Digital Art
Michael Hansmeyer
Post by:Kitticoon Poopong
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
Michael Hansmeyer is an architect and programmer who explore the use of
algorithms and computation to generate architectural form, and he has created these incredible cardboard sculptures using algorithms.
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
The dizzying
Doric column variations are created on Hansmeyer's computer using a subdivision algorithm that allows them to have between 8 and 16 million facets (distinct surfaces). They're so insanely detailed that most people mistake the actual physical prototypes for computer renderings.
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
So how does one go about fabricating a form with 16 million facets? Well, the first method you might think of is
3D printing, but according to Hansmeyer, his “computational architecture” is actually complex. So Hansmeyer decided to take a different approach by slicing his model into thousands of cross sections,
laser cutting each one of these out of cardboard and stacking them one on top of the other.
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
While the model as a whole is insanely detailed, each one of the cross sections (see the image above) is actually quite simple, and Hansmeyer realized he could output them on cardboard using laser cutters. Believe it or not, it only took about 15 hours for the machines (three in total working in parallel overnight) to cut out all of the slices. “This would have literally taken months of 3D printingat considerable expense,” Hansmeyer told FastcoDesign. “Our method of fabrication also makes the column very easy to transport: just unstack the slices,” says Hansmeyer. Oh, and did we mention the materials only cost $1500, imagine how much 3D printing would have run.
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
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| Image © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer |
The people
Artist: Michael Hansmeyer
Creative Fields: Digital Art
Images: © Courtesy of Michael Hansmeyer
