Archinect - Columbia University GSAPP (Kim)

TINA* IS COMING!

2013-04-16T12:02:00-04:00

TINA - Tensile Integrity Nodal Assembly

Our "architectural folly" is in production mode! The installation will be on display for GSAPP's End of Year Show starting May 18th.

__Technical Elective Class: "Fast Pace Slow Space"
__Instructors: Mark Bearak + Brigette Borders

__The Team:
Nicole Allen, Collin Anderson, John Barrett, Phillip Crupi, Chelsea Hyduk, Bo Liu, Kimberly Nguyen, Michelle Park, Anthony Sunga, Sydney Talcott

Our Website: http://www.TINAgsapp.com

Here is a preview of our progress:

Prototype - achieving the tensegrity arch

It stands on it's own!

Module:

Woodshop:

An early mockup, using rubber cords (we decided to use steel cables after this study) :

Aggregation possibility:

Desk Crit Notes

2013-04-12T02:55:22-04:00

Studio desk crits are times when some of the most exciting, mind-blowing conversations take place. Our professor sits with each of us individually to discuss our project, probes our thesis with difficult questions, and helps us push forward to make more potent design arguments (this happens every MWF, when there is no pinup or presentation).

The only thing I regret is that I never recorded any of these incredible conversations. My classmates share the same sentiment.

Our professor drew these notes during a recent desk crit. I believe this was a prescription of what to do next. But without an audio recording, it's hard to remember what actually happened, what this means, and whether this should be read in plan, section, or axo.

Kinne Rio

2013-04-09T12:05:00-04:00

In the final semester before graduating, GSAPPers go on their famous "Kinne trip." Each design studio travels to a different country to research and gain new insight for their project proposals.

My studio (with critic Mark Wasiuta and Craig Buckley) traveled to Brazil. We have been investigating collection(s) and territories, trying to define these "fugitive" terms, questioning the forces that create boundaries, redefining how they operate in different contexts, and developing our own theories on how architecture has agency in today's world. During the two-week trip, we tested our theoretical lenses in Rio, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, and São Paulo. The work has been challenging, but also lot of fun (as usual!).

Some photos I'd like to share from my travels:

Brasilia______________

Niteroi ______________

Rio______________

Inhotim______________

...

Death Studio

2012-09-23T17:09:00-04:00

My third (and final) year at GSAPP just began, and I am trying to savor every moment. I love grad school so much I don't want it to end!

This semester, the design studio I am taking is focused on death, or the "uncertain certainty of our mortality." We are studying grief, cemeteries, what we do with dead bodies, the relationships with memory and identity, cultural protocol and procedures, and contemplating how we honor life. Eventually, we will be proposing new spaces of remembrance in the metropolis. The work and discussions so far are intense and abstract, but very intriguing...

Our first exercise was to select a video or text about loss, and extract its essence through material and writing.

The following are a few of my study models of what I call "death terrains," specifically analyzing modes of detachment. These were all created with my "transcendence machine," which will require further tweaking...

...

Obama is on Campus!

2012-05-14T13:19:00-04:00

Obama is delivering the commencement speech for Barnard College Class of 2012. Right. NOW.

Being here is AWESOME.

Live Webcast:

http://barnard.edu/commencement/webcast

Documentary Footage

2012-05-13T04:20:00-04:00

Days that lead up to Final Review can be very intense. I took this documentary footage in the CBIP Lab last week.

(*Note: While filming, I was waving my arm around and making silly faces to see what would happen.)

Then, I used the footage combined with other clips to make a video (using After Effects).

To me, these short films are both objective and sentimental :o)

CATIA Leaf Chair

2012-04-10T15:09:19-04:00

One of our tasks in the Columbia Building Intelligence Project (CBIP) Studio was to master CATIA, an advanced engineering/CAD/management/scripting application that has been used to manufacture jet planes.

The software is INCREDIBLE, and its possibilities for architectural applications seem endless...but it's not so easy to learn.

We started with something small and simple; the first assignment was to model a chair in CATIA and demonstrate its parametric properties.

Here is the chair I made earlier this semester:

Will (hopefully) find time to write more CBIP soon...

Anthropomorphic

2012-04-08T03:00:00-04:00

My weekend homework for Cinematic Communications (an elective class):

Film an inanimate object and give it human-like attributes using montage. (1-2 minutes)

Aperture Cells

2012-03-06T06:14:00-05:00

This is the prototype I worked on for "Beyond Prototype" (a visual studies elective taught by Jason Ivaliotis) with Bo Liu, Lalima Chemjong, and Michael Gonzales.

Our project, called "Aperture Cells," is a self-supporting component-based partition system constructed out of (3) 1/2” acrylic sheets. The two components – “jacket” and “aperture” – used in this system are developed to create a partition hybridizing a structural element and a porous skin. The use of parametric modeling software such as Rhino and Grasshopper has allowed us the flexibility to investigate the form of the system without altering the connection assembly already embedded within the design. Within 6 weeks, we were able to complete the design and efficiently transition between a virtual system to this full-scale physical prototype. The one shown was fabricated using a CNC mill, plastic bender, and connected using 1/4″ sex bolts:

Some process images:

Heat strip and acrylic bending:

...

FabLab

2012-02-29T05:20:00-05:00

I spent the weekend in FabLab (aka woodshop) to make a prototype for a metal lamp (inspired by a flower bud) with my group members (Phillip Crupi, Alexandra Milo, and Jessica Kuo).

It began with the conversion of our Rhino/Grasshopper files into a software called Mastercam:

This is the Mastercam file. You have to tell the machine to cut all the holes first, then cut out the piece.

Then we used the CNC router with 1/4" and 1/8" drill bits to cut the design into 1/16" aluminum sheets:

The metal router (*note - cannot use aluminum in plasma cutter):

An easy mistake to make is not setting the z-depth low enough to cut through the material. We had to reroute this piece:

Then we mapped each of the bending angles and noted the pressures used for the brake press:

After that, we cut a jig to bend inner tabs at 110 degrees by hand:

Using clamps and mallet with the jig:

Learned how to use the metal brake press:

The main component:

Fine...

Parametric Thinking Cap

2012-02-22T02:42:15-05:00

This is what Saturday night at 11:30pm looks like in 2nd-Yr Studio. As you can see, 4 out of 4 students are not smiling.

While my classmates were working hard on architecture, I was trying to decide what to do for "Parametric Realizations" class.

From the syllabus by Mark Bearak and Brigette Borders: Parametric modelers are commonly used in the development of digital architectural models, but they are rarely taken to the point of becoming physical realities. This course will look at the process of generating parametric algorithms then turning those models into physical realities. Students will work in groups to design a product that will be the physical realization of their scripted protocol.

I was inspired by the dried leaves of a tomatillo plant, and made some models out of wire and hot glue. Perhaps it would be interesting to make a chandelier or some kind of lighting fixture from this:

With my group members, we modeled a more simplified version of this organi...

Some Daily Life

2012-02-10T03:27:34-05:00

Chalkboard turns into ping pong table at Avery Hall (Michelle vs. Damon):

CBIP Lab, where I will be spending most of my time this semester:

For Parametric Realizations class, we were assigned to make a box, and spend no more than 1 hr working on it. This is Paola's "box":

Michael also makes a "box":

Most GSAPPers like to work on 2 monitors and watch NetFlix on a 3rd one.

Grad student scramble:

My team tackles reinforced concrete columns for Tech 5:

And here we are painting the wall to brighten our all-nighters :o)