VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

MODULE THREE FABRICATION

REBECCA  MAHONEY  GROUP  SIX-­‐  LYLE  Semester  One-­‐  584252  

STRANGLER FIGS Form

The   form   that   my   model   took  replicated   the   process   of   the  strangler   fig   seed   germinating  and  dispersing  both  upwards  for  sunlight   and   downwards   for  nutrients.   The   wider   section   of  the   model   represents   the  aggress ive   dominance   the  strangler  fig  begins  to  have  over  its   host   tree   as   it   grows.   The  e nd s   o f   t h e   mode l   h a v e  intentionally   been   left   open,  representing   the   continual  growth   as   a   means   of   getting  more  nutrients.  The  shape  of  the  model   wraps   around   the   front  and   back   of   the   wearer,   this  shows   the   way   in   which   the  strangler  fig   consumes   the  body  of  its  host.      

STRANGLER FIGS 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  after  digestion.  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.  Ultimately  the  strangler  fig  out  competes  the  host  tree  effectively  starving  and  killing  it.  Initially  I  had  planned  on  making  a  hand  held  model  ,but  in  looking  at  the  aggressive  competitive  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.  

STRANGLER FIGS Paneling Concept

Originally  I  wanted  to  have  a  series  of  panels  along  my  model  that  were  of  varying  sizes,  with  offset  faces  scattered  intermittently.  However  this  wasn’t  possible  because  all  the  faces  have  to  be  the  same  size.  The  paneling  method  I  chose  was  3D  ‘Wave’  because  of  the  way  it  seemed  to  ripple  and  change  across  the  surface  of  my  model.  I  made  the  panels  a  little  less  dense  than  in  the  image  to  the  left,  I  thought  that  the  one  displayed  was  to  convoluted,  I  wanted  the  aggressiveness  of  the  model  to  be  more  refined  and  simplified.  

The  paneling  of  my  model  was  then  chosen  to  reflect  the  aggressive  tangling  that  the  roots  and  branches  of  the  stranger  fig  undergo  as  they  compete  with  the  host  tree  for  resources.  There  are  several  offset  borders  in  the  paneling  of  this  model,  in  particular  the  mid  section,  I  chose  to  open  these  panels  to  show  the  growth  of  the  fig.  I  thought  that  having  light  shine  through  this  section  of  the  model  would  emphasize  the  cohesion  of  the  individual  roots  into  a  singular  body.  I  chose  to  make  the  panels  smaller  at  the  tip  of  the  model  and  graduate  to  bigger  panels  as  they  reached  the  base  to  show  the  gradual  increase  in  size  the  fig  undergoes  over  its  lifetime.  I  also  manually  increased  the  length  at  which  the  middle  offset  panels  extruded  from  the  main  body,  to  draw  attention  to  their  size,  and  the  sometimes  explosive  way  in  which  figs  grow.    

STRANGLER FIGS Paneling Concept

STRANGLER FIGS Precedent One

What  interests  me  about  this  installation  is  the  way  that  the  opening  allow  light  through  them,  and  how  the  colour  changes  depending  on  the  time  of  day  and  the  source  of  the  light.  The  way  in  which  this  has  influenced  my  design  is  be  inspiring  me  to  test  the  ways  in  which  the  light  can  enter,  leave  or  be  trapped  inside  my  lantern.  The  basic  form  and  ‘funneling’  nature  of  the  light  has  also  had  an  impact  upon  the  open  nature  of  my  lantern.  What  most  caught  my  attention  about  this  project  was  the  overlapping  of  the  panels  and  how  this  dictated  the  flow  of  light  throughout.  I  want  the  paneling  of  my  model  to  be  able  to  change  the  flow  of  the  light  in  an  interesting  way,  representing  the  tumult  of  branches  and  roots  that  make  up  the  strangler  fig.  

