STUDIO AIR: PART C DETAILED DESIGN

AIR

JOURNAL C NURUL SYAHIRAH MUHAMAD STUDIO 10 ISABELLE JOOSTE 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENT

PART C: DETAILED DESIGN C.1 DESIGN CONCEPT

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C.2 TECTONIC ELEMENTS AND PROTOTYPES

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C.3 FINAL DETAIL MODEL

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C.4 LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

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C.5 APPENDIX

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REFERENCES

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DETAILED DESIGN

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C.1 DESIGN CONCEPT Feedback from Part B • Shape of nest looks like a ‘vase’. Too rigid, too pretty, too smooth.

• There is lack of growth or aggregation. Create a form that shows endless possibilities of the nest system.

• Give the nest thickness, create more depth [poche] • Create an unintentional opening • Hierarchy in texture/lines/’rustication.

• Give the nest a character, rigid to chaos.

• Rethink joint/connection system to the tree What I think: • We did a good job in our first attempt using CNC milling machine.

• We did struggle a bit with digital modelling, but it’s going to be better as we become familiar with Grasshopper.

• Rethinking how we approach the nest form by doing research on the client, understanding the machine, look into precedents, get inspirations and be more organised in exchanging informations between teammates.

What I should do: • Just do it. Do not expect to get perfect result. We are still learning.

• Keep the progress on track. So that we can manage this semester’s workload [including other subjects] • Keep calm and have faith and have fun.

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INSPIRATION

MEDIATED MATTER GROUP & NERI OXMAN Wanderers, An Astrobiological Exploration The project is to create wearable with Stratasys multimaterial 3D printing technology. The team designed a computational growth process which is capable of producing a wide variety of growing structures.

I watched this in the tutorial and it Inspired me to explore natural growth behaviour of the nest and the kingfisher. I really like the video, it is mesmerising and reminds me of my science experiment during primary school, where we documented how a bean sprout grow.

Anyway, by looking into how the kingfisher’s nest grow/ created, that will be a helpful starting point for Part C. The computational process should be able to create shapes that adaptable to the surrounding/site/tree. Kingfisher has three type of nest, we had looked into the hollow tree and river bank nest, but we neglected the termite mound during our development in part B. How does a termite make their nest? Why is that a kingfisher choose to dig a termite mound rather than the river bank? [Hollow trees are not many]

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Forage during the day when it is easier to identify their prey. Their young need to be fed every 20 minutes for the first week and 10 minutes until fledged - meaning they would need to hunt every hour

KINGFISHER LIFE CYCLE AND GROWTH Learning the biological growth and life cycle of a kingfisher helps me to understand the needs of my client. I believe it is the most important information for a designer’s intention in making something.

Kingfishers are solitary birds. In order to mate, they need to overcome their insular nature

Cross-learning with history class: Reminds me how movements in architecture criticise previous movements, especially on how the ‘older’ generations are left behind in terms of ‘culture, need and wants’ of the people at present.

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I know it’s not directly related, but this client research in Studio Air shows me that having a concrete intention in designing will make the reasoning behind ‘what am I doing’ understandable and clearer.

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Egg laid by female kingfisher

Making nest by digging termite mound or river bank 2

Incubation period is between 16 and 18 days before hatching

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1 Egg incubation

2 Hatchings of egg

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3 Keeping each other warm

Age until the are fledged 24 and 29 d

At night they roost in their nest with their younglings

Bathe by diving into and out of the water. They are able to bathe due to both parents hunting for prey, however, as their younglings are required to be fed so often, they wouldn’t have the leniency to preen for several hours

Live up to 7 to 10 years in captivity Live longer in the wild

Sacred KingďŹ sher reaches sexual maturity at 1 year of age Younglings become independent from their parents at approximately 8 weeks of age

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e younglings is between days

Once they become independent from their parents, they learn to hunt for their prey on their own

Peak fecundity is between 2 and 5 years

Re-made their nest at similar spot as previous year

Begin to migrate back and forth inhabiting coastal areas of Australia in the summer (Melbourne, New Zealand) and Northern Queensland and Papua New Guinea in the winter local temperature Melbourne: 25 C Papua New guinea: 30 C

4 Adult fledging the baby birds

5 The moment they go outside

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6 Baby birds first time going outside

KINGFISHER BEHAVIOUR Notes: •

Low and exposed branch, overlooking water in order to hunt for prey.

