Jeremiah Baker - Radial Lamp pt.2

test build

Concept:

      After cutting out a prototype of my first lamp, I realized it needed some work. The scale was far to large, and it was incredibly difficult to put together. I used the same technique as before for this version, but went for a more minimalistic and smaller approach. (I think the 2nd iteration is usually going to be the better one) The illusion of bending material is really cool, and this was a great opportunity to try my hand at making it. I really liked the open form of some of the previous students, and decided to use as few panels as possible while still retaining the waffle idea. 

Modeling Techniques:

      I used the same techniques for modeling as the previous version. Because of the technique that was used, there isn't an original massing object, just an original surface. I began with a single curve, then offset that curve by 0.5in to create the planar shape. I then rotated the surface to allow the slots to work properly, and used 'arraypolar' to create 16 evenly spaced radials to make up the body of the lamp. I then created the horizontal cylinders for support and placed them at evenly placed spots on the lamp. I had created a rough model of my particular light and used that to help with scaling. The one problem I ran into was the switch. It was located at the base of the light, and couldn't be reached with my current design. To solve the problem, I doubled the size of the switch so there would be plenty of room, and used 'curvefromobject'>'intersection' to mark where the cuts needed to be. I then used split to cut out the holes. To create the slots, I used the piping technique as shown in class, making sure my cylinders were just a bit larger than the exact thickness of my material. Before I laid everything out on the cut sheet, I made the other required holes for the electronics using the same technique as before. Because of the repetition in the vertical sections, I just took one of the pieces, ran 'silhouette' to get the curve, and used 'array' to create all 16 sections. The cylinders were copied over the same way. 

Materials Used:

      I used the procedural wood texture for the panels. In rhino, I exploded the extruded surfaces so I could make the edges look burned, which I did by darkening the colors a bit. The base and wire for the light was a basic rubber texture. For the light, I used the warm area light set to 2watts. It was really bright, so this low setting helped keep it from being over-exposed. When processing the renders, I decided to use global illumination and ground illumination so the shadows could be seen. I also threw a depth of field effect on there because it makes the render look more realistic and clean.

      I applied a stain to the pieces before assembly, and then used locktite professional to put all the pieces together. I had to thread the wire through the top cylinders to assemble the fixture as well. I'm planning on using fishing line to hang the piece.