Our line of thought was to design a joint, which had the ability to move within itself and control the motion of the resultant structure and not just provide the structural support. The exploration trials were of the various possibilities in which the motion of the joint was the result of the structure to be designed and not the structure as the resultant of the joint.

In the final design, the bending properties of the pipe were used in the form of a circle that gives the circular form to the entire structure. The 3D printing technology gave us the chance to explore Joints which could result in dynamic changes in the form of the structure.

A flat disk opening out into a complete cylindrical structure.

The assignment was to build a tower, tall, freestanding, with no extra elements, using four 840x400mm 3mm thick Plywood sheets.

The initial thought process was to achieve height by eliminating vertical elements and reducing the amount of wastage of material. To create stabilitiy and variation a “RING MODULE” with 5 nodal points was designed which could be generated 2 on each board. The remaining material was designed to be the “DIAMOND CONNECTORS” connecting the horizontal rings. 

The concept was to discover the possibilities of the plywood, by testing the limits and methods in terms of flexibility and the effects of tension on the wood’s fibers. To be able to handle the circular tension, a locking mechanism was designed allowing the horizontal loops and vertical repetition of modules. Techniques such as soaking in water and letting the modules dry in their bent form helped us to reach the design objective.

MARIA CZAJCZYNSKA        HRIDAY SIDDHARTH        GOKHAN CATIKKAS

BENDING

FINAL BOARD

1/5 PIECES

1/5 RING

ASSEMBLY