MODULE 2
Generating Ideas Through Process
Digital Fabrication
Reflection
The following project is an exploration of form finding through the use of the visual scripting software plugin, Grasshopper for Rhino 7. The task was to generate a 50mm x 50mm fragment that was extracted from a larger geometry. The geometry as a whole needed to be generated using a controlled visual script that could be manipulated to create defined spacial qualities such as circulation and threshold, porosity and permanence.
As you will see in the bellow script and generation matrix my focus in form finding was from a three-dimensional massing perspective, whereby my ideas were based on producing a fragment that was whole and complete in its form. This was largely influenced by the this idea of an new kind of external skin for architecture that was discussed in the critical reading, Architecture in the Digital Age - Design and Manufacturing by Branko Kolarevic. In his discussion he described how such outer skin became the overall form of the building defining post modern architecture for is facade rather than the modernist ideals of 'form follows function.' The voids and adjacencies in my design were considered however it was not the primary focus, instead I looked to create forms that could be interpreted as an entire building mass or used as a whole object like a chair or table.
Two distinctly different fabrication techniques were explored in this project, 3D printing I the first stage and a laser cut model through the use of sectioning which you will see below. Each process has its unique limitations and constraints which contributed to the final outcome.
Task A - 3D Printing
Isometric drawing of final 3D print geometry
Visual scripting process for 3D print geometry
My intention during the design process was not specified to any scale but rather the creation of a form that could allow for circulation and thresholds in a loose sense. Allowing myself to have little idea of what the final design gave me a feeling of instability in some of my design decisions however it pushed me to iterate more than I may have with a more specific goal or program in mind. At the beginning I produced many different outcomes testing how the Grasshopper script worked. It was not until I added my custom geometry to the grid space that I began to see where thresholds could be controlled. The shape used was intentionally curved with one planar face as I saw possibilities for contrasting qualities that I did not see with volumes that only had planar faces.
The scalloped shape meant I could create threshold between the ground plane and planar faces that was linear and abrupt. In a similarly abrupt way I created a somewhat sense of juxtaposition when the curved and flat faces collided. I imagine if the fragment was built into something such as a pavilion or even larger the viewer would see light hitting a curved surface and then immediately turn a corner and see a dramatic linear plane that extends far above them. It is this intersection between curved and linear that defines threshold through the fragment but also when it is circulated.
Iteration matrix
exploring and discovering final form from visual script
Key outcomes sent for 3D printing
Task B - Laser cutting
Isometric of waffle structure using radial contours
Visual scripting to generate waffle structure
Testing of different sectioning methods: it was important to maintain as much of the original form as possible. These outcomes were not resolved as they did not have highlight the curved surfaces or their intersections as well as the radial contours above.
