PROJECT OBJECTIVE: ROCK VESSELDesign a three-dimensional vessel form inspired and informed by three rocks. It will serve as a visual and physical interface with the context it is designed for. The volume will be generated from rotationally formed profiles and interesected by a flat plane. The volume, plane, and opening must work in harmony to produce an elegant, aesthetically pleasing composition.
PROCESSAfter choosing three rocks with a dominant, subdominant, subordinate relationship I experimented with different compositions. The most visually pleasing compostion ultimately informed the size of the opening and general shape. I synthesized the shapes of the rocks to generate the profile of my vessel’s volume. Next, I considered how the vessel would sit and where the plane would intersect. Having the base, plane and top surfaces horizontally parallel helps ground the vessel.
Sketches and sketch-models allowed me to refine details before turning my wood form. The wood form was originally made up of four boards of poplar wood that I ultimately split after turning in order to create flat planes. I used the wood to shape styrene sheets through a vacuum thermoforming process. Digitally prototyping the vessel in SolidWorks helped me to choose between hard edges and fillets on my final model.
Before shaping, piercing, assembling and sanding my final plastic form I had to decide on the appropriate plane to intersect the volume. I chose to repeat a thick to thin feature and used layers to create steps, leading the viewer’s eye into the opening.
DESIGN INTENTThe vessel acts as both a home and display case. At one angle the viewer can focus on the vessel form without seeing the rocks. The viewer’s eye is then led to the opening, the only non-parallel plane and intrigues him or her to look inside. At a bird’s eye view, focus switches to the rocks due to the steps created around them. The vessel’s form presents the rocks to people, allowing them to appreciate the rocks’ distinct individual details as well as how they complement each other in terms of shape, size, color.
Overall dimensions: 3 x 12 x 8 1/2 inches
Model materials: Styrene
Sketch-model materials: Blue foam
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: SYNTHETIC ROCKSGenerate three synthetic stones that relate back to the vessel. Design and fabricate them based on the three natural rocks.
DESIGN INTENTAll of the pieces work together. The synthetic stones have a consistent language with the rock vessel and the dominant stone combines attributes from both the subdominant and subordinate stones.
PROCESSI used chavant clay to quickly generate mockups of the stones. The proportional relationship between the synthetic stones are the same as the natural ones. Flat planes on the synthetic stones reflect the parallel planes on the vessel. Spraying the stones with gray primer and sanding them with fine grits create a smooth consistent surface quality. I also paid close attention to the transitions between surfaces, maintaining clean edges.
Model materials: RenShape, Platinum Gray Primer
Sketch-model materials: Blue foam, Chavant Clay
