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)

“Kinetic Red Boots”

Group 7

The main idea of our design was to create a static structure that could be converted into a kinetic structure exploiting the properties of the material tension and bending. Based on a single figure and repeating it twice, the goal was to create a sense of depth from the horizontal. We made the design of three different nodes or joints that would allow us our idealized objectives:

1) The cross- its main feature would be  join two elements in counterclockwise and prevent the buckling of these elements due to bending that would occur by elements located in the top.

2 ) The inverted K- the most important and central Union of the structure, which would be in contact with most of the bars , enabling the desired deflection at the main arch and in turn become a free joint along arc , allowing the structure due to the tension of one side to the other , moving from left to right , opposite directions.

3) The sucker – Due of its four arms this binding would give rigidity to the structure and in turn the union of the three individual structures, holding the rods and causing the tension and compression in these once started moving in both directions .

The first experiments started trying to make use of a single repeating element that could generate a stable structure. While this approach was rich in stability and had the advantage of very little material waste, it had the disadvantage of not being able to reach impressive heights.  Based on these results, a decision was made to design a structure based on two repeating elements, one joinery piece and one main vertical piece.

Trials using 1mm cardboard and 3 mm plywood sheets

 The digital trials and final design (Rhino)

 The goal was to create a simple elegantly flowing structure with the least material waste and the highest possible height. The main vertical piece suffered alterations in order to obtain the most stable curvature which would allow the structure to change diameters as its moving upwards.

The fabrication process on the Laser Multicamm 2000 – 1:50h -

The final result was a stable 4.6 m tall plywood structure

Details

Group 1 /Ruxandra Iancu Bratosin/ Wen Shan Foo/ Asif Rahman