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Branch used for perching, preening, eating, hunting hence focus on the kingfisher’s feet for rustication

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Both sexes excavated the nest chamber to house eggs.

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Once hatched, in order to move around, the baby birds will rely on natural formed ‘toe-holds’ created by excavation.

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Kingfishers dig their own nest every year when they come back during summer season.

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Kingfisher came back to dig at the same spot every year. Either it is termite mound, hollow tree or river bank.

1 Preening

Diurnal and crepuscular, and will often forage during the day when it is easier to identify their prey

WINTER sunrise

SUMMER

Forage during the day when it is easier to identify their prey. Their young need to be fed every 20 minutes for the first week and 10 minutes until fledged - meaning they would need to hunt every hour

Kingfishers are solitary In order 2 Catching food and perching 3 birds.

Batching to perching to mate, they need to overcome their insular nature

Egg laid by female kingfisher

Making nest by digging termite mound or river bank

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Incubation period is between 16 and 18 days before hatching

Age u are fle 24 an

Bathe by diving into and out of the water. Afterwards they would perch on a branch and preen themselves for several hours

At night they roost in trees or shrubs in their territory during the hours of sunset

sunset

At night they roost in their nest with their younglings

Bathe by diving into and out of the water. They are able to bathe due to both parents hunting for prey, however, as their younglings are required to be fed so often, they wouldn’t have the leniency to preen for several hours

4 Termite mound as nest

5 Digging their nest Sacred KingďŹ sher reaches sexual maturity at 1 year of age

Younglings become independent from their parents at approximately 8 weeks of age

until the younglings edged is between nd 29 days

Once they become independent from their parents, they learn to hunt for their prey on their own

6 Hanging and feeding Live up to 7 to 10 years in captivity Live longer in the wild

Peak fecundity is between 2 and 5 years

Re-made their nest at similar spot as previous year

Begin to migrate back and forth inhabiting coastal areas of Australia in the summer (Melbourne, New Zealand) and Northern 15 Queensland and Papua New Guinea in the winter

KINGFISHER ANATOMY

Opening the biology book to understand the kingfisher is something that I do not expect when entering the architecture school.

As the kingfisher uses a the leg and the beak to do something, we decided to focus on feet. Their feet are quite flexible in ways to grip or hold on. It is strong too, as the dimensions are really small when compared to its weight and length. These kingfishers are very good in coordinating their feet when catching a moving fish in the water.

The hatchling does not have steady feet to hold themselves up. Therefore, the internal nest need to have ‘toeholds’ for them to keep balance.

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NEST DIMENSIONS

Bird size

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Commercial artifcial nest • Imitating river bank nest

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Setting up the criteria of the nest again. This time with proper dimensions and diagrams. This will be helpful when controlling the variables in grasshopper and determining the final nest form.

In my personal opinion, I rather use these dimensions as a guide rather than trying to get a from that exactly qualify these criteria. If we are focusing to much in these numerical criteria, does not it making our nest form, a bit ‘static’?

Let’s see what will happened as we develop digitally, and do some experiments with the cnc machine.

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Minimum nest thickness For insulation Important during egg incubation and fledging period

Nest entrance size • 60 - 100 mm • Small to hinder predators from coming in but big enough for kingfisher

Minimum distance between neighbouring nest 100 - 200mm

Internal chamber size • Approximate for 2 adult birds and 3-8 younglns

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KINGFISHER RELATIONSHIPS

Mutualism Relationship Eucalyptus tree provide shelter to kingfisher. Branches for perching and the not so dense eucalyptus leaves provide suitable environment for kingfisher to hunt.

Its week 10 and we still stuck with our nest form. The explorations that we does not change much from our part B. Again, it turns out that we neglecting the life of kingfisher with other animals and the environment.

We look into the immediate ecosystem of kingfisher and found out multiple relationships that benefits and harms kingfisher. The diagram to the right shows relationships that favour to kingfisher. We focused our research to this because it is related to the bird’s termite mound nest.

In addition, we did take into account the predators [i.e. larger animals and larger birds] that might danger our client and the baby birds. For our nest, the only thing that we can consider is the opening size of the nest and materiality of the nest. Nest should not reachable by predators, entrance most not too big.

Mutualism Relationship Termite eat dead tissue of eucalyptus as source of food, while returning nutrients to the tree in a usable form.The tree provide shelter to termites

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Predator Relationship Kingfisher young hatchlings eat ants for food, help to get rid of predator of termite.

Mutualism Relationship Termite provide basic shelter for the kingfisher.

