Final Poster

Laser cutting ideas

I intend to show a more conceptual idea for my laser cutting, representing my theme of waves through a cross section through a wave. The material I want to use is not available in the labs, it is a light plastic material which has a mirrored finish on one side and a blue matt colour on the other, the place I foudn to cut this is in Chipping Norton (not too far from me) and has this material available in 1.5mm which is perfect, it is tintended to look like a cross section of the image below.

My Model

My intial model had been successfully cut although the material I chose was definately the wrong choice! The notchs were too small as I did not allow for the size of the laser and since it went from a DWG format to PDF in order to it to be cut it unfortunately had several lines overlapped which meant extra cutting by the laser. I had no choice but to experiment with what was left of my shattered model, so I used the negative version in order to show the design intent. The images below is what I had created with what left of the inital model.

I guess this is why the call it Experimental Modelling!

Renders

Render not used in poster

Render not used in poster

quick renders

Draft Poster

Assignment 2 Proposal

A long site allows for a panoramic view of the harbour, tying in with the theme of wave formations which I will incorporate through the building, not only in its façade but also its structural form and room layout. My building concept is to create a building that reflects the scenery around it, by using shape, form and materials. In order to replicate characteristics of water throughout the building several techniques will be utilised.
Firstly the overall form of the building, I intend to create spaces with different view points and a unique ambience for each room of the building. This will be achieved by creating split levels throughout the building mimicking a series of waves, there will be highly obtainable views of all surrounding landscape from almost every angle of each room with the allowance for natural ventilation, and thoroughfares between each spilt level. As each room is staggered there will open space surrounding each, this provides free air flow to pass through the spaces, as this is a building built to represent the environment solar passive design is an integral characteristic of the structure so it needs to embrace every aspect as much as possible, having highlighted louvered windows will ensure maximum air flow throughout the entire building. The change in levels also provides for different ceiling heights allowing for multifunctional rooms.
The buildings façade acts like a thin skin covering the buildings portal frame structure, the cladding will replicate water ripples representing a wave like appearance. Every unique contour will seem as if it is crawling across the structure giving it an amalgamated form.
In order to incorporate the vegetation at the rear of the site and reflecting the colours of the water the materials are carefully selected. Using Gehry’s building Gallery of Ontario as inspiration the cladding will be Titanium skin with a blue tint in it combined with green tints in particular areas of the building. Its reflective surface allows the building to blend well with the landscape becoming a natural looking part of the environment. The form and shape of the building may be strikingly bold although the materials allow the structure to evolve with the surrounding environment. The green tint predominately used on the rear of the façade will become a stage echoing the trees surrounding it through reflections. To view the structure from the back will definitely seem as though it has slightly distorted looking vegetation creeping over it. While at the front of the building the water will be reflected through the blue titanium skin. This is intended to represent a wave emerging from the harbour.
To create this in Grasshopper will be difficult for me as I am to some extent struggling to fully harness the capability of the program. I already have a basis to start with from Assignment 1, the wave iterations I created will act as the skin of the structure, in simplified terms I need to replicate the flat planes over an articulated surface being the over structure form of the building. The above mentioned characteristics of the building will not change, this is what forms the buildings core, although the aesthetics of the exterior will, the iterations I intend on producing will create different wave like forms changing the buildings skin and slightly altering the shape of the internal spaces. By changing numbers in the main equation and selecting a different centre point in Grasshopper will redefine the iterations.

12 citations for assignment 2

Title: Architectural metals: a guide to selection, specification, and performance.
Author: L. William Zahner.
Published: 1995 by John wiley & Sons Inc.

Title: New organic architecture: the breaking wave.
Author: David Pearson.
Published: 2001 Gaia Books Limited.

Title: The buildings of Frank Gehry
Author: Peter Kandela
Available online 24 August 2001.

Title: Freeform Construction: Mega-scale Rapid Manufacturing for construction
Authors: R.A. Buswell, R.C. Soar, A.G.F. Gibb and A. Thorpe
Available online 30 June 2006.

Title: Theory and design in the first digital age
Author: Rivka Oxman
Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
Available online 9 January 2006.


Title: Digital architecture as a challenge for design pedagogy: theory, knowledge, models and medium
Author: Rivka Oxman
Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
Available online 28 January 2008.


Title: Rapid prototyping and its application in architectural design
Author: Thomas Kvan, Guest Editors, Branko Kolarevic
Department of Architecture, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Available online 19 February 2002.




Title: Waves
Author: Frank S. Crawford
Publisher: New York : McGraw Hill
Date: 1968

Title: Breaking ocean waves : geometry, structure and remote sensing
Author: Eugene A. Sharkov
Publisher: Berlin ; New York : Springer
Date: c2007

Title: Wind generated ocean waves
Author: Ian R. Young (Ian Robert), 1957-
Publisher: Amsterdam ; Oxford : Elsevier
Date: 1999

Title: AIR-SEA INTERACTION- Surface Waves
Author: L. Lya and A. Benilovb
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Available online 2003.

Title: Breaking Waves and Near-Surface Turbulence
Author: J. Gemmricha
University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Available online 2 December 2008.

6 exploratory citiations of sources for Assignment 2.

Title: Rapid prototyping and its application in architectural design
Author: Thomas Kvan, Guest Editors, Branko Kolarevic
Department of Architecture, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Available online 19 February 2002.




