Geometric Explorations

@ Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

In collaboration with:
MIT Architecture

Thank you to J Jih for your advocacy and thoughtful feedback.

Thesis

This project features an exploration between optical symmetry, reflectivity, and modularity. Initial hand-knit mesh wire maquettes highlight the deformation of ductile materials, and I appreciated the object’s invitation for play, touch, and exploration. Wanting to further contrast the material’s inherent qualities and the form’s overall affect, I picked a thin stainless sheet metal. Drawing inspiration from 彩球, a traditional Taiwanese decoration used in celebration, I explored a matrix of materials and lattice techniques for the next series of maquettes. These objects encouraged me to further intertwine materiality and form. In a wire mesh lattice sphere, form is primarily dictated by the construction process and visual affect is primarily dictated by the material choice – what would be the combination that further blends process, material, geometric form, and affect?

The latest iteration of this object series is a petal-ed cube, where four modules made of 4”x4” stainless steel sheet metal are double blind riveted together. An optically playful object, the cube almost entirely disappears from certain viewpoints. In one of its equilibria, the object rests on the opening made by one of its petals, producing an oblique effect that is enhanced through the piecewise nature of the construction units, the combination of these modules, and the reflectivity of the material. The rivets provide minimally intrusive visual touchpoints to further distort the optical affect of the object, and to provide waypoints of understanding construction and modularity through visual/tactile exploration.

Process

4.105 (Geometric Disciplines + Architecture Skills) is an intensive introduction to the architectural design process centered around the notion of figure. In understanding figure as form, the course explores the ways in which we read, produce, rationalize, and represent geometry, from conventional orthographic drawing to digital modeling, physical maquettes, and prototypes. And in understanding figure as process, the course centers on the translations between form and material, object and drawing, digital and physical, producing an expansive space for the unfolding of various tectonics, systems of assemblies, materials, and workflows.