Terra Cotta Panel Production Process (In Progress)

 

 

Discoveries Through Translation Part II

 

Dancing Ladies

This is the beginning of the design for the final work that will be completed by the end of June. Terra cotta has been chosen as the building material because of its strong historical background in architecture and architectural ornament. Three options are being explored: a panel system, a structural block with interior webbing, and a terra cotta shell that would be filled with concrete to make it structural. The design is being influenced by sculptural work by Bernini, where soft material effects are carved into a hard surface. 

Molds were made out of MDF using the CNC router and concrete was cast to begin the formal discussion. The next step will be to begin experimenting with terra cotta and the best way to cast it. This process will inform the decision of what the final piece will be; either a panel system or a structural, self supporting system.

Discoveries Through Translation

This work is about drawing and its conversion into a three dimensional object using the 3 axis CNC router. Abstractions and unexpected outcomes are discovered through the process as our points, lines and surfaces in the computer are transferred into an object. It is not the desire to have an exact reproduction of the drawing into the actual form, but to allow the tools and methods of routing the surface and the various materials to bring out new and unexpected characteristics.

Beyond the grid

I've been working on developing designs which are not based on a grid, and here are two walls which I am working on. Wall A uses a framework with a series of curves to generate the form. Wall B is created based off of a drawing which provides the inspiration for the growth of the wall.

Ogee Video

 Ogee video on YouTube

Ogee

This is the final installation for the semester's work in the digital fabrication course. The semester's research was about using thin gauge plastic and creasing it in order to create a unit that could be manipulated and aggregated to create an entire structure. This particular project used curved creases to generate the "beams". Each beam was constructed with 5 sides, the fifth being folded over the first to allow the beam to be riveted close.

 

A constraint that was set up early in the project was to create the curved beams out of a single piece of plastic and to generate all of the curves off of a straight median line. This provided a high material efficiency, up to 86%.

A script was used to generate the inflection points of the two dimensional drawings based off of a three dimensional input surface.

 

Project was completed in collaboration with John Hilmes, Matthew Strong, and Bennett Scorcia.