Thursday 4 June 2009

04.06.09 - Structure Received...








Cycled over to Leicester Laser to navigate their delivery van back to DMU. Accepted delivery of 36 unique plywood elements, transported within their negative frames. Elements stored flatpack in spaces left in the sheets they were cut from. Shock as it is discovered that the decision has been taken to move the structure from its design location (outside on a wall) to a new location (inside, suspended from a ceiling). Whilst this makes sense in that we no longer have to treat the plywood or worry about vandalism, it causes problems in that - structurally speaking - it was not designed to 'hang'. There would be problems with turning due to the imbalance around the centre of gravity. Had this decision been made before fabrication, we could easily have adjusted the design to 'hang'. This is an advantage of the parametric design solution. The joint system, weighting and curvature could all have been adjusted with simple 'sliders' in Grasshopper and the CAD drawings - that serve as instruction to the laser-cutter - automatically updated using the same software.
Consultation with DMU's technicians, Estates department and workshop staff has to wait until Monday morning. Design team concerned with the 'look' of the new joint whilst other concerns - such as the ever-increasing proximity of deadline - may take necessary priority.

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