Week 4 – Surface Design

I wanted to make a reflective surface to fit in with my concept but also something with some texture or pattern to it. From site I was really drawn the all the various types of brick and stone work, assembled in a way that blurs the boundaries between buildings and creates layers.

My first surface used mirror board that I etched a brick pattern into. The intention was that the reflective surface would have the elements I wanted in my design but the brick pattern was a sort of memorial to the sites exisiting material.

My second surface was a clay slab that I carved a scale like texture into and applied paint and used as a stamp, pressed onto card to create a secondary surface. I like how this design is both a surface itself but can be used to create another surface too.

The third surface reuses the clay slab but with black pouring medium over the top. I tested this medium to try and generate a reflective material that wasn’t mirror. Ideally I would’ve liked to try lacquer but I wasn’t able to obtain any for this exercise. There is an element of reflection to the final outcome but not as clear as I would have liked.

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Considering how to develop these surface further I decided to try using some digital fabrication technologies. As this was my minor I’m used to creating quick iterative models and using the 3D labs to fabricate. I started with a 3D print of a brick image taken from site that could be a surface on its own or used as stamp. I rolled a slab of clay and used the print to transfer the pattern and texture onto the clay, then cutting this into tiles. A nice addition is the detail that transfers from the lines of the 3D extrusion as well as the original pattern. My aim is to see if there is a reflective quality I can achieve from glazing these.

I also took the contour lines from site and 3D printed these in the same way but haven’t had a change to make any tiles yet. Alongside these 3D prints I am going to use the CNC machine to generate some timber surfaces that I can test different finishes on, such as lacquer.

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