Lamellae 多功能層架系統 by Trevor Ryan Patt is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award 銀獎 in 生成式設計 Competition Category.

銀生成式· 2021

Lamellae 多功能層架系統

by Trevor Ryan Patt

Client: Ahtehha

A' Design Award 銀獎 Winner in 生成式 Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #112156

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The Design

About Lamellae 多功能層架系統

Lamellae採用定製的多代理計算模型生成幾何上複雜但精緻且概念精準的層架系統，可無限定製以適應現有空間和展示獨特物品。儘管其呈現近乎巴洛克式的雕塑感，但生成式設計內置的製造與組裝限制考量，使其得以通過多種高效方式實現：優化切削減少CNC機床時間並支持平裝運送，組裝過程具自承重特性，精密榫接則確保準確的定位與配合。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 銀獎

Lamellae 多功能層架系統是 A' Design Award 銀獎得主，這是授予頂級、華美而令人印象深刻的設計的極為崇高的認可。銀獎得主是極其卓越、極具創造力的作品，展現出其設計師傑出的專業技能、才華與敏銳。預計Lamellae 多功能層架系統將成為一件出色的典範之作，兼具非凡的專業性與深刻的創新性。這件贏得 A' Design Award 銀獎的設計是一項備受矚目、令人欽佩的發明，造福並拓展藝術、科學、設計和技術的界限。Lamellae 多功能層架系統是一件令人羨慕的創作，它喚起渴望，帶來積極的情感，並激發驚嘆與讚嘆。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Lamellae uses a bespoke multi-agent model to generate a geometrically complex but refined and conceptually precise shelving system that can be endlessly customized to adapt to existing spaces and the display of unique objects.
Although it has an almost baroque sculptural presence, awareness of fabrication and assembly constraints coded into the design allow it to be efficiently realized: CNC swarf cutting optimizes fabrication and allows flatpack delivery; aggregation from small, discrete elements enables limitless scaling while dimensions simplifying installation.
Dimensions & Packaging: Overall dimensions: 7000mm x 3000mm x 900mm
Materials: 18mm Baltic Birch Plywood, 1mm Lasercut Aluminum, 7mm Recycled PET Felt Panels
Tags: mulit-agent modelling, generative design, digital fabrication, furniture, installation
Production Technology: The generative model was custom programmed as a multi-agent model in python. Each lamella unit is represented by an individual software agent that determines its position, adjusts its orientation, checks intersections, and generates the geometry for joining and surfacing.
Customization can be controlled by the designer to adjust the pattern, to adapt to the context, and to introduce disruptions to the surface.
At any point in the design process, all pieces can be automatically laid out and unrolled for fabrication. In the testing stage, a custom exporter for hotwire cutting was written for machining fullscale mockups directly from the model file. The final project was realized with 5-axis CNC routing using swarf cuts exclusively to minimize machine time and simplify flatpacking for delivery. Each piece is unique and cannot be assembled in the wrong position. The precision allows the wood structure to be assembled entirely by friction fit without fasteners or falsework. The complex geometry and lack of parallel joints is beneficial for structural stability of the assembly.
The aluminum inserts are lasercut and hand-folded into place. They are fastened to the back face as a redundant protection against shear forces. Their geometry, especially the location of fastening tabs, is also generated by the multi-agent model.
Design Challenge: This project recognizes the fabrication potentials and efficiency of assembly in the Zollbau lamella structures pioneered in the 1920s. The reciprocal structure of the Zollbau system allowed for large forms to be built out of many, small elements. However, the forms that could be produced were quite limited because any adaptation of the shape had to be propagated through every piece. This research began by using multi-agent modeling to solve the problem of the lamella structure on a free-form shape, utilizing the discrete elements as an expressive element. They suggest a fluid and curvilinear transformation between different display dimensions despite possessing the fabrication efficiency of being milled from flat sheet of plywood. A challenge here was adapting the dynamic multi-agent model to ensure the repeatability and precision required for accurate CNC fabrication and the exact fit of joints.
Research: Lamellae develops research on utilizing agent-based modelling in fabrication of highly-refined design work. In this project, each element of the assembly was represented by a unique software object that ensure that piece is within fabrication limits of the CNC machine and the available material dimensions while also generating the complex geometry that gives the project its seamless appearance. This allows unlimited customization of the overall form, unique features like the reading bench here, and adaptation to its surroundings when placed in complex existing conditions.
Inspiration: The project was inspired by historical lamella structures that operate through small, discrete elements and a distilled tectonic system. Their geometry, however is limited. I wanted to apply my research into multi-agent systems to resolve the complex spatial interdependencies that such a system would require to adapt to any customized, free-form surfaces. Additionally, using CNC fabrication, seamless joints and continuity between parts could be built into the elements themselves.
Project Duration: This project is located in the foyer of the DManD Research Centre in Singapore. It is the culmination of a research track initiated 2014. Fabrication and installation were completed in October 2019.
Operation Flow: The shelving unit was designed to display diverse work in fabrication and 3d printing as well as to compile a library of technical research for the entrance lobby of a research centre. This motivated a design with shelves of many different dimensions and the inclusion of a seating alcove within the structure.
The generative system behind the piece is much more flexible allowing freestanding spatial forms, even structural vaults.