#idat302

Public - a project by Ben Quinney, Chris Tough, Jon Moore and myself, Jessi Dimmock

Above is the 3D flythrough created by Chris Tough, and you can also view the website for this project at:

To create "Public", we decided to make a functioning architectural model as well as a 3D flythrough. When we started this project it was always our desire to create a to-scale model that would move according to the data inputs we chose. To do this we would be using Arduino, sensors, Processing and servo motors.

Each of the four modules are moved by a servo motor which can move a mechanical arm 180degrees. This in turn pushes (and pulls) a piston capable of moving the modules up and down on the vertical Y axis. The servos are powered by and respond to an Arduino Uno board, which is also collecting data from the 3 sensors.

The Mind - Module 1 - Twitter (and hashtags)

We wanted Public to use twitter in two ways, first, to read tweets containing one of 3 hashtags (#the1public, #the2public, #the3public) and count how many times each hashtag had been used in a given amount of time. This is essentially a voting system. As we wanted the mind to represent the collective consensus of the visitors, this works well and also allows for direct interaction. Secondly, we wanted the building to auto-tweet the current room in the Mind module on show. The picture below is a screenshot of the Public twitter account having done this.

This was created using the twitter 4j library by Ben Quinney.

The Body - Module 2 - light sensor

Referring to light as a source of energy in plants and a provider of essential vitamins in humans, we chose to measure light as a representation of the body. There were 3 levels that the module could be in, and after reading the values from the sensor we decided that the ranges would be >0 + <20 = level 1, >21 + <80 = level 2, >81 = level 3. The code for this module is as follows:

lightVal = analogRead(lightSensor); //Light sensor module if(lightVal > 0 && lightVal <=20){ myservo2.write(0); Serial.println("Module 2, Level 1"); }else if (lightVal > 20 && lightVal <= 80){ myservo2.write(90); Serial.println("Module 2, Level 2"); }else{ myservo2.write(180); Serial.println("Module 2, Level 3"); }//END MODULE

The Soul - Module 3 - sound sensor

For the soul we chose a sound sensor as the noise produced by visitors to the gallery is an expression of their thoughts and opinions on the space, which we feel represents the soul. Here is the code for module 3:

soundVal = analogRead(soundSensor); //Sound sensor module if(soundVal > 0 && soundVal <=20){ myservo3.write(0); Serial.println("Module 3, Level 1"); }else if (soundVal > 20 && soundVal <= 80){ myservo3.write(90); Serial.println("Module 3, Level 2"); }else{ myservo3.write(180); Serial.println("Module 3, Level 3"); }//END MODULE

The Heart - Module 4 - ultrasound sensor embedded in the playscape

We're using an ultrasonic sensor to measure direct interaction with the playscape. This is the heart of the building as it's something the community can use and play with directly. And lo, the code for module 4:

pinMode(pingPin, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW); delayMicroseconds(2); digitalWrite(pingPin, HIGH); delayMicroseconds(5); digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW); pinMode(pingPin, INPUT); duration = pulseIn(pingPin, HIGH); cm = microsecondsToCentimeters(duration); if(cm > 0 && cm <=10){ myservo1.write(0); ultraSoundVis = 0; Serial.println("Module 4, Level 1"); }else if (cm > 10 && cm <= 20){ myservo1.write(90); ultraSoundVis = 90; Serial.println("Module 4, Level 2"); }else{ myservo1.write(180); ultraSoundVis = 180; Serial.println("Module 4, Level 3"); }//END MODULE

The playscape was designed by Chris Tough, and the physical model of it was created with card by myself. Here's a picture of the completed physical playscape model:

Days of construction in a cold garage

We spent 5 days in Jon Moore's garage constructing the physical model for Public. Though as Digital Art students I thought this might be difficult of us (seeing as we normally work in the digital and/or electronics worlds, not with saws, screws and MDF!) luckily we had engineer Jon Moore on our team and he created the brilliant step by step guide to building the model you can see HERE.

