SYMBIOTIC - TERRAIN
MAYA ABBOTT / INDN311 P2 / VUW 2022
I think it’s important that people fill their homes with items that are meaningful and add value to their lives. Plantlife does this by benefiting the health of people psychologically and physically, reducing stress levels and lifting their mood. Combining these benefits with a sculptural piece that reflects the beauty of Aotearoa creates an object that is more than just another indoor plant box.
I spent project one developing a purpose and some early concepts for my model, as well as becoming clear on my audience and how I can design to appeal to certain groups. Now I am going deeper to design a product that appeals to my target audience, as well as being functional, durable, and aesthetically pleasing.
I am designing an indoor planter box that has a surface shaped as landscapes around Aotearoa, with a particular focus on the peaks and troughs of mountain ranges. There are holes throughout the form following the organic lines of rivers or within the crevices hills. Here plants grow up from the soil within the base of the design and rise over the landscape. This is a piece that celebrates the endlessly beautiful landscapes of New Zealand. The plant life growing through the sculpture reminds the user that we live in a place where the environment is thriving, and how lucky we are to call this place home, creating a symbiotic relationship between the form of the landscapes and the natural world.
CHIA PETS - 'THE POTTERY THAT GROWS'
During my research I came across this product called 'Chia Pets', a popular 80's trend where the user spreads chia seeds over a terracotta sculpture. The chia seeds sprout and it looks like the pottery has grown hair (or a fleece). I find this inspiring even though the concept is different, my product will have gaps in the form that allow for plants to grow and receive light. This is different from the Chia Pets as I am not putting seeds on top of my form.
MICROGREENS.
My product lives within the home. A unit for small plants, herbs and flowers. It is particularly well suited to the growing of microgreens because of it’s shallow base, and the height between the soil and terrain is designed to cater to the maximum height microgreens grow to (around 5cm). My product is to be placed somewhere sunny and warm, where it will be easily accessed for watering. Somewhere it can be displayed as a decorative aspect of the home, as more than a functional object.
Microgreens are miniature versions of the young seedlings of common vegetables, this means that they grow very quickly and can be harvested in less then 10 days. They are perfect for sandwiches and garnishes because of their texture and flavour. I thought that microgreens would be perfect for my model as they are thin, so will be easily able to grow through the holes, and they grow quickly so I will be able to produce forms and experiment with the greens growing through it. Microgreens require around 4 hours of sunlight a day, but don’t require constant sunlight like many other plants, and can grow in a dimmer environment.
DEVELOPMENT.
To demonstrate my form and idea in project one, I used a Geo add-on in Blender that meant I could access terrain from Google Earth and bring it into Blender as an STL file. From here I experimented with applying different levels of subdivision to my form, basically to see how detailed I could get my model before Blender crashed or it became to slow to operate. As the model came into Blender very large, it remained difficult to work with even when scaled down. I found that that the process was more difficult then anticipated, and it was hard to quickly iteratate different forms.
Because I knew working in this way would slow my development process down, I started looking at different ways I could generate terrain and turn it into an STL I could manipulate. I found that I could follow a similar process but instead have my model in Fusion 360, I liked this because I found that through Fusion I could create more organic forms and iterate faster. To do this I looked at different landscapes around Aotearoa on Google Earth, particularly focusing on the South Island because I found that this area had more interesting mountain ranges. I took the coordinates from places I liked on Google Earth onto 'https://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/', a website that allows you to download 3D terrain as an STL file. The original STL file was constructed primarily of triangles, and this is something that Fusion struggles with, if you bring a file into Fusion that has more than 10000 triangles it will be difficult to work with. To resolve this I took the file into Blender, and changed the triangles into quads. I then exported the file as an OBJ and opened it in Fusion as a mesh.
I have cut holes into the body that follow the flow of the river running through the landscape. For this model I have used the terrain of Aoraki, Mt Cook. I have cut the flat lands out as well as the Muller Lake. It felt natural to remove these parts as they are the lowest points amongst the mountains. These are the areas where the micro green plants will be able to grow through. I am thinking that it a later form I will more evenly distribute the holes, although I do like the way this looks currently, the organic shapes of the holes work in conjunction with the fluid forms of the mountains.
THE CASE.
After taking the terrain into Fusion360 and turning the mesh into a solid body, I began working on the lower segment of the form that the soil will go in. The terrain will be a seperate body that sits on top of this and can be easily taken off for watering and potentially sun exposure (I am thinking of including cut outs in the sides of the form, in between the soil and top terrain so as to allow for more sunlight to get in. Another way of doing this would be making the holes in the terrain bigger). I have created slot within the top and bottom layers so they will fit together.
ITERATION SKETCHES.
FORM EXPLORATION / RENDERS.
Material Ideation
I have done some simple form studies using the Upbox printers, with PLA filament. My first print was of the Aoraki / Mt Cook area. It wasn't very successful as there had been some issues with the printer, but I still managed to get some of the detail of the terrain. That print was supposed to have holes throughout the terrain but this didn't work, I think that reprinting the form with no infill would help resolve this.
