Formwork Documentation: The Holes (Part 2)

The holes for the press plates are drilled in symmetry about the center. Meaning, for the six holes for each grove only three holes need to be alignment on the drill press. Each time a hole is aligned on the drill press, two rows of holes can be obtained on the plates by rotating the formwork.


Recap: for the four rows of holes away from center, the clamps are repositioned, and additional height on the jig is added to accomodate the clamps' new position as not to conflict with the formwork.


The added height for the jig only applies for the outer four rows, which means only two holes on the jig, given the formwork's plate can be rotated given the symmetrical nature of the holes about the long axis.


Structural support is then added to the base of the plates to prevent the now perforated surface from breaking under its own weight. Dense wood for molding is used, and the sectional dimension of the supports are determined by the clearance from the washers and nuts (when the bolts are installed).


Six rows of holes per plate. A lot of carriage bolts are yet to be installed. Given the added bracing for the MDF plates, hopefully the dense wood bars will also support the 228 carriage bolts, 456 washers and 456 nuts (calculated at thirty-eight groves and six holes per grove for each plate). Again, washers and nuts are needed to keep the bolts in an orthogonal position, as the holes themselves do not bear enough depth or thread to maintain the bolts' verticality.

Formwork Documentation: The Holes (Part 1)

Pilots are required for the bolts. Based on previous investigation, one-inch centering of the holes would be pushing the (pseudo-laminated) MDF boards to a point of breaking. And holes are offset from the very edge to prevent tearing. Finally, six holes per grove are set to be drilled at 1-1/8 inch O.C.

For standardization and alignment of the holes, a base (or jig) is built to both support the plates and ensure a clean hole (by prevent the underside of the plate from "breaking" as the drill bit is pushing through).


Three bars are raised from the jig to set for the plates' groves to improve alignment.


A fence in the back is set to align the press plate when it is moved from grove to grove.


Notice the jig has been slightly built up (by 1/4") to accomodate the new position of the clamps. After drilling the center two rows, the jig had to be re-aligned for the next two rows from the center, and the original position for the clamps can no longer accomodate the elongated reach. Hence, clamps have been moved to the sides of the jig.


First four center rows are drilled. End rows along the edges are yet to come.


Tripod legs are used to support the ends of the plates to prevent over-cantilevering.

Formwork Documentation: Beginning

The two events from the movie clip have been translated into panels. The intent is for the two panels to face each other and "converge" (or press into each other) and become something like an iron maiden. The dog chase is represented by one plate and the the mob chase is the other.

Click below for past blog posts on
Generating Move Clip and Associated Analyses

The two formworks will compress one panel in between and generate a surface. The deformations in the surface will be determined by the diagrammatic elements of each transition. Bolts of different lengths set in in different combinations will translate the compositional smoothness of the transitions.




Dimensions for plates are determined by means of material availability and means of available transportation. It is true the formwork should be "large" within reasonable parameters.

Surface Generation: Materiality Tests 05

MATERIAL: Prismatic (Translucent) Ceiling Panel



Above: Textured Surface Facing Down

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Above: Textured Surface Facing Up

Surface Generation: Materiality Tests 04

MATERIAL: Translucent Frosted Styrene Ceiling Panel



Above: Textured Surface Facing Down

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Above: Textured Surface Facing Up

Surface Generation: Materiality Tests 03

MATERIAL: Opaque Frosted Styrene Ceiling Panel


Above: Frosted Texture Faces Down

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Above: Frosted Texture Faces Up

Surface Generation: Materiality Tests 02

MATERIAL: 1x1" Gridded acrylic ceiling fixtures. One face is plain and the other is textured. During heating, material always curls into the textured face, regardless which face is up on the formwork.

Different levels of heating produce different results in deformation.

Surface Generation: Materiality Tests 01

CONCEPT: The movie sequence is the generator for a surface. The diagrammatic elements for each transition is translated into a formwork.

THE FORMWORK: Carriage bolts are used for their curved ends and their threaded body that allows adjustment of heights. For this exercise, two lengths of carriage bolts are used, 2-1/2" and 3". The MDF is used as a base for its material cheapness. Multiple holes are drilled on two laminated sheets of 1/4" MDF to test the material strength (in reference to the larger model to come). Nuts and washers are added onto the bolts to provide orthogonal stability, given a depth of 1/2" in the MDF is minimal for providing rigidity.

