Evaluation Report

In recent years, use of material has been more and more innovative, from replacing the material of ordinary projects using new sustainable materials to challenging the limit of production using digital technology. It is due to the developing of technology and increasing awareness of environmental concern.

Through the lessons and blog research, I become more aware of environmental issues and realized the choose of material could influence environment a lot, especially for the everyday projects. "Agar Plasticity" (replacing plastic by seaweed), "Forest Wool" (using pine needles to produce furniture) and "Pinatex" (using pineapple leaves to produce leather) are three projects I have written about transforming leftover material in an innovative way to generate sustainable designs.  They are all environmental-friendly and could biodegrade after use.  It inspired me to consider the dispose of materials used for contemporary architecture structures, as what I am studying. I remember seeing "The Smile" from the London design festival in the Parade ground being smashed after exhibited. It would be more sustainable if the structure could be adapted to suit other functions or build by another material which could be easily dissembled and reused.

"The Smile" from the London design festival

It changes my understanding of the digital design process. I used to dislike 3d-printing and other data-driven designs and attracted by the tactility and subtlety of handmade products.  It is because I consider the digital design is more like production process by machines rather than a human design process. However, this opinion of the digital design process has been changed since we had the first lecture when I saw the Solar Sinter project by Markus Kayser, using sun and sand as a 3d printer in a desert. Compare to the traditional 3d printing process, it uses " sun's rays instead of a laser and sand instead of resins".(Labaco, 2013.) This is the first time I realized 3d printed could be used in a different way. There is another project drew my interests on 3d printing, the Swiss pavilion in the 2016 Venice architecture biennale. It is a cloud-like exterior with a cavernous interior that people could climb on. The structure was generated using 3d-printer, combine with human interpretation.

 Solar Sinter project by Markus Kayser

 Solar Sinter project by Markus Kayser

I was really interested in the innovation of 3d printing process and have researched and written few blog posts about it. The 3d printed hair by MIT mediated group is really impressive in the way it is extremely complicated, tactile and soft, while traditional 3d printed projects are hard. The death mask by Nari Oxman using data-driven and 3d printing techniques visualized breath, which is very difficult to capture. The silk pavilion and the pavilion build by 3d printer pen open new possibilities for 3d printing and go beyond the limit of the size of the printer and the layering printing system.

The advantage of using digital technology in design is inevitable. "Based on mathematical functions, the software-generated design allows for the development of new forms of geometries that would be hard if not impossible to conceive or produce with the same precision by means of traditional methods."(Christiane, 2013) I realized that 3d printers are machines. What it will produce depend on how people use it.  Human instinct is always vital in the digital design process and machines could be modified or developed depends on human needs.

Overall, by browsing through design websites to search up-to-date projects for my blog, I realized sustainability and digital processing seems indispensable in all design discplines. The innovative materials and methods really challenged my preconceived notions of value. I started to questioning the possibly usual combination of material and objects. As for spatial design, materials are the most important components and I always go to the material I used to, like timber and concrete. However, experimental materials may create surprise, especially for the model. Furthermore, I really hope one day I will have the opportunity to experiment with digital devices in design. I think it will open a lot of possibilities in terms of ascetics and functions.


Reference

Christiane, P. (2013). Objecthoods From the Desktop. In: T. Ronald, ed., Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital, 1st ed. London: Black Dog Publishing Limited, p.10.

Labaco, R. (2013). Out of hand. 1st ed. London: Black Dog Publishing, p.40.

A Pavilion Built by a 3D Printer Pen

Introduction

A team at the University of Tokyo’s Obuchi laboratory, overseen by architect Kengo Kuma, has created complicated architecture structures out of plastic sticks using a self-developed 3D-printing pen. The largest structure built by the team is a small pavilion on show at the Ozone Gallery. "The project is one of the most ambitious creations in 3D-printing pens that have been developed by researchers in recent years." (Frearson, 2016)

Process

Thermoplastic strings would come out from the 3d printing pen once the trigger was squeezed.  "Initially these strings are hot, vicious and sticky, but they cool to become more like a slightly bendy clear plastic", and therefore form the space. (Frearson, 2016) To solve the lack of precision of hand drawing, a digital tracking system was used to calculate the precise positions of the sticks whiling building the structure.

The foundationn was  "made with aluminum rods that have been inserted into pre-drilled sheets of plywood. The acrylic rods are inserted and the filament is then drawn on top of this simple base."(Grunewald, 2016) Therefore the foundation could be completely hidden with ground cover, leaving only the rods and strings on the top. For the prototype in Ozone Gallery, the foundation was covered by river stones.

