23/03/22
Background
For this project, we were tasked with designing a chess piece based on the aesthetics of a chosen film. The chess piece was to be modelled to fit within specified design constraints using Rhino3D and subsequently be prepped for 3D printing. I also took the project a step further and created renders of my model to showcase the completed design digitally.
Ideation
The movie I chose for this 3D printed chess piece project is The Incredibles, an animated Pixar movie released in 2004. I loved this movie growing up for many reasons, from the amazing jazz-inspired soundtrack to the expertly choreographed action scenes that made the movie entertaining throughout. I also remember loving the design and aesthetic of moments in the film, especially Syndrome's lair and Edna Mode's house. The long dinner table framed against the backdrop of the lava wall was one of the most iconic scenes to me and has stuck with me to this day!
To start research for this project, I skimmed through the movie and took screenshots of my favourite scenes, noting the aesthetics and styles I was drawn to along the way. After doing so, I realized I gravitated towards two moments in particular: the monotonous, repeating pattern of the office cubicles where Mr. Incredible works and the abstract, brutalist architectural style of Edna's house.
I then found images that were similar to these scenes from the film, branching out to sculptures, patterns, architecture and a bit of fashion. The images I found are shown below:
After finding these images, I culled them to narrow down the aesthetic I was aiming for and picked 5 words to describe them:
Based on this moodboard, I identified a few key features that I wanted to demonstrate in my chess piece. The first of these is a hollow cubic pattern based on the cubicles seen in the office scenes. I found this pattern particularly striking because of the way it depicted the monotonous lifestyle of Mr. Incredible's corporate office job. The other feature I found interesting was the varied shapes of Edna's house, clearly inspired by brutalist architecture. The varied use of rectangles was in direct contrast to the simple pattern of cubicles in the office scenes, indirectly comparing Edna's stylistic and interesting lifestyle to Mr Incredible's boring, repetitive job.
From there, I began brainstorming and sketching for my chess piece. I decided to use a cylindrical base and build off of it:
Iteration
I realized throughout this sketching process that some of my initial ideas weren't feasible given the nature of 3D printing and the dimensional constraints for the chess piece. As a result, I would often expand upon an idea, realize it wouldn't work, and change my concept entirely to find a design that would work better within the given constraints. I combined this iterative process with some experimental modelling in Rhino until I developed my final concept (the last sketch at the bottom of the second page above). My iterative process in Rhino that led towards my final model is shown below:
Final Design
The rendered images of my chess piece are shown below:
The final design is composed of a series of hollowed out cubic columns spiralling upwards with thinner columns to fill in some of the spaces between the larger ones. The cubic columns are inspired by the cubicles from the office scenes in The Incredibles, while the smaller columns as well as the overall spiral is based off of Edna's house and the styles of brutalist architecture. The regular, repeating pattern of the increasingly tall columns represents the monotony of the corporate office job and the "dream" of moving up the economic/job hierarchy. However, this spiral also represents how one can find meaning through making small changes in their life that add up over time.
I think my favourite feature of this piece is the steady spiral created by all the columns, and how the thinner columns help break up the regular pattern of the larger ones. As for my least favourite feature, I think I could have used a more interesting base rather than a simple cylinder, but the flat surface and circular shape did work well for this project.
The most challenging aspect of this design was trying to resize everything when I realized the columns were too thin. The experience of having to go back and redo aspects purely for dimensional reasons was frustrating but worth it in the end. If I were to redo this project, I would find a tool to orient the columns to be tangent to the circular base so as to avoid rotating each of them individually after every adjustment. I would also experiment more with different base ideas instead of sticking to a simple shape from the start. As a result, my two biggest takeaways from this project are these: 1. every aspect of the design should be ideated/iterated upon rather than settling on just one concept from the start, and 2. dimensional constraints of the material/method being used to produce the design should also be considered early on. Next time, I'll be sure to brainstorm ideas for all components of a design in order to produce a final concept I'm fully proud of.
References:
51 brutalist house exteriors that will make you love concrete architecture. Home Designing. (2020, April 22). Retrieved March 23, 2022, from http://www.home-designing.com/brutalist-concrete-house-exterior-facade-design-inspiration-photos
Bengtson, K. (n.d.). Light and shadow. Minted. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://www.minted.com/product/art/MIN-JHG-DNA/light-and-shadow?color=A&shape=
Drive side table. Black Rooster Decor. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://blackroosterdecor.com/products/drive-side-table?variant=21902247428177
Göktekin, S. (n.d.). Grown 3D art 7006 nonwoven Duvar Kağıdı. Duvar Kağıdı Modelleri. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://duvarkagidimodelleri.gen.tr/3-boyutlu-krem-3d-art-7006/
House in Hiroshima, Japan by Kazunori Fujimoto architects. WE AND THE COLOR. (2017, August 11). Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://weandthecolor.com/house-in-akitsu-japan-kazunori-fujimoto-architects/89796?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2Bweandthecolor%2B%28we%2Band%2Bthe%2Bcolor%29
Kousidi, S. (2020, May 19). Brutalist who headquarters extension under construction in Geneva. Wallpaper*. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/who-headquarters-berrel-berrel-krautlers-geneva-switzerland
Stinson, L. (2019, August 20). No-frills Japanese House is an ode to concrete. Curbed. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://archive.curbed.com/2019/8/20/20812959/japanese-house-modern-concrete-architecture
Vles, J. (n.d.). L125 (Grey Eminence) sculpture. Saatchi Art. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Sculpture-from-the-Krypta-series-L125-grey-eminence/93614/6480857/view?epik=dj0yJnU9UmdXNGdYMTE5TVdMemVQbGdWRjFIMUFlUHhPWlB2NlUmcD0wJm49QlE4YjdyVFEzT1NnUVhndDF6TWZzUSZ0PUFBQUFBR0kybHo4
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