THE MATERIAL: Different plastics/styrene/acrylics are tested for their structural uniqueness under conditions of deformation. Materials can deform different depending on textural treatment and the relative surface positioning in relation to gravity (which side is up and which side is down). Techniques of heating and baking are used to encourage deformation.

Transitions Analysis Diagrams

There are thirty-eight transitions in the 1m30s clip. Each transition is documented in terms of one frame before and after the event-change.

Although many compositional elements occur in each frame, only the "transitional" elements are diagramed for relevance.

Diagrams shown as slideshow. Each slide presents one transition diagramed with both transitioning frames.

Re-presenting the Sequence Transitions

I'm preseting the translation of two (metaphorically linked) events that has otherwise been stitched together in the original movie sequence.

Fragmenting the Defragmented

Here, the metaphorically linked events have been fragmented and reconnected to question the temporal relationship between the two events that were otherwise shuffled together.

Isolating the "Dog" Sequence

Isolating the "Mob" Sequence

Project 02: The Beginning (Overdue Post)

The move clip is from Snatch. The 1:30 sequence has been selected for its qualities in transitioning between scenes.

There are 38 transitions in the 90 seconds. The analysis of interest are:

a) compositionally, how are the transitions achieved?
b) metaphorically, how does the suggested content effect the quality of the transitions? (compositionally connected vs. compositionally fragmented)

Surfacade?

"Between Surface and Substance"

Technology can (help) produce surfaces. But is technology also the sole formal generator of the surface?

"Yet in some circles there seems to be a strange inclination to produce art by virtue of some sort of esoteric knowledge. May see fit to recognize art - to be sure, art f the most 'sublime order' - ss something deeply mysterious, something enigmatically transcendental, understandable only by the selected few. Such an attitude of exaggerated self-consciousness - where the artist himself frequently plays the role of an innocent tool in the hands of purveyors of esthetic intricacy and commercial humbug - brings art easily into artificial depths and self-deceptive snobbishness." (re-quoting Saarinen, as quoted by author)

The meaning of the product, or even the philosophical underlay of the product, is what elevates the quality of the thing--maybe.

Without meaning, then perhaps the value of the object is lost. Or is it possible for something to be so powerful that the exact meaning is not relevant?

Or is it perhaps the underlying nature of man to seek meaning in things, or else he can no longer identify with what is around himself.

But back to the subject of surface generation... The Aegis Hyposurface is
product of a process that is only feasible with digital technology. It is generated by a medium that can simultaneously coexist at multiple timezones and many locations, and be generated and produced at the same time and in non-congruent methods. But then, is this project an identifier of technology/process or is it a symbol in its production, where its value is in its meaning and methodologies?

Is it meaningful to have a sketch for an architecture to begin a process, and accept that the form rendered is inherently restricted by existing technology and methods? Or would it be more meaningful to generate a form that is not yet visualized, but its creation is already predetermined by the capacity of technology?

"In All Quarters, Please"

Ingeborg Rocker. "Versioning: Evolving Architectures - Dissolving Identities. 'Nothing is as Persistent as Change'"

The same change

Consistency in change

Continuously changing

Differentiation

Change == Evolution

Matrix

"No pennies, nickels, dimes, or even half-dollars. I only take quarters."

But, really, the "same change" is but relative to the parameter henceforth set by the privileged. The implication ultimately suggests that a consistent change is but only relative to itself in the context of itself.

Semiotics?

Umberto Eco's "Travels in Hyperreality"

Two issues are raised. The first is the meaning of super real reproductions and man's reaction (or acceptance) of the falsehood. By implication, the second is the man's need to recall the past, and to survive within an environment that can only be described as nostalgia.

Perhaps the issues are only relevant in conjunction with the hyperreal, or possibly this is a topic of far-reaching implications. Man's attachment to the past is constant. Memories bear man's experience, and in turn his existence. To have meaning in one's existence, one must have his identity (drenched in experience). Experience does not limit itself to just the hyperreal but also the abstract, as long as memories and recognition are stimulated.

What the article focuses on is the idea of an image. Or rather, experiences that are attempted to be reproduced through provocative and super real images of what no longer exists. What then is the relevance of the experience (or meaning) of what is not real?

