Team Holee Cheng! - revised direction

So we've met and narrowed our focus to a specific line of inquiry. We're going to explore the possibilities of folded concrete using folded/origami formwork. The intention is to generate thin, lightweight yet strong concrete forms. Our plan is as follows:

1. Explore geometries and develop formwork, both manually and using Grasshopper's Kangaroo plugin to simulate folding/unfolding and the effects of mass/gravity
2. Develop a reusable mold to produce units that can aggregate 
3. Develop self-supporting units, aggregating in both 2D (wall/screen) and — pie in the sky — 3D (a vault).

Some sources of inspiration/information:

Catalan Thin-shell vaulting with brick:

http://www.umanitoba.ca/cast_building/research/masonry/catalan_vaults.html

Folding geometries in Kangaroo/Grasshopper:

http://www.grasshopper3d.com/video/more-rigid-folding-in-kangaroo

More folding geometries:

http://fastconcrete.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/inspiration/

Folded aggregating origami forms:

http://www.origami-resource-center.com/3D-origami-swan.html

A preliminary experiment using aluminum sheets, a promising formwork that should leave a very smooth finish:

Team... (TBD) part II

These are a series of Maya simulations using "nCloth" as a way to prototype our fabric formwork. Using the software's "Pressure" function, we can test various container shapes and pleat patterns prior to physical prototyping. Although not completely accurate, the simulations offer a reasonable representation of the results almost instantaneously. We also hope these simulations will lead to unexpected results and patters too intricate to quickly prototype by hand.


Maya nCloth simulation 1


Maya nCloth simulation 2


Maya nCloth simulation 3

TEAM... (TBD)

Displacement/Suction Team

Concrete, while in its wet stage, is easily poured and shaped. Depending on the viscosity of the mix, the concrete may have a different workability before it sets and cures. Suction, the flow of liquid into a partial vacuum or region of low pressure, and displacement, the displacing of space of one mass by another, were the two methods tested with various types of concrete by Team 04 (Ilia, Natasa, and Raymond).

Terms: buoyancy, density, weight, dispersion, vacuum, suction, pressure, liquid flow

TEAM EGGO POST #1

Berman Garth Sanchez_01

Agenda - The creation of an aggregated furniture system that is programatically emergent through form, texture, and embedded connection.

Future Tests -

Minimal Surface in compression

Embedded hardware and aggregate system

Concrete breaking through cnc and form techniques

Color Texture and programmatic relationships

Precedents

prat, jess, juan

Franklin, Wong, Yang

FORM - Geometry

We would like to explore a dynamic formwork system and its effects on the final geometry

MATERIAL - Composition of concrete

We are interested in the use of an aggregate that is removable, such as wax.

FINISH - Texture, and surface finish

We want explore the possibilities of concrete finish, whether it be matte/glossy, or a pattern

We are interested in how these unrelated qualities could be integrated together through a series of procedures.  For this reason we are initially interested in wax (removable, and malleable) as an aggregate.  The texture and geometry of the unit will attempt to exaggerate these effects with competing gradients so we have a condition of thin polished and homogeneous concrete at one end and porous matte and thick concrete at the other.

Our work this week was to start to understand methods of introducing wax as an aggregate and various processes to remove the wax.

solid wax as aggregate

liquid wax as aggregate

TEAM #05

Sean Franklin

Nai Wong

Sissi Yang