BRANCHING
ADJUSTABLE JOINT
There is a connection between trees and architecture. Trees and plants are used for decorative purpose in architecture. However, the tree shapes has not been limited to decorative purposes. Architects try to apply the aspects of tree-like shape into structural features by developing specific geometrical concept.
Research
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Different type of branching
The branching is not limited only in trees and plants but also in other natural environments. These patterns of branching inspired the possibility of making structure in architecture.
Although the four types of branching have different characteristics, they somehow have the same pattern of branching. So, I characterized them into seven patterns.
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Case study: The Tote by Serie Architect
The Tote is the restaurant and bar in Mumbai. The design was inspired by the trees on the site and incorporates branching steel columns with I-shape section.
Design process of this project study how the degree affects the span of branching and possibility of orientation of branching
However, architects tried to refer to the Mumbai colonial past set by reinterpreting the traditional techniques. They mixed traditional craft and traditional solutions with contemporary technology. So, the result is different from the design process.
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Fractal
A fractal is the pattern that repeats a different scales. Technically, shapes like this are called Self-similar because a little pieces of the shape looks similar to itself.
I find that the design process of the Tote is involved with fractal branching. So, I choose fractal branching to study more in details.
Structural Design
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Structural Design
Some branching like Tetrahedron which is a minimal frame or geometry have the certain support point, so the legs need to be strong to hold the structure. This structure is stable and rigid. However, my propositions are designing the structure that can adapt into specific situation. Compared to Tetrahedron, this structure has unknown support point. It requires the density of structure to make it strong and density can create adaptibility and flexibility of structure. If one part of structure collapses, it is still standing.
Flexibility and Density
Result / Conclusion
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Result / Conclusion
The structure does not fully act as I expect it to be. The adjustable branch does not expand in the direction I want. Instead of standing strongly, it is sagging. The test is also unpredictable due to the complexity of the structure. I think that the weight that it can carry is much less than I expect. However, I find that it is possible to make a very flexible structure like this in bigger scale and full model.
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Eventual further possibilities for development
I think if we can do the full model and bigger scale and test it, the result can be a bit different from testing in this size because the joint of the model in smaller size is softer than the one to one joint. Also, the full model have more branches, so I think that it can carry the weight more than the smaller one. Moreover, there is many possibility to make the pattern of the branch, and the connection between each branches.