Research
My next project was taking an iteration from a previous project, Assignment 2 or Shape Grammar, and turning it from a 2D design, to a 3D design. I couldn’t just attack this right away though, I had to learn how exactly I could go about turning a two-dimensional concept into a physical idea.
Exercise 1a: Analog
I was first tasked with designing and forming a perfect 3” cube. I researched online cube templates and they were all pretty self-explanatory. However, the final product didn’t come out as clean as I had hoped. The edges weren’t flush, it wasn’t exactly 3”, and overall, it was just very far from perfect. Needless to say, my cube was a cube, but it was far from perfect. This was the first time I had experimented with creating physical models out of paper. It was interesting and I was excited for how my final composition would turn out.
After this, I could choose between constructing a house or the letter “F” from a given template. I decided to go with the house, and this time I wanted to be way more precise with it. Turns out taking a little more time and being more precise resulted in a much better product. The house was clean, the cuts were perfectly straight, the edges were flush, and it overall turned out much better than the cube. After this to help build upon what I was already learning to attack this new project I decided to draw orthographic and isometric drawings for the house. Just from the cube part to this part my construction with Bristol was already improving. I already was beginning to feel more confident in my ability to use paper in 3D construction.
Exercise 1b: Digital
Exercise 1b was the same exercise as the first one except it was to be done digitally. So, for this exercise, the goal was to make 1:1 scale orthographic drawings of the form provided. With that being said I decided to do it again for the house and it was much easier for me to do this digitally than analogously, but the more I did it by hand the easier it became. Nonetheless, my history with engineering and having past experience with CAD and modeling software, mentally picturing and drawing these things digitally was something that was almost effortless for me to do for a simple structure like a house.
Iterations
After this first exploration with 2D and 3D designing, it was time to shift my focus to the final project. The goal was to imagine and explore ways to translate one of my 2D compositions into a 3D composition. The assignment brief guided me by explaining how I should first consider my Shape Grammar solution as an orthographic view of the 3-dimensional form. It was then described that I should try a minimum of 3 different 3D solutions from 3 different Shape Grammar compositions and explore these whether it be orthographic and isometric drawings or physically constructing these different compositions. I tried and modeled three in total that can be seen below in 2D and 3D form.
After discussing some ideas with my professor and TA, I decided to go with the design that 2-dimensionally looks like a pyramid. They helped me realize that playing with the height and actually finding a way to represent the lines would make this 2D to 3D translation very strong. I started to explore different angles and heights and how I could break up this 2-dimensional symmetrical design and make it more confident while keeping its intended principles and feelings. I first made a very rough 3D model of what I had in mind. Over the next week, I thought it needed a change but was unsure of where to go next. I talked to my professor and she helped me realize what makes this composition so strong 2-dimensionally is the use of lines and how it creates a shape in different areas of space when in reality they aren’t actually there. With this in mind, my professor and I talked about some ways I could construct this, and it led me to find out having fewer templates in this composition would give it more strength and confidence.
Production
After all these iterations I ended up changing my initial design which consisted of 10 models, down to just 4 different models that communicated the idea that shapes are there much better than the first design. Below are the templates for each piece. Although each template looks the same, all of the values and measurements on each one are different for a total of four different pieces. This project was a lot of trial and error and was much harder than I first imagined. I was in quarantine for two weeks and this absence of in-person class time made this a much harder assignment to tackle, but nonetheless, I am very confident and happy with my final product. It holds true to the ideas and restrictions of the project while still conveying the strong principles and emotions that need to be displayed to give the 2D to 3D translation some meaning behind it.
To assemble the final composition, it consists of four different templates. One of each template, but two of templates 2 and 3. Each template ends up folding into a square pillar that slants and declines from left to right. It goes up from template 1 to 4 and each model is angled 45 degrees to give off the impression of a diamond instead of a square. Then, templates 2 and 3 are assembled and angled 45 degrees the other way. The triangles connected represent the lines stemming away from the prisms and are lined up with the triangles in the other row. This connection between the two rows gives the impression there is a shape there when in reality there isn’t.
Portfolio Project
View final project at 2D to 3D Translation Project