Colin - Visual Communication (Art Foundation)

Homage to Artist, Santiago Calatrava.

Santiago also produces work, building designs etc, which appear as a spiral, and is something I also like about him so in response to such works like the Peace Bridge and 80 South Street Housing in New York ( first image ), I wanted to carry on that sense of spiraling with more twisted sections as work such as The Oriente Station ( second image ) in Lisbon where there are alot of repeated patterns.

mETHOD.

Below are some prototypes for the shape on a smaller scale, the actual is around 1/5 wider and longer. Each section is made up of right angled triangles folded on top of each other with a crafting knife. Each section has to be measured exactly, in these quick mock ups they're roughly 5cm across and the length of the paper the other way, as this 3D object is made of a long slender sheet. Things I noticed when creating this pattern was the proneness for the paper to split in certain places and if the measurements are exact, it creates uneven fittings and a gap in the center grows larger. This piece is mainly a response to the Peace bridge in the previous post. maintaining this monochrome shape which is continuously repeated sections with spiraling elements. This Prototype below also has a internal wire structure making it able to be stable, standing alone.

 

Prototypes for Triple Helix Response Piece.

Certain areas, especially between my helix piece open due to the twisting, to counter this, I'd joined certain areas together, to prevent holes and improve the flow of the twisting. This is partially inspired by the Twist Photography re-uploaded below.

iMPROVEMENT.

I'm mostly happy with the outcome but if i was to redesign this response, I would like to maybe involve colour. An interesting image i found which is below, does this. Shapes are also circular which could be nice to experiment with. The fact that placing light sources inside to make colours more vibrant was something that really stood out for me and could be adapted to my response pretty well.

Alternatively,  I could use stronger materials to prevent splitting at any of the points of the helix. Stronger card as the method I use to create the flat shapes needed, involves a crafting knife which makes indents in the material, weak joints although overall, the form of my object is strong. It would just make the overall finish alot nicer.

oTHER.

Through creating the newer revised object. I've discovered that by fixing gaps within the structure has eliminated the use for wire to maintain the shape of the helix and preventing it losing shape and expanding. Although would still require it to stand up. So I've adapted a singular length of wire with a spiral bottom to act as a stand for being a standalone piece.