig competes with its host tree for resources it creates a series of connected and fused roots that being to take over the tree. Ul4mately the strangler fig out competes the host tree effec4vely starving and killing it. Ini4ally I had planned on making a hand held model ,but in looking at the aggressive compe44ve nature of the fig I though it would be more appropriate to have a lantern that hung on the body rather than a more passive model.
In order to go from my solid clay model I used the contouring method by which I made the model and then cut it into cross sec4ons at roughly 1.5 cm intervals. ACer impor4ng the image into rhino I was able to trace the shape of the cross sec4ons and create a series of curves.
Virtual: Clay to computer
I was then able to extrapolate a three dimensional curve from front and top views of my model. The previous contours I had traced of my cross sec4ons could then be placed onto the curve and loCed. I found that when trying to loC my curve there were lots of kinks that closed the surface. ACer a few manipula4ons of surface direc4on I was able to fix the problem.
Virtual: LoCing
The Absolute Towers. Mississauga, Canada
Virtual: Precedent
The Sleeping Suit ™ Forrest Jessee
Designed to mean that you can sleep anywhere at any 4me, the Sleep Suit ™ is made from a mesh of self suppor4ng material that collapses around the body laterally. The concept that can be derived from this design for my panels could be the changeability of the form and appearance of the mesh forma4on at different heights.
Virtual: Precedent
Virtual: 2D tests
These are a series of paneling op4ons that played with aCer I had loCed my model. I experimented with using more than one panel type which was good aesthe4cal however I don’t think that it would be easy or feasible when it came to physically making my model. The paneling that I liked the most was the wave panels, I felt that this panel arrangement was best able to show the aggressive and overlapping nature of strangler figs. I preferred the paneling paVerns when they had smaller width and were more elongated, making them look more complex and aggressive
Before paneling Combina4on paneling
Wave paneling Triangular paneling Wave paneling
Virtual: Paneling errors
Occassionaly when paneling my model these elongated and seemingly random extrusions would appear. I was able to remove them by pulling apart the layers of my model and its panels, whereby I could simply delete this panel defect.
Virtual: Panel choice
This was the paneling I liked the most because of its intricacy and the aggressiveness of the sharp and repeated edges that it creates.
Virtual: Ligh4ng
What I enjoy about this model is that light can only escape from the open ends. In having the openings at the top and boVom it shows the way that the strangler fig grows, that its figh4ng for the prize of light and nutrients
Virtual: Readings and lectures
What I drew from the lectures varied, Paul Loh’s lecture on paVern forma4on was a par4cularly interes4ng insight into natural and man made paVerns and also the appearance of fractals. To some degree I believe that fractals and the repeated image over different temporal scales can be seen in my paneling choice, the tessella4on of the geometric shapes repeats itself with accumula4on. The look into the Eureka Pavilion and the way in which light entered the space got me thinking about the way in which materials affected the way a space was seen, used and enjoyed. When this was combined with the insight into materials in the Fleishman ar4cle, it became apparent of the effect that materials could have upon design, especially when combined with advanced computer modeling programs that have the ability to redefine what's physically possible. I found the Polling ar4cle on Kandinsky’s method of drawing interes4ng and a good way of stripping back process to the bare bones in order to create a simple tangible canvas to start with. This was the case with my model, I stripped the process of strangler fig growth to three complex steps: germina4on growth and consump4on, which allowed me to create a simple model to project further detail onto.
Virtual: Reflec4on
I hate rhino. Mostly because I don’t understand it and because of almost every technical error or failure possible that I went through. Not having had enough 4me was the major let down of this project. What I’ve taken from this process is to get started a lot earlier. I haven’t given myself sufficient 4me to develop the process, prototyping and paneling which is quiet obvious. However through somewhat familiarizing myself with rhino I’ve learnt that the boundaries of what is physically possible is so expansive with today's technology, although I definitely prefer design that’s a tad more tangible, there are so many advantages to this technology especially in terms of what you can make materials do.
Forrest, jessee (2006), Sleep Suit ™, Forrest Jessee, http://www.forrestjessee.com/#SLEEP-SUIT, viewed august 29 2012
Design build-network.com, (2011),Absolute Towers, Net Resources International, viewed 28 august 2012, http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/absolutetowers/
Virtual: Reference list