The laser cutting exercise was focused on designing a vertical structure generated by a system of different components with the use of 4 mm plywood boards (840×300 mm) and to obtain the highest structure possible. The first experiments started trying to make use of a single repeating element that could generate a stable structure. While this approach was rich in stability and had the advantage of very little material waste, it had the disadvantage of not being able to reach impressive heights.  Based on these results, a decision was made to design a structure based on two repeating elements, one joinery piece and one main vertical piece.

Trials using 1mm cardboard and 3 mm plywood sheets

 The digital trials and final design (Rhino)

 The goal was to create a simple elegantly flowing structure with the least material waste and the highest possible height. The main vertical piece suffered alterations in order to obtain the most stable curvature which would allow the structure to change diameters as its moving upwards.

The fabrication process on the Laser Multicamm 2000 – 1:50h –

The final result was a stable 4.6 m tall plywood structure

Details

Group 1 /Ruxandra Iancu Bratosin/ Wen Shan Foo/ Asif Rahman