Lecture Review: Composition and Composition Strategy & Readings

Module 2: Design Week 4 Journal

Absraction and Reduction differ in several ways. Abstraction refers to the act of minimising the amount of information present in models as representations of com-ponents of the real world. The purpose of abstraction, as pointed out by Schreurer and Stehling in Lost In Parameter Space, is to reduce the amount of information in presenting something such as a model, in order to present information unambigu-ously. This idea of abstraction is often lost from model makers to 3d programs with infinite data storage. On the contrary, reduction is about determining the most ef-ficient way to ‘transport’ the data being used (Schreurer & Stehling, 2011). For ex-ample the process of normalisation involves eliminating the redundancies present in a model. A redundancy is a piece of information that occurs more than once, and thus adds ‘weight’ to the model.

Lost in Parameter Space

Thomas Heatherwick in TED talks demonstrated some truly inspirational architec-ture, and more importantly ways of thinking. Heatherwick uses design to create spatial elements in a variety of interesting ways. Heatherwick frequently uses the environment surrounding the project as a context in which the design must oper-ate within. He wishes to create buildings that have a ‘soul’, and are not empty and meaningless. For example the energy plant in England was designed based spe-cifically on a social aspect. The design was intrinsically aimed towards eliminat-ing the ‘closed fence’, ‘industrial’ aspect that inevitably comes with power plants, and creating a power plant that fostered community and allowed the people to be proud of where their power is produced. The spatial effect of this design was essentially to eliminate the overbearing industrial aspect of power - and create an environment that would not only be valuable to those that live in it, but also aes-thetically pleasing and something that removes the disconnect between power

TED Talks: Thomas Heatherwick

Orthographic Images of Overall Form Model

TOP

RIGHT

In order to digitise my model I first determined the man-ner in which I would do so. I chose to use my images as references and thus had to take appropriate images. The top view, to the right shows the lateral curves, while the right view to the right shows the vertical curves.

Module 2: Design Week 4 Journal

The Digitised Model

Module 2: Design Week 4 Journal

As mentioned before, I digitised my model using the image references that I imported into Rhino. This aided my in drawing the main curves. However I experienced troubles using this method due to the nature of my curve, and the way it spirals. Through trial and error I found that by using a single spiral I could create my overall form. I then used the Pipe command to create a rough version of my proposed overall form.

The spiral shape evidently has issues, and I had to work to rectify them. This includes the fact that the spiral was ini-tially three lines, and this effected the Pipe result.

The Digitised Model: Further Development

Module 2: Design Week 4 Journal

This stage was interesting, but fairly simple. I experimented with different circumferences with the Pipe command, and fixed previous issues with the spiral.

Initially i wanted my lantern to have tapered, smaller ends, however I didnt like the look of that shape. I then moved onto a larger end, with an open end. I removed the issues with the spiral to make it more uniform. I feel that the final result best reflects my aim, to create a lantern that gently spirals around the human form, from the neck to the forearm.

The following models represent the final form I

chose to experiment with. Notice they are more uni-

form and smoother.

Both these models are not very appealling, they are uneven and the small ends dont cre-ate a sense of fullness and solidity.

The Digitised Model: Panelling Experimentation

Module 2: Design Week 4 Journal

Panelling allowed me to explore the different ways in which I could construct the geometry of my lantern. It allowed me to experiment with a lot of different shapes such as boxes, diagonal boxes, triangles and diamonds on an overall form that was of an abstract nature. It has allowed me to think beyond simple logical shapes, and try to create a unique form for my lantern.

The Digitised Model: Panelling Experimentation

Module 2: Design Week 4 Journal

I found that while the simple square shapes presented a simple, clean form, the ef-fects of the trianglular shapes in 2d panelling were more interesting.