Product Design IV // Recess Week

Form exploration
Fiona x Shanelle

Location: Hall 7

This week we decided to do a recce at Hall 7, where the Pangolin once appeared. We wanted to go out and get a rough idea of where exactly we could place our sculpture in hall 7, how big would the dimension of the sculpture be and what kind of function could the sculpture serve as other than just being a decorative art piece.

 

Sketches
(Without the modules yet, just the form. Modules will be added on to flow along the overall form.)

Wrapping around the tree. 

We were intending for the tail of sculpture to be a communal bench which extends out to be a large sculptural art piece around the tree. 

Other possibilities.

Moving forward

After consultation, we decided on the idea of the sculpture wrapping around the tree. Next, we will be making the models and deciding on the choice of material afterward. Some possibility to add on would be incorporating solar panels on the modular scales such that the sculpture could light up at night. 

Product Design IV // Week 7

Mock-Ups
Fiona x Shanelle

Last session’s feedback:

  • Choose a direction.
  • Overall form not conveyed.
  • Do not use any difficult materials.
  • Be specific about the dimensions, location, the reason behind the location, how people interact with it.
  • Find out where was the Pangolin found and place the sculpture there.

Our reflection:

  • Going towards direction 1 is boring as it is no longer about making an art sculpture. We realized plants are everywhere in school and there is no point for us to add more. People will probably think that oh, it’s just another shade. We thought that direction 2 has more potential for us to work on. 
  • Here’s recap of direction 2, a domino effect that creates a closing movement when it rains (mimicking the pangolin scales working as a whole):

Where did the Pangolin appear?

NTU Hall 7 residential

Overall Form

Mock-Up 

Explanations below.

Testing 

Initial trial #1

Aim: To play with the weight difference in each module to create a default/balanced position.
(With the latch on segment having a greater volume/weight than the beak.)

The objective of trial: To identify if the difference in weight running throughout the module causes the module to rebound and moves back to its original position after the contact. 

Findings: It is difficult to control and calculate such that the weight on both sides is the same and that the module will return to its default position when the rain stops. Hence, we figured that we could try working with an elasticity mechanism.

Initial trial #2

Aim: To play with the elasticity to create a rebound.  

The objective of trial: To identify which way of constructing the elasticity is more effective to create a rebound.

Findings: Elasticity works. The modules bounces back to its default position after contact. The position of how we position the elasticity is, however, crucial as we figured that the method affects the strength of the rebound.