DDF M4 Panel & Fold

DIGITAL DESIGN + FABRICATION SM1, 2017 M4 JOURNAL -PANEL & FOLD Deon Cham Dao Xuan (783866)

NIC DINGWEN BAO # 11

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CONTENT 0.0

INTRODUCTION

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IDEATION 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

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Object Measurement System Analysis Reconfiguration Outsome and Reflection

DESIGN 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8

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Design Development Introduction Digitalisation + Design Proposal V.1 Digitalisation + Design Proposal V.2 Precedent Research Precedent Applied to Design Design Proposal V.1 Design Proposal V.2 Prototype V.1 and Testing Effects

FABRICATION 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7

Fabrication Introduction Design Development and Fabrication of Prototype V.2 Final Prototype Development and Optimisation Final Digital Model Fabrication Sequence Assembly Drawing Complete Second Skin

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REFLECTION

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APPENDIX 5

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DESIGN OBJECTIVE Design an innovative second skin that uses the body as its site and protect our personal space.

DESIGN BRIEF A three dimensional wearable secnd skin that response to the concept of personal space and its boundary with the environment.

0.0 INTRODUCTION

KEY CONCEPTS Volume Materiality Personal Space Spatial and Emotional Effects Rhino 3D modelling Fabrication

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1.0

IDEATION

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1.1

OBJECT MEASUREMENT OPEN

FRONT ELEVATION

SCALE 1: 2

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SIDE ELEVATION

CLOSED

SCALE 1: 2

FRONT ELEVATION

SCALE 1: 2 SIDE ELEVATION

SCALE 1: 2 PIVOT PLAN

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MEASURING METHODOLOGY Three methods were used for the completion of these set of measured drawings.

FIrstly, the paper fan was laid flat on the photocopy machine and scanned for easy tracing. Then, photos of the fan were taken as shown above as references for the interior of the drawings. Due to its structure, scanning from side view would be fairly difficult. Lastly, the paper fan was dismantled in order to trace the armatures and webbing at the scale of 1:1.

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1.2

SYSTEM ANALYSIS

The pivot plays a very important role in transforming the shape and function of the fan. From this view, the armatures slot into the pivot and secure themselves in between the heads.

The pivot acts as a focal point of the whole structure. The paper fan folds and moves accordingly without losing the center point. The increase in length and number of the armatures contribute to more movements and open up possibilities of geometry.

When the paper fan is completely opened, the nature of folding generates a clear arc shape. The surface area of the webbing can be determined by the angle between armatures.

Thus, big and small volumes could be formed with alteration of these aspects.

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1.3

RECONFIGURATION To reconfigure my system object, I first took the webbing and reshaped it into a two way system as shown in the picture below. By using this as an inspiration, the new object explores 3 different changes.

• A system with two and more pivots • Panels turn curves into volumes • Direct desired movement

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SKETCH DESIGN

This design is inspired by the introverts. Introverted people are very concerned with their personal space. Thus, with the ability to open and close through folding, it allows them to open up or protect their personal space whenever and wherever they need. This design is very similar to the paper fan in terms of function.

The design focuses on the shouder and the heart. The nervous system of the shoulders have a very strong bond with the heart.

When a person touches your shoulder from your back, the heart beats faster and fear is provoked. Hence, this design is a collective of large and small foldings spiking out when the shoulder is touched, acting as a sense of attack when personal space is invaded.

The idea behind this design is to ensure a better nap when in a bright environment. Most people might have the urge to take nap when they are tired during the day. However, the light will always be in your way. Thus, this design of fallen leaves creates an experience almost like napping under a tree where the leaves blocks all the light that might invade your personal space when you sleep.

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1.4

REFLECTION ON MODULE 1

The sketch model might not have a great potential to develop physically, however it has really strong concept, which can be carried forward to the next module for development.

The folding mechanism needs to have more flexibility and moves in more direction to achieve complexity and sophistication.

Different material will further be tested as bamboo sticks are too fragile in this case. Materials such as polypropylene is taken into consideration for further development.

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2.0

DESIGN

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2.1

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT INTRODUCTION

Considering feedback from Module 1, we decided to further develop Fiona’s sketch design. It presents the idea of facing away, which formed the basis of our conceptual pathway.

