ice grotto

ArachnePack Preview

 

http://www.tsplines.com/contest.html

 

The design was initially a response to a challenge in which the designer was to envision a retreat/resort in remote or developing territory within the region of Oceania. The challenge was intended to create a new model of hotel, while establishing eco-tourism practices, and provide education and conservation programs for local people.

Conceptually, I was inspired by the tale of Arachne from Greco-Roman mythology. As the story is told, Arachne was a great mortal weaver who gained a high reputation for being the best in the art of spinning and weaving thread. She was so admired that many came to see, not only her finished works, but also the skillful ways by which she accomplished them. Arachne became offended when someone suggested that she was the disciple of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, as well as the introducer of crafts, including the weaving arts. To prove Arachne’s self-sufficiency, she declared that she could compete with the goddess herself and defeat her.

The offended goddess set a contest between the two weavers. Athena admitted that Arachne's resulting work was immaculate. Athena was so envious of the magnificent tapestry and the mortal weaver's success, and perhaps outraged by Arachne’s disrespectful choice of subjects, that she destroyed the tapestry and loom. Arachne, refusing to bow to Athena, attempted to take her own life by hanging herself. 

Athena, in an act of either pity or spite, loosened the rope, which was transformed into a spider web, causing Arachne to metamorphose into a spider. Athena ultimately banished Arachne to live in the isolated woods; "So [she] shall live to swing, to live now and forever, even to the last hanging creature of your kind." 

The story suggests that the origin of weaving lay in imitation of spiders. Arachnepack was conceived as an allegory to this tale. The bearer of the Arachnepack effectively lives out the account of Arachne from the position where the story closes. Through the utilization of Arachnepack, one creates an aftereffect or sequel, if you will, naturally confronting the requisites established by the notion of being incapacitated as a human in terms of sociobiological and domestic norms, yet enhanced by an extrinsic apparatus that enables unfamiliar, although highly appropriate behaviors and corporeal dexterity based on the given contextual situation. 

Doing so by free will, an individual is projected to wear the Arachnepack from a point of departure to explore the indigenous jungle terrain of Oceania. Once in the dense growth of the jungle, the means of shelter is improvised to become directly actuated by the geographic obstacles provided naturally. Shelter is determined by natural trajectories, as statistic value of movements, extracting an indefinite result from each engagement. Once the Arachnepack is strategically shed from the individual, it is programmed to assume an erected position, supported by four mechanical limbs to stabilize the device as it assumes the position to eject a snare ‘web’ in which to affix a viscous biodegradable BioSteel resin amongst the trees above the jungle floor. The carbonated resin is propelled from the Arachnepack by means of a large abdomen chamber containing condensed CO^2. The resin travels upward, following a cable secured to a gyro which revolves to proliferate the resin amid the trees. Soon after the carbonated resin is exposed to the atmosphere, the gas begins to coalesce while the liquid resin rapidly cures into a secure, yet highly flexile state. This synchronized episode converts the substance from a fluid condition to a mesh-like canopy of interlaced geometries that become the temporary support of flux and impromptu accessibility. The developed interconnectivity between man, machine, and the natural environment alludes to a metamorphosis of the perception of the formerly uninhabitable milieu. Programmatic spectrums are then interpreted by the individual, as (s)he becomes re-engaged with the Arachnpack and is hoisted into the suspended shelter by an internal wench. 

"So [(s)he] shall live to swing, to live now and forever, even to the last hanging creature of [their] kind."

 

 Judges' comments: "Nice concept. Excellent use of T-Splines surfaces to achieve a convincing mix look between organic and mechanic. Good and full use of TS for quasi-organinc but well controlled modeling that maintains the mechanical aspect of the design."

update...but still not complete...

Fluid dynamics software simulation of resin dispersion at 30 fps:

early test animation sequences using fluid dynamics software to simulate the interaction of the viscous resin against the spinneret blade rotation (actually utilizing the buffeting effect that Dyson has so diligently sought to resolve... sorry James :)