M1 Presentation

Fiona Cui

Student No. 522868 Semester 1 / 2012 Group 16

Natural Process & Form Analysis: Waterfall

Page 1

Plunge waterfalls are those that fall so forcefully they completely lose contact with the cliff face. But some of them are gentle and in a very elegant shape. The shimmery-silk water smoothly falls down with active splashes. In analyzing the motion of waterfall, it attracts me by its simply calm streamline and strongly jumping splashes.

Gentle Smooth Fluency

Powerful Impactive

Sketch Proposal 1: Waterfall

Page 2

This first long part represent the smooth line of the waterfall.

The inserted toothpicks are supposed to be as impactive as the splashes.

Obviously, this model is too simple and not abstract enough.


Page 3

The fabrication of this lantern is composed by triangular pyramids. I love their sharp shapes which can pair up the lights coming out of the lantern.


Page 4

The Wave Lighting Design

Inspired by waterfalls, Wave lighting can be used indoors or out, horizontally or vertically. Like the direction of a waterfall, the Wave light falls to the floor.

Wall of (Plastic) Water This wall of water art was displayed on the north side of the Ontario Power Generation Building. This project was constructed by shaping recyclable plastic bottles into ripples with nylon netting. Theatrical lighting adds the final touch to this dramatic artwork.

installation by Katherine Harvey

Sketch Proposal 2: Frill-necked Lizard

Page 5

The frill-necked lizard has a very special frilled neck. The frill keeps in left hand side shape in most of the time when the lizard feels easy and calm. But the frilled neck will be open and expand into a much bigger size when the lizard is frightened. This shape attracts me because the frilled neck shifts from one shape to another very quickly and these two shapes give two totally different feelings. One is calm while another one is aggressive.

Calm Aggressive


Page 6

Four ‘leaves’ form the frilled-neck.

This model is wavy and frilled inspired by the frilled neck.

The layers are very beautiful but this may become a problem of making it into a real physical model.


Page 7

The lantern may consist four parts and the real fabrication will be similar as the photo on the left. It can be a cape to put on our shoulder.


Page 8

Dancing House – Frank Gehry

The Dancing House by Frank Gehry consists of unusual shapes and curvatures, influenced by the two dancers, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astair.

Experience Music Project, Seattle Centre - Frank Gehry

The spectacular, prominently visible EMP structure has the presence of a monumental sculpture set against the backdrop of Seattle Center.

Sketch Proposal 3: Tails of Lizards

Page 9

The tails of lizards are usually in a tightly curly shape , especially when lizards are sitting on a branch. When the lizard is going to move, its tail begins releasing. Finally, when it is moving fast, the tail becomes a light curly. This motion is a simply closing-opening process, but the shape and form are closely related to some rules of geometry.


Page 10

Inspired by the curly shapes of the tails, the lantern can be twist or wind around the arm.


Page 11

From the most simple and basic shape of the lizard’s tail to a concept idea of the lantern, it may have a similar fabrication with the first waterfall one consisting of triangular pyramids.

Design Development: Tails of Lizards

Page 12

The initial design of the lantern is twisting around the arm like a tail. As this is not abstract enough, the further development is treat the arm as part of the tail and the end that extends out is various shapes of tails.

Zoom in the end tail part, I outlined the contour of all the tails and then I got some beautiful curves. These can be a possible shape of the lantern.

Design Development: Tails of Lizards

Page 13

The “tail” of the lantern is an abstraction from the curly lizard tail. The function of this part is to twist around our hand and arm so that the lantern can be carried on the body.

Finally, the contour outlined is shown by the curves of the lantern’s shape.


Page 14

This set of schemes contain both the tight curves and ease curves which relates to the tails.

PermMuseumXXI architectural competition - Acconci Studio

The paneling techniques and facades are good examples for the fabrication of the lantern.

Final Model: Tails of Lizards

Page 15

The lantern is going to be held by our arm and hand. At the end, it extends out to be a more active shape and shows the curves of the tails.

Final Model: Tails of Lizards

Page 16

The final model has a wide ‘open mouth’ which is in shape of the contour curves outlined from the several different tails. The big opening converges to a long slim ‘tail’ at the end which is the part we are going to hold the lantern on hand.

Critical Reflection

Page 17

In Module One, the most impressive thing I have learned is getting abstractions from specific objects. When I was doing the natural process analysis, I found the shapes and forms in nature are always in some geometric rules. They are also in elegant shapes maybe because those geometric rules meet our human’s esthetic standards. From the curves those I got from the lizards’ tails shapes, I had an initial shape of the lantern. However, it was too similar and specific with the original tail’s shape which means it is not a design ‘from’ the tail, it is just making the shape of the tail into a physical model. The lantern should be carried on a human body and in my own opinion it should be in an elegant shape which is abstraction from the tails. The tails’ shapes are sources of the lantern’s idea and to be held on a body is the function it needs. It is always said that, functions may restrict the idea of design but now I have a view that design it not only a great idea from an interesting source but also the way designers combine functions and forms. The real design should be a perfect way combining functions and forms which finally makes the objects alive by themselves.

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