Module 3 - Fabrication ~ lantern inspired by the pattern of coral ~
Interesting patterns can be found everywhere in nature,the chosen natural pattern to be the inspiration for this lantern is coral. The coral has strong primitive patterns that give the lantern a bold, jagged and strong feeling.
Luke Dempsey (638407) Due: 5/14/2013
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The original design was literally flipped on its head so that the best feature, the original bottom, was put on display. Instead of the lamp wrapping around the arm which would have made a sketchy final product, the lantern is now held by a string that runs straight through the middle of the top showcasing the simplicity and boldness of the panelling in that area. Consequently, this inversion of the original design makes the lantern look stronger and bolder than previously - reflecting the hardy nature of the coral that inspired it.
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'BCSJDBUJPO 1SPDFTT 6OSPMMJOH 5BCCJOH The panels were unrolled and tabs were applied so that they DPVME CF DVU PVU CZ UIF DBSE DVUUFS JO UIF GBCMBC " QSPCMFN FOcountered during this process was the Grasshopper file messing up the tabs so most of them had to be drawn in manually. 5IF XBTUBHF QFSDFOUBHF IBT CFFO DBMDVMBUFE BU BQQSPYJNBUFMZ 73%, this has been calculated by measuring the area of one panel and then multiplying by how many similarly-shaped panels there are.
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'BCSJDBUJPO 1SPDFTT $VUUJOH "TTFNCMZ The card cutter was used to cut out the panels, the card cutter JT B WFSZ VTFGVM BOE FBTZ NFUIPE FYDFQU XIFO JU HPFT XSPOH One of the sheets of paper was stored in a tube, when it was taped onto the card cutter bed, it was still a little bit raised. Occasionally the card cutter would catch on these raised bits and rip the paper. The card cutter automatically cut out the unrolled panels
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"GUFS UIF QBOFMT XFSF DVU PVU PG UIF PSJHJOBM TIFFU PG DBSE they were folded according to the 3D digital design and then glued together. The glueing technique took some time to perfect, this is evident in the early prototypes in that there was lots of residue on the model. To cleanly glue the panels together, it XBT GPVOE UP CF NPTU FòFDUJWF XIFO UIF 17" HMVF XBT ÜSTU squeezed onto a sheet of paper and then applied thinly to the tab of the pane with a credit card. It was found that clips were the best way to hold the tabs UPHFUIFS VOUJM UIF HMVF ESJFE &YDFTT HMVF DPVME CF XJQFE Pò with a cloth, never fingers as it was found that it just made the residue more dirty.
It was found that clips were very useful when gluing
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Glue residue was quite a big problem
Construction Process
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'BCSJDBUJPO 1SPDFTT -JHIUJOH To light the lamp, a homemade circuit was made by soldering LED lights to a battery pack with switch. In a previous module, it was discussed that UIF EFTJSFE MJHIUJOH FòFDU XBT B EJòVTFE HMPX XIFSF UIF -&% MJHIUT DBOnot be directly seen through the lantern. To combat this and make the EJòVTFE HMPX B UIJO CBLJOH QBQFS XBT SPMMFE VQ BOE UIF -&% MJHIUT XFSF placed in that. Originally the baking paper was cut into strips and glued onto two ivory card rings on each end. This was overly complicated, the LED lights were still sometimes visible from the outside, and also it couldn’t support itselft under its own weight. The less-is-more approach was then taken with the baking paper rolled up and then placed in the lantern. The reTVMUJOH FòFDU XBT UIF FYQFDUFE VOJGPSN TPGU HMPX PG UIF MJHIUT
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Final Lantern with lighting. Note the pattern that the fold lines create