Liquid  Sky,  Ball-­‐  Nogues  Contemporary  Arts  Centre,  Queens,  NY  

STRANGLER FIGS Precedent Two

Maximillian’s  Schell,  Los  Angeles,  CA  

This  installation  in  a  vacant  block  in  L.A  also  a  project  by  Ball-­‐Nogues.  What  I  took  from  this  installation  was  also  the  directional  flow  of  light  and  the  way  in  which  this  flow  can  be  manipulated  by  form.  What  is  interesting  about  these  two  outdoor  installations  is  the  fabrication  process.  Both  are  subtractive  processes,  similar  to  the  fabrication  of  these  models.  In  both  projects  the  large  overlapping  panels  have  been  created  by  programming  the  pattern  and  mechanically  cutting  it  into  the  materials,  in  this  case  sheets  of  Mylar.  These  projects  have  both  demonstrated  the  scale  at  which  the  subtractive  process  we  are  using,  can  be  applied  to,  be  it  hand  held  models  or  installations  the  size  of  an  apartment  building.  

STRANGLER FIGS Unrolling

In  order  to  be  able  to  successfully  unroll  my  model,  I  had  to  arrange  it  in  a  number  of  different  strips  and  sections.  I  found  that  by  having  a  ‘spine’  that  followed  the  curve  I  could  get  the  most  continuous  unrolling  of  my  panels.  In  total  I  had  18  different  sections  to  be  unrolled  because  of  the  complex  shape  and  paneling  of  my  model  

STRANGLER FIGS

This  shows  a  single  spine  of  my  model  and  the  different  sections  of  panels  that  it  translated  to  when  fully  unrolled.  The  problem  that  arose  through  unrolling  my  model  was  the  amount  of  different  unrolled  sections  I  got  for  each  spine.  However  because  of  the  shape  and  irregularities  of  panels  I  had  manually  changed,  it  was  unavoidable  having  so  many  unrolled  sections.  Below  is  an  example  of  a  panel  that  didn’t  unroll  properly,  instead  a  number  of  the  panels  overlapped.  

Unrolling

STRANGLER FIGS Completely Unrolled Model

There  are  approximately  65  pieces  when  the  model  is  fully  unrolled,  each  colour  corresponding  to  a  different  strip.  

STRANGLER FIGS Finding Corresponding Panels

In  order  to  find  the  panels  that  have  been  translated  form  the  3D  model  to  the  unrolled  sections,  I  find  out  the  name  of  the  individual  panel  on  the  3D  model,  and  then  find  it  on  the  unrolled  section.  In  doing  this,  when  it  comes  to  gluing  the  panels  side  by  side,  I  know  their  name  and  where  they  go.  

STRANGLER FIGS Attaching Tabs

This  was  my  first  attempt  at  attaching  tabs  to  my  unrolled  model  using  rhino.  I  placed  them  inside  the  border  of  what  I  thought  was  a  600x900  mm  page.  When  I  got  to  the  Fab  Lab  to  submit  and  cut  my  model,  it  turned  out  that  my  page  was  scaled  to  84x  56mm.  So  it  was  super  tiny.  However  it  was  already  in  the  process  of  being  cut  after  being  scaled  to  the  right  size.  What  this  meant  was  that  the  prototype  I  was  going  to  get  back  would  be  about  10-­‐15  times  smaller  than  what  it  needed  to  be.  

STRANGLER FIGS Attaching Tabs

I  used  the  Grasshopper  plug  in  for  rhino  to  make  the  tabs  for  my  unrolled  sections.  Unfortunately  the  first  few  times  I  applied  tabs  there  was  an  issue  with  over  lapping  tabs  that  would  have  caused  my  sections  to  have  been  cut  incorrectly.  This  was  easily  solved  by  exploding  the  outline  of  the  tabs  and  then  deleting  conflicting  geometry  and  manually  moving  the  points  of  the  tabs  so  that  they  weren't  intersecting.  

STRANGLER FIGS First Prototype

STRANGLER FIGS First Prototype

Obviously  because  I  had  scaled  my  model  really  small,  the  prototype  was  comically  tiny.  What  this  meant  was  that  it  was  extremely  hard  to  put  together  because  the  tabs  were  minute.  

