PRODUCING DESIGN OBJECTS FROM REGULAR POLYHEDRA: A PRACTICAL APPROACH

In the last few years, digital modelling techniques have played a major role in architecture and design, influencing, at the same time, the creative process and the fabrication of objects. This revolution has produced a new productive generation of architects and designers focused on the expanding possibilities of material and formal production, reinforcing the idea of architecture as an interaction between art and artisanship. This original perspective inspires this paper, which illustrates the contemporary scenario and provides some practical guidance about tools and technologies the designers most often use for creating geometric sculptures with 3D printing. Creative possibilities of topological mesh modelling are used to generate complex geometries from regular polyhedra. This process explores how combining different geometric operations can activate architectural inquiry and generate fascinating shapes with creative flexibility.

LACE CURVES

Two families of lace curves generated as partial Minkowski sum or product of pairs of curves in Euclidean 3D-space are presented in this paper. Some of their basic geometric properties are derived from the properties of Minkowski operation basic components. Illustrations of various interesting shapes resulting from the combinations of simple curve segments are included.

SKETCHBOOK

Há uma demanda crescente de profissionais de design para trabalhar com software de representação virtual. A alta tecnologia e a popularização das ferramentas digitais contribuíram para que os alunos cada vez mais conhecessem e aproveitassem essas técnicas. No entanto, esses software são apenas um instrumento para implementar os projetos desenvolvidos pelos alunos e exigem muitas habilidades, incluindo manuais, para serem utilizados de forma integral. O artigo discute a instrumentalização de um recém-chegado ao ensino superior em design, a partir do estudo de caso de práticas didáticas utilizadas na disciplina Laboratório de Criação da Universidade Veiga de Almeida, no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. O laboratório se concentra no desenvolvimento do potencial criativo dos alunos. Para isso, é incentivada a utilização do caderno de rascunhos, reunindo as ideias e imagens daquele que o constrói, fundando um repertório e prática para o futuro designer.

A REVIEW OF AUGMENTED REALITY FOR ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURAL HERITAGE VISUALIZATION

This paper presents an overview of the use of Augmented Reality in the area of architecture and cultural heritage visualization. The subject of this research are objects that have significant cultural and historical values which, for different reasons, cannot be perceived in their real environment. Using two case-studies, the processes of 3D reconstruction, optimization and AR presentation of the reality models are described in detail. The 3D models are created by using photogrammetry and the AR visualization is performed by using an existing platform for the AR presentation. The aim of the paper is to emphasize the importance of incorporating photogrammetry and augmented reality for the visualization of different types of object features.

PARAMETRIC MODELLING OF CLASS II MECHANISMS APPLIED IN MOVABLE STRUCTURES

Movable engineering structures are an important topic of modern scientific issues connected with civil engineering. Working on solutions to these issues requires an interdisciplinary action in fields such as geometry, construction, machine theory and mechanics or automatics. The author work considers class II mechanisms in existing solutions that occur in moving engineering, such as retractable roofs and bridges. Movement realization has a major influence on the behaviour of the structure during displacement. The analysis of the movability of existing engineering objects supported by parametric modelling facilitates the study of movement and allows for new concepts of solutions. KEYWORDS: retractable roof, movable bridge, class II mechanisms, quadrangles.

EXAMPLES OF GENETIC ALGORITHMS USAGE IN GEOMETRY AND ALGORITHMIC DESIGN

In this paper, the authors test genetic algorithms as geometric and design issues’ solvers to explain and explore the possibilities of this computing technique in design and research. The tests and explanations are based on three classical geometry problems of the Ancient Greece and on a pattern distribution algorithm, created by the authors and inspired by the definition of Lebesgue covering dimension. The basic tools for research are: Rhinoceros, the Grasshopper plug-in and the Galapagos tool. The tests prove that, as a result based on computing techniques, genetic algorithms can be used to find solutions without the implementation of analytic methods. This advantage of evolutionary computing can be very useful in case of complex issues, where implementation of analytic methods reveals itself difficult or even impossible.

MODELING AS THE WAY OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE

Changes taking currently place in upbringing and teaching, force teachers to constantly search for newer methods of transmitting knowledge to their students. Young people beginning their studies are brought up in different ways of gaining recognition skills than they were a few years ago. Children play with blocks, building various structures and learning the shapes and features of single blocks, but they must be able to imagine the overall effects in their work. During our geometry classes, we refer to wooden models of solids like pyramids and prisms, so that building models from blocks becomes more natural and less hard. With this in mind, we came up with an idea to prepare a number of models that students could cut from a single piece of paper and then fold it to confront a 2D illustration with the corresponding 3D model. In this paper, assumptions according to the model that we made, as well as solutions and some examples, are presented.

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A PARAMETRIC FORMFINDING

In projects with complex geometries, digital production interface to structural analysis is enormously benefitted through parametrization. A design and structural analysis linked platform is seen as a necessary step contributing to a fully integrated digital construction process.

DESENHO DE CONCEPÇÃO EM ARQUITETURA

Pautada na associação entre forma e conteúdo, a arquitetura de Rem Koolhass é ícone da prática diagramática, característica evidenciada na concepção de seus projetos. Dada a importância do diagrama enquanto ferramenta programática na obra de Rem Koolhaas, este artigo teve como objetivo investigar a presença do diagrama na concepção do projeto da Seattle Central Library sob a ótica dos princípios estabelecidos pela teoria do information design. Este estudo foi realizado mediante um levantamento bibliográfico sobre teoria da informação e programa de necessidades, a produção geral do arquiteto e uma análise gráfica dos diagramas de concepção através do procedimento de desconstrução de camadas de informação. Este estudo não apenas reafirmou o caráter programático do arquiteto Rem Koolhaas como também permitiu a verificação de como a representação gráfica pode ampliar a compreensão do problema de projeto, sobretudo por possibilitar a organização sistemática da informação.

ORIGAMI TESSELATIONS

Rigid Origami folding surfaces have very interesting qualities for Architecture and Engineering given their geometric, structural and elastic qualities. The ability to turn a flat element, isotropic, without any structural capacity, into a self-supporting element strictly through folds in the material opens the door to a multitude of uses. Besides that, the intrinsic geometry of the crease pattern may allow the surface to assume doubly curved forms while the flat element, before the folding, could never do it without the deformation of the material [01][02]. The main goal of this Ph.D. research is to reach a workflow that allows for the design and implementation of kinetically reconfigurable Origami Surfaces. In this paper, we will address mainly the parameterization of certain folded geometries, illustrating our method, simulating the folding of regular crease patterns through geometric operations on the smallest set of faces (local) that can be reproduced to simulate the whole group (global).