M i l l e _ F e u i l l e
Tutor: Alisa Andrasek
Team: Patrick Farley [ USA ] Yuchao Jiang [ China ] Atta
Pornsumalee [ Thailand ] Mi Shuyang [ China ]
What makes things stick together? That is the fundamental question
of our thesis, prompted by an investigation of emergent forms
created by particle systems. Looking at particle systems under a
microscope, it became evident that it was the friction between the
particles that allowed the systems to take their shapes. Mille-Feuille
–in French, literally a thousand sheets – is a project which explores
the development of a friction joint created by simply overlapping
sheets of material. The aim is to create a novel building system
based on the aggregation of these joints resulting in emergent
adaptive formations based on vector fields emanating from constituent
building blocks. This system is capable of adapting to its
environment by multi-agent driven distribution of friction vectors
as well as the modulation of pinching fasteners which exist within
the local module. The pinching fasteners can expand and contract
locally within the module, resulting in changes in neighbourhood
conditions. Additionally, extreme layering within a system opens
up opportunities for high-resolution articulation of the built fabric.