One the first things we were instructed to think about was how we were going to bring our Rhino 7 microstructure diagrams to life, starting with their materiality. Throughout the process I decided to experiment with paper, concrete, and wood, and paper.
I began with paper, rationalizing that the intersections present in my design would be easier replicated by paper. This is better represented in my "Microstructure Test Model". Playing around with the systems present in my diagram I attempted to make solids out of paper as well, using cardboard for stability. It turned out complex and rigid like expected but overall not as clean as I wanted it. They also didn't really compliment the overall structure as much as I wanted so I ended up brainstorming more ideas for the topography.
Next was concrete, a material I had never worked with before. As you can tell by the pictures it did not go well. It was definitely a learning process, having to understand the ratio of mixture to water and the overall limits in term of strength in relation to thickness. It took a while to build the mold for the concrete, and when it came time to pour I had to make 2 different batches, one coming out much runnier than the other. I also didn't have enough making many spots thin. This overall messed up the entire consistency and integrity of the piece, causing it the crumble during the demolding step. Only the thickest parts survived. If you want to see a video of the process make sure to check out the reel/video uploaded on my Instagram.
Finally, when brainstorming the overall aesthetic I wanted, I came to the conclusions that wood would pair together well with green and blue of the paper I wanted to use in the final model while also giving me the opportunity to integrate it's materiality in the overall structure and topography. Due to the sheets of wood being thin and fragile, there were times it would crack more than expected. Although, the texture contrasted the smoothness of the paper well. I decided to use a different, more greenish colored wood to compliment the wood sheets and color scheme of the paper, for the topography. I hadn't worked with wood this thick before so going to the wood shop was also a fun experience.
Paper
Concrete
Wood
Microstructure Test Model
Paper
Microstructure Final Model
Colored Paper, wood sheets, wood blocks
In the end I decided to take the most dense part of the "Test Model", in terms of intersections and visual interest, to highlight in the final. I used the wood blocks as the topography, layering the paper triangles on top or around them allowing the viewers see how each layer is integrated in another. Due to the complexity of the forms I wanted to make sure all angles of the model were interesting and complex. Although I love the scale of the "Test Model" I am proud of the aesthetic and composition of the finalized model.