We designed our tile using hexagons that create undulations on the surface such that they form concave-convex surfaces. The forms seem to interchange, creating an illusion. When the liquid is poured on the tile it flows to the valleys and dips which contains it and creates an opposite effect as the tile itself does before it flows to the adjacent tiles. Looking at it, is it concave? or concave? 

We created a mold in order to duplicate the tile design. We used Rhinoceros as a digital tool to define the geometry of the hexagonal form on the mold, keeping the lowest point of the tile contour synchronized with the level of the connecting valleys with the adjacent tiles. We then used RhiCAM to carefully choose the right strategies and milling tools to achieve a surface that can show the pattern of the tile, at the same time to maintain a productive milling process (less than 2 hours to complete)

Once the mould was milled, we sealed the surface with four layers of sealant in order to cover the pores of the Styrofoam mold, followed by a layer of Vaseline to prevent the concrete from adhering to the mould. The mixture of the concrete used for each tile production was a mixture of 2400ml aggregate : 480ml cement : 400ml water : 25ml accelerator. The filled mould was then patiently vibrated to let the water bubbles out (hence no holes on the face)

The aim of the exercise was to create a dynamic form with minimal number of simple joints. A dynamic structure was designed with only three types of 3D printed joints ie; 1) roller-joints 2) sliders and 3) and perforated ring. The whole structure was made to take advantage of the bending properties of the fiber rod.

The model forms a floral shape with four “petals” that can open and close forming the different instances. The structure begins with ball bearings (fixed to the base on four corners) the rod starts from one corner, forms a loop passing through the central ring (the tying element at the apex) and the slider (on the base) and ends at another ball bearing on the diagonally opposite corner. We also tried to combine laser cutting technique along with this exercise by placing the sliders on laser cut tracks so that they could move along and as well as lock themselves on the track. While the sliders are pushed-in or pulled-out, the resultant compression in the rods and deformation of the peripheral structure are corrected automatically by the movement of the ball bearings.

the process…

the joints…

Triagon is a combination of triangles and a penthagons coexisting in the same structure.

The goal of this first Digital Fabrication project was to build a tower out of 4 board of 3mm plywood while exploring the properties of the material and to acquaint ourselves with laser cutting.

The Triagon stands 2.7m tall. The structure is made out of a single 180° twisted plywood elements which works in tension along with the joints to form an equilateral triangle which is the basic unit of the tower.

Remita Thomas /Rodion Eremeev / Alejandro Martínez del Campo

We began with triangles as the basic geometry of our structure because of its stability. After inicial testings of the possible joinery with cartboard and plywood we realized that a combination of circles and rods would be the most efficient design for our conections.

Later on we wanted to play with the properties of the material, so we started bending and twisting the rod, which generates stress on the joints and makes the basic unit more robust. In order to twist the rods 180°  we had to use another technique which involved wetting the plywood so that it became more elastic and cuting inside the rod a dentate form with circular ends to prevent breakage. We also found out that rods needed to be cut in the same directions of the fibers so that the twisting could be achieved.

To minimize the waste of the material and the cutting time we used just 2 elements in the whole structure, one was the 30cm rod itself and the other was the circular conections which we also used for attaching the tower to the base.