The exercise aims  to understand the various aspects of milling machine, the ability for it to make an architectural detail and to understand its constraints on design.  Focusing on the use of milling tools in order to get specific forms, the exercise was to design a hexagonal tile of size that would be tangential to the points given so as to create a seamless repetition of patterned designs thus the pattern should allow rain water to flow seamlessly in order for it to make its way out of the pattern.

Design:

The concept and the goal of the pattern is to create a seamless flow on organizing curvilinear lines, this is achieved  by the use of different levels of curvilinear pattern linked to each other, it is derived and inspired from a series of abstract patterns that were extracted to study water flow thus from diverse animal patterns seen on different kinds of animals and organisms. This pattern works as rainwater collector diverting excess water to a specific area when interconnected for the reason that each lines are levelled up to bottom, sloped gradient from higher centre of tile to the lower edges. Coming from the middle point of the tile, when channelled to each other it creates a slide through and through, so that water are collected into a specific area. The extruded lines also creates a rough surface that has the capability to trap dirt, for safety reason the pattern is designed as a non slip surface.

Process:

The process initiated various curvy linear lines within the hexagon and whereby understanding the flow patterns, further this lines arranged at different levels to get a clear idea of water flow, then with the help of 3d modelling various curves were examined and its flow were studied. This patterns were tested with the help of CAD-CAM stimulation and milling tools, giving a clear idea of actual formations. Hence a final prototype was derived through it and milling G-Code were exported. This G-codes were feuded in milling machine. The milling was done on 50mm Thick Styrofoam. Through intensive milling, a foam mould for casting tiles was produced. In order to cast a concrete tile the mould surface was finished with Vaseline so that the concrete won’t stick to the mould and multiple tiles can be produced through single mould. Further it was poured with concrete and dried for 12 hours. The tile was taken out from the mould and settled for another 12 hour in order that it is completely dried out. The process was repeated and multiple tiles were casted. The Vaseline on tiles was cleaned through water and finally tiles were dried and polished.

Renderings:

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.

NOTE: CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW TO ANIMATE

To create the tile, we began with a process of experimenting with the possibilities and limitations of the parameters of the hexagon – mainly the shape, size and quantities of the water excavation curves.

L-System

Voronoi Web

Bent Whirlpool

Lofting Curves

 From this early point of experimentation, we moved into simplifying the process and the design. The result was to take a direct inspiration from natural. A beautiful, naturally occurring phenomenon known as the channel country.

Seemingly chaotic in many senses, the channel country follows a very simple order – the water flows along the path of least resistance, slowly creating rivers and networks in its wake. Ever changing, yet ever lasting.

The process to take this idea into a reality came when exploring tools in rhino. We understood that we could use the variants of gradients in an image to create depth on a 2-dimensional field.

From the drawings, it was a long and educational experience to understand how to transfer the imagined images into drawings, and then into a 3-dimensional field in Rhino.

The final output of the tiles into a built form was an interesting experience to say the least. Working with compressed foam-board had limitations of its own. Our mould suffered a crack after the first pour. Prior to that, machining had resulted in the CRC Milling Machine cutting a line through the side of the mould, leaving a hole to be filled by Stucco.

Although the cold weather significantly slowed down the progress of curing the concrete, we were able to overcome this by efficient time management to produce 6 full tiles as per the brief.

 We started looking for inspirational graphics that allowed us to generate a pattern according to the constraints.

A design based on abstract diagrams and Pre-Columbian mythological animals is our model to explore and create that unknown connection between multiple tiles, as in tile Dali, our example as a starting point.

Having a mosaic depicting a suggestive shape, but the uncertainty of what the shape is going to be after the accommodation of the tiles is a mental-unexpected game product of the positioning and abstraction.

Renata de Castro | Asif Rahman | Gustavo Triana

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…

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