This design is constructed with multiple hexagonal patterns that forms an envelope covering the head of the wearer. The hexagonal patterns resemble the building up of cells as part of the body’s self-protecting mechanism. The aim is to face away unwanted strangers and allows exposure to the exterior environment depending on different situations.

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SITE ANALYSIS SIGHT Photos of two people making eye contact and facing away.

Sight ignites a lot of emotional feelings and thoughts depending on what is visualised. However, when one faces away, one loses connection. Eye contact produces a sudden realisation that this is a human being and recognises their existence. Thus, closing of eyes or looking down are responses to minimise unwanted social intercourse. This inspired us to design a second skin that simplifies and enhances the human reaction to give a clearer response with reduced effort.

IN BETWEEN In between happens when emotions and personal space fluctuates. Based on the photo, a person covers her face while peeking through a hole, showing interest but with no self confidence to initiate an interaction. We intend to provide this moment for the user as this is a possible scenario during interaction.

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2.2

DIGITALISATION + DESIGN PROPOSAL V.1

This idea is developed from Fiona’s sketch design 1 that is more refined and improved in terms of functionality. The planar hexagon went through repetition and translation, which then formed into a spherical envelope. The wearer would have control of the environment and hence feel more secure. By integrating the rotational mechanism that we have proposed in our refined sketch model, it allows the second skin to better assist human’s reaction.

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2.3

DIGITALISATION + DESIGN PROPOSAL V.2

Due to uncertainly and failure to make decisions at this stage, we went further to develop Deon’s sketch design as a comparison. The concept is constructed with folded triangular geometries that move along its respective pivot points. The pivots locate themselves in opposing direction in order to create a more dynamic and robust panel and fold system. The foldings react according to human’s behaviour towards the surrounding environment.

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2.4 PRECEDENT RESEARCH

Chrysalis by MATSYS

Paper Cave by Edhv

Cloud Canopy by Maddison Architects

Concept: Cell, natural, unassertive

Concept: experiment, spatial experiment, enclosed

Concept: Transparency, weather shelter

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2.5 PRECEDENT APPLIED TO DESIGN We started applying the precedence theories into our design models. These are the three concepts that are brought forward to the final design development:

Action and reaction We combined the ideas of translation and extrusion introduced in Maddison Architects’ Cloud Canopy and Edhv’s Paper Cave as a technique to emphasise on action and reaction of the second skin. This concept is achieved by extruding the hexagonal patterns inwards and outwards to demonstrate a more dynamic shape and better representation of the second skin.

Introspection Inspired by the Paper Cave, we plan to integrate different sizes and heights of the hexagonal pyramid into a sequence of movements. With this, the second skin emphasises a sense of introspection, whereby the interior space is confined by the thorny edges that represents torture towards the wearer.

Organic form The Chrysalis by MATSYS asserts a strong self-organising structure that we think might take the form of our second skin.

The cells have unaggressive surface that helps the wearer to be more approachable and sociable.

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2.6 DESIGN PROPOSAL V.1

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Black During this development, the skin provides a boundary that blocks off the face of the users whenever their personal space is invaded. However, by acting upon them, users would experience a form of punishment due to the invasion of other’s personal space indirectly. Action and reaction from the precedent study is applied in this context. The black is give a more provocative and strong sense of rejection. It also represents pain and torture.

White The skin is surfaced with extrusion of hexagonal pyramid that promotes dominance for the user. When both parties are invading one another’s personal space, there is no holding back. Hence, both needs to be equally capable. The white symbolises brightness and visibility. Ready and free to interact. The wearer feels at ease to show their true self to the person that they are interacting with.

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2.7 DESIGN PROPOSAL V.2

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Panel and fold The implementation of rotational movement from our refine sketch model into the design development took advantage of the panel and fold system. Similar to a paper fan, panel rotates to many degrees of fold showing open, half-open and closed.

Black By blocking off the face of the user, the intruders face a clueless atmosphere and sometimes uncertain of the users emotion because the face defines a person’s existence. Due to its unaggressive pattern, the intruder would not feel their personal space being invaded or if they have invaded someone’s space.