The constant temperature inside termite nests helps in the incubation of eggs.

Kingfisher young hatchlings eat termites and ants for food.

Predator Relationship Bigger ants are a threat to termites.

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Notes: Kingfishers and termite relationship

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Termite mounds are used as nesting sites by most Australian Kingfishers.

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To create a hole initially, the birds sometimes fly head on at the hard mound and occasionally die from the impact.

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Once completed, the burrow may be left vacant for a while to allow the termites to seal off the tunnel on the inside and protect their nest from dust and drying air.

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The relationship between Sacred Kingfishers and Termites can be considered commensalism

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There is a competition/predation relationship between termites and ants. Ants will invade the termite mound and try to colonise the mound. If ants are considered as one of many insects which the Kingfisher feeds on, this may prevent the ants from colonising on the termite mounds, which is also a home to the Kingfishers

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The only other Kingfisher species to inhabit on termite mounds are: Forest Kingfisher and Collared Kingfisher

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Nests are re-used for two to three seasons of breeding

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Predators of the kingfishers are foxes, snakes and other small mammals. These animals might enter the nest to feed on the baby birds

Illustration of Sacred Kingfisher from Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Volume 4

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TERMITE STUDY General Information on Termite Mound

Relationship within the Colony and Fungus

In-depth analysis on Termite Mound

▪ Termites have the ability to build mounds that can reach 5 metres and higher

▪ The termite mound is like a construction site without a foreman – no one termite is in charge of the project

▪ Inside the mound, a series of bubble-like chambers connected to branching passages absorb changes in outside pressure or wind and pass them through the mound

▪ Termites in a typical mound will, in an average year, move a fourth of a metric tonne of soil and several tonnes of water ▪ Termite mounds can take four to five years to build, but a really heavy downpour might cause a third of the mounds to collapse, so they always scurry to rebuild their moulds as fast as the weather erodes them ▪ Roughly 2-2.4 cubic metres growth of nest in one year

▪ They are “novelty detectors”, attuned to excitement and always on alert.

Termites run to communicate the news with touch and vibration ▪ When a hole is breached it attracts the termites with more dirt, and within an hour or so the hole is patched ▪ The termites exit the mound through long foraging tunnels and return with their “intestines full of chewed grass and wood, which they defecate upon their return, and other workers assemble these ‘pseudo-feces’ into several mazelike fungus combs” ▪ The colony’s fungus accounts for nearly 85% of the total metabolism inside the mound – the fungus may send chemical signals to the termites that influence the control of how they build the mound ▪ The termites make a living farming a fungus on structures known as fungus cones – the fungus helps breakdown dead plant and woody material into more digestible and nutritious food for the termites, and they in turn help maintain the environment for the fungus – mutually beneficial arrangement

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▪ To regulate the mix of gases and maintain a stable nest environment, the termites are forever remodelling the mound in response to changing conditions. The mound is like a living organism itself – dynamic and constantly maintained ▪ A behaviour of the termite “kissing”, a method to transfer large amounts of water across the mound ▪ Individual termites react rather than think, but at a group level they exhibit a kind of cognition and awareness of their surroundings – similarly, in the brain, individual neurons don’t think, but thinking arises in the connections between them ▪ Part of the reason the termite mounds are the focus of so much scientific attention is that the insects don’t really live inside them, they choose instead to build their nest – which can be home to thousand or even millions of individuals in the ground below the mound – they only travel into the mounds to repair them and defend the city below from invading ant armies and other threats

Cross section of four different termite nests Each individual is pre-programmed to carry out a certain behaviour, mound-building looks like this: 1. A termite will grab one soil particle, mix it with water and saliva and cement it in place.

2. The next termite will come along and put their soil blob down next to the one previous, and this continues until eventually a wall is built.

3. However, with too many termites with soil blobs, this results in a termite traffic jam.

4. At that point, termites give up and just drop their blobs where they are. Then another termite blob-drops next to them, beginning another structure.

5. Eventually walls and tunnels connect, and at some point, a mound almost magically appears

Termite from earth to tree migration 25

HOLLOW TREE

It’s hard to find hollow tree that we can look into the inside.

We found one in the University Square. There are insects living in there. Maybe possums or birds once in a while.

How does a tree gets hollowed? 1. Termite (or fungus/ bacteria ate the inside. 2. Branch fall by itself as tree become older. 3. Natural erosion by time. 4. Animals dig the tree themselves.

Hollow tree. Looks like created from a falling branch.

