Being inspired by the perpetual geometry of fractals in which similar shapes recur at progressively bigger scales, we created a flower-like pattern based on our Grasshopper definition.

Shallow in the middle and gradually deeper towards the edges, our concrete tile works as a landscape, driving the water flow outwards. The number of recesses on each side of the tile was done according to the requirements. The aforementioned restriction helped us to make a more dynamic pattern, dense in some sides and sparse to others.

The aim of our notion is to create the state which the model is able to be opened and closed. Have a look at our joints, they are the simplest shape fomed likes circle which there are several holes on it. By these, the rods could be formed into the spiral column, the advantage of the form, it could be changed the form into defferent states by rotating the joint. Firstly, move the joint along the colume shape we created and then push it towards the two seperated joints we fixed on the ground. In this state, the structure will display with fan-shaped. Secondly, having rotating the joint, the middile area will be opened likes the shell movement.

Each element in this design is a rectangular wood strip of the same length. The width of the strips begins at 4cm and decreases gradually as the structure continues up. Structurally, the tower is organized in two perpendicular axes, crossing at a central datum. In both axes, the strips bend in an alternating pattern as they go up, switching direction at each bend’s apex. Within each axis, the strips notch together when they cross. When the two axes cross at the central datum, they weave through each other. This weaving joint (along with the surrounding bent strips acting in tension) gives the structure its stability. An “X” in one axis weaves through an “eye” in the opposing axis. The angles of each “X” determine and stabilize the position of the “eye” that encapsulates it. As the width of the strips decreases, the radius of the “eye” increases. This causes all the strips around it to increase in radius, becoming thinner in overall plan diameter. Therefore, as each section’s strips get thinner, that section of the tower gets taller.

TEAM: Efilena Baseta, Elena Mitrofanova + Mary Katherine Heinrich