So we set about making Public. Below are a set of pictures depicting the step by step construction of the model:

The base structure

Top "floor" of the model

Modules placed in location

Testing a single servo motor

Modules in place with model playscape

Testing all 4 motors with sensors attached

Here's a video showing the motors turning and responding to the data from the sensors

  Encountering problems & resolving with visualisations

Despite testing the motors throughout construction of the model, once all 4 modules were in place the servos just weren't powerful enough to push the modules when on the model. We put this down to the amount of friction between the modules and the edge of the "floor" of the model. We didn't want the hole in the floor to be so big that the modules didn't stand upright, but it ended up being just a little too tight causing too much friction. This is such a shame as we'd all invested so much in to this project and the tech works great, we just made the simple mistake of not buying powerful enough motors.

(edit: After speaking to Mike Blow we are now looking in to getting more powerful motors as we really want to get this project working as we envisaged, even though the deadline has passed. Mike suggested the following:

I'd recommend using a normal motor and worm gear - that way the motor can run fast which it will prefer, and will give you a nice smooth motion. It also gears down to overcome the torque issues. You'll need an h-bridge circuit to alow you to run the motor backwards and forwards. Its all standard stuff - look on any of the robotics sites.

)

We decided to focus our idea around an art gallery, as we feel this is the perfect space for dynamic architecture and digital art. We were originally designing the building to be made out of shipping containers, as per our research, but in the end decided that a triangular, pyramid-style shape was more aesthetically pleasing, and we still would want the building to be made out of repurposed materials, just not shipping containers.

After much discussion of the name of the project, some possibilities included "Mundo" and "Area", I came up with the name "Public". We really wanted the gallery to be seen as an integral part of the community, and a "living" representative of said community.

Instead of going down the obvious route of having the building adapt to environmental inputs, we wanted to create a building that was more interactive, more "alive". So we decided to create a building that has multiple vertical modules, 3 floors in each module, and the floor that is at ground level is decided by sensory and feedback factors. To stay in keeping with the idea of a building that is alive, we thought to divide the modules like this:

Heart

Mind

Body

Soul

I designed the building, and put together this diagram in Illustrator:

And an example of when different floors are at ground level:

We wanted the heart to be an outdoor area within the gallery grounds that people could interact with. A lot of research into "playscapes" was done; an area for children to play in that could also be a picnic spot. Chris Tough put together this picture for us all to contemplate and decide which we liked/thought complimented the gallery idea best.

My choices were 8, 10 and 11 because: 8. Like the use of light so can be used in the evenings, and changing an already existing game. 10. The use of terrain is interesting but still lots of green and nice for picnics 11. Really interesting seating area, also looks like it could have water trickling through the middle of it.

However after some discussion with the group we decided the most relevant were 2 because it created an unsual object, encouraging exploration; 6 because of the use of an area decided to be used for sitting is used for playing; 9 again because of the unusual maze that was encouraging exploration and using the imagination to figure out what it is.

Chris designed the playscape making the word "Public" as an interactive area to play that also doubles as a sign for the building.

One area we've been really interested in looking at is modular architecture; a form of architecture comprised of separate modules that in some cases can be rearranged. A common example of this is using old shipping containers as modern architecture; like Container City in East London:

And more recently BoxPark shopping centre in Shoreditch:

We really liked the idea of a building having interchangeable sections, and especially being made out of re-purposed materials. Using shipping containers has been growing in trend since the early 90s, their relative ease to move and stack makes them ideal for certain purposes. These type of developments break away from the 'build once, destroy once' model of construction that is the accepted normality.

One of the very few "modular" buildings to actually be built is the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo, Japan. It was built in 1972 and consists of two interconnected concrete & steel towers into which 140 prefabricated capsules are "plugged". They're each self-contained units built offsite and then transported to the towers, which can theoretically be removed or repositioned within the tower.