How animals select a hollow? Factors as entrance size, shape, depth, and degree of insulation. These will affect the frequency and seasonality of hollow use.

The bark texture changes as the appearance; it is not modular or repeated ‘ornament’ but a growing ‘ornament’

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The textures around the opening of hollow. I think it was the end-grain closing up.

The tree bark stops and change into different texture.

Close up showing ridges and different depths. I think it looks like rock valleys from bird eye view.

Hollow’ tree internal. Different texture and dusty. Why the colour changes?

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INSPIRATION

NERI OXMAN Silk Pavilion The project is done to explore combination of digital and biological fabrication techniques to produce architectural structures.

The white ‘threads’ are made by silkworm. The silkworm is affected by spatial and environmental conditions including geometrical density, including natural light and heat.

In our project, by looking into how a termite create their mound will help us to inform the nest ‘growth’. Instead of only making a bird nest, we try to design the frame/structure that will interact with termites to build their nest. This can be an added value to our kingfisher’s nest.

However, I admit that it is not up to us for termite or birds to inhibit the nest. If our kingfisher’s nest was realised fully, at the end it will be an eye-candy for humans to appreciate. I wonder, is it always like this? A designer’s intention sometimes turns out as the designer envisioned or something unintentional happened.

History class: Reminds me of Drop city and B. Fuller; and Smithson’s Robin Hood Gardens.

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SKETCHES THINKING EXERCISE AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Hence we started to draw by hand. Hand drawing will always be my favourite medium to express my thought. It is fast and easy to understand, if drawn correctly. Hand drawing helps us as a team to exchange ideas and discussing the matter in hand.

The sketches on the right are us thinking, ‘what the nest do?

How will the bird use the nest?’ After doing in-depth client research, not yet thinking how the natural nest are build. We also thought about ‘how the nest integrate with the tree and the context’.

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Wrapping the nest around the tree, the nest eating into the tree, the nest eventually will create a hollow inside the tree, or the nest is an extension of the tree hollow.

Someone said: let’s try to look back what we had done, because everyone seems clueless at to where we should move forward. So we play a lot with prototype part B. Imagining it as a space ship, a vase, a holder, a water bucket, a water-flask, an ear, a telephone, a voice-storing device an etc. It’s a fun exercise.

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Hanging onto the branch, self supporting, still one chamber, what more?

What will happened when the termite inhibit our nest? What will happened after 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years?

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FORM FINDING TECHNIQUE: MILLIPEDE

We looked up for inspirations from the internet. Watching videos and benefiting from the large network of computational design enthusiasts out there. Burry mention, “... quite the opposite of the scripting generation, who willingly share their booty on the Internet. Such levels of generosity may mean that while wheels are not being reinvented everywhere as they were in the closeted ateliers of yore, young designers are more inclined to mash up each others’ code rather than struggle away from first principles, which could potentially stunt creative growth.”

What I think: We did sort of mixing the definitions just to get what we want.

In my opinion, that is how we learn. As long as I remember, even as a child, I choose to copy what others are doing and along the way, add up things to suit my preferences. Even in this project, each of us in the team did that, and that is how compromised each other strength and limitations. Creative growth need to have a point to start, just like we learning how to write alphabets, or how a language developed.

On second thought, what does Burry mean with ‘first principles’?

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ITERATIONS ITERATION 1

ITERATION 3

ITERATION 2

SPECIES 1

SPECIES 2

SPECIES 3

SPECIES 4

SPECIES 5

SPECIES 6

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ITERATION 4

ITERATION 5

ITERATION 6

ITERATION 7

ITERATION 8

ITERATION 9

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ITERATION 10

NEST GROWTH AGGREGATION

The idea of nest growing come up in our discussion again and again. After the final presentation, it struck me that we miss the opportunity of ‘what will happened if the nest is degenerating’ instead of ‘growing’. Or actually we did think of it, in term of the future speculation of the nest. If we explore the form nest from ‘degenerative’ perspective, the result might be different. This can be another theme for another experiment.

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THICKNESS PERFORMANCE

Giving the thickness to the nest. We did it as for the insulation for the nest. What I did thought during the project is, ‘can we try to use performative-based design approach? as discussed by Kolarevic’. I would love to try it, but considering the time limit of this studio, I can try to implement this notion in another project.

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SECTION A

TOP VIEW

SIDE VIEW

SECTION B

SECTION D

SECTION C

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200

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400mm

SECTION A

SECTION B

SECTION C

SECTION D

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SIDE

FRONT

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RUSTICATION ORNAMENTATION

In the lecture: “How does your project integrate material and geometry into a performing ornament?”

