VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS SEMESTER 2 (2013)

MODULE ONE: IDEATIONNICOLE TAN 641433

Subject: Lightweight nylon kite that can be par-tially dismantled

Materials: Nylon sheet, plastic ‘caps’, wooden rods, thread

Manufacturer: Daiso Industries (Australia)

Design: Lightweight skin and bone structure, triangular

Evaluation:The kite is an example of a skin and bone struc-ture which utilises tension to provide strength and stability. The ‘bone’ in this instance are the wooden rods that form a frame which the nylon ‘skin’ encloses. This is essential for the function-ing of the kite as it allows for wind and air to be captured by the tensile skin which pushes the kite upwards. The string attached to the kite acts as an an-chor as well as a steering mechanism for mov-ing the kite.

From the kite’s structure, we can gather that the skin and bone system is strong and stable. It is able to manipulate the air whilst using minimal materials to remain lightweight and hence is an effective design and construction system.

Description of how the object was measured:

My measured drawings were done to a 1:5 scale similar to the drawings done by Ulrik Nordam of the garden chair and Claus Bech-Danielson of the office chair in ‘300 years of Industrial Design’. This method was followed be-cause dimensions of the kite were too large to trace to fit onto a piece of paper. Thus, I used a ruler to measure the actual dimensions of the kite and its components and converted the values according to the 1:5 scale. I used the ‘backbone’ of the kite as a reference point to which the other edges were measured against to maintain the accuracy of my measurements and drawings.I also followed the drawing conventions present in the measured drawings in ‘300 years of Indus-trial Design’. For example, internal components of the system were represented as dotted lines whilst external edges were drawn as solid lines.

M1; THE NYLON KITEVIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT JOURNAL

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USE OF THREAD TO FORM A ‘POCKET’

INTERNAL ROD

PLASTIC CAPS

EXTERNAL RODUSE OF THREAD TO AFFIX DECORATIVE RIBBONS

PLASTIC CAPS WHICH HOLD EXTERNAL WOODEN ROD IN

PLACE

EXTERNAL WOODEN ROD IN LATERAL DIRECTION

PLAN DRAWING OF A NYLON KITE

ELEVATION DRAWING OF A NYLON KITE (base up)

SECTION DRAWING OF A NYLON KITE

M1; MEASURED DRAWINGSVIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT JOURNAL

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The nylon sheet is flimsy and needs a backbone to provide support and sta-bility. Hence the rods act as a backbone and pro-vide rigidity to the structure.

The skin and bone concept allows materials to transform and display several combined properties like strength, flex-ibility, texture and geometry.

It also displays elements of transformability. Without the central rod, the kite is able to be folded up however once it is added, the kite remains taut.

WIND LOGICThe rods allow the soft ma-terial to withstand upward and downward pressure creating an ‘inflated’ sec-tion of the fabric. The trian-gular shape is also streamline and manipulates the airflow.

As ‘300 years of Industrial Design’ explains, the choice of materials is extremely significant and espe-cially nowadays, we deal largely with cheap synthetic materials (like ones used to make this kite). However, it is also important to understand that good design in-volves being considerate and understanding how things are used hence I explored the con-cept of wind logic of the kite through the following sketches.

M A T E R I A L S :

WIND LOGIC

M1; ABSTRACTING THE KITEVIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT JOURNAL

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TOP FACE OF THE NYLON KITE

BOTTOM FACE OF THE NYLON KITE

M1; DIGITAL MODELLINGVIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT JOURNAL

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Week two’s lecture and stu-dio captured the essence of transformability and a ‘chang-ing form’. Our skin and bone system is never static and hence embody the concept of adaptability but also stability.

The nylon kite was a very static structure and so through recon-figuring it, I attempted to create an object that transforms, mov-ing between planes and chang-ing shape to create a volume.

Using pins, I created joints that could move whilst the string acts as a mechanism for which the movement can be induced. I maintained a wooden frame made from balsa wood as it was easy to handle and lightweight. The skin was made from paper.

M1; RECONFIGURING THE KITEVIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT JOURNAL

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1The reconfigured kite first begins in a shape similar to the original where it is ‘2D’ and sits only on a single plane.

2Just like the skin and bone system, the bones do not remain static and can be pulled using a string which results in the kite being transformed.

3The pulling of the string results in the move-ment of the kite’s joints and the extension of its frame. The ‘X’ shaped joint becomes horizon-tal as the string is pulled.

4The final result is the ‘skin’ of the kite fully stretched out in tension as the frame extends out-wards. The ‘X’ shaped joint is fully horizontal.

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TRANSFORMATIONS AND MOVEMENT

M1; RECONFIGURING THE KITEVIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT JOURNAL

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The area of focus here is the back-bone/spinal cord. It draws from the idea of ‘tailgating’ and creat-ing a ‘space cushion’ as described in Sommer’s book Personal Space. Design idea draws from a drag-on fruit as an artificial spine cov-ers the back and wraps around the hip to feel protected.

Following the shape of a clam shell, I used the shoulder as a platform for holding up my design that partially obscures the face. Sommers Gath-ering from the Sommer’s reading, the face, and more importantly, eye contact drives the distinction be-tween intimacy and distance and I want to play around with this idea.

Good, positive and comforting ob-jects and actions bring people closer and hence drives my design to reduce personal space and indi-vidual distance. The circular edges provide the perception of safety (compared to pointed edges).

M1; SKETCH DESIGNSVIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT JOURNAL

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