GH Portfolio_YUE ZHAN

ARC6811

Parametric Architectural Geometry [Final project]

Yue Zhan 200201823 School of Architecture, University of Sheffield

PROPOSAL STATEMENT

lighting intensity as a factor for opening scale

groups

joints in groups

joints between groups

This project focuses on parametric design of a lighting with disciplinary lampshade based on the position of the inner point light and influential element on external environment. It not only has decorative performance but also considers the rationality of lighting logic and optical comfort. The form seems not so complicate but there are many details such as the comparison of materials, the stability of structure, the way of joint, the fabrication technique.

• Structure The whole shape bases on spherical geometry. According to the position of lighting, the openings on the surface follow continuous diversification— the openings near the lighting point are larger than the openings far from the light. Every opening is quadrangle which is more concise and convenient for fabrication and assembling.

• Material Three materials-maple timber, PVC plastic and corrugated cardboard which are the common modeling materials in installation art would be considered and compared with intensity, tenacity, weight and price elements.

• Joint The joints of the object are divided into two groups. One group is composed by the interjection between the four quadrilateral planes with intersecting planar pieces. These planar pieces are as extension of quadrilateral plane which are as a whole pieces in the design. Another group is the boundary between every opening.

• Fabrication technique Considering the flexibility, economy, inclusiveness to materials and controllable steps, laser cutting working in 2D environment is the better choice compared to 3D printing in this case.

2

THE PROCESS OF IDEATION

function

decoration

Parametric design with the tools such as Grasshopper, Rhino, Weavebird could help designing a lighting equipped with both function and decoration.

This is the first lighting project that I tried, however, considering the diversity of constructure and soildity of the object, it is changed.

The whole project is connected with the joints like the diagram shows, which may be not firm when assembling.

ideation process

Based on the former work, different opening shapes are considered by both mesh form or surface form. Finally, surface form is developed in this project because it has more advantages especially with 2D laser cutting fabracation.

The second try of the basic lighting geometry(also the final version) inspired by platonic soild and applying catmull-clark subdivision to make it more diverse.

Cube

Dodecahedron

<=

+

image by en:User:Cyp and copied from the English Wikipedia. - not stated, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons. wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38668

The reason of chosing dodecahedron as the basic geometry is that it has both the solid structure like cube and flexible face like sphere and it is also platonic solid.

mesh

surface

Shpere

Catmull-clark subdivision 3

PARAMETRIC GEOMETRY CONSTRUCTION

layer

process

construct the basic geometry

locate the center point of the opening

generate surfaces and construct the joints

4

DIGITAL DESIGN STRATEGIES materials comparsion

A group assembling method

Glue (joints between groups)

material

PVC 3mm

maple timber 3mm fabrication technique

CNC cutting Plug-in (joints in grops)

groups 14

13

12

11

10

29

28

27

26

25

9

24

8

23

7

22

44

43

56

71

40

55

39

38

54

53

37

52

51

20

35

34

33

17

32

1

16

31

0

15

2

73

41

5

18

58

74

72

36

3

59

57

42

21

19

pros:

pros:

• durable

• tenacity • strength

• cheap • light

cons:

cons:

• low transparency

• Low hardness

cons:

joints

6

4

corrugated cardboard 3mm

pros:

• crispy • expensive

assembling method

pvc 3mm

30

50

49

48

47

46

45

70

69

68

67

66

65

64

63

89

88

87

86

85

84

83

104

103

118

134

133

149

148

147

162

101

116

131

146

161

100

115

99

98

114

113

130

145

129

144

128

143

112

127

142

81

96

111

126

141

80

95

79

78

163

132

97

82

164

117

102

94

93

77

92

61

76

91

60

75

62

119

90

110

125

109

124

108

107

106

105

123

122

121

120

140

139

160

159

179

194

178

193

177

192

207

191

206

176

190

205

174

189

204

158

173

157

172

187

202

171

186

201

156

188

155

170

185

154

169

184

153

137

152

167

182

151

166

181

135

208

175

138

136

209

150

168

165

183

180

203

200

199

224

223

222

221

236

220

219

218

217

216

215

214

213

197

212

195

238

237

198

196

239

211

210

235

234

233

232

231

230

229

228

227

226

225

5

DESIGN CONSTRAINTS ANALYSIS

optimization surfaces

triangle polygons

trimed surface

optimized lighting geometry

radiation intensity In order to increase the light transmittance and radiation intensity of the lighting, regularly arranged triangular holes are arranged on the surface, which, at the same time, makes the surface pattern more diverse.

6

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION

• Structure Dodecahedron is an ideal geometry for lighting equipment because it is platonic solid which has average structure-every edges and faces are same and its property is between sphere and cube with both stability and flexibility.Based on this geometry, the component named catmull-clark subdivision form weaverbird is implemented to subdivide the mesh(dodecahedron) in details and the result is a geometry with same quadrilateral faces as figure1 shows(two shorter edges and two longer edges are in same length respectively). Before going on more operations on the geometry, I thought how to develop the object with mesh form or surface form. Both of them can be sculpted in diverse body, however, considering the operability and economy, the surface form is better, in which 2D fabrication such as laser cutting can be applied. Next step is dealing with the openings on the faces impacted by the attractor-the position of lighting point. The faces far away the lighting point have smaller openings while the ones near the attractor have larger opening size. The lighting point position is at lower bottom of the sphere center(figure2), in that case, more light could pass through the bottom faces and directly provide brightness for users. Every face in this case is not attached to the basic geometry but more like extension from the basement, as the result, it looks more stereoscopic and interesting.

• Joint In this case, the interventions from the materials and process are minimized, which means that the joints in or between groups are extensions form the quadrilateral pieces(figure3). Therefore, when the frame and structure of this object are determined, the pieces of each group in three-dimensional space are projected to XY plane where it is more convenient and concise to deal in details. As the figure3 shows, part ③ is extension according to edge2 and it leaves a space for glueing between every two adjacent groups. Glueing between groups makes the whole structure more robust and stable compared with first project(figure4) which is totally assembled with planar piece interaction leading to structural instability and huge assembly workload. The joints in groups between pieces is plug-in without glue(figure5). Support point bears the mutual force from two adjacent pieces and at the same time lock them to keep the structural stability.

top

center lighting point bottom figure1

figure2

0 ①

② 1

3 2 ③ figure3

figure4

figure5

7

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION

• Material Three types of materials are chosen as the candidate lighting materials: maple timber, PVC and corrugated cardboard. By comparing their properties, it is concluded that PVC 3mm is the most suitable material for this case because of high tenacity and high strength. Despite low shading, it can be solved through structural way (figure6).

hole figure6

• Optimization The analysis of the radiation intensity of the lighting shows that the lighting equipment needs more improvements to allow more light to shine. To increase light transmittance and make the surface pattern more abundant, triangle polygons are applied to trim the surface and generate transparent surfaces.

• Reflection There are still some insufficiencies and defects in this case. First one is that I didn’t think about the angle of the plug-in joint in groups. I found this problem when I was doing my physical joint model and when I tried to assemble the pieces I found the adjacent edges are not perfectly in a line, there is some small slot at the joint position. The reason may be that I dealt with these joint parts in XY plane and ignore the three-dimensional circumstance. The second insufficiency is that in the optimization phase, I use the component called solid different to trim the surface with triangle polygons, which takes almost 7-minute computing time.

8