Taylor Champ Radial Waffle Lamp

 Design Intent

I drew from no specific sources, except the stylized shape language of crystals found commonly in fantasy media. I kept it simple and straight forward to reinforce the silhouette, and focused on sharp corners and curves, becoming larger at the top.

Modeling

Beginning with the form, I focused on achieving my shape language effectively, and being interesting. Originally, the shape was sharp on both top and bottom, intended to be set into a base, but it felt out of my capabilities, so I simplified and made it flat on the bottom. (Included is my sheet for laser cutting, which includes a secondary project in addition to this)

To form the slices for laser cutting, I used the Grasshopper script provided by Professor Scott, and (heavily) altered the resulting curves, so that the distribution of slices would reinforce the widest points of my shape. The bottom vertical slice is solid, to attach the lamp mechanism to.

Materials and Final Result

The resulting piece was machined by the UTD Machine Shop using 1/4" plywood underlayment, and assembled with hot glue. This is due to the fact that the materials were thinner than marketed, and left large gaps in the slices. Were I to do this again, I would alter my measurements for 6mm, to get a tighter fit and allow myself to use a cleaner glue.