Grey Translucent material is used for this surface to allow certain amount of light to pass through. When user wants to have interaction but afraid to make a move, the second skin enables them to peek and slowly reads the other person’s behaviour. The random openings reveal a little about the wearer.

White The sharp edges trimmed off to display a friendlier approach to close friends but also inform a certain awareness to stop them from crossing the line. Friendly but teaches others to respect each others personal space.

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2.8 PROTOTYPE V.1 AND TESTING EFFECT

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We tested the effects of the second skin through different angles of light exposure. The randomised openings gave a mysterious and secretive feelings, therefore acting as a form of awareness to intruders. The shadows represents the distance of personal space that should not be invaded.

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3.0

FABRICATION

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3.1 FABRICATION INTRODUCTION

Submissive concept The design intent of our second skin directly conveys the feelings of the wearer without verbal expression but through rotational movement and surface enclosure (open, half-open and closed). The wearer also has control over their second skin to accommodate different type of situations and scenarios in their daily activities. We summarised these scenarios into three separated categories.

Black (strangers) - total darkness, rejection, self introspection Translucent (impermanent - Intimate to Social) - wavering, uncontrollable emotions White (personal distance) - bright and visible, friendly interaction, self-confidence From the feedback of M2, there are some specific problems that need to be resolved.

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Feedback from M2 Hexagonal connections Our initial prototype was constructed with only hexagon patterns forming a spherical surface, which is relatively impossible to build due to angular errors.

Dynamic structure Based on our previous design, the tutor and guest critic suggested that the overall design was too uniform and dull (spherical form and and identical hexagonal patterns).

Flexibility of the materials Three different materials were used in our prototype, which are polypropylene, black board and mount board. We made use of three different materials in order to make the best selection in terms of flexibility. Black board and mount board were strong and rigid but very difficult to fold, thus indicating poor flexibility.

Development of shoulder support We managed to test the mechanism of how our shoulder support should work but have not fully developed it yet. We used balsa and white paper but it was not strong enough to hold a certain amount of weight.

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3.2 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND FABRICATION PROTOTYPE V.2

Flexibility of the materials We eventually settled with polypropylene as our material for second skin out of the three tested materials as it is more flexible and is available in many different colours. This benefited us because our design incorporated three different colours, which are black, white and translucent.

Hexagonal connections By understanding the mathematical concept of polygons, we noticed that hexagon patterns must have some connections with pentagons to form an organised spherical surface without any overlapping. Hence, we tested our second skin with grasshopper plugins.

Not only did we resolved the patterning, but also formulated a more dynamic structure to add to our second skin.

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3.3 FINAL PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMISATION

Prototype development Advanced Folding After more discussion with our tutor, he suggested that our second skin should demonstrate more features of folding. Making this as our new goal, we intend to blend rotational and organic movement into our design. With this, we had to reconsider our design support and the structure of our second skin.

Problems We overlooked a few problems when building our shoulder support, which were: - cracking caused by compression - connections for the second skin onto shoulder support

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Joints To prevent cracks for happening, we developed a joint as a connector so that the other parts of the support would slot into the gap perfectly without exerting compressive onto it.

Connection between Shoulder Support and Second Skin To achieve rotational movement while still portraying organic form, it was relatively difficult for us to build. Fortunately, we managed to find our ways of representing the idea in our second skin.

Firstly, we extended the height of the shoulder support and added two fixed frame to accommodate the movement. However, there will be no connections among them as they might lose the rotational function. In addition, we tied the second skin onto the rotational frame so when user rotates the second skin, the push and pull of the skin creates the organic movement.

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Further Development of Second Skin Due to the added feature, we had to make our second skin larger to ensure that the movement works. A surface was created on the silhouette as shown in the photo to set as guidance for the size of our second skin. Then, the digital models were unroll surfaced on Rhino to send for laser cutting.

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3.4 FINAL DIGITAL MODEL

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3.5 FABRICATION SEQUENCE

1. Excess perspex removed and ready to assemble.

2. Assembly starts from joining the left and right support.

3. The joints are glued together

6. Panels folded nicely following the half cut lines.

7. Panels connected together with stapler.

8. Panels arranged according

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4. Polypropylene strips attached to the fixed frame with cable ties.

