term1 crit feedback

What the panel commented was:
1. The aesthetics of the system need to be developed more and thought about in the context of the kind of system you are making and what the architectural intent of the system is.
2. With the next set of drawings you produce try not to reproduce the dark gothic look and feel that you've been working with this term but find another way of graphically engaging with the architecture.
3. Think about exploring new ways in which you render your designs.
4. It is obvious that you are thinking when you are making your drawings so do not be derviative and copy an existing style but try a new one of your own.
5. Need to think about why you've doing the architecture, where it is and then develop the look and feel from there.
6. Remember the context of your original questions at the start of the term and reflect back on the current project and think about whether you're still asking questions that are important to you.
7. Find a site for the work that you can explore.
8. Distinguish between architectural tools and a machine.
9. Can you make the tools disappear in the site and the production of the architecture.
10. Can you think of how the manufactured stalactites may be different to natural ones. Do they grow at angles. Do they follow light or are they just vertical structures. Ask yourself why and what are they creating.
11. Look up images on Rock Salt mining in Poland and also research ice formations in Norway and Antarctica.

term1 stalactite form architectural space

I considered the application of these two systems. I choose a small shallow cave in China and combined these two together to form some architecture space. It is just an example. Different space can be formed by different arrangement of the first system. The levitating tool can make some holes on the roof of the cave and form some special climate change phenomenon like outside.


Different chemical conditions in the water may result different color in the stalactite products. So each of them is different. The crystals which drop down from the levitating tools may also get together and form some special shapes. It has some randomness.

term1 ultrasonic levitating tool

I considered maybe I can use the air to hang the Nostoc bacteria in the cave. I studied the working principle of the ultrasonic levitator and designed an ultrasonic levitating tool to levitate the very little nostoc in the air. The ultrasonic frequency is 100KHz. So the biggest diameter of things which can be levitated is 1.4mm. Also, it has light sensors, if the light sensor can not sense light for 24 hours, it will control the piercing tool to bore a hole on the roof of the cave, and make the light come into the cave. Hence, the Nostoc bacteria can undertaking its photosynthesis.


With the photosynthesis, the crystal will grow around the Nostoc bacteria. Those crystals will also be levitated if they are small, and the suspended crystal can form something like cloud. When the stalactite and nostoc grow larger than the max diameter, those will drop down and like rain.

I considered maybe this system can form climate change phenomenon in the cave.

term1 ultrasonic levitator

The ultrasonic levitator use the ultrasonic wave to levitate single particles or droplets. It suspends the levitated object contactlessly in a fixed position.

As a result of multiple reflections between an ultrasonic radiator and a solid, flat or concave reflector - which is adjusted concentrically at a distance of some multiple half wavelengths - a standing wave with equally spaced nodes and anti nodes of the sound pressure and velocity amplitude will be generated. Solid or liquid samples with effective diameters of less than half a wavelength will be levitated without contact below the pressure nodes as a result of axial radiation pressure and radial Bernoulli stress.

The ultrasonic levitator consists of the reflector flange with integrated concave reflector and a micrometer screw for the variation of the reflector distance, and the transducer flange with integrated ultrasonic transducer, shielding tube and round socket. Generally, it has a micrometer adjustment screw, a piezoelectric sensor connector, a piezoelectric sensor, a reflector, an ultrasound transducer, an absorber and a HF-connector.

Some key points:
1. The distance of the radiator and reflector is some multiple half wavelengths.
2. Solid or liquid samples with effective diameters of less than half a wavelength will be levitated.
3. The self-excitation of sample oscillations can be prevented by tilting the levitator axis by approximately 10-15 degree.
4. The levitator should be mounted on a base plate.
5. Increase reflector distance about 0.2mm above the optimum, in order to avoid possible self-excitation of sample oscillations.

term1 light trace fossil

As we know, the relatively humidity level in the stalactite cave is usually close to 100%. So, there are lots of water droplets which contained Carbonate ion and Bicarbonate radical ion in the cave's air. I used the property of Nostoc bacteria to fossil the light trace.

At first, I used a fiber structure to hold the Nostoc Calcicola and hang it in the cave. While the light come into the cave from a small hole, the crystal will grow around the bacteria under the sunlight more than other area. During the whole day, different time have different light direction. So, the crystal will grow with the light trace on the fiber structure. Long time later, the light trace crystal will appear on the structure, just like fossil the light trace.

term1 nostoc calcicola breb

The Nostoc Calcicola is a kind of cyanobacteria. It can be found in some stalactite caves. This kind of bacteria can accelerate the precipitation of Calcium Carbonate while its photosynthesis.

I think maybe I can use this bacteria as material to form some thing interesting in the cave.

term1 system1

I design a system which can control the direction of stalactite products and accelerate the crystallization process. It use the absorb network to absorb the waterdroplets on the roof of the cave and collect them in the container. The direction and amount of containers decide the direction and amount of stalactite products. Two controllers on the opposite side control the movement of two heating tools. The heating tool can heat the container to accelerate the stalactite growth and control the stalactite growth on the vertical level.


I used the working principle as vacuum to absorb the water, while the fan blade rotated; the air pressure in the container is belower than outside. So the waterdroplets can flow into the container from these pipes. The sensor can sense the water and stalactite, if the container is full, it will sent signals to controller. In the early days, the stalactite will growth on this fiber structure. The heating tool have a heater, and the control system 1 control the open and close of the heater's claw, the control system 2 control the movement of heater on the vertical level. The movements are all controlled by different gears rotated.


The absorb network

The controller

This picture mentioned the working process of this system. Once a container is full of water, it will send signals to controller and one heating tool will move to this container and heat it. While it is full of stalactite crystal, the heating tool will use the claw to pull it firmly downward and continue to form the stalactite.

