C. DETAILED DESIGN

C1. DESIGN CONCEPT

FEEDBACK FROM INTERM PRESENTATION - Material for prototype technique (‘elastic rope’ was suggested)

Elastic rope was not effective- lacked stregnth and required an anchor to stay in place. After further research and prototyping, fibre glass rods were discovered (The precedent Loop PH. uses this system for his structures).

Use fiberglass rods. Connects to bow into rings

FIGURE 1: Weave rods together to form a strong and flexible tension/compression system. 1

1 LOOP. PH, ‘PH, Loop., ‘Port folio commissions’, (London: Loop Ph, 2014) <http://loop.ph/> (revised 2016) 2 LOOP. PH, PH, Loop., ‘Port folio commissions’, (London: Loop Ph, 2014) <http://loop.ph/> (revised 2016)

FIGURE 2: Plants grow up. Makes appart of natural environ-ment. Blends into surrounds.2

PROPOSED FABRICATION- fibre glass rod and connectors

Diagram illustrating technique

FEEDBACK FROM INTERM PRESENTATION - structure in relation to scale - interaction with structure (responsive lighting)

GROUP MEMBERS:

MONIQUE TRIULCIO MICHAEL GROPPO KUBRA AKTEPE ELIZABETH SEAH BUNNY HAN

THE SITE

LEGEND:

STREET PARK (VEGETATION) HOUSING CREEK PROPOSED STRUCTURE

03

03

Site discription: -Open area of flat grassland -Close proximity to Rushall railway station -Views from surrounding residences, roads and the train line -The train line into Rushall station offers an unobstructed view onto the site. This is to be utilised as a means of showcasing the form. Current stakeholders: • People walk and ride to and from the train station • Cyclists pass through mostly during daylight hours • Local councilors• Parkland managers• Local residents and visitors• Birds, plants, • Pets• Commuters• Human predators

Other possible stakeholders after implimentation: • Families• Elderly• General public with interest in art, sculpturing, serenity • Artists/ Designers

Issues: -Poorly lit area -Poorly trafficked -public safety issue: minor crimes

Solution: -Lighting installation -Interesting structure to draws attention to the site, creating a populated, user friendly site rather than unsafe area with crime.

‘Scary at night.’ -School girl walking home

‘Feels unsafe.’ -Mother and child

‘Secluded space...no one hangs around.’-Cyclist

PRECEDENT: LOOP PH

LIVING ARCHITECTURE

Fabricated onsite Woven composite fibre circles

RESPONSIVE LIGHTING SYSTEM

Responds to surrounds Produces energy Users participate in its shape, form and function.

EXPERIENCE

Changes in cycles of envi-ronment in public space Renewable energy

images from: PH, Loop., ‘Port folio commissions’, (London: Loop Ph, 2014) <http://loop.ph/> (revised 2016)

THE CONCEPT LIGHTING INSTALLATION

NATURAL VS ARTIFICIAL

SAFETY

REVITALISATION

REBIRTH

TRANSPIRATION

ENTICER

Nature, as a source of inspiration. Of some transcendental, organic, pure experience, as a source of recreation. The site, abundant in nature is under-utilized and neglected. Digital design is intended to be used as a medium to enhance the perception of the natural.

A light installation is to be impli-mented to provide a lighting solution that will facilitate a safer environment for commuters by enticing a greater amount of foot traffic meandering through the site and its surrounds.

PROTOTYPES:

VINYL PIPES AND METAL CONNECTION LIGHTS GO INSIDE TUBE

ELECTRICAL PIPING AND CABLE TIES BENDY- SAG WITH WEIGHT

FORM - 3D PRINTING COULD EXPLORE MESH PRINTING- TOO EXPENSIVE.

EL WIRE- LIGHTING -FLEXIBLE, BENDY -NEED SUPPORT

PROTOTYPE: fibre glass rods and connectors

FIRE GLASS TOO EXPENSIVE: 2MM- 10AUD/4M 500/200M $1200

3 DIFFERENT THICKNESSES BLACK FIBRE GLASS VERY STRONG

FLEXIBLE- MAKES CIRCLE

STRONG CONNECTOR NEEDED TO PREVENT BUCKLING

FAILURE:

FIBREGLASS BREAKS HARD TO WORK WITH

PROTOTYPE: digital construction process

CURVES TO CREATE FORM

MESH FROM CURVES CURVES TO CRE-ATE FORM

CONTOUR AND BOUNDARY

PIPE LINE

RODS, BOLTS, WASHERS AND PERSPEX TO CREATE STRUCTURE HOLES WIDE ENOUGH FOR RODS TO FIT THROUGH

EL WIRE AND PERSPEX- LIGHTS NEED TO BE CONTROLLED. EVALUATE POINTS ON THE NAKED EDGE AND INTERPOLATE CURVES BETWEEN THEM. COULD CAUSE PROBLEMS WITH CON-STRUCTION AS SOME CURVES RUN OUT OF THE MESH.

