“…… Imagine a few drops of water about to freeze. The endless variety of crystal shapes that emerge in that moment of crystallization became an obsession for one self-educated farmer from Vermont, Wilson Bentley, who spent a lifetime photographing snowflakes. For the forty-five years leading up to his death in 1931, through a painstaking process that involved brutal weather and fussy equipment, Bentley proved that no two snowflakes are alike by documenting 5,381 individual crystals falling behind his farmhouse. For him, the beautiful six-sided symmetry of every crystal was evidence of both the character of the cloud it came from, its altitude, electromagnetism, and temperature, as well as the rules inherent to the water molecule. Since science had not unravelled a working model of the atom yet, it was this last detail – the water molecule itself with its attractions and repulsions – that led Bentley to his exasperation in an article for Technical World in 1910: “What magic is there in the rule of six that compels the snowflake to conform so rigidly to its laws?” Beneath Bentley’s exasperation is a yearning for the algorithmic; the rule of six is evidenced not only in the fact that all snowflakes are six-sided but right down to the molecules and the way they bond with each other, ultimately describing a molecular relationship between two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The rule of six unlocks his collection. It is a binding rule of transformation, an algorithm that connects the movement from “six” to “no two are alike”…………” [pg 8]

Weaving produces strength by combining two weak systems in a reciprocal pattern

“………… The weave is a crossing pattern, a ‘soft’ structure of loops and knots wherein the shape of the construction is determined less by the properties of the materials themselves than by the pattern through which two sets of materials interact……….” [pg 36]

“………. Weaving is the synthesis of two different systems, interlocking in order to give self-supporting form to their combined whole. Traditionally referred to as a “warp” and a “weft” pattern, neither could support themselves alone, but together they become strong. The endless variety of weaving seen in basket, net, rope, and textile design proves that procedural techniques and cultural practices are not mutually exclusive. Most surprising about a woven construction is that it is actually harder to unravel than to weave in the first place……….” [pg 34]

Different variations of the component, controlled by the parameters in grasshopper.

Image showing the component applied on a surface. The division/ application on the surface can be varied parametrically using law curves.

The variations on the surface illustrated

Photographs of the weaving pattern tried with 1″ wide strips of 3mm thick plywood.

‘Sparse triaxial weaving uses three sets of parallel fibres, known as the warp, the whug and the weft. The whug is not present in conventional rectangular weaving. During construction it acts very much like a second warp. The warp can be laid down in simple parallel lines. The whug is then laid down on top of it – again in simple parallel lines. Finally the weft is woven in and out of both layers – to create the final fabric.’

So I tried to use this same principle and create a pattern.

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Plain Weave

Jonas mentioned that I need to improve my graphics – suggestions pls!

I did try to make it completely parametric, but the file gets really heavy and crashes [tried on a couple of systems]. So I had to go back to the method used in previous posts.

A trial having 3supports.

One of the many other generic ideas. [Sorry about the un-realistic glass top! – still experimenting with VRay]

Finally going back to the previous design!

Still need to develop a lot further – but at this stage itself, a message pops up saying ‘out of memory, will close now’…!?!?

Trying the pattern with strips in Rhino

Replacing the strips with pipes

Next step = to make this parametric!

The actual coponent is a rhino model, but I have applied it onto the surfaces using grasshopper – ’semi-parametric’ if you will!