Adam Rude_ UCLA M.Arch I First Year

Advisor_ Hadrian Predock

The focus of this unit aggregation project was creating volume out of a single sheet through the
radial division of an equilateral triangle. The resulting "cluster" form of increasingly voluminous concentric ribbons became the primitive shape that was to be aggregated in ways dictated by its geometric properties. The form is capable of aggregating horizontally along its three primary axes, as well as vertically, through a double lock connection system.The clusters are increasingly resistant to compression toward their center. 

An investigation into the effects of a rotational translation of one of the vertices of the triangle showed that the cluster begins to deform as a result of a bend in its Z axis. The further the translation of the trangle’s vertex, the smaller the radius of the bend in the Z axis. 

A new aggregation strategy was investigated digitally utilizing this deformation as a means through which the primitives could respond to eachother gravitationally.   Similar to the way that bodies in outer space are affected by eachother in both their trajectory and volume, the forms express an attraction toward one another, while the closer they are to one another, the smaller they become. As a result, the three undulating continuous forms twist toward eachother, approach a minimum proximity and thus volume, then gradually emerge out of the interaction and exit with the same trajectory and volume with which they entered.