S T E V E N E D W A R D M C G A N N

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PRODUCT BROCHURE BUBBLE THEORY MODELING FABRICATING

MAKING BUBBLES For my case study, I recreated a small 3 bedroom 2 bath floorplan using bubble geometry. Some membranes thickened into walls, some into hallways. I learned early on in the process that the math to create bubble configurations of specific areas was beyond my reach in a single semester - if it exists at all - so the areas used are very accurate approximations found through much trial and error. Next I applied my node-frame-infill method to the case study, positioning the bubble plan - and consequently the centerpoints of the spheres - at 42" above finished floor. After segmenting the frame of the model into 2' average length sections, I focused my attention on modeling a wall, using simple geodesic tessellation and adjusting along the perimeter to the segments in the frame. This divided the wall into conal triangles, which I used as my basic structural unit. To speed up the modelling of the individual elements, I wrote a lisp routine you can view here. After asking for the 6 vertices defining an element, this lisp would create the structure and the internal and external panels. I then applied the modeling to each wall, and then the floor. At this point, the program had to be modified. At the roof intersections, I had approximated a minimal surface 'draped' over the entire structure. This pulled the outer roof vertices closest to the roof frames further away from the interior surface, complicating the structural modeling. After adding several variations to the lisp I was able to model the rest of the house.