Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Water Fall



The idea behind the PLANAR component of this assignment what designed based on the idea of trickling water and a water fall. The idea is that planting medium would grow out of the mesh openings and that when the piece is watered, that water will drip down to the next consecutive planting slot. The pattern is given a natural feel in that it is randomly arranged, but it is still controlled because of how it is designed to drain from one to the next.



The idea behind this piece, for the PERPENDICULAR component of this assignment is to go along with studying the idea of falling water. On this piece there are protruding planes where planting medium can be placed, and a diagonal to direct the flow of water down the wall unit. This is a small study model. To go off this idea, many different vary modular units could be made and arranged into a larger wall which has a controlled flow pattern but can be seen as random and natural.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Study of texture and structure

I did a simple study of the texture of mesh overlay.












And then made an scupltural 3D texture study playing with the forms that can be created using only perpendicular intersections of material.












Layers & Pattern - Structure & Span

Layers & Pattern
I continued to explore the brick module in this exercise. I imposed a regular grid over a 4x8 panel(what is a pretty standard spanning size in wood construction) and through subtraction of some modules in the grid created a void that could accomodate "blankets" of planting material.
This was the concept sketch

Additionally through lamination I was able to experiment with various layers that also exist in wall assemblies. The tall narrow strip on the right for example could be a trellis-like piece good for climbing vines, the small brick modules poking out could be planters for species that like a bit more depth of soil to grow in and the "blankets" could act as a textured background.


Structure & Span:
As the title might imply, I was thinking about the rhythm & size of structure as it relates to spanning members for this exercise. I continued to explore the 4x8 panel and approached this a bit like one might think of how a green curtain wall could be assembled. The result ended up a little less exciting than i had originally hoped but what I did appreciate was the idea that there is a relationship between the transparency of the "planted mesh" and the structure behind that to me was a bit more exciting than the layers in the previous exercise.

A Pattern, A Structure




Project 2 Bissell

For my structure I just started building. Eventually it started reminding me of a public bulletin board. I combined this idea with the "green-wall" we saw at the courthouse garden. I think it would be cool to see these in a city. Every time someone came up to one they would have to interact with a garden. Eventually plants would grow in and accent the flyers or messages posted.






For my pattern model, I wanted to design something simple yet practical. I had the idea of gardening in mind for some reason, so I designed the wall in rows. I designated space to be more open towards the bottom so bigger crops or plants wouldn't steal sunlight.

A Pattern, A Structure


PATTERN

For the pattern, I ran with the idea that this panel would be a wall with 2 different types of apertures cut through it: one type would provide space for vertical plantings, while the other type would offer view ports for passersby. The viewing apertures are cut at different angles through the panel so that the glimpses are controlled.

You can see in the right two images the difference in aperture size from the front to back. The slices that remain the same size are the planted portions and contain the mesh. The large to small ones are the viewing ports.

The laminating of the mesh and chipboard was relatively easy, thanks to the brick I made from Assignment 1. Gluing the mesh on an individual layer of this pattern was a little difficult, but once I aligned all 6 layers and flattened them for an hour, it worked like a charm.

STRUCTURE

The structure did not necessarily go according to plan, but it came out okay. I was pretty wrapped up in cutting out these fin shapes (and maybe a little distracted by a suspenseful movie on Netflix), and didn't notice that the design in my head did not address the materials meeting perpendicularly. The original idea was that these fins would be planted cantilevers that could be stacked and rotated to create a canopy for cover.

However, once cutting out all of the fins, I realized my problem and decided to try to work with the shape, because I enjoyed it. So I stood up the fins, shifted them here and there, scored and bent them; I tried a lot of things and this shape offered many options. The resultant may be a little Ringling Brothers, but it still achieves the same goal of providing shelter. Essentially, it's an alcove where a bench could be a placed or a small group could huddle. Around the exterior edge, a planted fin peels away from the structure to provide individual protection from sun or rain, as well as provides an open connection from the interior to exterior. The planted portion wold be continuous or connected from the point of the cantilever up to the top of the alcove's roof. There, where it is exposed to the sky through a hole, rain could collect and wash down the entire length
of the panel.

A Pattern. A Structure. A living system?

For this assignment I wanted to make a pattern and a structure that could be applied to common landscape features. The concept was to make a pattern that could be used as a green retaining wall and a structure that could be used as a permeable paver. Here are my concept sketches:



The retaining wall design was simple, a concrete wall with a screen embedded in it near the "surface" to act as a barrier to keep the soil contained. Were the original soil meets the screen a window for plants to emerge is born. Here are photos showing the pattern, then the pattern in application.

The honeycomb paver was a simple diamond shape overlayed with wire mesh, inspired by the grated floating deck on the ASLA green roof. The concept is that the oversized pavers would contain a growing medium and plants and the grated surface would allow it to be walked on, with the pressure of body weight on the tips of the plants keeping them trimmed at the grate. Here are photos showing the structure and then the structure in application.




When this pattern and this structure are combined in the landscape they become a living system.


Monday, June 27, 2011

A Pattern A Structure


A pattern...


A cast stone wall panel from Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House inspired the above pattern.


A structure...



A Structure, A Pattern

STRUCTURE
Adopting the ASLA green roof grate, I created a planter box staircase.
First, I constructed the staircase out of cardboard.


Then I added the wire mesh grate.



And some flowers for good measure:



PATTERN
I modeled my pattern after those plastic plastic bag holders. This is a flattened version though it could just as easily be in a warped plane.

In the photo on the right, the cardboard is concrete and the wire mesh is the growing matrix. However, this could also be reversed such that the wire mesh becomes stepping stones over a cardboard growing matrix.

Has anyone figured out how to add photos to the bottom of the blog window or is this another one of those things where you have to think backwards? (or just drag the photos down one by one...)

A Pattern A Structure

To start this project I designed and laser cut a very simple pattern using wire mesh and chipboard.

Seen architecturally as an exterior window, the pattern is centered around a large opening of a "green" facade. The mesh provides opportunities for vine plants to sprawl up  until the window is framed by living greenery.

I developed a mesh shade structure on the window opening in order to provide a bridge for the framing plant life. This structure is roughly scaled to 1/4"=1'-0"

The terraced shade screen blocks harsh light from shining directly in the window opening while offering a perpendicular grow site.

The shade trellises would create an organic shade pattern below and help cut harsh direct sunlight. -Matt Perkins

Bread Box? Recycling Bin?

My idea for this project was to create a simple stackable unit that could be used as a wall structure as well as a planting area.


For this first attempt I choose to stick to simplicity which ended up being wise as even this simple design (which ended up looking something between a bread box, bird house, and stacking recycling bin) was problematic!


The form was created using pink foam, caulking, and duct tape. As the caulking ran out I used duct tape to smooth out the seams on the interior of the form (exterior of the brick). This technique gave an interesting almost shiny texture to the end product.

Shelby and I combined efforts in concrete mixing. We used a mix of about 2 parts cement to 3 parts sand. This mix ended up being quite crumbly. In the future upping the cement content will be experimented with.


When all was said and done, this was the lovely result! The concrete mixture didn't fill in the mold completely and the gap degraded even more as I removed the foam interior. And, as can be seen in the picture, the mold did not want to be removed easily.

All in all, a great learning experience! On to the next!