Elroi Nissim5th yr student / B. Arch

Technion Haifa, Israel+972-52-4700975

FULL SIZED BENCH 4

PUBLIC WORKSHOP 12

VISTOR CENTER 20 (IN PROGRESS)

CONTENTS

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FULL-SIZED BENCHThe challenge of designing a seating object, which also incorporates interlock ability, called for a debate as for what purpose of interlocking mechanism should it be. The preliminary design alternatives evolved while guided by this very notion.

The bench is an add-on to an existing, exposed concrete element situated in Amado building in the Technion, Haifa, Israel.

Material: 16 mm thick Birch wood platesSize: approx. 180x180x45 cmFabrication Methods: CNC cutting, CNC milling

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CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATIONThe chosen site for the establishment of the object is plain concrete block located in the center of Architecture Faculty building in the Technion. The Cube stands next to the crossing between the studios and the management offices facing the faculty’s cafeteria entrance. The site revealed an opportunity both for re-use of cube as well as for Interlock mechanism which allow connection without physical intervention.With fabrication in mind, the focus was to create relatively large interlock components in order to get effective connection. First conceptual models introduced the idea of a ‘hole’ and a ‘plug’, and eventually - ‘bar’ and ‘cap’.

Typologically, the components were divided into to two main groups:• MAIN UNITS (brown) - Were mounted to the existing cube.• CAPS (tan) - Parts that bridged and fastened two close main units.

In the process of making the design more effective, every components that were either too weak structurally, material-wise wasteful, or not as integral in terms of interlock ability were removed. For instance, instead of legs the object was mounted straight to the exposed-concrete.

Through that strategy, all the resources and effort were focused on the seats, and their unique form. Since the financial aid was limited, during the design progress we also managed to dramatically decrease the amount of raw material used, and subsequently increase the efficiency in utilization of raw material.

DESIGN PROCESSThe chosen alternative was divided to 8 segments, idea which assisted

in shaping a radial grid to rely on, with dimensions which allow the

components to fit ideally into the CNC table. Practically, we aimed to

create a virtually continuous top surface throughout the bench, allowing

for dynamic use as a seating element. In order to allow for various kinds of seating and lying poses by the users of the bench, the top surface is

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curved in an irregular distribution, creating differentiated humps and dents that can host those multiple options of seating. In order to design these curves in the surface we first set the heights of the surface in different key locations, as done in topography mapping.The differentiated size of components as well as their overall composition created multiple programmatic use situations (i.e. lying down on a large, moderate surface, or alternatively sitting briefly on a small surface, sitting on the concrete base and only leaning against an extremely sloped

or vertical surface).

PROFILES MODELThe profiles model is a 3D working model that consisted of extruded profiles, stacked as 8 adjacent segments that depict the pre-milling stage of the bench fabrication. The purpose of the model was to deliver 3D volumes from which milling could be done, and to extract the 2D profiles to be later spread on a planar layout and cut separately. Holes were introduced in many profiles, to save up raw material and weight. The vast majority of those holes were in themselves smaller profiles that were used elsewhere in the model.

CURVED SURFACE MODELThe curved surface model is a working model that coped with designing the bench’s top surface. It included a single, double-curved surface that later was used in intersection with the profiles model, to subtract the top volume out of the model and thereby signify the action of milling the 8 compound segments during fabrication.The design and fine-tuning of the surface was based on both the early heights scheme and the layout grid. The process had to be constantly integrated with the profiles model to verify that the intersection between the surface and the 3D volume is proper.This model was first designed as a T-Splines surface. Then, using Grasshopper, we projected vertices from our grid onto the surface, and created a triangular polysurface using Grasshopper Paneling Tools. After this process we exploded the surface to a mesh and fine tuning the Z-position of each vertex.

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FABRICATION STRATEGY• Cutting components out of birch plates, divided to horizontal profiles.• Piling the profiles up and glue them together to form 8 components.• Milling the segments top to form a continuous, smooth, textured surface.• Assembling the components on-site.

CNC CUTThe first step was to arrange the 2D profiles in plates to cut, including labels and marking guide lines.

Once the profiles were cut, we could then apply glue on them and stack them up, with the aid of two crucial guiding systems: One is the dowels (wooden rods) that were put through pre-drilled holes providing stability and precision during gluing. The other system was the guiding lines, which even more precisely indicated where the next part goes.

Each top-most profile of every component was cut reflected and, instead of regular drilled holes those top profiles had only half-drilled holes. In this manner the top parts were held stable but didn’t allow dowels to pass through - thus concealing the dowels from sight.

For the sake of assembly the cut parts featured:• Labeling: organizing all profiles by component (A-H) and height (1-20)• Marking: Guiding Lines to indicate location of parts above• Drilled Holes: to host stacking dowels• Mounting Handles: on edges of bottom profiles of ‘Cap’ components, allowing to later mount the prepared

component to the milling table with screws.

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CNC MILLAfter the 8 segments were steady and the glue dried, the next step was to mill their top, a much more delicate process than cutting. It relied on precision in the assembly of the segments and moreover, on a very precise calibration between the geometry in the milling 3D file and the actual object on the table. This calibration was achieved thanks to a middle-step which came before the mill job: each segment milling file was exported with a contour curve. That curve was first engraved upon the CNC table, as a guiding silhouette mark. Using the mark we could position the actual component precisely on the CNC table, thus insuring consistency between the mill job file and the object.The placed components were secured to the table using screws. The 4 ‘anchor’ segments had their connection wings, which we could take advantage of, for placing screws; The 4 ‘cap’ segments, on the other hand, had to include special mounting handles, and the screws were fastened on them.The milling process underwent with great success. All the segments top faces were milled completely, and no ‘holes’ were milled (the surface turned out smooth and intact). At certain points this result relied on precision of single millimeters.

