Week 17: April 24 2012-May 1, 2012
After establishing some of my ideas through sketches, I realized that there were two that stood out the most to me even when designing them. I found the modular design to be interesting because it reminded me of some of the unique ribs found on Barrel cactus. Through my research I know that the shape of the ribs and how they are oriented plays a huge role in how the cactus cools itself. The flexible storage ribs was equally interesting to me because of the way the ribs curve up and grow from the ground then attach to the house.
After establishing some of my ideas through sketches, I realized that there were two that stood out the most to me even when designing them. I found the modular design to be interesting because it reminded me of some of the unique ribs found on Barrel cactus. Through my research I know that the shape of the ribs and how they are oriented plays a huge role in how the cactus cools itself. The flexible storage ribs was equally interesting to me because of the way the ribs curve up and grow from the ground then attach to the house.
I decided to merge these two ideas into a design that contained modular rubber ribs, the rib shape I found most interesting/effective and a design that comes from the ground and connects to the home.
The screen will be connected to a geothermal pump that brings water from underground to the cooling pad. In addition to this, the rubber ribs/louvers are designed in such a way that they can transport water run-off from the rain to the cooling pads. Thinking about the spines of the cactus, the ribs/louvers have a photovoltaic film on the outer layer allowing them to collect energy from the sun throughout the day to be used later.
I see this design being used for three different purposes:
1. An outdoor scenario
2. An interior partition or wall
3. Replacing the screen on a window
My next goal is to try to make the entire structure stand on its own without any structural support like beams or columns.
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