ABSTRACT

Packed is a design/build project defined by parameters of efficiency. These parameters are necessitated by the project needing to be fabricated in Switzerland and constructed in Shanghai. The installation was assembled for the Shanghai Museum of Arts and Crafts as part of the exhibition 3D Paper Art. The form of the installation is inconsequential to some of the material parameters and highly consequential to others. The cones are organized to construct a perfect spherical dome; as such, each of the cones taper uniformly toward a point at the centre of the dome's base. This system, however, could also be adapted to other shapes, with tapers in (and out) to accommodate undulations in a surface. The patterning of each of the cones on the sphere can be derived as a sort of circle-packing. Circle-packing is the basis for a myriad of tessellation types, attempting to maximize the density of circles in a given area.