Idea Number The Second... and Concept Development

This is my second concept. It originated after researching different types of plant motion. There are two types of movements found in plants; Nastic and Tropic. A nastic movement is a non-directional response to a stimuli while a tropic movement is a directional response to a stimuli. There are many types of stimuli some of which are light, dark/night, chemicals, nutrients, water, gravity and touch.

The Snap Dragon or Antirrhinum Majus reacts to stimuli in a non-autonomous reversible elastic deformation by opening and closing.

This led me to consider designing a bridge which would carry the same tropic movement characteristics. I decided that the stimuli which would induce motion would be water (Hydrotropism).

Originally I considered a bridge which would respond to tides, opening and closing to allow for boats to pass on either side of it. The scale of this concept proved to be too large and a severe downsizing was in order.

The next iteration was to be used in the desert, intalled within dry river beds called Wadi. These beds are prone to flash floods which produce incredibly dangerous conditions. The intention was for the structure to remain closed when the river was dry and to open at any increase in water levels to provide safe passage. I have scaled this concept down further and adapted it for use in similair Canadian water conditions.

Stay tuned.

Idea Development Part 2

This is the second idea in the works at the moment that plays with the expansion and contraction through passive means.

Using the Hoberman Sphere, this viewing platform expands and shrinks with the rise and fall of the tides. An air tight appendage is extended into the water and set at a given boyancy that places it at a set depth controls the size of the sphere.

The appendage works on the same principle as a submarine through ballast tanks and can likewise be found in several creatures in nature such as the Portugese Man O War.

More exploration into this is being made...

Idea Development Part 1

Fig. 1

Fig 2 Fig 3

Fig 4

Fig 5

Based on the structural venation of a leaf, this permutation is an exploration of creating a structure (Fig 1) that could double as both a canopy(as seen in the model) and/or a cantilevered platform. A closer look at the surface of the structure would deal with ventilation ducts that acted in a similar fashion to plant stomata by way of opening hinged vents (Fig 4), or circular apartures such as those drawn above (Fig 2).

An idea that came about in crit today suggested that the opening of the vent sizes would vary depending on the weight of the amount of people that occupied the space beneth the canopy. Exploration in this direction continues...

Progress Report 2

First thing's first, hey Jess, ouch, looks serious, hope you get well soon!

As for progress, below is an initial modeling exploration in Rhino. Needs a lot of work but the general idea is starting to take form...

biomimicry: what not to do

Poor little Jess... sometimes nature fails too.
But don't worry, she's fine and laughing (though I suspect the pain killers have something to do with that.)

Deployable Architecture - Silver Fern - Part 1

Alright... So lets begin by state by saying that I'm sticking with the theme I suggested in my first post. (Flexible/transformable architecture - looking at nature's way of modifying the physical state through the changing of volume/shape)


What better way to look at changing shape in nature than the leaf. More interestingly, the silver fern.


(Watch it unfold!)



<--- Final Outcome


I will be designing an interactive space in which the state of the architecture will vary amongst the seasons/night and day/ at the minimum. The program entails a deployable bridge along with interchangeable spaces in the public realm. (Winter time, the bridge would extend to its fullest - bridging the gap. Summer time, the bridge will be in its "unfurl" stage, ready to bloom! Hence spectators can walk along the entire perimeter of the board walk to enjoy Toronto's fantastic summer weather, as well as the unfurling bridge.)




That leads to the next topic. Site. I choose two prospective locations, but both have slight issues with them.


Site # 1 - South of the intersection of Queens Quay and Spadina. (This is actually a great space where a connection can be drawn from the HTO Park to the Music Park on the West. Nevertheless, West 8's deck is just north of there. Regardless, that is possesses the most mildest waves, in comparison to the other decks, what I propose on site might take away their design.)







































Site # 2 - Just east of Site # 1. Problem with this site is the fire station on the east side of the dock. Hm problems?


Now I have some sketches in the works to explain my design....wait!

Pick and Choose

As I sit in studio questioning which design options I’m going to decide on, I thought maybe I should share my thoughts with you in order to narrow it down. I’m pretty settled on designing a bridge, as it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, but I don’t know in which application I should design it (highway, pedestrian, heavy locomotive, etc.).

My initial design was inspired by rock formation, which would mimic the patterns to create a system of bridges. I would most probably design this for a highway system, but am not sure on how far I would be able to take it. Though my sketches seem to broadcast an elegant design.

The second option was to design an ice bridge for ice-truckers in Fort McMurray Alberta or any of the Territories that work with large machinery for work, such as oil sands, mining, etc. The bridge is to be built either of triangulation patterns formed by natural ice crystals/ icebergs, or as a honeycomb structure, since the honeycomb is able to span long distances. The only thing that worries me is that it’s too generic.

The third option was to design a pedestrian bridge close to water, possibly near the East Coast, as a “reflection” walkway. This bridge would be designed to work with both high tide and low tide. I took the inspiration from the lily pad, for obvious reasons as it floats above water. The lily pad is made up of hundreds of veins on the underside, in varying thicknesses, which hold within it air pockets. If any of you remember grade 10 physics, you would know that the reason why something floats is because the pressure of the air within a form/ unit displaces the same or less amount of water underneath it, thus keeping it in equilibrium (floating). However, the only problem I have with creating a bridge that levitates on water (with structure underneath of course) is the problems of rust. I’m not sure if something like this is feasible.