PROTOTYPE: Perspex, steel rods, bolts and washers

STEEL TREAD RODS FROM BUNNINGS- 10MM RADIUS

STEEL RODS CUT WASHERS BOLTSPERSPEX

ORDER: ROD, BOLT, WASHER, PERSPEX, WASHER BOLT. Bolt and washer keeps Perspex in place.

SYSTEM: ‘5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, 1B’ NEXT ROD ‘3A, 4A, 5A’

RODS ARE PUT THROUGH THE ALLOCATED HOLES IN THE PER-SPEX, AND THUS THE STRUCTURE IS CONTROLLED IN THIS SYS-TEM. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY THAT THE PERSPEX CAN GO.

FAILURE: TOO MANY RODS IN THE SMALL PERSPEX

PROTOTYPE:

TOP PORTION OF STRUC-TURE DETAILING, THE AREA THAT IS HARDEST TO CON-STRUCT AND MOST PRONE TO FAILURE.

FIGURE 11:

PROTOTYPE: El Wire, Perspex and rods.

EL WIRE LIGHT LOOPED PATTERN AROUND STRUCTURE. EL WIRE LIGHT LINEAR PATTERN AROUND STRUCTURE.

REFLECTION AFTER WEEK 12 CRITS: -structure and el wire need to be one, not separate

-lights need to be controlled -steel rods arent attractive

-suggestion to further explore: fibre glass, mesh mould, weaving -consider how the structure looks in daylight, not solely during dark hours

PROTOTYPE TEST ADJUSTMENT- clear Perspex

CLEAR PERSPEX AND EL WIRE CRE-ATES MIRROR LIKE EFFECT - INTERESTING REFLECTIONS CAST THROUGH PERSPEX -ADDS EXTRA DIMENSIONS -EL WIRE LOOKS APPEALING DURING DAYLIGHT AND DARKNESS.

PROTOTYPE TEST- glue instead of rods and spacers

GLUE ALMOST APPEARS TRANSPARENT - USE THIS.

GLUE CREATES MIST FINISH. NEED TO BE TRANSPARENT.

GLUE DRYING CREATES UNCLEAN STAINS.

GLUE IS CLEAR HOWEVER VERY MESSY. HARD TO USE.

Cost planning for Perspex layering.

600mm height 199 layers at 3mm

approx 200x200mm bounding box At least 9 per 600x600 Perspex sheet

Maximum 22 sheets total =Maximum cost of $363

=$72 per person +$14 each for cutting time (total capped at $70 for studio air subject)

=$86 each

996mm height 332 layers

at least 3 per 600x600 sheet maximum 111 sheets total

maximum $1831 =366 per person on materials

+ $14 each for cutting time (total capped at $70 for studio air student) =$380 per person

ORAt least 4 per 600x600 sheet

maximum 83 sheets total maximum $1370

=274 per person for materials +14 each for cutting time (total capped at $70 for studio air student)

=288 per person

600 height option selected- cost effective, time efficient, allows us to show design detail.

FORM AND STRUCTURE ALLOWING FOR PATTERN

MESH SCALE: 1:5

ORIGINAL MESH

SCALE- 1:1

BOUNDING BOX 600MM HIGH

CURVES TO CONSTRUCT MESH IN BOUNDARY BOX

MESH FACE: REDUCE NO. OF POINTS, THICKNESS AND TIGHNESS FOR CONSTRUCTABILITY YET COMPLEXITY.

ORIGINAL MESH WITH REDUCED POINTS.

FORM SLICED INTO BOUNDARY SUR-FACES TO PROVIDE MAIN STRUCTURAL SUPPORT. 204 PERSPX LAYERS

FORM: THIN STRUCTURED AREAS PRONE TO FAILURE.

