ARCH20001
Module 03: Pattern Vs Surface
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"The relationship between surface and pattern, and how each of them contributes to visual perception."
REFLECTION
My overall design concept for this module was inspired by the simplicity and uniqueness of my terrain and fabric. In order to achieve an outcome that resembles those qualities, I intentionally created 4 simple pyramid geometries – allowing the focus to remain on the movement and pattern that would be developed later on. Therefore, instead of focusing on shapes that were too complex, I was able to spend more time on exploring the design using paneling tools in Rhino. Throughout the process of creating each artefact, I was able to develop some personal criteria that I wanted to achieve. My ultimate aim for this module was to create a sense of movement and flow to my design as well as to emphasize certain areas of the design, especially the contrast between the high and low points. To achieve that, I had to explore and understand the relationship between patterns on surfaces.
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Although not perfect, I am incredibly satisfied with the end result. At the end, I was able to achieve my goal to create a sense of flow and movement with the combination of the 2-Dimensional pattern of my artifact 3 and the painting sample that I was given to. Through the design process, I was able to grasp the idea of forming a relationship between my design components. With that understanding, I managed to manipulate my custom geometries to form a pattern of movement on top of my surface so that they would accurately resemble my fabric. My composite is a completely new fabric variant resulted from the huge transformation that I did in order to reinforce the quality of my design components so that it would match the conditions of the original fabric. Therefore, I personally think I have projected my original ideas to my final design quite successfully.
Sample
Artifact 1
Artifact 2
Artifact 3
Composite
Original Terrain
When presented with my terrain, the first thing that I observed was the quality of the surface. I noticed that the surface was not flat - it had some higher peaks as well as some lower and flatter areas. The contrast between the hump and the valley can be seen on the two opposite edges of my terrain. Other areas, especially the center of my assigned terrain, were more flat compared to its edges. Overall, the Tasmanian landscape I was assigned to was fairly simple and I wanted to use its unique characteristics as the concept for the design.
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The Valley/Low Point
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Centre/Flat Area
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The Hump/High Point
Original Fabric
The fabric sample I received was taken from Fra Angelico's The Virgin of Humility painting. While analyzing the painting, I realized that it was rather flat. However, an interesting quality that I took note of is the fact that it somehow showed 3 different sides or surfaces of the fabric, which also added a sense of depth to the 2-Dimensional painting. Being influenced by the fabric, I decided to reinforce those qualities in my design.
Experimentation
To make the entire design process easier, I colored each of my custom geometry differently so that I was able to see where they were placed when using the command ptPanel3DCustomVariable. For artifact 1, I experimented with the point attractors until I was able to have all my custom geometries placed in the right position to mimic the lighting conditions of my fabric sample. Then, I also played around with the shuffle grid tool when working on my artifact 2 so that I was able to emphasize certain areas of the design, especially the contrast between the high and low points. Finally, for my artifact 3, I tried my best to manipulate the base grid and my geometries to mimic my fabric, creating a sense of movement and flow to my overall design.
Unrolling
Once I have finalized my design for the 3 artifacts, I began unrolling the modules into nets. Through this process, I was able to see the buildability of my entire design - whether my surface was developable or not. An issue that I came across with during the process was having some overlapping nets when unrolling a group of modules. Therefore, I had to individually unroll them. However, in most cases, I was able to group 2 modules to unroll together.