"The structures are meant to only last about nine months," because the hanging string will lose some of their strength. However, reinforcing weak area is not difficult, by adding extra strings to the structure.(Frearson, 2016)

Analysis

Flexibility is one big advantage of 3d printing pens. Compare to current 3D printers that couldn't print objects larger than the size of the printer itself, 3d-printing pen has no limitation in size and is free to make any complex forms in any locations and by any people. "It is ideal for the team to invite the public to adapt and extend the structure."(Hiorns, 2016) As "Kevin Clement, a member of the project team says that: 'What makes this system interesting for us is that the shape can be modified to match different site conditions, and it is simple to add or subtract members to the construct, allowing it to grow and adapt to user preferences.'"(Frearson, 2016)

Technology was initially used to replace human labour and increase efficiency. However, human instinct could not be ignored in the design process. This project really connects the digital machine with human interpretation and demonstrates that human intuition has a role to play in digital construction.


Reference

Frearson, A. (2016). Tokyo students develop architectural 3D-printing pen. [online] Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2016/02/22/tokyo-university-research-students-3d-printed-pen-complex-architectural-structures-plastic/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2017].

Grunewald, S. (2016). Tokyo University Students Use Custom 3D Printing Pen to “Draw” Large 3D Structures. [online] 3DPrint.com. Available at: https://3dprint.com/121439/tokyo-u-3d-pen-structures/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2017].

Hiorns, B. (2016). Tokyo Students design an architectural 3D Printing Pen. [online] Creativepool.com. Available at: http://creativepool.com/magazine/design/tokyo-students-design-an-architectural-3d-printing-pen.7828 [Accessed 5 Jan. 2017].

Lazarus: The Death Masks Visualise the Wearer's Last Breath

Introduction

In the new design museum, there is one project that immediately watched my eye. It is the Lazarus mask, which is a collection of death mask that could visualize the wears' last breath by Nari Oxman and MIT Mediated Matter group. It is a 3D printed portraiture, like an air urn that contains facial features and the spatial enclosure of their last breath of the deceased individual.

Traditional Death Mask

Death Mask is "traditionally made of a single material, such as wax or plaster" (Bader et al., 2016). It is often hand made by taking a cast or impression directly from the corpse. In some culture, like Egyptians would "bury the death mask which the individual as they believed it could imbue the wearer with the power of the deceased."(Cannizzaro, 2013) In middle age, the death mask became more like a way of preserving the memory of the deceased.

Traditional death mask

Process

Unlike the traditional handmade analog, the process of making Lazarus is mainly digital with additive manufacture.  "The masks were printed using a multi-material voxel printing method that deposits layers of droplets sequentially in an “inkjet-printer-like process” onto a build platform. " (Lau, 2016) The team invented a software model complicated shape based on data "at a per-pixel resolution, comparable in size to a single sale." (Lau, 2016)

The design of the shape of the death mask and its material composition is informed by the "physical flow of air and its distribution across the surface"(Bader et al., 2016). It was generated by three data," including a heat map of the last breath, a map of the wearer's face, and the path the flow of air takes across the face."(Morby, 2016) The software transformed the data into a three-dimensional design and finally printed by a 3d printer.

Analysis

Most technology is used for designing more efficient and sustainable objects or system that are usually futuristic. However, this project emphasis on past civilization and culture heritage.  The advanced technology was used to reimagine ancient artifacts, transforming them to contemporary arts. "The team expresses the contemporary technological spirit in their version of ancient artifacts. "(Wu, 2016) It is interesting that the project enlivens the new through the ancient, and the ancient through the new.

I was touched by the project on how it transformed a subtle, ephemeral and personalized object like breath to a timeless art piece. It could not be done without the computational design and technologies they invented. In this project, "the technique defines an expression as much as the expression defines the techniques"(Oxman, 2016) It is interesting to see how art and technology is pushing each other forwards.  This high-end technology could be interpreted in lots of areas.The ability to fine-tune properties in high resolution could lead to the design and manufacture of "advanced biomedical devices, self-healing materials, and highly customized building skins." (Lau, 2016).


Reference 

Bader, C., Kolb, D., Sharma, S., Smith, R., Weaver, J. and Oxman, N. (2016). Vespers: Lazarus Environment | London Design Museum. [online] Matter.media.mit.edu. Available at: http://matter.media.mit.edu/environments/details/vespers-lazarus [Accessed 4 Jan. 2017].

