Brock Fuller: Serial Slicing and Surface Population

 

Muli-view (rendered)

Mult-view (ghosted b&w)

Populated object (rendered)

Populated object (ghosted b&w)

Slices (rendered)

Slices (ghosted b&w)

Even though I am far from confident in my ability to use grasshopper, this assignment was the first time I found myself enjoying the software. I experimented with many different geometries and height values, but I was ultimately drawn to the design you see here. It is merely a vase-shaped surface curvature populated by a single geometry consisting of raised diagonal lines. Although its components are quite simple, it produces a very interesting pattern upon population. By setting the height randomness to zero, all of the diagonal elements align perfectly to form a series of spiraling ridges.

Laser-cut Product:

I am fairly pleased with the appearance of the fully assembled ornament, especially considering that it was my first time having something laser-cut. Although, it was not without its fair share of hurdles. When collecting the laser-cut slices, I was informed that small details along the edges caused the cardboard to catch fire a few times, requiring them to restart from a new sheet. Additionally, because these details are so small and numerous, the spiral pattern is lost in the noise, giving off a pinecone-ish appearance instead. Knowing what I know now, If I were to redo this project, I would make the ridges deeper, further apart, and much less numerous so as to preserve the twisting pattern.