Allied Course
Making a Prototype
with Dushyant Asher
by Akanksha Thakur, Parth Agrawal, Yash Shah and Swayam Motghare
Intent
The studio for 2023 - 24 focuses on the progressive experiments from the research work at SEA (www.sea-css.in) to arrive at a production of prototypes. These are tests to make material diagrams in glass fiber and resin under the gravity and as folds experimenting with the techniques of origami. The intent is to scale it up to a 1:1 scale production of these material diagrams in later stages.
Folds /Origami
This group focused on executing folds to develop steady forms. Starting on paper with smaller geometries and tessellations these experiments further delved into a deeper material analysis, eventually concluding it with fiberglass, random mesh and resin.
Week 1
Starting with different types of forms and shapes which can be formed by paper.
For difficult folds we tore the paper to achieve a certain precision.
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Size of the paper used -
13 cm x 39 cm
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Using Cartridge sheets so as to increase the rigidity of paper, exploring all the shapes and forms.
Size of the paper used -
13 cm x 39 cm to 25 cm x 75 cm
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Attempted different forms which can be used as furniture such as stool, table, bench, etc. The toughest part was to make the structure balance on its own and some additional weight.
Changing the folds and adjusting the size of the paper as well as putting some new folds to obtain a form which can add to the efficiency of the product and take the loads as well.
Size of the paper used -
25 cm x 75 cm
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Week 2
Increased the scale and experimented with khadi cloth. After applying the mixture of resin and hardener, the khadi cloth failed to support even its own weight and took to much time to dry itself.
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Size of the cloth -
60 cm x 180 cm to make it suitable for one to use.
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Changed the material to GLASS FIBER which compared to the cloth is much stiff. This material was easier to use than the khadi cloth because it was thick enough to absorb the resin and hardener.
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Started with making a miniature form. Cello tape is applied on the folds so as to prevent resin from stiffening the joints and then Resin and hardener are applied as a mixer on the glass fiber to make it hard.
Week 3
Making at 1 :1 scale, even glass fiber was not able to take any additional weight.
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Random mesh, which is just many fibers of glass that are compressed together were applied on joints and and as a second coat on the table.
After some sanding and applying some paint the furniture was ready to use.
Final forms were achieved after some more trial and error and we made a table and a bench.
we even scaled down the table so as to make another sitting stool.
Making furniture from resin and glass fiber was a step towards making a sustainable object which required little to no care throughout its life. This kind of furniture are intact for almost 20-30 years and when needed some more fiber and resin can be used to make repairs increasing the life of the object.
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Other works from this studio can be accessed here.