Nathaniel Propp: Project 6 Architectonic Lamp

Statement of Purpose : For my deign I wanted to capture the the shape of a coffee cup with spilt liquid. I thought this would give me a chance to mix interesting radial sections with some interesting perpendicular contours. The overall angle of the cup creates an interesting.

Modeling Techniques : In previous assignments I relied on my experience in Maya to help me create complex models. However, I took this opportunity to try and create a elaborate design from the basic shapes. The boolean tools made it simple to combine the meshes. When slicing the model I used similar methods to the waffle structure. This time I had to split the model up and slice it independently to create the flowing movement in the base.

Material Choices : For my key shot render, I chose a wood texture mainly hoping to resemble the plywood underlayment I am cutting it from. The lighting choice was preplanned from my reference inspiration. Hopefully the waffle structure will provide a unique lighting effect. 

Post Cut :After receiving the laser cut, and spending hours painstakingly trying to assemble the structure I realized major flaws in my design that prevented me from being able to make any stable structure.

The first mistake was that I placed the slots way too close together to support the structure with out breaking crucial pieces.

The second fatal flaw was that I should have reversed the piping around the cup. It made it nearly impossible to insert the vertical segments  once all the horizontal pieces were mildly in the right place.

I am confident that, given the chance I could re-design and re-cut the project to make it successful.