Computer Aided Design
The first assignment is to come up with an idea for the final project and also to start using 3D modeling software. For this assignment I have decided to revisit and make a *working* prototype of a wall facade that was proposing as a past project. I was dissapoint to not get far enough to make a working prototype in the last class so I am excited to create it this time.
A bit about the project. It uses acrylic and fiber optic fabric cast into concrete to create a translucent concrete facade. The idea is that panels would be cast for the interior and exterior with an LED matrix set into a cnc'ed sheet
that would shine through the acrylic and fiber optic fabric to be visible on the exterior.
By using concrete to create the media facade, it allows the wall to become a structural wall instead of a curtain wall.
Below is an example of translucent concrete made last semester.
And here is a conceptual rendering for what the interior could offer occupiers. The idea of having an led interior is two fold. In the context provided for the project, in the city of Chongqing, which only has about an hour of clear sunlight per day causing seasonal affective disorder. The led's can work to produce spectrums similar to exterior lighting conditions (ie yellows and oranges during the morning, blues, whites, and yellows during the day, pinks, purples at sunset, and white at night) to counter act this disorder. Alternatively it could display images or false landscapes.
Here is an exploded axon, made in Rhino and edited in Illustrator to show the envisioned layers for the final project. It would incorporate many aspects of this class, 3d modeling, computer machining, molding and casting, electronics design, embedded programming, and input/output devices.
