Week  Six  Virtual  Design  

Rebecca  Mahoney  584252  Group  6  

Virtual:  Summa4on  of  process  

The  strangler  fig  starts  its  life  by  being  ingested  by  a  bird  or  small  animal  which  then  deposits  it  in  the  upper  branches  of  a  tree  aCer  diges4on.  The  strangler  fig  then  germinates,  sending  lots  of  roots  upwards  for  sunlight  and  downwards  for  nutrient.  Eventually,  we  the  strangler  fig  competes  with  its  host  tree  for  resources  it    creates  a  series  of  connected  and  fused  roots  that  being  to  take  over  the  tree.  Ul4mately  the  strangler  fig  out  competes  the  host  tree  effec4vely  starving  and  killing  it.  Ini4ally  I  had  planned  on  making  a  hand  held  model  ,but  in  looking  at  the  aggressive  compe44ve  nature  of  the  fig  I  though  it  would  be  more  appropriate  to  have  a  lantern  that  hung  on  the  body  rather  than  a  more  passive  model.  

In  order  to  go  from  my  solid  clay  model  I  used  the  contouring  method  by  which  I  made  the  model  and  then  cut  it  into  cross  sec4ons  at  roughly  1.5  cm  intervals.  ACer  impor4ng  the  image  into  rhino  I  was  able  to  trace  the  shape  of  the  cross  sec4ons  and  create  a  series  of  curves.  

Virtual:  Clay  to  computer    

I  was  then  able  to  extrapolate  a  three  dimensional  curve  from  front  and  top  views  of  my  model.  The  previous  contours  I  had  traced  of  my  cross  sec4ons  could  then  be  placed  onto  the  curve  and  loCed.  I  found  that  when  trying  to  loC  my  curve  there  were  lots  of  kinks  that  closed  the  surface.  ACer  a  few  manipula4ons  of  surface  direc4on  I  was  able  to  fix  the  problem.  

Virtual:  LoCing    

The  Absolute  Towers.  Mississauga,  Canada  

   

Virtual:  Precedent  

The  Sleeping  Suit  ™  Forrest  Jessee  

Designed  to  mean  that  you  can  sleep  anywhere  at  any  4me,  the  Sleep  Suit  ™  is  made  from  a  mesh  of  self  suppor4ng  material  that  collapses  around  the  body  laterally.  The  concept  that  can  be  derived  from  this  design  for  my  panels  could  be  the  changeability  of  the  form  and  appearance  of  the  mesh  forma4on  at  different  heights.  

Virtual:  Precedent  

Virtual:  2D  tests  

These   are   a   series   of   paneling   op4ons   that   played  with  aCer   I   had   loCed  my  model.   I   experimented  with   using  more   than   one   panel   type   which   was   good   aesthe4cal  however   I   don’t   think   that   it   would   be   easy   or   feasible  when  it  came  to  physically  making  my  model.  The  paneling  that  I  liked  the  most  was  the  wave  panels,  I  felt   that   this   panel   arrangement  was   best   able   to   show  the  aggressive  and  overlapping  nature  of  strangler  figs.  I  preferred   the   paneling   paVerns   when   they   had   smaller  width  and  were  more  elongated,  making  them  look  more  complex  and  aggressive  

Before  paneling  Combina4on  paneling  

Wave  paneling  Triangular    paneling   Wave  paneling  

Virtual:  Paneling  errors  

Occassionaly  when  paneling  my  model  these  elongated  and  seemingly  random  extrusions  would  appear.  I  was  able  to  remove  them  by  pulling  apart  the  layers  of  my  model  and  its  panels,  whereby  I  could  simply  delete  this  panel  defect.  

Virtual:  Panel  choice  

This  was   the   paneling   I   liked   the  most  because  of   its   intricacy  and  the   aggressiveness   of   the   sharp  and   repeated   edges   that   it  creates.  

Virtual:  Ligh4ng  

What  I  enjoy  about  this  model  is  that  light  can  only  escape  from  the  open  ends.  In  having  the  openings  at  the  top  and  boVom  it  shows  the  way  that  the  strangler  fig  grows,  that  its  figh4ng  for  the  prize  of  light  and  nutrients  

Virtual:  Readings  and  lectures  

What  I  drew  from  the  lectures  varied,  Paul  Loh’s  lecture  on  paVern  forma4on  was  a  par4cularly  interes4ng  insight  into  natural  and  man  made  paVerns  and  also  the  appearance  of  fractals.  To  some  degree  I  believe  that  fractals  and  the  repeated  image  over  different  temporal  scales  can  be  seen  in  my  paneling  choice,  the  tessella4on  of  the  geometric  shapes  repeats  itself  with  accumula4on.  The  look  into  the  Eureka  Pavilion  and  the  way  in  which  light  entered  the  space  got  me  thinking  about  the  way  in  which  materials  affected  the  way  a  space  was  seen,  used  and  enjoyed.  When  this  was  combined  with  the  insight  into  materials  in  the  Fleishman  ar4cle,  it  became  apparent  of  the  effect  that  materials  could  have  upon  design,  especially  when  combined  with  advanced  computer  modeling  programs  that  have  the  ability  to  redefine  what's  physically  possible.  I  found  the  Polling  ar4cle  on  Kandinsky’s  method  of  drawing  interes4ng  and  a  good  way  of  stripping  back  process  to  the  bare  bones  in  order  to  create  a  simple  tangible  canvas  to  start  with.  This  was  the  case  with  my  model,  I  stripped  the  process  of  strangler  fig  growth  to  three  complex  steps:  germina4on  growth  and  consump4on,  which  allowed  me  to  create  a  simple  model  to  project  further  detail  onto.  

Virtual:  Reflec4on  

I  hate  rhino.  Mostly  because  I  don’t  understand  it  and  because  of  almost  every  technical  error  or  failure  possible  that  I  went  through.  Not  having  had  enough  4me  was  the  major  let  down  of  this  project.  What  I’ve  taken  from  this  process  is  to  get  started  a  lot  earlier.  I  haven’t  given  myself  sufficient  4me  to  develop  the  process,  prototyping  and  paneling  which  is  quiet  obvious.  However  through  somewhat  familiarizing  myself  with  rhino  I’ve  learnt  that  the  boundaries  of  what  is  physically  possible  is  so  expansive  with  today's  technology,  although  I  definitely  prefer  design  that’s  a  tad  more  tangible,  there  are  so  many  advantages  to  this  technology  especially  in  terms  of  what  you  can  make  materials  do.    

Forrest, jessee (2006), Sleep Suit ™, Forrest Jessee, http://www.forrestjessee.com/#SLEEP-SUIT, viewed august 29 2012

Design build-network.com, (2011),Absolute Towers, Net Resources International, viewed 28 august 2012, http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/absolutetowers/

Virtual:  Reference  list