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Architects: PROJECTiONE
Text description provided by the architects. Our intention was to create a simple, hexagonally based, component system that would act as a lit “drop ceiling” for the space, as the ceiling height would allow for quite a bit of variation in the surface. Everything was accomplished in Grasshopper other than the input surface from Rhino, this includes all unrolling for fab, label, patterning, and connections. There was no hardware used for connections besides the given hangers for the lamp cords, cutting costs and allowing the materials to work to each other’s benefit.
Tabs on the styrene lock into the solid acrylic connectors as a rigid sidewall, causing the material to bend within the component as apposed to at its edges. This let all the components meet evenly and created a rigid shell after being connected. The lit hexagonal panels act as the hanger connection point for the piece, and a custom acrylic tab was created to hold the socket cable after being thread through the component, which attaches to clips tied to the waffle grid.
Through the use of computational tools (both software and hardware) and good student help, we were able to complete the project within 6 days. The installation will remain at the entrance for the time being and will then migrate to another permanent home within the building.