THIN AREAS THICKER- ALLOW FOR LIGHTS (10MM OFFSET FROM CENTRE)

CONTROLING THE EL-WIRE

204 PERSPEX LAY-ERS WITH HOLES TO FEED THE EL WIRE THROUGH. -enables light control.

EL WIRE FEED-ING THROUGH HOLES. -gives structural stability.

CURVES DRAWIN ALONG MESH FACE BOUND-ARY- ALL CURVES ARE CONTROLLED IN THE MESH

CONNECTION BETWEEN MAIN STRUCTURE AND LIGHTS. -POSITIONING OF HOLES ARE PLACED WHERE THE CURVE GOES THROUGH EACH INDIVIDUAL PER-SPEX PIECE. -SET A GENERAL HOLE SIZE THAT ALLOWS THE EL WIRE TO FEED THROUGH.

-IN AREAS WHERE THE EL WIRE IS CURVED, THE HOLE SIZE IS AD-JUSTED TO ALLOW FOR THIS ANGLE. THIS FORMS NEW BOUNDARY SUR-FACES.

-FULL HOLES AND HALF HOLES SET AT THE EDGE OF EACH SURFACE.

EVERY SECOND PER-SPEX LAYER HAS A HALF HOLE RATHER THAN A FULL HOLE . THE EL WIRE FEEDS THROUGH THE FULL HOLE.

THIS FURTHER AL-LOWS FOR ANGLLING OF LIGHTS AND FLEXIBILITY.

-MINIMISES POTENTIAL RISKS IN CONTRUCTION

-TIME EFFICIENT

-EASE OF CONSTRUCTION

SYSTEM: PERSPEX LAYERS ARE LAID OUT ON 11 SHEETS TO BE LASER CUT. THEY ARE FACING UPWARDS AND MAY HAVE BEEN ROTATED SLIGHTLY TO ALLOW FOR BETTER USE OF THE SHEET.

THE TOP OF THE STRUCTURE IS NUMBER 1, AND NUMBER TWO GOES ON UNDER NUMBER 2 ETC.

WE INTEND TO STACK EACH LAYER ACCORDINGLY, KEEPING THE PIECES UPRIGHT. THE ROTATION OF PIECES DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH OUR ABILITY TO CONSTRUCT WITH PRE-CISION AS THE PERSPEX CAN ONLY FIT THROUGH THE EL WIRE IN ONE WAY. THUS THE STRUCTURAL FORM, AND LIGHTING IS CONTROLLED.

PREPARATION FOR LASER CUT:

C3. FINAL DETAIL MODEL - construction process:

PERSPEX PIECES TAKEN OUT. LEFT IN PO-SITION SO WE KNOW ITS NUMBERING AND CAN STACK ACCORDINGLY.

NUMBERING NEXT TO THE PERSPEX PIECES.

WEAVING THE LIGHTS THROUGH EACH INDIVIDUAL HOLE ON THE PERSPEX PIECE.

THE BASE OF THE STRUCTURE IS STRONG AS IT HAS MANY WIRES THROUGH THE ONE PIECE.

VERY STABLE STRUCTURE. EL WIRE HOLDS IT IN PLACE.

SMALL PIECES OF PERSPEX ONLY HAVE TWO HOLES/TWO WIRES RUNNING THROUGH. NEED A THIRD HOLE FOR STREGNTH. TAPE USED AS A FORMWORK.

MODEL COMPLETE. EL WIRE CUT UP THE TOP TO GIVE A CLEAN FINISH.

SYSTEM: STACKING OF PERSPEX THROUGH THE EL WIRE. AS SEEN, THE PERSPEX ONLY FEEDS THROUGH THE EL WIRE IN ONE WAY, AND THUS THE STRUCTURE IS FORMED AROUND THE EL WIRE.

THE POSITIONING OF THE HOLES, AND THE RADIUS, ALLOW THE EL WIRE LIGHTING TO ANGLE AND CURVE, CREATING INTERESTING DIMENSIONS.