If all the Big Macs are not the same, then are they all different? Does this translate into that two apples that look the same can never be the same? Then to what extent can any two things ever be abstracted and become the same? The implication here is the notion of abstracting what we see and what we know to an extent of comprehension, so the information can then be logically processed.

Here I will step back to my classical argument that "1 + 1 = 2" cannot be true, especially if no two things can ever be the same. Mathematics is an abstraction of reality, hence to use it to define and predict reality is inherently a flawed approach.

No two Big Macs can be the same, no two apples can be the same, and no two bricks can be the same. Nevertheless, human perception does not allow the high complexity of infinite individualities, and hence human perception must abstract what is otherwise not identical enable to rationalize the relationships between the "two".

(How) To Spot a Version(ing)

(Sharples Holden Pasquarelli (SHoP). "Introduction." Versioning: Evolutionary Techniques in Architecture - AD Vol. 72.)

I wish to use video game controllers as the example for versioning. For those unfamiliar, here's a quick breakdown of the major concoles that are intended for consumer home use and require an independent projection device (i.e. television) for display:

Atari: 2600, 5200
Nintendo: NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii
Sega: Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast
Sony: PS1/PSXPS2, PS3
Microsoft: X-box, X-box 360


If I understand "versioning" correctly, then a videogame controller is a handheld in-put (and sometimes out-put) device that relies on a person's hand-eye coordination to resequence a pre-set of commands to obtain favorable results in a "virtual" envrionment. I argue there is no longer a prototype or archetype for a videogame controller. So far, its basic design intention is to be handheld, and array of additional factor determine its form and use.

1) complexity of games (program): the quantity and types of input devices on the controller.
2) ergonomics (use experience): the comfort of hands (and appropriateness based on the target audience, by age and region).
3) affordability: the value judgement between features and manufacturing cost.
4) target audience: existing difference are between age groups. Nintendo generally produce smaller controllers catering to the younger audience, whereas Microsoft have produced much larger controllers for a more mature audience for each launch.
5) imagibility (form): the aesthetics have differed based on brand, each brand seeking a more contemporary image that suits the label for each console.

Many of the factors are driven by marketing, which can be difficult to holistically model. Nevertheless, the same thing may be said for architecture, if it were to be conceived as a business.

Tied Interdependence of Surface and Space

(Maria Ponce de Leon and Nader Tehrani. "Connubial Reciprocities of Surface and Space." Versioning: Evolutionary Techniques in Architecture - AD Vol. 72.)

"Folding becomes the [Yokohama Port Terminal's] operative technique, and all the buildng's functions - circulation, mechanical, electrical, structural, programmatic, waterproofing, etc - are somehow absorbed by the logic that this technique provides."


"The building, however, does not come without some inevident complexities and contradictions. For instance, while the ramped/support pier areas are folded and prewelded steel-plate structures, the main hall is spanned by traditional triangulated trusses that are subsequently clad in steel plates that extend the logic of the fold over the entire system. Thus, the building's structure is actually composite and varied in nature, and the envelope is a thetorical artifice that cloaks and binds the sometimes contradictory and differentiated elements into an organic whole." (p. 28)

What is inherently in question here, and throughout--and perhaps eternally--is truth in architecture. Whether the debate is for the rationalist (the part and the whole dictate) or the empirical (prioritty of form), each agenda inevitably results in the neglect of the other.

Ideally, I suspect, it is every architect's intention for each aspect of the product to come together. Nevertheless, rigorous investigation is often not part of an architectural process that is more often than not a business.

Architecture is a metaphor for problem solving and the search for multiplicities. To find any solution to a problem is not good enough. A problem should become opportunity for further investigate and the establishment of new possibilities. This often requires questioning and requestioning of established norms.

"The Future of Space" - Elizabeth Grosz

"It is not an existing, God-given space, the Cartesian space of numerical division, but an unfolding space, defined, as time is, by the arc of movement and thus a space open to becoming, by which I mean becoming other than it self, other than what it has been[.]" (p. 118)

First, allow me to take apart the above sentence into the (anti-)comparison that it is:

1) God-given; Cartesian; numerical division

2) unfolding; defined by time; arc of movement; open to becoming

Grosz here makes the comparison of a past order and a new order. She establishes the past order as something definite and discrete, and the association of godliness and mathematics begins the comparison with "us and them". Where the "us" is the new and "them" is the past. However, the paradox is in her association of time with the descriptives of "unfolding" and non-linear movement, which then establishes time as a non-discrete phenomenon. Hence the implication is made that what is new and what is past are not moments that precede one another, but they are moments that cannot be readily conceived without an abstract notion of what is not linear and what is potentially constantly self-referential.

