Attractor Logic Explorations
My time at the Critical Matter Group built on my past explorations into chainmail and modular surfaces. My project specifically examined ways we can create protrusions on the surface of chainmail structures that could provide mechanical benefit, or develop the aesthetics of such “fabrics”.
I focused on learning and developing grasshopper code on attractor logic, where one can use points, curves or surfaces to influence the size, shape, orientation of a model. Through creating a set of conditions, attractor logic creates dynamic structures that carry a sense of evolution from an influencing geometry. My inspiration for my designs came from artists like Matt Shlian, and organic structures like overlapping shark denticles.
The base of all the attractor models I created were hexagonal profiles (seen in red) lofted to a suspended point (seen in green).
Base Model
Height Attractors
Through vector operations in grasshopper, I changed the height of the models via external geometries, ex. a line or a circle.
Orientation Attractors
Similar operations can be used to create rotational “attraction” in a model, where distance from an influencing geometry causes the new suspended point to “offset” via a corresponding angle. The images visualize rotation according to a central point.
Combining the two types of attractors allows for the creation of complex shapes:
Gaze to the Stars Installation
During my UROP at the Critical Matter Group I also worked on the Gaze to the Stars installation. I worked on the CAD, fabrication and prototyping of the user-interactive pod interface. I specifically designed the integration of the dome mirror chamber with an oculus rift headset.
