Part 1: 2D Tiles
The design approach to this part was simple. In the escher tile web application I designed a tile then exported it as a jpeg. In Rhino I imported the jpeg as a wallpaper, and traced two of the curves. After the top and bottom curve was created I associated each curve with a curve block in grasshopper and utilized the code we generated in class. Here is my result.
Part 2: 3D Printed 3D Tiles
Part 2 was a little more complicated, and took a lot more creativity. For my base tile shape I went with a hexagon, seemed the most interesting basic tiling shape. To create each hexagon I would traverse the lattice via a double for loop, at each intersection of i and j I would generate the shape. I plotted 6 points in a circle, incrementing 60 degrees for each point around the center.
Once the shapes were generated, I began generating the 3D shape on top. To do this I placed a python block after the shape generation block and manipulated it. I ran out of creative juices so I made two designs in the hopes it would satisfy the assignment requirements.
For this shape I began by extracting each point from the hexagon and finding the center of all the points. I placed two lines across the shape starting at two different points and ending at their opposing side. Once the lines were created, I got their intersection. This was the center point I linked the three lines to. It resulted in this cool box illusion.
The final shapes I created were these flower looking tiles. I wanted to generate something that could give two different patterns out of one tile. Designing this is a little difficult to explain. Using the same technique from my previous design I extracted points from the original shape and found points between them. I then lifted them on the z axis and made an opening 10 degrees wide. I then connected each of the points with a line and used edge surface to put it all together. I started with much more ambitious designs but ran out of time. However, I am happy with how it came out.
Part 3: Surface Morph
The surface morph was by far the most challenging for me. I used the first 3D design because I thought it would look a lot cooler on a vase. The first challenge I experienced was having to re configure the 3D design so the lattice was at a 90 degree angle, instead of 60 degrees. I was able to achieve this by placing the centers of the hexagon in different locations. For one row the center of the hexagon would sit at the lattice intersections, the next row would start in the center of lattice square. Once this was done, surface morph was able to properly wrap the tiles around the vase. Once it was wrapped I realized the tile sizes were off. I tried many things, but could never get the sizing exactly right for it to look perfectly sized on the vase. After awhile I began to like the way it looked so let it be.
I took it one step further and try to print out the vase. This came with a lot of challenges itself, due to my sizing issues. I originally tried to create a solid in grasshopper but ended up having to bake the vase and tiles separately then boolean union them in rhino. Printing was also challenging because the tiles stick out very slightly so it definitely needed supports. However, that would’ve taken up a lot of material and time so instead I printed without supports. Here is the final product (excuse the poor image quality).
Hey Justin! I really like the creative approach you took with the hexagon and flower tile designs, they both look awesome! The “box illusion” effect is especially cool, and it’s impressive how you worked through the challenges with the vase wrapping and printing without supports. The final products turned out great! I feel like the black works really well with your 3D-printed tiles.
Daniel,
Thank you for the comment. I really did like how the box illusion came out, to be honest that happened on accident. When I connected all the lines to the center point, I then saw the box. Really funny how it worked out. I wish these nice accidents happened more often in this class, would definitely help. Anyways, thank you for your comments. I really appreciate it!
Justin
Hello Justin! Your flower tiles came out beautifully, they are very artistic. I am impressed that you printed your surface morph. I am surprised at the quality especially considering how you didn’t use supports for it. How big is the vase surface morph that you printed?
Electra,
Thank you for the comment. I really wish I could’ve done something more creative with a hexagon like you did. Still amazed on how you saw that coming together.
The surface morph was definitely challenging and learned a lot from it. Hopefully I can expand on that knowledge in the future. The vase itself was not that big, probably about the size of a soda can. Again, thank you for the comment and compliments!
Justin
Hey Justin,
Once again you’ve done amazing when it comes to your forms and prints. I always look forward to your posts as you can tell just how much time, effort, and creativity played a role in it all. The box illusion looks fantastic and the flower tiling looks even better! I was surprised to see you printed your surface morph and it turned out beautifully. How long did it take for each part of your project? You stated you had multiple challenges so I was curious which part took the longest. For me it was the basic triangular tiling as I ran into a frustrating amount of issues that took and huge amount of time to fix. Thanks for sharing!
RayRay,
Thank you for the comment, I appreciate it. Every assignment in this class is such a challenge. Really taxes the creative juices, I have an issue where once I get into one of these projects I cannot stop. I believe this project in total took about 10 hours of work. Most of the work being put into the tile itself. I originally had a different idea but could not get it to look the way I wanted it to, so this was my back up. After awhile I had to pull myself away from the project to work on other things. Again, thank you for the comment I appreciate it!
Justin