Empathy
The user profile for this surface can be as general as anybody who converses in the surrounding but more specifically to singers and narrators. Or just anyone trying to record something. The surface will provide for a great acoustical environment and will help cenversation in the room. The conversations can range from normal conversation between people or even someone blasting their vocal chords for a song they are singing. This surface will provide an acoustically pleasing environment for the user that needs to record or have a serious conversation without distraction.
Define
For this project I was assigned the principle of contrast. I made multiple models according to the four techniques I chose which were fold, perferate, overlap, and pinch. Among those four techniques I went foward with fold while creating pyramids. I started to add more pyramids to create a desing relating to contrast. I came up with one set of pyramids facing up and the other side facing down. After building the models and messing around with them, I decided to arrange the pyramids to face the same way and add the surface to a wall. I chose the orientation of vertical for my surface at that point. After that I tried to figure out what use my surface would be used for among the four uses of sleep, eat, converse, and reading. I chose converse and turned my surface into a sound proof material to promote conversation. Then I started to change the width and length of the pyramids to relate it bak to contrast and came up with my final design.
Ideate
The first steps of ideation was to make 32 models relating to the four techniques I chose and also the principle I was assigned. This is what I came up with to start the ideation process.
These models show four different techniques: fold, perferate, pinch, and overlap. Some of the models incorporated more than one technique.
After making these models, I started to narrow them down to ones I thought would work as surfaces for the module statement. I chose the pyramids to further ideate on.
Diagram of the process by which I made the individual pyramids.
After this decision, I started to play around with different designs I could use with this pyramid idea. I came up with this design iteration.
Diagram showing the design process of making the iteration of pyramids.
I placed the pyramids together and kept the triangle structure. The left side sticks out and the right side sticks in. It shows a positive and negative conversation between the two sides. I then went even further and took this iteration and made it into another iteration.
After these iterations, I came up with this design. By combining them together I made the surface more intricate and complex. This proved to be a great idea and made it so I could now move on to applying it to a use and orientation.
Diagram showng the previous iteration with lineweights to show the positive and negative space.
Prototype
After making these multiple iterations, I decided to apply an orietation and a use to the surface I had designed. When thinking about how I was going to apply this to a use I had to change my surface a little bit. I chose a vertical orientation and the use of converse. So with choosing those I decided to make my surface into a sound prrof surface that would be mostly used in a recording studio. And to make this, I had change the direction of my pyramids all to face outward.
The following diagrams are at 1''=1'
Diagram showing the front facing view with a scalar figure that is six feet tall.
Diagram showing the section view of the surface.
Diagram showing the perspective view of the surface.
This is the prototype with applying it to the sound proofing idea. All of the pyramids are facing outward and they range from different sizes to add contrast to it. It has contrast from the different sizes of pyramids and also the shadows it creats adds another level of contrast. This would then be replicated in a larger wall having more pyramids that range in different sizes.
Test
The following pictures show the final model. The surface is vertical on the wall with a scale figure to show dimension. It shows the varying sizes of pyramids and the multiple shadows it creates giving it more depth to what was originally a flat surface.
They final model is at 1''=1'
The pyramids are either one inch or half an inch wide so they all fit together without creating a gap. This makes it flow better and gives it a better effect.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my surface displays the use, orientation, technique, and principle in a high manner with a great design. With the principle of contrast and using the technique of fold, I was ablle to create such a surface that became a sound proof wall with a vertical orientation and the use of converse. The sound proof surface would help with acoustics to make any type of conversation be enhanced and improved.