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ConclusionsMETHOOD

Reviewing the method we chose to handle the design challenge, we now have further insight as for what alterations of the working routines would have make the process easier and faster:• Although split work among collaborators

is necessary, design could be evolved the other way around - meaning, the ‘host’ 3d model, the one made of stacked profiles, should have been crated parametrically through a definition that infers it out of the our designed top-surface model. Such a mission is highly ambitious; Since there are endless geometries that could wrap the surface, and the definition has to articulate a design that is also effective, safely-distant from the surface itself, and, above all, a design that takes into consideration that the profiles need to be arranged for 2d cutting ideally, with minimum remnant.

• A successful automated routine for the following operations would have saved tremendous amounts of time and effort: script for adding drilled holes throughout many profiles, script for arranging profiles on the cutting sheet.

MATERIAL

In this exercise we concluded that in fabrication specifically but also in design in general, efficiency with material can be achieved in many levels, and it also provides with many levels of benefit. The motivation that drove us was the need to save up our limited raw material. This motivation was followed by our decisions to create an add-on design on an existing bench, or the decision to make the components hollow by including holes and “profiles within profiles”. Those all contributed to the overall result.

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PUBLIC WORKSHOPThe project is trying to revitalize an abandoned public perimeter Located in a residential high-dense area on a wadi slope. 30 years ago, the building used to serve the city residents, but today it has become a black hole in the middle of a neighborhood. Since there is no other public space in the neighborhood except for designated institutions, the concept has leaned toward a recreational complex for the majority of the residents. That’s led to the establishment of a public workshop alongside vocational education and shopping market.

The project offers an open workshop to the public, while independent groups that operate vocational training and activities also run the place. The building preserves the introvert value of the original structure in order to overcome a few obstacles that the wadi slope and the busy road present. The building exposes a decomposing street facade and welcoming wandering and a pass through the crafting complex. The second facade face to the rock quarry, which is occupied by the workshop studios and the classrooms. In between those facades the open ground level pierced its way creating the median yards. The yards function as the primary interaction area for recreational activities as well as the street passage and thus become the core of the project.

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’’Hapoel’’ perimeter in Hadar neighborhood located in a residential area, along a main road connecting the Carmel uphill neighborhoods and the old city of Haifa. Once a public space that functioned as a culture and sport center which served the majority of the city residents. Swimming pool, Cinema and Basketball Court yard were just a few of the activities that were used as the foundation for everyday encounters events between the neighbors. Over the years the city developed uphill, a process that led to a radical change in the composition of the population. Another outcome derived from the city growth, which naturally caused a declining in the influence area of the center. The slope of the steep topography of the wadi which accompanied by the main road creates a difficult situation for the pedestrian experience. Thus preserving the introvert value of the original building became an important pillar which guided the design.

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Median Yards I Mass & Fragments I Piercing through

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The mixed population of the neighborhood consists on an orthodox religious community and secular society. The religious orthodox community dominates most of the activities in the public space, such as: trading, education, leisure and more. Therefore, the only place for those individuals to express themselves is their own private house. On the other hand, the secular population is much more diverse, and conducted as a modern society, in which individuals act independently. However there are social independent groups in the neighborhood that operate in order to create a social experience. although there is no collision between the two, yet there is no interaction between them. a situation that led the search after an infrastructure that deals with the individual and the group relation.

The methodology was based on finding characteristics and needs that exist in all of the population but differ from one individual to another, such as hobbies, skills, physical abilities etc. Thus was born the concept to establish a “Public Workshop”, an open public complex for activity expression that combines vocational training which offer classes and courses available.

The design of the introvert perimeter simulates a natural system penetrate into an artificial mass, represented as a grid that overlapped the passages and the typical activity spaces. The goal was to achieve an integrated complex that allow meeting situations with the crafts through wandering around.

The plan organization derived from the design of the median space as the living core of the project, which surrounds by two facades, The Wall Facade and ‘Hapoel’ St. Facade. The natural system piercing through the complex, and creates small yards which allow disconnection and integration among them. The yards that sometimes uses as outdoor classrooms, fairs, street shows, but mostly as the main transition path, are also lobbying The Wall Facade. a Facade that characterized as a mass that occupied by a very specific functions, such as machinery, studios and the wall itself which connect to the classrooms at the second floor. On the other side, ‘Hapoel’ St. Facade is a “market” strip that experienced through searching and wandering through the workshop products. ‘Hapoel’ St. Facade design is based on a series of tissue fragments of the artificial mass. This sequence creates a decomposed and ethereal front facade that invites entry and passage through the yards.

Ground level plan

Conceptual introversion I Section A-A

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Upper level plan

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Section B-B

The back wall, which relies on the rock quarry, occupy the building’s control sub-systems and staircases along it. This allows the school to operate the complex on the backstage, Thereby creating an invitation for the public to take part in crafts studios.

On the upper level sight and sound connects between classrooms, and between them and the ground floor studios, while the change in the levels define perceived boundaries between them.

The Wall Facade

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Vistor Center

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