I then did a secondary print of an area of the Orongorongo ranges. I decided to not include the holes in the form and instead focus on the way the terrain printed, to see if this material could be something that would work well for my model.
I am wanting to experiment with using wood and the CNC machine to to cut out the shape of the terrain. I am beginning this by experiments with using gold foam on the CNC machine. If this goes well, I will move onto using wood with the CNC machine. For my final model using a wood like rimu, oak or mahogany.
CNC ROUTER EXPLORATION.
Gold Foam
I then took my form down to the workshop to CNC cut out the form of my terrain. I hadn't used the CNC desktop router machines before, so it was a good opportunity to become more familiar with how they work. I first used gold foam to do an explorative cut on two of my terrains, the Orongorongo valley and Aoraki, Mt Cook. I decided to do both of these to gain a better understanding of what kind of results the machine can give, and how the difference in terrain turns out. Aoraki has bigger mountain ranges, and more of a difference between mountains and plains. I thought that this would mean a better result, but wanted to be sure. I had to first resize my CAD models in Fusion360, to make sure they would fit within the dimensions of the CNC machine as well as the goldfoam. This required a lot on resizing and scaling but I got it to the correct dimensions (within 300 x 400) on a piece of goldfoam sized 275 x 390. For these cuts I used the ball nose 6mm drill piece and a fast finish.
Because I had to cut the two terrains separately, I did one during the day and came back to put one on overnight. When I picked them up in the morning I was happy with the results, but decided that I would use a smaller drill piece for my wood cut in hopes of getting a more detailed form. Because the two terrains were still on the gold foam with margins around them, I used the hot wire to cut them out.
Wood
The following day I purchased a piece of pine from the shop and proceeded to use that form my next CNC cut. I decided to use the Aoraki terrain as I felt it was a more interesting landform, and the high mountains would work well with plants growing. In this model I included the cut out segments weaving through the river and flatlands. After some discussion with Hamish, the technician, I decided that a 3mm ball nose drill would work better for giving my form more detail. I also changed the roughing tool at his suggestion.
• Context and where your product lives, is it a traditional product or something very speculative. Address the level of interest your product may bring, it’s not a time to be boring or copy yesterday’s products.
Simple yet elegant renders of the model on a desk / kitchen bench / bookshelf / mantle piece
Level of interest, talk about target group. Include lots of photos of nz landscapes for context
• Product use, what does it give society or the user (it does not need to solve a problem).
First page write up about what it is and why its unique and meaningful
• Assembly and making, predominately use or propose digital technologies such as additive
manufacture (3D printing)
Created using quality New Zealand wood such as Kwila, Rimu, Pine, Birch, Cedar, or Redwood. I have been researching the difference between NZ hardwoods and softwoods and think that while hardwoods, such as beech and tawa, are more expensive and less sustainable then softwoods such as cypress, macrocarpa, redwood, cedar, totara, rimu and kauri. Because of this I am more drawn to using a softwood. The details of the customers chosen landscape are captured using a desktop CNC router. The base of the form that stores the soil is created by laser cutting the 5 faces of the box and then glued together.
• Details such as any controls or interaction points
The two components slot together with extrusion slots, they don’t need to be securely sealed, instead they are placed on top of each other to allow for easy removal when watering.
• Small experiments (drawings, models etc) that show your development of ideas
To gain an understanding of the way the terrain looks in physical form I did a serious of material exploration tests. This allowed me to familiarise myself with equipment such as the CNC router. I first did some 3D prints of the Upbox printers looking at different terrains, Aoraki and the Orongorongo valley. This was partly to understand how the different landscapes looked, and partly to see if I wanted to use the 3D printers for my final form. I decided that whilst being unstainable, 3D printing didn’t give me the desired natural look. I then went on to do tests of these two different terrains using Goldfoam and the CNC router. I was happy with these results and decided to keep on using the Aoraki, Mt Cook terrain. I created a CNC cut out of this terrain on pine, but unfortunately the model was offset by 6mm so the edge got chopped off.
• Materials, surfaces, texture, and finishes…
My primary material is a smooth wood, I will do some light sanding if the CNC machine leaves my forms rough in places. When sanding it is important that I only do it lightly so as not to lose the details of the terrain.
• A clear design intent and high-quality visual communication
Design intent communicated through text, renders and photos of material studies (test prints / CNC). Website mockup included.
• Storyboard of what’s to be done and how the story will be told
Storyboard includes mapping of the next 5 weeks leading up to the submission of project two. It is important that I am time efficient and I understand what needs to be done to create my final form, as well as how long each step will take.
• The making process and utilising digital tools including hi-end additive tools such as the J750 3D printer
My making process has involved the CNC machine, and the laser cutter.
SHOOT 01 / MACRO IMAGES OF MATERIAL TESTS.
I took a series of photos using the macro lens to capture the materiality of my prints, the gold foam, and the pine. I find that this is an effective way of communicating texture and show how the terrain looks on different materials.
CNC WOOD EXPLORATION.
My first CNC cut using pine didn't work the way I wanted it to as it was offset 6mm. This meant that the very edge of my form was cut off, and I lost the border that sealed the gaps cut into the form. I decided to work with this anyway, while I waited for my next attempt to be cut out. I cut the edges of the form off (the leftover wood that the design was cut into) and roughly sanded the edges of the cut outs and terrain.