STRANGLER FIGS First Prototype

Trying  to  put  together  the  model  would  have  been  simple  and  straight  forward  had  the  panels  and  tabs  been  the  right  size.  In  order  to  get  then  to  bend  and  stick  together  I  had  to  use  a  cutting  knife  to  go  over  the  scored  lines  of  paneling  because  they  were  to  thin  to  fold.  Then  using  a  small  brush,  a  tiny  amount  of  glue  that  had  partially  dried  was  put  on  the  tabs  before  squeezing  them  together  for  up  to  30  seconds.  Because  of  the  size  this  was  a  very  time  consuming  task.  

STRANGLER FIGS First Prototype There  were  

faults  in  the  laser  cutting  of  this  first  prototype  because  of  the  scale  and  it  meant  that  lots  of  the  pieces,  both  panels  and  tabs  fell  off  and  were  lost.  As  a  result,  combined  with  the  unworkable  size,  the  complete  prototype  was  un-­‐makeable  and  I  gave  up.  

STRANGLER FIGS Final Model

After  trying  to  create  my  first  prototype,  there  were  a  few  things  I  decided  to  change.  Firstly  I  switched  from  using  the  laser  cutter  to  using  the  card  cutter,  somewhat  because  it  was  more  economical,  but  mostly  because  I  didn’t  like  the  burnt  look  of  the  scoring  that  would  have  been  on  the  outside  of  my  model.  It  was  also  because  of  this  that  I  decided  to  change  my  card  type  to  300  gsm  black  card.  I  like  the  black  card  because  its  more  aggressive  than  the  white,  suiting  the  process  my  model  represents.  I  also  decided  to  change  to  a  thicker  type  of  card  because  of  the  size.  I  scaled  up  my  model  about  10  times  after  the  prototype,  to  make  sure  I  didn’t  get  to  the  end  of  making  my  model  and  have  it  not  be  able  to  support  its  own  weight  I  changed  the  thickness.  

STRANGLER FIGS

Again,  there  were  issues  with  the  cutting  of  my  file.  This  time  it  was  because  there  were  duplicated  of  my  lines  marked  for  scoring.  This  meant  that  the  same  line  was  scored  twice,  going  through  the  cardboard  and  detaching  panels  and  tabs  from  their  unrolled  sections.  Because  its  expensive  and  time  consuming  to  get  it  reprinted  I  decided  to  fill  in  the  missing  sections  with  card  where  needed  and  tape  the  pieces  that  had  come  apart.  To  make  sure  that  it  didn’t  affect  the  aesthetics  of  the  model  I  had  to  make  sure  that  all  the  taping  was  done  on  the  inside  of  the  model.  

Final Model

STRANGLER FIGS

The  scoring  lines  of  my  model  had  to  be  gone  over  with  a  cutting  knife  because  they  weren’t  deep  enough  for  the  cardboard  to  bend  adequately.  

The first completed section of

unrolled paneling after being taped,

scored and folded.

Final Model

STRANGLER FIGS

Being  a  lot  bigger  this  model  was  easier  to  fold  but  still  had  complications.  The  intricate  shape  and  bending  of  the  model  meant  that  it  was  very  time  consuming  to  bend  all  the  sections  into  shape  and  then  get  then  to  align.  In  many  cases  because  of  the  thin  offset  borders  and  thick  cardboard,  it  would  bend  or  split  apart  when  glued.  For  this  reason  I  decided  to  use  heavy  duty  double  sided  tape  and  then  used  small  bulldog  clips  or  paper  clips  to  hold  them  in  place  until  they  stopped  popping  apart.  It  was  a  very  time  consuming  task  assembling  each  spine  of  my  model  and  the  smaller  the  panels  got  the  less  likely  they  were  to  fold  correctly  along  the  scored  lines  and  stay  in  place  next  to  adjacent  spine  with  the  tape.  After  about  12  hours  of  assembling  my  model  I  was  only  able  to  get  6  spines  together  and  the  top  sections  seemed  to  be  a  lost  cause.  Given  more  time  and  another  set  of  hands  it  might  be  possible,  but  presently  it  isn’t    

Final Model

STRANGLER FIGS Final Model: 12 Hours later..