Reading: “Michael Meredith, express their reservations forcefully: When something supposedly looks ‘parametric’ today, it’s aesthetic (re)production—the repetition of quality and taste. The mastering of hi-tech engineering software is ultimately used to produce ornate architectural decoration.”

What I think: • Rustication in our project is solely for the purpose of bird use. I believe it does not to look pleasant because the user is the bird, might not able to appreciate beauty.

• But if our project does involves people, yes I will consider the aesthetic.

• How can we take advantage of CNC milling for the ornamentation? I think it is a hassle to get the intricacy of decoration in Rhino.

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SURFACE SYSTEM TECHNIQUE: ANEMONE

Feedback part B: Hierarchy of the rustication Question: How do we show hierarchy? Density? Porosity?

Selective patches? How do we reason with these rustication? Use the client research. The client behaviour.

I believe this is our respond to what was argued by Burry, “The architectural field’s current use of the parametric has been superficial and skin-deep, maybe importantly so, lacking of a larger framework of referents, narratives, history, and forces.”

This studio taught us the importance of ‘intention’ behind the use of computational design, as well as the technique to fabricate it.

In addition, after the material testing, we found out that the rustication will cost us a lot of money and time. Therefore, rationalising the surface system will be included in our final proposal.

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THE KINGFISHER’S HAVEN

Our final kingfisher nest.

Form rationalised based on: • Client research: size, behaviour • Other research: kingfisher and the ecosystem • Physical context: tree connection We decided to choose rustication as our tectonic testing.

Therefore, the product of ornamentation is something that we put aside for now, we will discuss further with prototypes.

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A rendering to of what might happened with the ornamentation. There are possibilities of engraving, milling and holes. The key rationalisation for the ornamentation will be discussed with fabrication technique.

What I think: Is this the overlapping notion of digital modelling and fabrication? Working closely with the fabricator to realise the project will be essential.

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C.2 TECTONIC ELEMENTS AND PROTOTYPES We used leftover timbers for the our prototype. After seeing the prototypes made by other colleagues, I notice that different type of timber will produce different surface articulation. Either the timber is hardwood, softwood, structural engineered timber or MDF. The method of timber sawn also influence the milling outcome.

While doing the prototypes, we looked into timber resources for our project. Do we want to use FabLab materials, or buy it at Bunnings, or collect leftover timber from workshops or even scavenger it somewhere.

At this point of project, we had some technical knowledge of the CNC machine. Firstly, we did further research on CNC machine and we looked into built projects that used CNC machine. We decided to focus on the surface articulation of the nest as our focus for the detail model. This is because there are various possibilities that we can explore just by experimenting the components of CNC machine.

In my opinion, we did driven by curiosity with what the unintentional result from ‘not really know something’.

Next, we developed a prototype digital model and brought it to the fabricator for consultation. The consultation sessions are very helpful for us in developing a build-able digital model. The fabricator also gave us tips on how to manually simulate the CNC machine by creating a ‘drill bit’ in Rhino and move it above the surface. Nevertheless, we sent the file for them to try on RhinoCAM.

Additionally, we started to think about the cost of this project, especially how many hours are needed to mill. We did look up other workshops that might be able to mill our prototype, in case the FabLab could not make it on time.

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CNC DRILL BITS OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE MACHINE Varying the drill bit and tool path. There are lots of drill bit types. Firstly, check with the fabricator, what are the available drill that they have. Then, selecting the drill bits to experiment with.

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CONNECTION IDEAS BASIC TIMBER CONSTRUCTION I looked into timber junctions just to have some informations. Who might know we need it.

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HANDTOOLS DREMEL ROTARY HAND-TOOL A Dremel is a hand held high speed rotary tool capable of doing jobs no other machine can handle. It can use a wide range of accessories including cut-off wheels, sanding drums, grinding stones, polishing wheels and drill bits.

The Dremel has so many different uses that it’s the only tool for some very unusual jobs. If you need to sand down small parts of a model, polish or grind delicate metal parts or cut off screws and nails in hard to reach places then the Dremel is often the best tool to use.

SAND BLASTIING CABINET Sand blast cleaning is a surface treatment process. The machine comes with a blaster that use silica sand to clean and abrade a surface, typically metal, of any rust, paint or other unwanted surface materials.

