The thought was to overcome the limitations of the milling machine and the concrete hence present a tile that would appear to be visually soft and contrast to both the nature of the material and the machine.

To achieve our goal we focused on two main aspects the first being the use of shadows to make the material more vivid and the second designing to maintain the values which we are able to mill using the machine.

Hence the idea of forming a regular pattern was ruled out and the approach was to simulate the nature of the woolen fiber. 

In order to achieve the desired simulation an image of the wool was inserted into Rhino, Grasshopper and Photoshop. Various permutations and combinations were done to provide the dramatic effect we wanted to create.

We then used this as the basis for our design in Rhinocam where various strategies (curve machining, parallel finishing) were tried.

In order to take take advantage of the milling machine only points at different levels were given the shape formed as a resulted generated purely by the machine itself.  The final strategy with the tool of ball mill 12 used were horizontal roughening, hole pocketing and engraving.

The mold was then cleaned made non porous using epoxy. Vaseline was then added in order to prevent the concrete from sticking to the mold. The mold was then again experimented on with by trying to changing it’s the nature using the Vaseline.

The idea was to create a structure that was deploy-able by unfolding and at the same time to imitate the flowers that open and close with the sun (nyctinasty).

This was done by using a ring at the base along which the joints slide to help close the open structure.

Two joints were used to create the structure above. The first kind of joint helps move the rods along the ring.  The second joint was to ensure two rods  in place to provide the pattern required. These joints were not fixed to allow different patterns along the two rods if needed. The curvatures of the rods help keep these joints in any required position.

The simple mechanism used allows the curved rods to move along the rings not only providing two, but numerous possibilities of creating openings along various points of the ring.

The structure can be assembled and disassembled easily depending on the size of the base ring required. It could could also be developed to form the framing of a structure used for shelter. This could either be temporary or permanent.