ARCHITECTURAL PORTFOLIO
Comfortability is essential for sleep. Although for restless sleepers this is hard to come by, which leads to twisting and turning throughout the night. If we reflect on our infantile state, a cradled position delivers a suitable sleeping environment.
This methodical motion accompanied with darkness and a quiet environment are the ideal conditions for REM sleep. The only way this could become a better environment is if he sleep space was accommodating to the user, so that no matter how the restless individual twists and turns they will always feel secured and weightless. In the initial stages of sleep there is a lot of movement for restless sleepers. So the more a user moves on an axis, the more the experience will accommodate to them, allowing them to sink deeper into darkness as they spiral down. Slow and rhythmic motion, up and down, back and forth, is a calming experience.
This experience can be delivered autonomously through the incorporation of magnetic field architecture. By using magnets to suspend the user on a spiraled axis, the natural behavior of a restless sleeper is accommodated through the circular descent. The simulation of weightlessness and the ability to move freely but always feel cradled and secure accompanied by magnetic vibrations delivers a captivating sleep experience that caters well to restless individuals.
PROTOTYPING
When making the dome there was a bunch of trial and error. The filament would often become knotted, or the supports placed in Cura (3D printing configuration software) on the .gcode file would get offset from the printer hitting or dragging it on a pass. Where I found the most success in the printing process was prototyping on a smaller scale, splitting the dome into quarters in Rhino, using a surface plane and then putting each individual quarter into Cura and rotating it on the bed with ten to twenty percent infil. This would not only make the print go faster since the printer can make faster passes length wise, but also made a more reliable and steady print. For my 3/8ths scale model, I printed in pieces and then used adhesive to keep
FERROFLUID
Ferrofluid is a colloidal liquid made up of ferrimagnetic particles. When it interacts with a magnet and is pressed tightly between two surfaces, the liquid behaves like molecules under a microscope splitting into drops and condensing once again periodically. Its role within this architectural project was to take up the space within the thermoplastic walls of the dome so that the further down the restless individual spins on the magnetic hammock from tossing and turning in their sleep, the ferrofluid would activate and follow. This brings the user into a darker sleep environment. For my design intentions of this project, I had ultimately planned on using the 3D printed dome as a negative for a mold of silicone and then placing the ferrofluid within that negative where the wall would be fit with ridges in between so it could collect at certain points.
MODEL PHOTOS
ASTRONOMY GRADUATE STUDIO|BOUNDARIES AND THRESHOLDS
Astronomers immerse themselves in the concepts of space and conduct much of their work under the stars. Astronomers have early mornings and late nights consistently, so as a means of making their daily schedule easier, I chose to branch off my programs on a radial layout split between two floors, with the primary studio space sunken into the ground on the bottom floor in the center.
The entry floor’s roof provides a limitless look at the skies above with a view of the stars from anywhere. To contrast this open view, the ground floor limits all interaction with space except for the studio that has a roof that opens up similar to an Iris. This interaction with space becomes a more private affair, even though while it is in the middle of the structure, it is sunken below the ground’s surface providing a private and intimate experience between the stars above and astronomy graduate students.
It’s one thing to be able to visualize the architectural experience through sets of 2 dimensional drawings, but rendering important moments in 3D brings the project to life and gives designers a more inclusive view of the space.