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INSPIRATION FABRICATION TECHNIQUES

EX-LAB: Experimental Design Lab University of Melbourne A subject for master of architecture called Digital Furniture Fabrication (ABPL90361). I found this in social media.

These are interesting. The projects does gave me a few ideas on how to fabricate the nest.

In addition to the advices from the fabricators. It is hard initially to think how do we fabricate the nest. No doubt about that. I wish we could have a class/subject just about the machines.

“The steel rings, chopped from steel pipe were used by Rachel to be the flat facets to form the doubly curved fluid form. When polished the rings have a jewellery like quality made from an everyday material.�

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“Flow table by Bingquan Zhang manipulates timber to create unexpected fluid forms and shapes.”

“The gentle rocking movement in @bowhe project Nest is created by a CNC cut interlocking structure made from OSB.”

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CNC EXPLORATION TOOL PATH AND DRILL BITS

Variations of tool path.

• Parallel • Radial • Horizontal • Engraving • Contouring Others: • Pocketing • Inside/outside cutting • Rough/fine finish Think: • Density • Drill size • Use RhinoCAM to simulate the various CNC manufacturing processes.

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PROTOTYPE 1 12mm Endmill Line engraving

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PROTOTYPE 2 38mm Ballnose Line engraving

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PROTOTYPE 3 6.25mm Ballnose Spiral toolpath

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PROTOTYPE 4 38mm Ballnose Spiral contour

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INSPIRATION

TAMSIN VAN ESSEN Erosion The artist is a ceramicist. She stated that the project is a place where tension is created by the visible and the obscured. Initially, she make a blocks of alternating black and white porcelain which she then sandblasted to mimic biological forms similar to a parasitic virus in the process of devouring a host.

This is similar to termite eating the tree, or the kingfisher digging the nest into termite mound/river bank, or the nest weathered away under the sun and rain.

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C.3 FINAL DETAIL MODEL

Prototype making gave us an insightful information on how we can develop the detail model.

1. We decided to use different toolpath for external and internal of the nest. The reason goes back to how a tree surface articulation are different at different part of the tree.

2. We also discussed on the type of drill bits to be used.

Concerns are type of finish that we want to achieve, the degree of surface curved (able to mill or not) and time taken to be milled.

3. We continued looking for a joint/connection method that are hidden and not shown externally. This is because we want to have a continuous rustication on the outside.

4. Thus, we looked into ways for the finishes. How we overcome the issues encountered from part B [ie the band saw] 5. We thought about the structural load of our nest if we want to put it onto the tree and the possibilities of the nest rotated if it was not supported. Hence, we decided to incorporate base plate to put the nest in place.

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FABRICATION TECHNIQUES SUGGESTIONS

UNIQUE GEOMETRY USING TIMBER

MODULAR TIMBER CONSTRUCTION

Pursue a form which is divided into sections that can be CNC milled, using the form creation as the means of producing the rustication. Calculate the rough cost and time of the project assuming that the rustication process does not need an extra pass with the CNC mill. You will need to analyse how many parts it is, how much raw material will be required and an estimation of the time.

Create a system of modular timber components, CNC milled and rusticated rather than each part being entirely unique. You will have to look at aggregation of simple component and maybe L-Systems. You will need to analyse how many parts it is, how much raw material will be required, an estimation of the time required on the machine and human labour.

What we had done before and what we continue doing.

Like playing lego blocks or tetris.

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UNIQUE GEOMETRY USING CASTING

MODULAR SYSTEM CASTING

You might like to look at an object which is cast in-situ using rammed earth or similar. The CNC mill can be used to create its mould from foam which is cheap. You will need to analyse how many parts it is, how much raw material will be required, an estimation of the time required on the machine and human labour.

Use a modular system of casted elements. The CNC mill can create a mould from foam or timber, or you can create silicon moulds from a CNC’s component.

Modular components can be casted and aggregated.

You will need to analyse how many parts it is, how much raw material will be required, an estimation of the time required on the machine and human labour.

We did consider casting the nest, but it seems we didn’t.

Reminds me of making traditional Malay sweet dessert.