Another area we researched was adaptive/dynamic facades; the walls or roof of a building which are able to change or move due to different conditions or inputs. The main condition used in these adaptations is sunlight, for example like the video I showed in my previous iDAT302 final project blog post; "Tesselate", which allows different levels of sunlight in by moving different panels:

Tessellate™ and ZIRA™ façade mockup for KAFD Spas from Hoberman Associates on Vimeo.

Staying within the theme of "moving" architecture, the Taiwan Tower of Change (though never actually built) has a restaurant at the top, and the entire tower moves upwards to change the view/"experience" for the diner as the evening progresses. It's interesting as it's one of very few architectural designs where parts of the building actually move, rather than just change their appearance:

A final inspiration in the realm of dynamic and reactive architecture is "Reactor", a conceptual project by Christian Schmitt whereby the interaction of people within the space defines how the the space itself is arranged.

Imagine a new concept for museums and exhibition design! Reactor is designed like a chat room. The surrounding spaces alternate their connecting spaces permanently. Every space can interact with every other spatial unit within the structure. Changing habits, moods etc. are analysed and put into a spatial context in real time. As an organism, it is reacting to its users and its environment. Time makes it possible to enlarge the 3rd dimension to an endless continuum of space and time. The aspect of communication in art comes to the fore. The recipient will become an integral part of the work.

People move through a probability of space and time. The individual way of the visitor is calculated in context to the probability of each space. Every space knows where it should be and which location it could reach in a few minutes. Transferring this concept to residential living, neighbourhood is not a question of where but of when and with whom.

Reactor | Christian Schmitt, Germany from IDAT bcn on Vimeo.

During the first term of our Everyware module we worked closely with architects also from Plymouth University on two projects to expand our work with the internet of things. We used ubiquitous computing methods to embed a digital layer into designs and models from the architecture students. Now we're onto term two, and our final Everyware project. This is a solely-DAT group project, yet our group has decided to continue with the topic of architecture, more specifically, dynamically-adaptive architecture.

As a group we decided that the main thing we want to achieve from this project is to create an impressive working model, and use the skills we learned from working with the architects to focus on creating dynamically adaptive and digitally responsive architecture.

This instantly led me to think of a project I came across when we went to New York on the 2nd year iDAT trip called Mirror Mirror at the bitforms gallery. It was essentially a "mirror" consisting of hundreds of individually controlled mirrored tiles that would tilt to represent your silhouette, which was picked up by a camera which is situated in the very middle of the installation...

"Mirrors Mirror" (2008) by Daniel Rozin from bitforms gallery on Vimeo.

The main thing that has been done so far is architecture that reacts to different light/sun scenarios:

Tessellate™ and ZIRA™ façade mockup for KAFD Spas from Hoberman Associates on Vimeo.

Shape Shifting Architecture from Brian Fong on Vimeo.

SPINE from Kollision on Vimeo.

phototropia from materiability on Vimeo.

Some keywords about the type of project we want to achieve:

Dynamically adaptive architecture

Interactive and intelligent architecture

Not just buildings, storage too (water dams)

Responsive architecture

Bio-organism

Context-aware spaces

A few more projects I found that are interesting in this field...

Adaptive fa[CA]de from marilena on Vimeo.

capacitive body at LEAP Berlin from Martin Hesselmeier on Vimeo.

IntelliBins - final video

Here's the presentation made awesome by Karla, Queen of Prezi. Cheers m'dear!

This project has been interesting. I know the idea we came up with was not the most exciting or even the most original. The main problem we had was the time constraints, and this featured heavily when we thought about what we were going to do for this brief. I decided to choose something that was achievable rather than aim too high, as I knew I would be the one mostly doing the actual making of the prototype and the coding/manipulating of the arduino/broker. I'm happy it actually came together, because 3 days before the presentation I was ripping my own hair out and just about ready to lynch the most part of my group for not showing up on time/ever to help. But we all came through in the last couple of days and put in a lot of hard graft. It did feel really satisfying when I got it to work in the end, especially as this is the first time I'd ever worked with anything like the IBM broker.