Memory is virtual. Memory is orchestrated by instances of stimulation. The validity of memory is but applicable to that specific instance the remembered (or noted) moment in time. And similar to the act of taking notes, what memory chooses to re-establish is an act of selective (re-)presentation. The validity of what is remembered is but what we have imagined to be reality.

It is quite scary to realize that no memory is truthful. Although memory can very much be an unconscious process, it is nevertheless scary to know the selectivity of our process of remembering is but an act of falsification (or even customization).

Project 01 Poster

This poster serves to reinforce the inter-relationship (and ambiguity) between what is framed and what is sectioned. Although the instances of framing and sectioning may be obvious when first presented with the image, however the viewer may begin to question the elements that compose the frame and the section.

(in traditional architectural graphics, moments of framing and sectioning are often treated simultaneously. any orthographic cut is a section, but nevertheless that cut is often the frame for space or is framed by context.)

Project 01 Presentation Animation

The end animations for 1b and 1c rose from the concept of lofted sections. However, the body motion sequence (with the white lines) was animated after the conception of the lofted surfaced. The sequence conceptually offered the opportunity of a one-directional model, but the model in turn caused me to question the validity of the original intent, which in turn generated the motion sequence that was intended to support the model renders but instead it now offers a new opportunity for another exploration.

01c | Section by Transparent Overlap

Use of transparency to evaluate moments of section

01b | Framing Refinement

Edge as frame and edge as subject along a path

01c | "Sectional" Displacement

The focus of both lighting and framing are selective to articulate specific aspects of the model.

01b | Selective Framing

The model transitions between the frame and the framed.

Greg Lynn's "Folds, Bodies & Blobs"

The following is a response to selective articles from Greg Lynn's Folds, Bobies & Blobs.

"Probable Geometries: The Architecture of Writing in Bodies"
"Blob Tectonics, or why Tectonics is Square and Topology is Groovy"
"Forms of Expression: The Proto-Functional Potential of Diagrams in Architectural Design"

The most power statement here is:

"Until blob organizations develop beyond the proto-type of the shed, they will remain open to such accusations." (p 176)

(The specific accusations are not defined, but it is implied that blobs have not fully developed the potential of simultaneously developing both formal and programmatic aspects of architecture.)

The power of this statement is in its implication of immaturity in the practice of dynamically generated forms, their formal function and their internal use and the relationship thereof. This almost describe the technique as masonry construction, as we have begun with mud bricks but now we must improve upon the construction. And hopefully with the technological potential of today, we can reach "high gothic" in less than millenniums.

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Given the third article, "Forms of Expression", was published in 1998, I presume all projects by Ben Van Burkel was pre-1998 (or at least pre-UNStudio, since the firm was founded in 1998). Before 1998, Ben Van Burkel was affiliated with the firm of Van Berkel & Bos. Nevertheless, the founders of Van Burkel & Bos are also the founders of UNStudio.

"Series" and "pattern" are terms used to describe Van Burkel's conceptual process. The emphasis here is put on Van Burkel's process of design, and not so much the actual artifacts post production.

01b & 01c | Adjusting the Modeling

"Frame" the outlines of the key frames (of original sequences). Done to test communication between .FMZ and .FAC file types.

01b | Lighting Studies (3-in-1)

Studies of selective lighting of the model. Three animations are linked together in one movie.

01b | Non-continuous Surface

Lighting a non-continuous surface. Manipulating the sense of continuity with one light.

Virtual Projection Animation

Animation Refined. Surfaces are three of five unaffiliated with the position of the left hand.

Framing Animation Test #06

As it appears I had lost one surface through the process of exporting and importing, along with all the wire frames. Hence, certain "directional" measures have been taken to accommodate these shortcomings.

Projection Model Renders

This is a combination of the three surfaces that do not involve the left hand, plus the skeletal linework for residual two sets involving the left hand.