1

Design stuDio: AirTutorial 16: Cam + VictorSam Dunkley541852

PArt B: DigitAl Design

2

B1. Research Field Page 3

B2. Case Study 1.0 Page 4

B3. & B4. Case Study 2.0 Page 8

B5. Prototypes Page 16

B6. Proposal Page 20

B7. Learning Outcomes Page 22

3

Research Field The team decided on the Research Field of “Strips/Folding”. Through our research, we focussed on generating a form, breaking it into developable strips, and looking at methods of fabrication. In many architectural applications from digital design tools to traditional pen-and-paper, there has often been discontinuity between the conceptual design and the final building of the project. Many students have developed a wonderful form in Rhino, only to become stuck as to how to translate that into something which can actually be built. We tried to approach this project with the goal of creating a developable design ingrained in the making of the form itself.

4

Case Study 1:Seroussi PavilionAlisa Andrasek

As part of her Biothing project, Alisa Andrasek developed the Seroussi Pavilion. The main focus of the definition provided was the use of vector fields, which really had little bearing on our final outcome. However it was the only option for Case Study 1.0 in our chosen research field, so we worked with it. Working with this definition helped me understand how fields work, as well as various ways to manipulate surfaces and curves.

5

Original

Increased start points

Large central circles

Additional field lines

Longer field lines

Altered curve gradient

Altered original curves

Altered original curves to 3D

Elliptical original curve

Variations -curves

Original curve is a field line (iterative)

6

Pipes

Variations -Surfaces

Mirrored and lofted

Creating developable surfaces

7

8

Case Study 2.0Archipelago PavilionChalmers Uni Tech

Developed by architecture students, the Archipelago Parametrically Designed Pavilion is an exploration in the integration of digital design with fabrication techniques. I found this very appealing as it is a method of using computation to reduce cost and time of construction of relatively complex structures. By taking the priciples explored in by the team, there are many real-world applications which could be utilised very easily.

9

10

Method 1This method was a good starting point, as it showed me how difficult it was to manage the data streams though the Grasshopper Definition. After some manipulation, however, I rejected it: there was no continutiy between the top and bottom halves -the mirroring processmade for a poor match between them. In addition, the final form was much more restricted, as the starting curve was the only manipulable input geometry.

Created arcs through the curves

Divided into threeStarting Curve Scaled and raised

Lofted arcs

Mirrored to form shape

11

Narrower secondary curves

Altered control points

Totally broke it

Wider secondary curves

Further altered control points

Shifted secondary curves to twist arcs

Altered original curve in three dimentions

12

Method 2With this method, I aimed for a much simpler definition. This was more restrictive since I couldn’t alter many input parameters at all.

Created arcs through the curves

Rotated to form three circlesStarting Circle Introduced edge curves, created top lines

Lofted to form shape

13

Higher top lines Lower top lines Altered side curves

14

Method 3Another tact was creating a more holistic definition -each arc spans from the top to the bottom, making for a much smoother outcome. However this structure as it is would be very difficult to fabricate as each surface is curved in two planes.

Created arcs through the curves

Divided into three and raised top oneStarting Curves Rebuilt, scaled and raised to midpoint to form mid curves

Lofted Divided curve using arcs

15

Curves from previous definition

Strips are guaranteed to be buildable using Ruled Surfaces

Nested each strip onto card, and added tabs to aid in fabrication

Curves are intersected with vertical planes

Unrolled each surface

Arcs are created from these intersections

16

PrototypingAn early attempt to observe ways in which we could utilise strips in our designs. As each piece is made from paper curved in only one direction, fabrication was very easy.

17

PrototypingAfter completing the digital replica of Archipelago, we printed and cut the pieces in order to make a scale model. This model was not a success in terms of its own structure and stability, however we learned valuable lessons from its creation. Since the whole structure is to be held in tension, it needs to be held together tightly, otherwise cracks will appear between the panels. The tabs whichI created in my digital definition were not sufficient at that scale, giving us a decent idea of what will be required. In addition, we have settled on the use of 1.8mm Aluminium strips, which will be curved after cutting. These are light and strong, and will hold their shape much better than the paper due to their pre-curved nature.

18

Energy GenerationAs a method of “harnessing natural energy”, we looked to the users themselves. Harnessing the energy put out by exercising humans is a great way to engage people and make them think about what energy (and therefore electricity) actually is, and how it affects us. Historically, we have harnessed energy from human movement in many ways, from pottery wheels for manufacturing to palanquins for transport. We looked to these methods for inspiration. One easy method of energy generation from people is to have them walk over piezoelectric panels, which changes the vibration energy into electricity. These, however, are very expensive to manufacture, and only produce a tiny amount of power unless they are in an area with extreme numbers of people walking through.

19

We instead chose to utilise human’s mechanical energy by implementing a rotating treadmill-type device, with a dynamo in the middle which converts rotational energy to electrical. This can be fed back into the grid with use of a converter and an inverter. We looked into other alternatives, such as an exercise bike which fed into the dynamo, however the treadmill proved to tbe the most efficient.

20

After settling on a form generation method and a means of producing energy, the next challenge was to integrate these two ideas.

21

Circular Treadmill

Hand Holds

Bearing Hub

Dynamo and Grid Inverter

Stormwater Collection

Our design proposal, seen here in situ at the LAGI site.

22

Learning Outcomes

The most interesting part of this course for me has been the increasing focus placed on the wider uses of parametric design, and our encouragement to keep pushing our ideas further. This is something which I felt I needed to do more strongly the whole way through the semester: finding ways to integrate and incorporate the various methods we learned in the tutorial videos, and how to apply that to our journal outcomes.

I constantly found myself working in grasshopper trying to create a very specific shape from either my head or from precedent works. This is not really in the spirit of generative design, as I was simply using the tools to make a preconcieved outcome. Now that my technical skills are much better I will be looking spend more time creating algorithms which provide good results themselves, rather than trying to get the software to do what I want it to in a less efficient way.

23

24

References1. Piezoelectric generationhttps://www.americanpiezo.com/piezo-theory/generators.html

2. Rotational Energy Information http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/cisr/docs/1045389.pdf

3. Human Movement http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.111.9561&rep=rep1&type=pdf

4. Harvesting Energy from Human Movement http://fishtnk.com/responsivearchitecture/energy-harvesting-through-body-movement/

5. Archipelago Parametric Pavillion http://www.evolo.us/architecture/archipelago-parametrically-designed-pavilion/

6. ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010 http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458