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FABRICATION PROCESS

PREPARATIONS

CNC MILLING

Sourcing sawn timber

Horizontal roughing

Glue up using Gorilla Bonding PVA Glue get intended thickness

Parallel finishing

CNC MILLING

Line engraving or curve machining

CUTTING BRASS DOWEL

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FINISHING

Sanding down or trimming band saw

CONNECTION

ASSEMBLAGE

WEATHERING

Brass dowel are cur and slotted into the milled hole

Brass dowel and glue or steel-cup connectors

Sealant finish using Ozmo Natural Timber Oil

Pre-assemble for quality control or assemble on site if difficult to slot onto branch

Sandblast to get weathered look

Joint are glued for stronger connection

TRIMMING THE EDGES WITH DREMEL

SANDBLASTING

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DETAIL MODEL

These are the file that we sent to the fabricator.

It turns out that there are problems with the file: • Triangulated surface [we did not realise that] • A flat surface that is too steep, unable to milled • Make the line engraving a little bit more easier to do [something along that line]

What we change • Reuse the mesh as surface object • Get rid of that for this model fabrication, and explain that as a problem we encountered • Use of normal toolpath [save time and cost] and change the drill bits used

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What we thought the steps for fabrication process. We learn a lot more through watching the actual milling process as shown in the next page.

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ACTUAL FABRICATION

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Side A (Interior) 1 Horizontal Roughing: 12.7mm step-down spiral end-mill @ 11mm increments

2 Curve Machining: A 6.35mm straight-cutter follows a spiral path at 3mm intervals

3 6 x 3.2mm holes are drilled with CNC to fit 3.18mm brass rod

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3 Side B (Exterior) 4 Horizontal Roughing: 12.7mm step-down spiral end-mill @ 11mm increments

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Parallel Finishing: 12.7mm down-cutter @ 10mm increments - Horizontal (y) Parallel Finishing: 12.7mm down-cutter @ 10mm increments - Vertical (x)

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5 Anemone curves/tool path: Engraved final pass with 6.35mm straight cutter to create tear/rustication

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ASSEMBLAGE 1/2 + 1/2 = 1 UNIT Brass dowel and non-toxic glue We tried to punch more holes for the dowel. However, we did not notice the model thickness with dowel size. Hence, we only drilled two dowels instead of 4.

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CONNECTIONS UNIT + UNIT = NEST Brass dowel and non-toxic glue This is from the first file we sent to the fabricator.

The flat surface cannot be milled.

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NEST + TREE 1. Self support to branch 2. Steel base plate [additional support] 3. Termite mound [from inside the tree/ warping the nest over time]

Diagrams to the right are suggestions on how to unit to unit.

1. Steel bracket 2. A pair of cupping between units With this, there might be possibilities that the units will not be connected internally, unless natural forces [i.e. termite eat, animal punch hole] act upon it.

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COST ESTIMATION

Calculating cost of our project makes me wonder, is it worth it to make a bird nest that is as expensive as one month house rent?

Why does I heard about machine fabrication can reduce cost and time? Is it because we are doing a bespoke design, that make the cost to increase? This reminds me of the Elbphilharmonie case study in Part A. This exercise also taught me on the reality of a project to be realised. A designer should also look into the feasibility of a proposal from multiple view (some of it are financial, build-ability, art/design).

This cost is only some of the direct cost of the project. If we are to add those unaccounted costs, indirect costs and multiple prototypes; I wonder what is the actual expenses of this project. If we were to sold this, how much will it worth, including the profit?

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Side A (Interior)

Side B (exterior)

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C.4 LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES Throughout the semester, we had interrogate the brief by doing in-depth client research. Sacred kingfisher itself is a beautiful bird and learning about non-human client makes me wonder about the sophisticated natural world around us. It helps me to think about how I approach the design process in architectural studio generally. Architecture field historically concerns about people yet, little consideration on the other living things. Even sustainability in architecture lacks the focus on animals and the balance of ecosystem.

As our urban cities are getting bigger, the animal kingdoms also lost their habitat and I believe it is a part of our responsibility to recover the damage we had done. This is parallel to design futuring concept put forth by Fry (2009).

The Hidey Hollow project taught me about bespoke tectonic design and assemblies. During the final presentation, one of the feedback stated that it is alright if we make a complicated digital model because at the end, machines are doing the job. I believe the studio provided me an ability to understand, assemble, modify, create and use the parametric modelling. These abilities when supported with our researches had assisted us in formulating a convincing designs at the end of semester. This shows that we as the designer (tool user) becomes the toolmaker by scripting, as mentioned by Burry (2011).

Furthermore, if I has more time to do the project, I will focus on the tectonic assemblies. This project informed us about the developing process and manipulation of the machine.

Hence, we did an exploration with the surface articulation, but I believe we need to test the connections of the nest in a larger scale. Cross-learning with Construction Design subject had prepared me to think about the construction.

