WEAVING ORBS

YEAR: 2020

INSTITUITION: TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

PROFESSOR: ELISANDRA GARCIA + CATHERINE SODERBERG - ESPER

PROJECT LOCATION: SIGNAPORE, SINGAPORE

This effort involved examining Singapore’s natural species and seasons in order to better understand their environments. The idea was to create a building in which people and animals could interact. The fundamental construction of the weaving orbs is bamboo. The exterior shell is comprised of tiny chopped bamboo pieces to produce a weaving look. Humans and the whiskered treeswift can interact with the orbs during the day, while the nocturnal larger slow loris can interact at night.

Analysis

Site Plan Analysis

1. Beach Front

- salt Water

- fishermen access to sea

2. Fresh Water Lakes

- fresh water

- surrounded by granite

3. Salt Water Swamp

- formed by seawater flooding and draining

- soils: sandy clay, sandy clay loam, clay loam

- anaerobic soil

4. Fresh Water Swamp

- saturated soils

- soils: loam, sandy loam, silt loam, silt

- soil drains slowly

- anaerobic soil

5. Salt Water River

- produces salt water swamps

- soils: clay loam, silty clay loam

Project 06

Parametric Grid

YEAR: 2021

INSTITUITION: TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

PROFESSOR: ERIN HUNT

TEAM MEMBERS: KEVIN FLORES + MOHAMMAD KARKOUTLY +

ADRIAN REYNA + DEREK WILLIAMS

The design utilizes a gridded array of squared protrusions that emerge out of the surface and out into the Z-axis. Our positive form was utilized to create a negative or invert form allowing for a waffle structure pattern to be displayed in the mold. The result is a solid, parametric textured gridded surface on the face of the object which can potentially be used as a façade or used for other design related purposes.

The iteration of the cast was as a single piece and the huge surface area created some issues when it came to removing the cast from the formwork. The solution that we came upon was to place the cast and formwork in the freezer for a few minutes and this made it easier to remove. However, doing this every time was not efficient since it did not allow us to reuse the cast right way. The benefit of this iteration was the detail and resolution of the casted object was very clear and easily readable. The detail of the 3D model was reciprocated almost exactly within the cast providing a great model. So, for the next iteration the formwork was redesign to allow for the cast to be more easily removeable so that it could be reused quickly.