Final Project Description

The final project is an opportunity for you to pursue your own design interests in the context of design computing and digital fabrication. Carefully consider the material we've covered thus far, including software and machining technologies, and the possibilities they offer for design exploration. This project will be carried out in three phases: [1] frame your design problem, [2] design a solution using Rhinoscripting and/or Grasshopper to supplement 3d modeling [3] make a physical model using the laser cutter or 3d printer.

First, write a brief proposal for your design project, describing each phase as thoroughly as possible, including the materials/process/scale of your intended final model. Use the 'Process' outlines from your group projects as a guide, making time estimates for each part of the process. You will choose one machine to use, and clearly demonstrate why you're convinced that machine is appropriate. Your written proposal will accompany a short graphic presentation that you'll make to the class. Feel free to use photographs, sketches, renderings, animations, or any other media that may help you explain your project. Each proposal will be briefly discussed to help focus your goals and answer any questions you may have.

Precedent Studies (Required for Graduate Students, Optional for Undergraduate Students):  As part of your final project you will include 3 detailed precedent studies of projects that have particular significance or relevance to your work. Each of your 3 case studies need to include the following: [a] 1/2 page commentary about why you think the project is relevant to your work, and to the practice of architecture, [b] your own analytical sketches, models, and/or diagrams that express your understanding of the project, [c] appropriate images to document and capture the aspects of the project that are most important you.

3DP Tower

For this project, similar to the Lasercut Tower, you'll work in teams of 6 people. Design a tower composed of an assortment of units wherein difference between units is achieved primarily through graphic and volumetric means, as opposed to formal means. Your tower should be composed of a minimum of 20 units. Take your design from concept to physical model, with enough structural integrity to stand on its own. Organize yourselves and decide who will be responsible for which parts of the process. Rather than 3d printing each individual unit, you'll use the 3d printer as a tool to create a mold or molds for casting each of your units.

Process
Designing (sketching, writing pseudocode and modeling)
Scripting (writing Rhinoscript to generate geometry)
Converting (ensuring all volumes are air-tight, packing into an 8”x10”x8” bbox, and creating .stls)
Fabricating (creating units by casting into 3d printed molds)
Assembling (constructing the model and securing it to a base)
Documenting (collecting and distributing the final script(s), rhino model, and photos for your group)

Lasercut Tower

For this project you'll work in teams of 6 people. Design a new tower composed of an assortment of units, each different from the other. Take your design from concept to physical model, with enough structural integrity to stand on its own. Organize yourselves and decide who will be responsible for which parts of the process. Laser cutting sessions are scheduled for Friday, March 25, at Radlab.

Process

Designing (sketching, writing pseudocode and modeling)
Scripting (writing Rhinoscript to generate geometry)
Converting (breaking down the 3d digital model into 2d parts)
Fabricating (laser cutting the parts out of 1/16” chipboard – 2 people per group)
Assembling (constructing the physical model from the laser cut parts)
Documenting (collecting and distributing the final script(s), rhino model, and photos for your group)

VB Tower

Using your knowledge and experience in Rhino, in conjunction with your more recent introduction to Rhino Scripting (VB), design the massing of a tower. Much like the design machine project your tower will be composed of an assortment of units, each different from the other. This project should be executed exclusively in Rhino, and will require that you write a script that generates the bulk of your geometry. Be mindful to clearly convey the feature alteration and/or transformation that each unit is undergoing in the composition of your units as a tower.

ET ALgorithm / Design Machine Project Description

Explore the potential of an array, a collection of objects determined by a singularly defined unit, repeated in space.  Design a machine, in conjunction with an algorithm, that will assist in the production of each unit in your array.  Remember that a machine is “a device that transmits or modifies force or motion” (dictionary.com).

Similar to the first ET ALgorithm (2d), your array will be configured, one unit at a time, by everyone in the class but you.  Your canvas is 24x36x24 inches.  Your artists must be able to utilize your machine within the confines of your canvas.  Each of your artist colleagues will have 4 minutes to execute your instructions with the use of your design machine. Use your algorithm to simultaneously explore the unforseeable potential of interpretation, and the inevitable predictability of a rule-based system.  Carefully consider the time constraint.  Practice following your own instructions by looking for the extreme limitations of interpretation.

Pay close attention to the relationship between the unit and the whole. Design an algorithm that will be applied to the manipulation/construction/production of each unit, as well as the manner in which each unit will relate to its neighboring unit(s). Your conglomeration of units should be self-supporting and should reach a minimum height of 12 inches.

Bridge Project Description

Design a pedestrian bridge using the Terrain.3dm rhino file as your work space. The ravine that the bridge must span is approximately 60' wide, by 40' deep. The bridge should connect the two platforms on either side of the ravine. Be mindful that the bridge will have to accommodate for the difference in elevation between the two platforms. For this project there are three key components. One, design a walkway that precisely accomplishes its intended function. Link the platforms in a manner that would be safe, comfortable, and practical. Try not to resort to steep inclines or harsh turns. Two, model a structural system that could support your walkway. Be creative and thoughtful, considering thicknesses and lengths of your structural components. Three, build an overhead trellis for shading the walkway, allowing yourself some freedom in its interaction and connection points with the walkway and platforms.

Bench Project Description

Using the Pentagon Memorial benches as a springboard for exploring the use of surface continuity in design, consider how an architectural surface might peel into a piece of furniture. First, build a wall (10’ x 10’ x 5”) on a flat slab (10’ x 10’ x 5”). Think of this initial construction as your canvas. Next, design a bench that peels away from the wall. The orientation, scale, and form of the bench is entirely up to you, though it should have enough flat surface area to accommodate 3 (average size) people sitting next to one another. Feel free to explore seemingly absurd cantilevers and/or strange twists. However, part of the bench should make contact with the slab in an effort to demonstrate how it could be supported. Unarticulated, unbridled blobs are not welcome. Use this assignment to showcase both your understanding of surface generation techniques, and your capacity to operate on surfaces and modify them based on your particular design sensibilities.

Chair Project Description

In session 01 you began to navigate within Rhino's interface and perform some of the key geometric operations for 3d modeling. For this assignment experiment with the tools that were demonstrated in class, and allow yourself to explore others. While you are modeling, make a conscious effort to try multiple methods for achieving a desired goal. Typically you'll discover that all methods are not equally useful/efficient for a given task, although they may eventually arrive at the same destination. Model a chair, from reality or from an image, that you find peculiar or compelling. Please, don't model your studio chair. Try to articulate the details, lines, curves, and surfaces as closely as possible. Be mindful of fundamental principles of scale, proportion, interior vs. exterior, and solid vs void.

ET ALgorithm Project Description

A latin phrase meaning "and others" or "and the others," et al invokes the rudiments of performance-based creation by instruction, wherein the work is brought into being by everyone but the author.  The performers create the work by following the author's algorithm, a set of rules used to explain a task or solve a problem.

In the vein of Sol LeWitt's art by instruction, design an ET ALgorithm that will be used to produce a rendering. One at a time, your sketch will be completed by everyone in the class, but you. Your canvas is 24x36 inches. Each of your artist colleagues will have 4 minutes to execute your instructions. Use your algorithm to simultaneously explore the unforeseeable potential of interpretation, and the inevitable predictability of a rule-based system.  Carefully consider the time constraint. Practice following your own instructions by looking for the extreme limitations of interpretation.

“Each wall drawing begins as a set of instructions or simple diagram to be followed in executing the work.“ (commentary on Sol LeWitt's 'Retrospective' at the Mass MoCA)

Wall Drawing 51