I did some experiments using wood stains to see how they would look on my form and material. Cabot's is darker and applied using a brush. Briwax had to be rubbed on, I did this with a paper towel.
WEBSITE.
I have developed a website mockup to demonstrate how the customer could view, learn about, and purchase the product online. This shows the kind of graphic design that could be used. I like the dark green and pale pink and feel that these colours communicate a modern, light hearted feel with the green being a tie to the natural world. In project three I will make some adjustments to this to refine it further, such as developing the terrain selection area to be more informative and interactive.
All photos used belong to someone I know, and I have been given permission to use them. This is helpful because I was struggling to find good royalty free New Zealand landscape images.
Above is a quick video of a potential customer looking through the site. It's not my ideal website demonstration as I couldn't work out how to have them scroll through as opposed to swiping through the slides, but this is something I will return to in Project Three. I would also like to use Adobe XD to show how pressing different buttons can lead them to different parts of the site.
PHOTOS USED ON WEBSITE.
SHOOT 02. PHOTOGRAPHING EXPERIMENTS.
3D PRINTS.
CNC FOAM.
CNC WOOD 01.
WEBSITE.
LASER CUTTING / CREATING THE BASE.
To create the base of my form I used 'MakerCase' (https://en.makercase.com/#/basicbox) to get an SVG file of a basic box in the dimensions needed. I then took this into illustrator and added the cut outs on the longer sides. Cutting this out with the laser cutter was simple, the cut only took 1.5 minutes! I then glued the five pieces together with superglue. In my final form I will use wood glue or PVA to ensure the box is very strong. The size of the box is perfect and the terrain sits on it nicely.
SHOOT 03 / BASE.
PROJECT THREE
My mission for this final stage of the project is to develop a finalised and refined form and demonstrate how this product works through photography and rendered detailing.I currently have a good understanding of what I want this to be, and having worked with the CNC router to create my landscape, as well as the laser cutter, I am confident that I will be able to develop this to the degree of quality and craftsmanship I am striving for.
As discussed in Project Two, I want to CNC cut my landscape onto a quality New Zealand hardwood. This adds the element of it being tied to the land, as well as a quality product that will last a long time. After doing some research into the difference between hard / soft woods and what will work best for my design, I went to City Timber to talk to the staff there and select a piece of wood.
At City Timber I discovered that their planks of timber were all 50mm high, this was disappointing as I had been sketching up adjustments for my form, to incorporate a drainage slot that would be a seperate base box. This would mean the whole base height would be around 70mm, and I ideally wanted to have the same wood grain across the box. After learning this I decided that I would make the drainage box out of a seperate piece of wood, so extended the plank of wood I bought to include the width of my form three times (one for the CNC, one for the soil box, and one for the drainage box).
MEASUREMENTS
Before starting the process of woodworking my product, I went through a rigorous process of measurement and planning, to make sure everything would slot together properly and that I was allowing enough room for soil etc. Something I hadn't taken into consideration was that when cutting wood, the thickness of the blade removes about 3mm of material. This was frustrating because it meant loosing the height of my box every time I made a cut. I talked to the technicians about different ways of organising my cuts, and what was likely to help me conserve material best. We ended up cutting out the shape of the top of my form, and then cutting 2x 5mm strips of wood off the top of this.
Below is some patches from my sketchbook of my measurement planning process, comparing the measurements of my CAD model (the CNC cut top of form) with the different planks of wood used for the sides / base of the box. I decided to take the same approach as used when I laser cut the sides out of pine and glued them together with superglue as I felt it was strong and stable enough to be a planter box. Other options were cutting notches that would slot together, or using nails to secure the sides together. These are less ideal as it would take away from the fluid, clean look of the form and make it look less refined, but these options will be good to fall back on if I feel the model isn't strong enough.
CNC CUT OF TERRAIN
After finalising my measurements and making some small alterations to my CAD model (to increase the scale of the Z axis slightly to thicken up the thinner areas around the cut outs) I was ready to cut out the size of my box and set up my CNC cut. With the help of Josh, one of the technicians, I cut my form size out of the timber.
Because I wanted a beautiful and refined finish to my form, I set up my CNC cut to make it as smooth and detailed as possible. Josh added some extra tool paths to make sure the cut was successful running through the night, as my timber was quite dense and this can put strain on the drill and cause it to fail.
I made sure to cut along the grain line as this would result in the strongest model, strength was something I was worried about as there are areas that are very thin. Josh suggested a good way of providing extra strength was not setting the CNC cut to go all the way through the form, and instead leave a thin 1mm layer of wood at the base. This would give the thin areas as extra layer of strength, and the time it takes to use a craft knife and cut out the gaps would be worth it for a stronger model. My CNC cut took around 24 hours, but fortunately worked well and the terrain came up really nicely with the better cutting finish. The grain line works around the mountains and gives a topographical affect which I'm really happy about.
I went through and cut out the gaps in the form with a craft knife and then sanded these down lightly to remove any uneven surfaces. This worked well and smoothed out the cuts.
