FODR module 3 journal

Foundations of Design : Representation, SEM1, 2017 M3 JOURNAL - PATTERN vs SURFACE Manasi Chopdekar

Jun Han Foong + Studio 11

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WEEK 6 READING: SURFACES THAT CAN BE BUILT FROM PAPER IN ARCHITECTURAL GEOMETRY Question 1: What are the three elementary types of developable surfaces? Provide a brief description.

(Maximum 100 words) The first elementary type of developable surface is cylinder which consists of a series of lines parallel to a profile curve and the development of the profile curve is a straight line segment with the right angle between the rulings being retained. The second type is the cone, which has a profile curve and a vertex point and lines with constant distance that connect the curve to the vertex. The development of the profile curve is a circular arc with a centre of vertex and radius of constant distance. The third type is the tangent surface of space curves which involves a 3D curve and a surface based on the tangents of the curve.

Question 2: Why is the understanding of developable surface critical in the understanding of architectural geometry? Choose one precedent from Research/Precedents tab on LMS as an example for your discussion. (Maximum 100 words) Understanding of developable surface is critical in the understanding of architectural geometry because then architects can understand the limitation and use of possible geometries to include in their work. Developable surfaces are extremely useful in the actual construction of an architectural project because they can easily be covered by sheet metal. An example to highlight this would be Huyghe+Le Corbusier Puppet Theatre. Its surface is curved and would not have been able to be constructed without the use of panels. Its form was created with interlocking, diamond shaped polycarbonate panels which are very stable and strong.

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PANELLING PATTERN - 2D These were some of the earliest 2D panels that I made on my given landscape. They are all of the basic 2D grid panelling tool shapes.

PANELLING PATTERN - 3D These were some of the earliest 3D panel tests I did on my given landscape. They are all of the basic 3D grid panelling tool shapes.

2D Panelling pattern: Triangular

3D Panelling pattern: Triangular

2D Panelling pattern: Wave

2D Panelling pattern: Diamond 3D Panelling pattern: Box

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VARIABLE 3D PATTERN

This was my first variable 3D pattern, using just a single custom made 3D square based panel. Here I was still exploring the different 3D grid panelling tools, and hence it looks very plain and basic.

Here I tried to use more than 1 custom made 3D panel, to see the effects it would bring to my landscape. I used tools like bounding box as well, to make sure the dimesions remained within the parameters given. While it looked a lot more interesting than my previous attempts, I knew that unfolding and remaking such structures on the ivory card would not only be time-consuming but also very difficult to bind and maintain its form as whole landscape.

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3D PANEL TEST PROTOTYPE & TEMPLATE

This is the first 2 panels of my 3D model. They are made from ivory card (2D unrolled surfaces printed on seperate page and then glued lightly to ivory card for cutting), because as my surfaces urolled without any overlaps or gaps, I was confident that the final shape would take form successfully and would definitely match the one on my Rhino model.

These were some of my first unrolled surfaces which match my final 3D model. They are unrolled in square grid panel pairs of two. But essentially my base panel shape is still triangular.

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WEEK 7 READING: DIGITAL FABRICATION Complete your reading before attempting these questions:

Question 1: What is digital fabrication and how does it change the understanding of two dimensional representation? (Maximum 100 words) Digital fabrication relies on computer driven machine tools to produce the required parts. It is a computer based design tool that saves time from designing to making final products with the use of design techniques like section, folds, contours etc. Complex designs can easily be fabricated by mass producing simple geometric shapes. We can change the two dimensional representaion and are able to translate what we see on model space, on formal fabrication.

Question 2: Suggest two reasons why folding is used extensively in the formal expression of building design? (Maximum 100 words) The first reason why folding is used extensively in the formal expression of building design is that it can turn a two dimensional object to its three dimensional form very easily. The second reason is that it gives the designer more creative imaginary spaces to design and create flexible patterns and textures.

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EXPLORING 3D PANELLING

This is the isometric south-east view of my final 3D model on Rhino. I used one triangular base panel and then rotated in in three different directions to obtain 4 seperate panels. After that I subjected each of these 4 panels to 3D panelling using point and grid attractors seperately. I then picked out panels from each of those landscapes and added them onto my final landscape terrain.

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UNROLL TEMPLATE OF YOUR FINAL MODEL

These are just some out of the total 50 unrolled panel surfaces I had to print. I printed them each on seperate A3 pages to avoid labelling confusion. It took a total of 3 days to cut, fold and group all of my 100 square grid panels together to form a stable landscape.

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PANELISED LANDSCAPE

I made the structure, but I was at a complete loss as to what it represented. I had inadvertently made 2 flower structures but that was it. The rest of my landscape was a complete blur. I initially had a completely different idea as to what I wanted to show on my landscape but my need to keep the model simple and able to hold its form, while essentially dealing with not 100 but 200 panels ( due to the triangular base ) led me to hasten my design process. To sum up, in the end I subconsciously used one of my favourite buildings This is the top view of my finalized landscape. While it looks quite random and in Singapore- The Esplanade Theatre - as my inspiration, It reminded me of the Le Corbusier unorderly, from the top view I tried to make the landscape look bent and non planar even though essentially from the top view it should appear planar. I didn’t reading where it talked about essentially designing complex geometries on a curved quite achieve the effect I wanted to, but I tried my best to make it appear non- surface using basic geometric panels. This is a beginner attempt for me to understand that particular concept and a way of representing that. geometric and yet wanting to make it mean something.

