3D Print Joinery

The objective of this work is to design a workflow to generate fluffy node joint for network of rods. This design-to-assembly system provides an efficient and sustainable solution for creating furniture-scale structures. It uses 3D-printed joints and precision-cut rods that can be assembled without the need for screws, glue, or specialized tools. This system allows for flexibility in design, as the joints can be customized to fit various angles and shapes, while reducing waste and material costs. 

Year: 2022

Status: Conceptual

Sector: Architecture

Typology: Computation

Scope/Role: Designer

The test design of a free form catenary vault, later subdivided into triangles, was optimized through structural analysis by varying four different diameter pipes. The resulting network of pipes, with multiple radii, required the use of Kangaroo to relax the mesh and generate the nodes connecting the pipes. These nodes were then categorized and labeled based on the number of pipes connected to them. The optimization process ensured the structural integrity of the design, while also allowing for a visually striking and complex network pipes. 

This research was induced by my interest to explore advantages of machine vision in architecture. But lack of dataset, prompted me to use parametric tools in synthesising artifical dataset.