DAYLIGHT VIEW

ON SITE

NIGHT VIEW

NIGHT VIEW CLOSE UP

NIGHT VIEW- ARIEL VIEW

ON SITE AT NIGHT

SITE: RUSHALL STATION, MERRI CREEKSCALE (1:1): 3000MM HEIGHT, 900MM WIDE

OUR DESIGN CONCEPT IS BASED ON THE IDEA OF PROVIDING A LIGHT-ING INSTALLATION AS A SOLUTION TO THE LACKLUSTER, UNDER UTI-

LIZED AREA SURROUNDING THE PROXIMITY OF RUSHALL STATION AND MERRI CREEK. THE DARKNESS AT NIGHT ACTS AS AN INSTIGATOR OF

CRIME, DETERRING USERS.

WE WERE INTRIGUED BY THE APPLICATION OF DIGITAL DESIGN AND ITS IMPLICATION WITHIN THE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

REALM. IT LENDS US TO THE IDEA OF THE CONTRAST BETWEEN NATU-RAL AND ARTIFICIAL, THE NOTION OF USING HIGHLY SKEWED, ARTIFI-CIAL LIGHTING WITHIN A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. THE ABSTRACTED FORM ALSO SERVES AS A POINT OF JUXTAPOSITION BETWEEN THE OR-GANIC VEGETATION AND THE FABRICATED PERSPEX FORM. THE FORM IS TO BE DOMINANT WITHIN THE LANDSCAPE AS A MEANS OF ELUCI-DATING AND PORTRAYING AN ABSTRACTED, NEW DIRECTION HYPER

REALITY - A DIGITAL REALITY.

PERSPEX IS USED AS A REFLECTIVE TOOL TO PROVIDE AND CREATE THE PIXELATED, ARTIFICIAL CANVAS, WHICH IS ULTIMATELY AIMED AT

ENTICING USERS TO THE AREA AS WELL AS SERVING AS A BEACON OF POWER AND PERSEVERANCE, NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE.

FINAL DESIGN

C4: LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

The final model and design technique addresses the design brief, and the feedback given in the crit in terms of its structural integration, performance, and response to site. Systematically allocting holes for the el wire in the Perspex gives one the ability to control the lighting and thus construct the desired form. The lighting and structure are now percieved as one, rather than two separate contrasting structures (as seen from the comparison below) The final model, an interesting lighting installation attracts a wide audience of people, thus creating a functionality and flow to the site, encouraging people to come to the site and stay, rather than simply walk through it. The lighting responds to the safety needs of the people, lighting up the area to make it less dangerous and suspect to crimes. The beauty of the proposed design encourages creating thinking, reflection, and excitement giving people the ability to be actively involved with architecture and experience changes in the environment. In terms of its surrounding landscape of trees and nature along the merry creek, the structure does not question the natures beauty, but uses digital design to enhance the perception of the natural and what it means to appreciate it.

The design process has allowed me to directly respond to the learning objectives of the studio. Objective 1: Part C1 enabled me to reflect and combine my own design performance, constructability and ideas with 4 others and from there interrogate a brief and critera that we ourselves created. Group meetings with our tutor Chen encouraged this reflection and directed us in the right way, enabling us to conform to time constraints and stay on task. Objective 2: Part C has enabled me to work with a group, encouraging 5 peoples working minds to bounce ideas off eachother and generate a wide range of design possibilities and prototype them to see if they are constructable and allow for control. Although I was not the main user of grasshopper in this section, visual programing, algorithmic design and parametric modeling has given me exten-sive design space exploration and allowed my group to tease out all ideas to see if they are possible on the computer, and in real life. Objective 3 and 4: Part C has given me a new insight into the relationship between computational geometry and digital fabrication. I found the most challenging part of this task was making the struc-ture constructable in real life rather than just in grasshopper. While the definition may work digitally, will it be constructable? Will it be stable? The only way to know is through prototyping, and thus the possibilities are endless and I felt constrained by the deadline. Objective 5 and 6: this assignment encouraged me to see the importance of critical thinking to see how the selected technique could be built and if it responds to the selected criterea. I have gained the ability to make a case for proposals and analyse design, which were skills especially needed in this journal, and the crit so that outsiders can understand the intentions and why certain design decisions were made. Objective 7 and 8: I have developed a foundational understanding of computational geometry, data structures and types of programming through this project that enable me to create digital design, however there is more to learn. I intend on extending my grasshopper knowledge by possibly responding to other design projects using computational design. Computational design opens new doors of design possibilities and means of constructing them and thus I believe it is important for this method to be embraced when designing for the future.

REFERENCES:

PH, Loop., ‘Port folio commissions’, (London: Loop Ph, 2014) <http://loop.ph/> (revised 2016)