Project 01_ paneling

From Project 01_ paneling brief:

Utilizing and exploiting the capabilities of Rhinoceros with Paneling Tools, generate and physically fabricated (through laser cutting) a small surface study derived from the aggregation of units into a whole.  The final physical output need not measure larger than 10" x 10" - and may be constructed out of any simple flat stock material (museum board, chipboard, Strathmore, etc...).
Project should follow and expand on the techniques covered in class and blog.

A small grid of 12 by 8 points were constructed on a surface with a curvature.
Then the points were reshuffled by picking 2 attractor points shifted the density of grid points away from them.

  

The shifted grid points were then offset with a minimum distance of 0.5 and a maximum distance of 3.

The 3d object to be paneled was a small square surface with two folding flaps and a punched square opening in the middle.  Unit was designed with flaps and in anticipation of assembly but also to accentuate the undulating nature of the now reshuffled grid points of attraction.

The result:

Top view:

Laser cut outs prepared but unfortunately could not work the labeling and lip folding process.

Assembly time:  3 hours.

DEMO Set

The first assignment was approached as a visual research and design move into polemicizing the notion of caves in architecture. The polemic: humans have been creating their own worlds in cave-like spaces for a long time, but today these kinds of spaces are ever more discrete, temporal, and lacking the kind of open ended connections, interactions and engagement that the original caves had. The case study of this polemic then was looking at how a typical single-family home was organized into spaces of storage: closets, garages, basements, and refrigerators.

4 panels (24x24):

The exercise was also a way to experiment and identify what my preferred visual methods and representation techniques were. Careful collecting, assembling, collaging and layering are part of my strength as generative tools for discussion. However, I have yet to find an effective rhetorical tool for editing or synthesizing topics for the thesis. What has worked in the past studios are gaming, rule making. or writing techniques but the nature of the assignment lacked the kind of reflective feedback system that a typical studio would have had.

Demo Set:

I don’t have any real interest in the topic of a house as a thesis project. However, the exercise and review did reveal topics like the module or the body that might play a role in my broader topical interest. I am more interested in studying eccentric spaces and places that reveal the potential dynamics and limits of a larger ecology. I am also hopeful that my thesis can propose design strategies that enhance, enable, or intervene in these kinds of systems. Summer readings that did influence my interest in this area are by Manuel DeLanda, Sanford Kwinter, and Peter Sloterdijk.