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Planar Material Aggregation

Volumetric Material Aggregation

MODULAR ASSEMBLIES

This exercise focused on the ability to create complex, volumetric patterns through a 3-dimensional packing pattern. The cell, a rhombicuboctahedron, was then used to design a unit which could fill the space. I pushed the project further by taking the contact surface, the triangular faces, and forming a geometry that spans multiple cells.

In my ultimate aggregation, the primary geometry being copied is a single volume comprised of four tetrahedrons. The cell is only formed by the joining of eight units joined around the cell’s center.

Studio Photos

MATERIAL ASSEMBLIES

This exercise started with a period of material exploration and rapid prototyping with paper connections. Paper's tensile properties were used in a puckered form to add stability to the unit.

Explorations of possible cell shapes and their resulting packing patterns narrowed down the constraints of the unit. We worked simultaneously at the scale of the unit, the cell, and the aggregation to propose a material assembly.

Isometric View

Aggregation

MODULATED ASSEMBLIES: VOLUMETRIC MATERIAL

A field of points is created to fill a volume. Parametric rules for the creation of a connection between points allows for the modulation of those connections based upon a field of values. Points are randomly grown or shrunk and the parametrically defined connections reflect the size of points.

Cells and Packing Aggregations

Volumetric Material Aggregation

Exploded Unit

Global Form

PROPOSITIONAL ASSEMBLIES

The proposed installation continues the studies from previous exercises and proposes a new unit. The global form- a maneuverable mass which covers circulation paths- was intended to sit between academic buildings on UVA Grounds.

The onset of Covid-19 prevented the construction of the installation with planar materials. Instead, the project focused on the proposed installation and volumetric materials which could be printed remotely.

MODULATED ASSEMBLIES: PLANAR MATERIAL

A packing pattern of cells creates an aggregation pattern for a volume made by the act of folding and slotting planar materials. The global geometry is then transformed. Unrolling the resulting geometry then produces modulated units that can be assembled to suggest the overall geometry.

COMPU-TECTONICS

14 weeks

individual and group projects

university of virginia

spring 2020

rhino + grasshopper + wasp + v-ray + illustrator + photoshop

parametric design + physical/digital modeling + installation design

This fabrication studio explored, through a process of material and computational design, a proposed installation project to be situated on UVA grounds. We designed, prototyped, tested, and constructed structures according to multiple methods of construction. These included 3d printing or planar materials, cut 2-dimensionally, formed 3-dimensionally, and aggregated in place. The primary methodology for design was physical, material assemblies formed and informed by computational modeling methods.

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