Title: Waves
Author: Frank S. Crawford
Publisher: New York : McGraw Hill
Date: 1968

Title: Breaking ocean waves : geometry, structure and remote sensing
Author: Eugene A. Sharkov
Publisher: Berlin ; New York : Springer
Date: c2007

Title: Wind generated ocean waves
Author: Ian R. Young (Ian Robert), 1957-
Publisher: Amsterdam ; Oxford : Elsevier
Date: 1999

Title: AIR-SEA INTERACTION- Surface Waves
Author: L. Lya and A. Benilovb
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Available online 2003.

Title: Breaking Waves and Near-Surface Turbulence
Author: J. Gemmricha
University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Available online 2 December 2008.

Ideas for Assignment 2 & 3

As a result of my first assignment taking a turn to a new concept of surface & wave like formations, I have chosen Site One -The Toaster. This site allows incorporation of the aspect of topography and organic surface textures in the building design, as it draws emphasis on the parkland behind the site and the harbour at the foreground of the site.

Aspect of Design: The topography and surface texture of organic formations.

Aspects of Complex Geometry: Water Surface/ Wave formation. The formation of a peaked waves- cone like shapes. Essentially my final concept will be building with a roof that resembles the wave formation with different peaks. This allows the building to resemble the parkland as well as the harbour. The gap between each wave form will allow interesting natural lighting effects.

Inspirations: Frank Gehry: Hotel Marque de Riscal-

The building itself appears as a series of wave like surfaces layered over each other, held up by a series of posts. The building is lifted above the site on columns, creating a small entry plaza beneath the building itself and providing breathtaking views of the vineyards, the San Andres Church, and the surrounding town and region from each of the areas located in the upper levels of the building.

Benjamin Ball & Gaston Nogues:

A temporary constructions that filled Rodeo Drive, created spectacle, and honored the materiality of Gehry's early work. Designers Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues developed a new manufacturing process using corrugated cardboard to create voluptuous curved walls, furniture, and bars. They were inspired by the process and material Gehry employed in his legendary "Easy Edges" furniture of the 1970's.

Final Poster & Screenshot

Final Renders

Poster Text

My Initial Concept: My geometry was based around the formation and rule sets associated with Cumulonimbus clouds. The initial concept must firstly require a breakdown of how clouds are formed and which characteristics of each cloud form determine its type. The one cloud type that had a very straight forward formation was that of the Cumulonimbus cloud. Clouds contain their own shape grammars, in order to create uniquely formed Cumulonimbus Clouds there are certain rules that need to be followed. On further observation of the cloud form I was able to produce my own simple rule set which I believed to be the basis of which it is formed. The width & height of the cloud is relevant to each other, it seemed to be at a ratio of 1:1 and the centre of the cloud is pinched almost at a ratio of 1:2 of the clouds height or width.Width=HeightCentre = Width or Height / 0.5. To create a cloud shape in Grasshopper rather than just spheres, there are several ways of going about to do this. One option is simply dropping points onto the surface of the spheres at random points and create spheres which make the clouds pop at different areas forming iterations of the clouds. The way clouds create unique shapes which are unlimited to our imagination is through the way the light hits different points of the shape also the more dense the part of the clouds is creates a shadow and the areas of less density the lighter the cloud seems.Clouds don't only give the illusion of shapes due to its form it is also by the way the light hits it and the areas of density. If you were to analyse a swarm or flock they also form shapes by its density and shadows formed. The Obstacles Faced: When it came to converting my ideas into a geometric form on Grasshopper I faced a lot of challengers. I watched many tutorials but was still unable to find one that was even closely similar to my concept so I decided to focus more the surface texture of a cloud rather than the cloud as an entire form. As I researched further into the cloud form I began to observe the surface texture and decided its form more resembled a wave formation, so I converted this into my grasshopper geometry. I created different wave formations to symbolise the surface of a cloud and its different densities. All my iterations vary slightly to produce wave like forms with different density and thickness in certain areas as clouds do. The uniquely dispersed density of cloud particles is what forms different shapes. This concept also related to swarms. Swarm behavour can be seen in everyday life and is a feild of science highly researched. In this instance I am not refering to Biological swarming of animals or marine life but there are certain behavioural characteristics that can be taken into context when researching the surface behavour of a cloud. In every swarm there is a centralised area of the agents in the swarm which are highly densed together with the density dispersing further out of the swarm. Much like cloud behavour as there are particularlly dense areas of the cloud which appear darker and as the density lessens more light shown through the cloud creating this appearance. The iterations are intended to show the uniquely dispersed density of clouds and the key concept of how cloud form shapes in the sky.All iterations were made by slight adjustments of the formula used sin(((x-a)^2+(y-b)^2)^.5) - where (a,b) is the location of the waves' centre. Adjusting numbers created larger or smaller waves as well as changing the position and direction of wave centers. To create the wave interface you have to add one wave on top of the other, then evaluate the elevation of all base waves for a set of points using rectangular grids, then add the z-components together to make a new surface. References: www.grasshopper3d.com, www.tedngai.net/grasshopper, www.youtube.com With use of: Daniel Piker & David Rutteen blog posts & interfaces posted on the website www.grasshopper3d.com.

Progress Renders

Poster Layout Draft

12 Images

I chose different cloud types rather than focusing on the characteristics of only one to true and get a better understanding of the rule sets a cloud in general contains. Maybe then i will be able to easily distinguish these and create my own cloud type type in grasshopper.