Final Model: Lighting STRANGLER FIGS

For  my  lighting,  rather  than  creating  a  circuit,  I  bought  small  individual  switch  operated  LED  units.  This  meant  that  I  had  more  freedom  to  choose  where  my  lighting  went  as  it  was  not  restricted  by  the  length  of  wire  I  had.  I  chose  to  illuminate  the  open  sections  of  my  lantern,  and  although  not  shown  well  here  it  makes  some  beautiful  patterns.  They  are  very  rigid  and  harsh,  perfectly  representing  the  violent  growth  of  the  strangler  fig  

Critique STRANGLER FIGS

Even  though  my  model  hadn’t  worked  out  to  be  as  crisp  as  I  was  hoping,  I  still  think  its  rather  intriguing  in  all  its  details.  The  physicalization  of  its  sharp  corners  really  managed  to  express  the  aggression  of  the  stranger  fig  that  I  was  hoping  for.  What  I  took  from  the  process  of  designing  and  fabrication  my  own  model  was  the  complexity  of  detail  that  is  a  possibility  through  the  use  of  subtractive  technologies  such  as  the  card  cutter  that  I  used.  Through  out  the  process  of  making  my  model  I  was  astounded  by  the  level  of  accuracy  that  can  be  achieved  through  NURBS  modeling  and  computer  generated  imaging.  Through  following  the  process  of  computational  design  and  fabricating  a  model  upon  the  basis  of  a  natural  process,  I    have  learnt  that  there  are  endless  possibilities  to  what  can  be  designed  and  created.  No  longer  is  material  type  a  limitation  to  design.  The  lecture  in  week  9  that  showed  a  clip  of  the  water  installation  work  by  Carlo  Ratti,  titles  Water  Curtain,    demonstrated  what  can  be  done  with  water  and  computer  programming.  Over  all  the  design  development  has  been  limited  somewhat  by  my  understanding  of  the  technology  we  have  been  required  to  use,  the  lecture  presented  by  Stanislav  Roudavski  on  Augmented  Space  struck  a  chord  with  me.  Having  never  dealt  with  a  computer  design  program  I  believed  that  what  he  was  saying  about  design  only  be  limited  by  knowledge  of  how  to  use  the  software.  He  explained  that  for  a  future  in  design,  a  study  and  practice  that  is  becoming  increasingly  technology  based,  it  is  the  people  that  understand  how  to  fully  use  the  software  and  write  programs  themselves,  that  will  be  limitless  in  their  design.  Even  though  rhino  was  the  bane  of  my  existence  for  10  weeks,  once  I  understood  how  to  work  the  basics,  it  became  somewhat  of  a  fulfilling  process,  however  greater  understanding  earlier  on  in  the  course  would  have  been  of  much  benefit.  

References STRANGLER FIGS

Control  Freaks,  Architectural  Records,  Published  March  2012,  http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=5&C=653  

Maximillian’s  Schell,  Ball  Nogues,  Last  Updated  2009,  http://www.ball-­‐nogues.com/#project-­‐105  

Liquid  Sky,  Ball  Nogues,  Last  updated  2009,  http://www.ball-­‐nogues.com/#project-­‐105  

Augmented  Space,  Virtual  Lecture  9,  Stanislav  Roudavski    

Gershenfeld,  Neil  (2005):  SubtracGon;  AddiGon;  Building  Models.  In  FAB:  The  Coming  RevoluGon  on  Your  Desktop-­‐-­‐From  Personal  Computers  to  Personal  FabricaGon,  Basic  Books,  pp.  67-­‐76;  93-­‐101;  103-­‐113