5. Shoulder support complete.

to their own numbering.

9. Finishing each section.

10. Three sections put together with stapler and tied onto shoulder support with cable ties.

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3.6 ASSEMBLY DRAWING

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SHOULDER SUPPORT DIAGRAM

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1. TRANSLUCENT (IMPERMANENT - INTIMATE TO SOCIAL) wavering, uncontrollable emotions

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2. BLACK (STRANGERS)

rejection, self introspection

3. WHITE (PERSONAL SPACE)

friendly interaction, self confidence

SECOND SKIN DIAGRAM

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4.0 REFLECTION Throughout the whole semester of designing and fabricating the second skin, I learnt a great number of interesting concepts, workability of a design, digitally and physically, and also ways to cope with challenges.

From module 1, I was introduced to different design systems and how it can be developed from a simple everyday object, such as a fan. It taught me by first understanding the scale of the object through measurements and drawings. I was amazed by these methods that led me to the fundamental ways of its mechanism and physical characteristics. One of the challenges that I faced was my sketch model. I managed to implemend a strong idea of the system but it the structure did not turn out to be strong and rigid. I have yet to explore the potential of my object as my sketch design faced the same problem, which did not respond well towards the concept of personal space.

Nonetheless, in module 2, I managed to grasped the main idea and importance of the system in relation to personal space by sharing different ideas and designs with my teammates. Digital design methods such as Rhino 3D modelling has become an incredibly helpful tool to visually represent our ideas and explore the potentials of the design. However, lacking in software skills can sometimes be a challenge to fully represent our design. Fortunately, this subject has provided sufficient software help through workshops, thus allowing us to acheived our final design. However, even when the digital model was a success, we still faced difficulties in fabricating the physical model as there were limits to the materiality such as its elasticity and durability. From this, I quickly understand that a design can only be sucessful when it is workable in reality.

Module 3 guided me through the exploration of digital model to physical model by different fabrication techniques. Laser cutting is certainly a good way to explore wider range of materials and their capabilities. It also helped us understand that some materials are not suitable for laser cutting as it might be too fragile. With this, we had a clearer view of what materials we should use for the final second skin. In addition, testing our ideas on physial models was really significant because it helped us visualise our problems and come up with better solutions, especially when our model required rotational movements.

In conclusion, we successfully produced a complete second skin in response to personal space through challenging processes. With all the design skills gained from this subject, it definitely prepare me for more designing subjects in the future.

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5.0 APPENDIX BIBLIOGRAPHY Asperl et al, 2007, Surfaces that can be built from paper / In H.Pottmann, A.Asperl,M.Hofer, A.Kilian (eds) Architectural Geometry, p534-561, Bentley Institute Press Cheng, R. 2008. Inside Rhinoceros 4 / Ron K.C. Cheng. Clifton Park, NY : Thomson/Delmar Learning, c2008.

Edhv, Architects of identity, N/A, Paper Cave in a box, viewed 08th June 2017, https://www.edhv.nl/portfolio/papercave-milaan/ Heath, A., Heath, D., & Jensen, A. (2000). 300 years of industrial design : function, form, technique, 1700-2000 / Adrian Heath, Ditte Heath, Aage Lund Jensen. New York : Watson-Guptill.

Kolarevic, B 2003, Architecture in the Digital Age - Design and Manufacturing /Branko Kolarevic. Spon Press, London.

Maddison architects, 2013, Cloud Canopy, viewed 08th June 2017, http://www.maddisonarchitects.com.au/projects/cloud-canopy Marble, S, 2008. Building the Future: Recasting Labor in Architecture/ Philip Bernstein, Peggy Deamer. Princeton Architectural Press. pp 38-42.

Matsys, 2012, Chrysalis(III), viewed 13th April, 2012, http://matsysdesign.com/2012/04/13/chrysalis-iii/ Rifkin, J 2011, The third Industrial Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan.pp107-126.

Scheurer, F. and Stehling, H. _2011_: Lost in Parameter Space? IAD: Architectural Design, Wiley, 81 _4_, July, pp 70-79.

Sommer, R. 1969. Personal space : the behavioral basis of design / Robert Sommer. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, c1969.A.

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