Cannizzaro, A. (2013). 7 famous Death Masks in History. [online] Biography.com. Available at: http://www.biography.com/news/famous-death-masks [Accessed 4 Jan. 2017].

Lau, W. (2016). Vespers, the Latest Mask Collection by MIT's Neri Oxman. [online] Architect. Available at: http://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/vespers-the-latest-mask-collection-by-mits-neri-oxman_o [Accessed 4 Jan. 2017].

Oxman, N. (2016). Neri Oxman in conversation with Justin McGuirk. In: J. Mcguirk and G. Herrero, ed., Fear and Love: Reactions to Complex World, 1st ed. London: Phaeton.

Morby, A. (2016). Neri Oxman's Lazarus death masks visualise the wearer's last breath. [online] Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2016/12/12/neri-oxmans-lazarus-death-masks-visualise-the-wearers-last-breath/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2017].

Wu, A. (2016). Death Masks From MIT Capture Your Dying Breath. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/800176/death-masks-from-mit-capture-your-dying-breath [Accessed 4 Jan. 2017].

Silk Pavilion by MIT Media Lab

Introduction

Silk pavilion is a dome-like suspended structure firstly woven by a robotic arm using silk fibres, which was then finished by live silkworms. This project by MIT Media Lab's mediated matter group unprecedentedly combined scientific research, digital designs, and biological fabrication techniques together in an architecture scale.

Process

"Inspired by the silkworms' ability to generate a 3D cocoon out of a single multi-property silk thread (1km in length)" (Kayser et al., 2013) Researchers motion tracked silkworm's movements by attaching small magnets to their head to collect data, which allows the robotic arm to imitate the way silkworm build its cocoon. The robotic than "deposits across 26 flat polygonal metal frames"(Howarth, 2013) as the primary geometry of the pavilion, using a single continuous thread across patches providing various degrees of density just like the silkworms. These panels together form a dome that suspended from the ceiling.

For the secondary structure, "6500 silkworms was positioned at the bottom rim of the scaffolding spinning flat non-woven silk patches as they locally reinforced the gap across silk fibers."(Kayser et al., 2013) Because of the worms were like to immigrate to a dark area, the fibres were laid denser on the northwest side of the structure.

Analysis

I found this project really interesting on how it intensely connects biology and technology. The correlation between silkworm and the robotic arm is fascinating, as"the research shows the blind instinct of silkworms is sometimes revealed as almost machine-like" (Stott, 2013). Because of the behavior of worms are affected by environment, the density and thickness could be the control on structural and environmental constraints, which makes it more like a mobile 3D multi-material printer.

It opens new possibilities to what 3D printer could be like. As Neri Oxman, the director of Mediated Matter group believes, " by studying natural process such as the way silkworms build their cocoons, scientists can develop ways of 'priming' architectural structures more efficiently than can be achieved by current 3D printing technology." Traditional 3D printing was limited by the granted-size poses and layering structure. "The gantry limitations can be overcome by printing using multiple interactive robot printers, and process limitations can be overcome by moving from layering to weaving in 3D space using a robotic arm." Oxman indicated this in Deezen interviews(Fairs, 2013).  I always found 3D printing objects have similar structures if we could be free of these limitations it would have numerous possibilities for what could be print more than we could imagine.


Reference

Fairs, M. (2013). MIT researchers to 3D print a pavilion by imitating silkworms. [online] Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2013/03/13/mit-researchers-to-3d-print-a-pavilion-by-imitating-silkworms/ [Accessed 1 Jan. 2017].

Howarth, D. (2013). Silkworms and robot work together to weave Silk Pavilion. [online] Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2013/06/03/silkworms-and-robot-work-together-to-weave-silk-pavilion/ [Accessed 1 Jan. 2017]

Kayser, M., Laucks, J., Duro-Royo, J., Uribe, C. and Oxman, N. (2013). Silk Pavillion Environment | CNC Deposited Silk Fiber & Silkworm Construction | MIT Media Lab. [online] Matter.media.mit.edu. Available at: http://matter.media.mit.edu/environments/details/silk-pavillion [Accessed 1 Jan. 2017].

Stott, R. (2013). Silk Pavilion / MIT Media Lab. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/384271/silk-pavilion-mit-media-lab [Accessed 1 Jan. 2017].