3FBEJOH 3FTQPOTFT "SDIJUFDUVSF JO UIF %JHJUBM "HF 5IFSF BSF NBOZ EJòFSFOU XBZT UP DSFBUF GPSNT PVU PG SBX materials; the following are some of the most used/efficient. Two-dimensional fabrication is the process of cutting a shape out of a 2D material with a certain thickness. This is mostly done by laser cutting, where it melts through the material, or water jet cutting – where a high-pressure water and abraTJWF NJYUVSF JT VTFE UP DVU UIF NBUFSJBM 5IF XBUFS KFU JT NPSF FòFDUJWF UIBO UIF MBTFS DVUUFS BT JU DBO DVU UISPVHI UIJDLFS and denser materials and the laser cutter often leaves scorch marks on the panels that are cut out. 4VCUSBDUJWF 'BCSJDBUJPO JT VTFE UP NBLF % GPSNT CZ TUBSUJOH out with a big block of the material and the form is ‘sculpted’ out of the block, CNC machines usually perform this process. "YJT $/$ T DBOOPU DVU PWFSIBOHT BT UIF UPPM DBO U HP AVOEFS UIF GPSN o UP ĂśY UIJT PS BYJT $/$ NBDIJOFT BSF JOTUFBE VTFE "YJT $/$ T OPU POMZ IBWF BYJT QMBOBS NPWFNFOUT MJLF "YJT NBDIJOFT CVU BMTP IBWF SPUBUJPOBM NPWFNFOU TP that the cutting tool can cut ‘under’ the form. "EEJUJWF 'BCSJDBUJPO JT XIFO UIF NBUFSJBM JT AQSJOUFE UP NBLF B % GPSN UIF DPNQMFUF PQQPTJUF UP 4VCUSBDUJWF 'BCSJDBUJPO 5IF NPTU DPNNPO GPSN PG "EEJUJWF 'BCSJDBUJPO JT % 1SJOUJOH 5IFSF BSF NBOZ EJòFSFOU UZQFT PG % QSJOUFST CVU UIF NBJO concept is that the printer ‘prints’ 2D cross-sections (with a thickness) on top of each other so that those cross sections
gradually build up and create a 3D form, similar to a CT scan but in reverse. Formative fabrication is when raw materials are shaped into their designs, such as the bending of steel beams or wooden planks, giving curves to generally linear forms. These curves can be assembled together to create a general 3D form. In this particular project a 2D fabrication process called cardcutting was used. In this process, a sheet of card is placed on a flat CFE BOE B "YJT CMBEF DVUT UIF DBSE BDDPSEJOH UP UIF JOGPSNBUJPO TFOU UP JU CZ B DPNQVUFS "EWBOUBHFT PG UIJT QSPDFTT JT UIBU UIF DVUT BSF WFSZ GBTU BOE QSFDJTF UIFZ DBO BMTP IBWF EJòFSFOU EFQUIT and linetypes which aids folding processes of the card. Disadvantages of this process are that the knife can go blunt and therefore the cut won’t go entirely through and also that the paper can come unstable from the bed and can move around while cutting – IFODF NBLJOH BO JNQSFDJTF DVU "MTP XIFO UIF QBOFMT BSF DVU PVU of the sheet of card, they can come loose – to counteract this lines have to be deleted in the computer drawing and then cut manually later.
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%JHJUBM 'BCSJDBUJPOT "SDIJUFDUVSBM BOE .BUFSJBM 5FDIOJRVFT "T UIF BSDIJUFDUVSF BOE CVJMEJOH JOEVTUSZ NBEF UIF NPWF GSPN ESBXJOH CPBSET UP $"% UIF EFTJHOT TUBZFE NVDI UIF TBNF UIF computer programs were just being used as another medium to record and represent the idea of the structure. It was not until MBUFS XIFSF BSDIJUFDUT VTFE $PNQVUFS "JEFE %SBGUJOH UP JUT GVMM QPUFOUJBM VTJOH JU UP NBLF UIF EFTJHOT OPU KVTU SFDPSE UIFN /PX buildings can be designed using computer-generated processes and then translated into real-world materials. This has revoluUJPOJTFE UIF BSDIJUFDUVSBM XPSME BT QMBOT DBO CF GPSNVMBUFE GBTUFS NPSF DPNQMJDBUFE BOE NPSF DPTU FòFDUJWF UIBO FWFS CFGPSF 5IJT JT FYFNQMJöFE JO PVS MBOUFSO QSPKFDU BT JU TIPXT UIF QSPDFTT GSPN NPEFMMJOH UIF TUSVDUVSF JO % EJHJUBMMZ % EJHJUBMMZ % GBCSJDBUFE % GBCSJDBUFE 5IJT GPSN PG GBCSJDBUJPO IBT CFFO VTFE NBOZ UJNFT JO UIF ASFBM XPSME BT JMMVTUSBUFE JO UIF SFBEJOH TVDI BT UIF )VZHIF -F $PSCVTJFS 1VQQFU 5IFBUSF JMMVTUSBUFE The iterative design is the basis for many buildings – that have been modelled very similarly to my lantern. Basically, designing this lantern is like modelling a small-scale building or installation. It is assumed that because of this, the problems I encountered would have also have been encountered by architects/builders – just scaled up (such as faces not fully triangulating)
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