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the Octahedron
the Octahedron
Seattle, WA, United States
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the Octahedron
Seattle, WA, United States
Firm
Type
YEAR
2013
The Octahedron was constructed for the 2013 Seattle Design Festival. It grew out of an interest in sharing with the Seattle community our explorations into the expanding role of computation in the architectural design process. It is an inhabitable object that invites interaction while piquing participants’ curiosity about the process of making.
The design team took on fabrication and assembly of the entire structure. This experience gave insight into the production of a large number of complex parts, tolerances, sequencing of assembly and the joys/anxieties of installation. The project also served as a firm-wide training tool about space frame structures, parametric modeling, and digital fabrication.
Full-scale prototypes were created from the outset to study connections and assembly. The overall form emerged out of these prototypes and parametric explorations of a hexagonal grid. The base unit of the larger form is a triangular assembly of parts which was discovered during these studies.
An octahedron is an 8-sided polyhedron that possesses the fascinating quality of appearing as various forms from different perspectives. The sides are equilateral triangles measuring 10.5’ along an edge, each containing 9 instances of the triangular base unit. The Octahedron is designed as a flat-pack space frame structure that is CNC cut from 1/2” plywood that is painted black on both sides with nontoxic tempera paint. The cutting process exposes the color of the wood along the edges, creating a visual richness.
Only 9 unique parts are used in the structure, but over 2000 of these parts. High tolerances were necessary during fabrication to ensure all parts would fit tightly together with friction only, but not so tight that they’d break when banged together with a hammer. Imagine traditional timber framing meets Buckminster Fuller.
The pavilion is clad with over 400 triangular MDF panels held in place with either friction or trapped due to assembly sequencing. The inner face is painted blue, and serves as the canvas for a collection of 54 sets of CNC cut patterns generated by coworkers as part of an internal technology training exercise. The outer face is painted black and serves as a canvas for the community to transform the appearance of the Octahedron with chalk over the course of the Design Festival. Laser-cut miniature triangular base units were provided for festival-goers to assemble and gain an insight into the construction of the Octahedron.
The design team took on fabrication and assembly of the entire structure. This experience gave insight into the production of a large number of complex parts, tolerances, sequencing of assembly and the joys/anxieties of installation. The project also served as a firm-wide training tool about space frame structures, parametric modeling, and digital fabrication.
Full-scale prototypes were created from the outset to study connections and assembly. The overall form emerged out of these prototypes and parametric explorations of a hexagonal grid. The base unit of the larger form is a triangular assembly of parts which was discovered during these studies.
An octahedron is an 8-sided polyhedron that possesses the fascinating quality of appearing as various forms from different perspectives. The sides are equilateral triangles measuring 10.5’ along an edge, each containing 9 instances of the triangular base unit. The Octahedron is designed as a flat-pack space frame structure that is CNC cut from 1/2” plywood that is painted black on both sides with nontoxic tempera paint. The cutting process exposes the color of the wood along the edges, creating a visual richness.
Only 9 unique parts are used in the structure, but over 2000 of these parts. High tolerances were necessary during fabrication to ensure all parts would fit tightly together with friction only, but not so tight that they’d break when banged together with a hammer. Imagine traditional timber framing meets Buckminster Fuller.
The pavilion is clad with over 400 triangular MDF panels held in place with either friction or trapped due to assembly sequencing. The inner face is painted blue, and serves as the canvas for a collection of 54 sets of CNC cut patterns generated by coworkers as part of an internal technology training exercise. The outer face is painted black and serves as a canvas for the community to transform the appearance of the Octahedron with chalk over the course of the Design Festival. Laser-cut miniature triangular base units were provided for festival-goers to assemble and gain an insight into the construction of the Octahedron.
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