Corners

After the first week of feedback, I set about exploring geometrically how it would be possible to create a modular system of building components that can be joined to create each residence.  The focus was based on cost effectiveness, and as discussed in class, minimizing on-site labor is the key.

In erecting a prefabricate home, most of the on-site labor appears to be dedicated to assembling and sealing the thresholds between the constituent parts. 

I used this as a basis for exploring how building parts could be assembled seamlessly, without limiting the possible number of configurations. 

Above is an example of a corner connection using frames with isosceles triangle sections, with an orange connector piece.  These would be useful only for framing cuboid spaces.

 

Above is a corner of a similar frame system, using frames that are square in section.  In order to form frames using members of this geometry, there is only one necessary geometric operation; a rotation about the axis formed by the touching edges of all three members.

Attaching a "panel" to a frame member yields similar geometric results, with a more strongly implied spatial organization.

Red, yellow and blue components are identical.  Six such components can be used to form a cube with walls of architectural thickness, using only rotational operations. 

Members can be made to form Cartesian geometries when aggregated, in various ways:

And the resulting frames can of course yield endless possibilities for a modular, cube-based space, using just two components.

So at this point, there are paneled components that can form only cubes, and frame components that can form any 3-Dimensional cube-cell structure.

These explorations culminated in the development of a panel-frame-corner system that can be used to create more complex spaces, still using a single identical component:

This "part" consists of a universal connector corner (three degrees of freedom), two frame members, and a panel.

These connect in the more obvious way.

But also are able to form more complex spaces based on a simple set of rules regarding component placement.

 The architectural significance of this exercise, though it won't be fully utilized beyond a certain point, is the idea that for each component, the yellow panel could be specified as a specific material depending on its intended use.  A glazed panel for transparent openings (on wall or ceiling), a concrete component for load bearing partitions, etc.