Understanding strength, weakness, opportunities and threat of each stages along our design development had help us is making decisions. Using SWOT analysis is very useful when we are dealing with fabrication part (prototypes and consultations helps a lot)

The digital computation and its relationship with physical fabrication had changes how I perceived design thinking.

Design thinking includes empathy [understanding], creativity [opportunity] and rationality [solutions]. After this studio, I am more conscious about the intention and the feasibility of my creative design development. I agree with Peter (2013) that computational tools such as Rhino affects the process of design and the its delivery. In addition to the fact that computational design has a entered the commercial design industry shows that it has benefited the industry and population at general, including me as a student, who uptakes the technology and exploring its potential.

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Lastly, I learn a lot in managing my own work and liaising with my teammates. The group work is my favourite experience that I get from the studio. Each of us focuses on what we are best at and effectively communicating our ideas enable us to deliver the project as best as we could [Table]. We decided to choose the tutorial as our datelines every week and we tried to follow the schedule we made for ourselves.

In sum, studio Air had prepared me to utilise digital computation and computer-aided machines, mimicking nature more critical level, cooperating in a team, preparing a convincing proposal, understanding architectural theories and rediscovering my own potential as a human being.

Shqipe Memishi Research

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Computation

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Kim Doohon Drawings

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Fabrication

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Nurul Muhamad

Hafiz Azman Assembly

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Table: Credits to work done in the semester and used in this journal.

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Photography

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Graphic

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Editing

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C.5 APPENDIX

Week 9: where we are stuck. Although there are research done, but we did not implementing the informations as much.

Week 10: breakthrough to the final form. This is the breakpoint to aggregating the nest.

Week 10: Figuring out how to fabricate this.

I just thinking if we can sectioning the nest, it might be easier to do. However, how should we do with the rustications?

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REFERENCES

1. Amanatool, CNC router bit, https://www.amanatool. com/ams-139-18-pc-advanced-general-purpose-cncrouter-bit-collection.html

11. Junior Ranger Nature Notes, Food for all and a house too, https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_ file/0004/200002/termites-squaters-predators.pdf

2. Anatomy Of Kingfisher Bird, http://heritance.me/ anatom¬y-of-kingfisher-bird

12. Kingfisher Husbandry Manual - Australasian Zoo Keeping, http://www.australasianzookeeping.org/ Husbandry%20Manuals/KINGFISHERS.pdfv

3. Burry, Mark (2011). Scripting Cultures: Architectural Design and Programming (Chichester: Wiley) pp. 8-71

13. Kolarevic, Branko (2014). ‘Computing the Performative’, ed. by Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, pp. 103–111

4. Cultural Institute at King’s, Parallel Practices: Anatomy of Transformations, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Nhav3-xDIzU

14. Mediated Matter Group, Silk Pavillion, https://vimeo. com/67177328

5. deskriptiv GbR, a unified approach to grown structures, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HI8FerKr6Q

15. Melbourne School of Design, Introduction to CNC, https://edsc.unimelb.edu.au/maker-spaces/trainingcentre/introduction-to-cnc

6. Dezeen, Silk Pavillion, https://www.dezeen. com/2013/06/03/silkworms-and-robot-work-together-toweave-silk-pavilion/

16. Neri Oxman, Wanderer, http://matter.media.mit. edu/environments/details/wanderers-wearables-forinterplanetary-pilgrims

7. Erosion: Layered Porcelain Sculptures Sandblasted to Mimic Biological Forms, http://www.thisiscolossal. com/2015/05/erosion-porcelain-tamsin-van-essen/

17. Peters, Brady. (2013) ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp. 08-15

8. EXLAB: Experimental Design Lab, https://www. facebook.com/Ex-Lab-Experimental-DesignLab-157128561003250/

18. Robert Fuller, The Story Behind my TV Kingfisher Film, https://www.robertefuller.com/diary/the-story-behindmy-tv-kingfisher-film/

9. Fry, Tony (2008). Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg), pp. 1–16

19. Savanna Explorer, Animals That Nest In Termite Mounds, http://www.savanna.org.au/all/termite_ squatters.html

10. Higgins, P.J. (editor) 1999. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Volume 4, Parrots to dollarbird. Melbourne, Oxford University Press. http:// nzbirdsonline.org.nz/sites/all/files/302_Sacred%20 Kingfisher_0.pdf

20. Stanford University, Bird Feet, https://web.stanford.edu/ group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Feet.html

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