Specialisation Course
Product Design
5th September to 7th October 2022
Embedded Files
ARCH, VAULT & DOME
The aim of this course was to produce a finished product based on the concept of interlocking and creating a sense of space with the help of arches, vaults and domes.
PROCESS:
1. DESIGNING DIGITALLY
We started with designing the units on a digital medium which helped us to visualize the possibilities with arches, vaults and dome by keeping a few units constant.
2. TESTING THE INTERLOCKING MECHANISMS
Further, we made working models using file card as the material to understand the joinery mechanism which could be used to achieve the form. We first used slits to interlock the pieces, however there were difficulties found while joining the units side-by-side. Hence, we derived standard panel units consisting of arches and arcs using the slot and notch method to interlock the panels. To provide a variation, we introduced three different heights to the standard panel units i.e 5 cm, 7.5cm & 10 cm. Later, units acting as the slab and the base were added to provide a sense of space.
3. MDF PROTOTYPE
The initial prototype was made in a MDF sheet of 3 mm through laser cutting which helped in ruling out the practical errors found in the slots, notches, arcs and the arches. But we found out that while laser cutting, the material burns by 0.05mm which makes the slots loose and hence the notches ineffective.
4. FINAL PRODUCT
The final product was laser cut in 040 Acrylic Sheet of 3 mm to provide durability of the product. since MDF attracts moss. The difficulty faced with acrylic as the final material was the high cost as well as realizing that acrylic doesn’t burn during laser cutting hence making the slots tighter, which was then resolved by sanding the edges with a sand paper.
Team work by Keerat Kaur Gill & Shreyash Bharmal
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