This time-based image mentioned how the crystal growth. In the 5th year, the seed crystal growth on the fiber structure. In the 10th year, the stalactite will grow naturally on the area where the system cannot absorb water, and then connect with the stalactite growth on the fiber. And 15th year, 25th year or maybe more longer, the stalactite pillar will be formed.

term1 Zaha Hadid's stalactite sculpture

Zaha Hadid shows in New York City some of her (their) most interesting models and installations on December to November, 2008. An exhibition of parametric works that try to mix the concept of Architecture/Sculpture, removing the functionality/location of the project to reinvent them has art pieces.

The strength of the show is that the works cover the major categories these furniture/installation/interventions/space blobs and exploring even as they attempt to blur the line between furniture, sculpture and architecture.

Stalactites, clusters of big chunks suspended from the celling, cuts the gallery space up, guiding traffic, creating eddies to pause in, and with the low lighting in the final installation creates some wonderful shadows.

term1 stalactie and stalactite cave

Stalactites are formed by the deposition of calcium carbonate and the other minerals, which is precipitated from mineralized water solutions. Limestone is calcium carbonate rock which is dissolved by water that contains carbon dioxide, forming a calcium bicarbonate solution. This solution travels through the rock until it reaches an edge and if this is on the roof of a cave it will drip down. When the solution comes into contact with air the chemical reaction that created it is reversed and particles of calcium carbonate are deposited.

Every stalactite begins with a single mineral-laden drop of water. When the drop falls, it leaves behind the thinnest ring of calcite. Each subsequent drop that forms and falls deposits another calcite ring. Eventually, these rings form a very narrow, hollow tube commonly known as 'soda straw' stalactite. Soda straws can grow quite long, but are very fragile. If they become plugged by debris, water begins flowing over the outside, depositing more calcite and creating the more familiar cone-shaped stalactite. The same water drops that fall from the tip of a stalactite deposit more calcite on the floor below, eventually resulting in a rounded or cone-shaped stalagmite.

The stalactite cave has fairly stable climate conditions and the relative humidity level is usually close to 100%. So there are lots of water droplets which contained carbonate ion and bicarbonate radical ion in the roof of the cave, also in the air. On the other hand, a report published by the 'National Geographic' mentioned there are lots of caves in the world, and many of them have not been found.

I think if we can use the natural stalactite cave to form architecture space (like cave-dwelling in China), it can create some strange and fantastic space which we are not familiar with. Also, it can solve some public problems like land constraints.

term1 salt crystal experiments

I have done some experiments about the salt crystal and consider the factors that influence the crystallization. I heated the saturated solution and it can accelerate the crystallization in a short time. I also add acid into the solution, and the final result can be changed (the color). So, those phenomenons mentioned high temperature and chemical composition can influence the crystallization.

term1 crystallization and fossilization

1.crystallization

The crystallization process consists of two major events, nucleation and crystal growth. Nucleation is the step where the solute molecules dispersed in the solvent start to gather into clusters, on the nanometer scale (elevating solute concentration in a small region), that becomes stable under the current operating conditions. These stable clusters constitute the nuclei. However, when the clusters are not stable, they redissolve. Therefore, the clusters need to reach a critical size in order to become stable nuclei. Such critical size is dictated by the operating conditions (temperature, supersaturation, etc.). It is at the stage of nucleation that the atoms arrange in a defined and periodic manner that defines the crystal structure --- note that 'crystal structure' is a special term that refers to the relative arrangement of the atoms, not the macroscopic properties of the crystal (size and shape), although those are a result of the internal crystal structure.

The crystal growth is the subsequent growth of the nuclei that succeed in achieving the critical cluster size. Nucleation and growth continue to occur simultaneously while the supersaturation exists. Supersaturation is the driving force of the crystallization, hence the rate of nucleation and growth is driven by the existing supersaturation in the solution. Depending upon the conditions, either nucleation or growth may be predominant over the other, and as a result, crystals with different sizes and shapes are obtained (control of crystal size and shape constitutes one of the main challenges in industrial manufacturing). Once the supersaturation is exhausted, the solid-liquid system reaches equilibrium and the crystallization is complete, unless the operating conditions are modified from equilibrium so as to supersaturate the solution again.

Many compounds have the ability to crystallize with different crystal structures, a phenomenon called polymorphism. Each poly morph is in fact a different thermodynamic solid state and crystal poly morphs of the same compound exhibit different physical properties, such as dissolution rate, shape (angles between facets and facet growth rates), melting point, etc. For this reason, polymorphism is of major importance in industrial manufacture of crystalline products.

For crystallization to occur from a solution it must be supersaturated. This means that the solution has to contain more solute entities (molecules or ions) dissolved than it would contain under the equilibrium (saturated solution). This can be achieved by various methods. 1. solution cooling or heating. 2. addition of a second solvent to reduce the solubility of the solute. 3. chemical reaction. 4. change in PH being the most common methods used in industrial practice. Other methods, such as solvent evaporation, can also be used.

2. fossilization

The fossilization process: life---death---preservation---survival---discovery

Fossilization potential (FP --- the likelihood of being found as a fossil).

Life: high chance of burial + low in the food chain = high FP (with bonuses for already buried).
low chance of burial + high in the food chain = low FP
Death: smothering by storm or flood sedimentation = high FP
being eaten or rolled around = low FP
Preservation: rapid burial and hard parts = high FP
slow burial and no hard parts = low FP
Survival: burial below sea level and burial in sinking basin shallow burial = high FP
burial above sea level and deep burial = low FP
Discovery: a fossil cannot be discovered unless the sedimentary rock containing it is exposed at the Earth's surface.