Surface Disclination Topology in Architectural Fabrication (N. Bruscia, DMV Mathart 2021)

This talk discusses digital simulation and fabrication techniques associated with large-scale surface disclinations. The basic concept of disclinations recognizes the role of “defects” in the composition of materials, the strategic placement of which shapes the material by inducing curvature from initially planar elements. Disclinations have been primarily studied within a scientific context, but we use the term more broadly as a topological concept that introduces angle deflections in sheet materials resulting in out of plane buckling at any scale. More specifically, we refer to wedge disclinations as a particular variant that topologically induces elliptic or hyperbolic geometry in elastic surfaces and lattice structures, and have constructed several surface structures from this process. This talk will present the results of design-build educational exercises within two sponsored graduate-level architecture studios that explore how the topological principles of wedge disclinations are enacted at a large scale. Basic geometric figures and their topological transformations from Euclidean polygons to hyperbolic surfaces are described within the context of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, and the results are seen as a visual and experiential representation of this mathematical concept. The wooden forms are not steam bent or forced into molds; they begin flat, and are shaped entirely by an equilibrium between disclination topology and active bending forces.

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Talk by Nicholas Bruscia (University at Buffalo)
Instagram:   / nbruscia  
Twitter:   / nickbruscia  
Web: https://cast.b-ap.net/

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Talk given at: Minisymposium "Mathematics and Arts" at the annual meeting of the German Mathematical Society, 27 September - 1 October 2021 (https://ms-math-computer.science/proj...)
Organized by: Milena Damrau and Martin Skrodzki (https://ms-math-computer.science/)
Twitter:   / msmathcomp  

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Full credits:

§ Spring 2021 Situated Technologies Graduate Research Studio
§ Students: Josh Barzideh, Tyler Beerse, Tom Cleary, Camilo Copete, Bhalendu Gautam, Sam Goembel, Marissa Hayden, Ollie He, Nick Hills, Jamie Jones, Lovepreet Kaur, Ben Starr
§ Instructor: Nick Bruscia, Assistant Professor
§ Support: Nohmura Foundation for Membrane Structure’s Technology

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See also:
Minisymposium "Mathematics and Arts" at the annual meeting of the German Mathematical Society, 14-17 September 2020 (https://ms-math-computer.science/proj...)
Playlist:    • DMV Minisymposium "Mathematics and Arts" 2020