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APPENDIX 1. GIVEN LANDSCAPE AND INITIAL IDEA

This is the curved surface/ landscape terrain that was assigned to me.

My initial idea was to design a flower and place the same design twice over random areas of the landscape ( so as to not make it look geometric ). I used the 10 x 10 grid points of the landscape as a means to understand the position and placement of my flowers.

Here, I tried to come up with a good design for the flower, analyzing its structure and visualizing the way the triangular pointed panels would point so as to create that effect.

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APPENDIX 1. CONTINUED ON INITIAL IDEA

This was the plan view of the flowers that I made while keeping my landscape in mind. I kept the rotation of the panels in mind ( represented by the arrows) and made sure to keep in mind that my base panel shape had to be trianngular.

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This was the plan view of the leaves that I thought I could add in place of the missing panels. I put quite a lot of thought into this idea but the only problem I faced here was how to bring this idea that I could so easily visualize in my mind, in 3D on the software.

APPENDIX 1. CONTINUED ON INITIAL IDEA

I tried to recreate the flower effect by using the panels seperately and subjecting them each to point and curve attractors but they didn’t work at all in the direction I wanted. I was at a complete loss as to what to do now. Also, when I picked out a few of those panels to add to my final landscape and tried to join them to unroll surfaces, they wouldn’t join either.

I designed triangular base panels to see how it would look and then combined them to make this star shaped flower. It looked really nice to me from the top view, but I wasn’t sure how I’d manage to replicate this on my surface without gaps and overlaps. Plus, it looked confusing to me as to how it would unroll.

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APPENDIX 2. SCRAPING OFF THE FLOWER IDEA

This is the final 4 panels I used for my model. Its essentially one panel but rotated in 3 different directions. I still had the flower idea in mind so I then subjected each of these panels to different point and curve attractors on the surface.

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I used different point and curve attractors but somehow it did not make the panels look the way I wanted them to, to make the flower. At this point I wasn’t even sure my model would be able to unfold properply with all the gaps in between and I got increasingly panicked about the whole situation and I had to unfold it all, and then convert the illustrator files to PDF to print and then actually make the model. I was running out of time.

APPENDIX 3. WORKING TOWARDS THE FINAL MODEL

I decided to play it safe, and just used the panels from the different point and curve attractor landscapes (on previous page). The base of the triangle is essentially the same shape, just rotated, so I thought that there wouldn’t be too many gaps in that case either, and it should unfold nicely. Now that I had scrapped off my flower idea, I was at a loss as to what this really represented, apart from a result of total panic. I then thought of what I’d kept in mind while creating this structure.From the top, even though the landscape should look planar, it looks crumpled in a sense, which seemed like a nice effect to me.

Also, the triangular patterns are very similar to one of the RMIT building facades in Melbourne and the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore, both of which I’ve seen on multitude of occasions. With all that in mind, this was the result ( top view ) of all the thought I’d put into working towards my model.

This is some of the unrolled surfaces that I first printed in order to test whether the unrolled surfaces matched the scale, size, and design of the panel. It worked perfectly, and with no overlap issues!

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APPENDIX 3. WORKING TOWARDS FINAL MODEL

It took me a total of three days (1 all nighter) to finish making the model, and I found myself feeling more and more relaxed as I came closer to making the final panel strips. I used glue to stick the tabs on top, but I was really unsure of the stability from the bottom, so despite knowing that I shouldn’t use tape, I used scotch tape at the bottom of the panels to make sure they all joined together, especially at the interesctions. In most places there are round gaps in the intersections which makes sense because of the cardboard thickness and because when I zoomed in on my final model in rhino, there were some unnoticed gaps in the intersections. I can confidently say that my model is stable, but at the same time, I know I could have done a lot more in terms of the creative aspect. All in all, I actually managed to finish the model 3 days before presentation.

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APPENDIX 4. FINAL MODEL

All I have that meets the bare minimum for a camera is my cheap camera phone. Also, I have bare minimum knowledge when it comes to taking good photos. I knew I needed to take good pictures, because a lot of emphasis was placed on taking good photos that essentially sell the idea of the model. I used these next 3 days to my advantage and since I couldn’t get a photo stage booked at such short notice, nor cart the model around to a friend’s place who lived an hour away to use her camera and setting, I acquired a good quality camera and some lighing equipment from a good friend who worked nearby and was able to take the necessary photos! I also used these extra days to work towards my journal and online portfolio.

So the end result is not how I initially wanted my model to turn out as, but I’m happy to have persevered and finished this model, with more stability and form that I knew my flower model simply wouldn’t have. I played it safe this time and focused a lot more on the whole structure and its stability but I am more familiar with the Rhino software tools and have a better idea of how long this process takes, so when asked to work on a similar kind of assignment in the future, I am more aware of the do’s and dont’s, how to manage my time better, as well as allowing myself more time to think creatively and work towards those ideas.

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