Sumit Singhal Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.
Ratatoskr in London, UK by Helen & Hard
May 24th, 2011 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Helen & Hard
Ratatoskr – Installation of the exhibition 1:1 – Architects Build Small Spaces, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2010
Ratatoskr According to Norse mythology, a squirrel who lives in life-tree Yggdrasil. There, it brings news and gossip from the Eagle Vidofnir, which sits at the top of Yggdrasil, and the worm Nidhogg gnaws and that is the root.
As children, we chose our favorite trees in the woods, we played Tarzan and Robin Hood, built cabins, giving them names and pretended that the trees were other things: horses, airplanes, lookout tower. This has been our starting point: the memories of the trees as places to play, diverse and different, but not the general subject, full of varied meetings and unexpected events. “Ratatoskr” have been through a playful series of meetings and analog, experience-based measures, the choice of trees, 3D scanning, 3D modeling, exploration, CNC milling and assembly, the parts are fused together to form a new whole.
Finished Pavilion
Our site was the northeast corner of the V & A’s John Madjeski Garden and includes a tree planted in one corner. For reasons of this, and the proximity to the museum building, we would not draw a small house, but rather a kind of “tree house” that could join the park, the English tradition.
Finished Pavilion
Process Selection:
In the first phase we shared five trees lengthwise, and placed the halves against each other in two rows, so that the visitor so to speak, could go into the “inside” of the trees. The search for a suitable tree species, with help from the Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology, led to the selection of its tail ash, which has a short thick stem where all the branches coming out from the same place. The trees come from an old farm where styvingen ended many years ago, which has thicker, stronger branches that it is possible to climb on.
Finished Pavilion
Scanning:
No scan was done in two phases: Laser Scanning and 3D modeling, it is also called “re-engineering”. In the first phase of a scanner is placed in front of the tribes and moved around to take in the whole form. The scanner collects thousands of koordinatpunkter, a “point cloud”. By combining multiple point clouds you get a point cloud image of the geometry of what you’ve scanned.
The transfer from point cloud, for example, a 3D model, called “modeling” or “re-engineering”. This is a manual method and carried out by engineers. In our case, the final result a 3D wireframe of the trees.
Finished Pavilion
Modeling:
Scanner data we imported into our 3D applications. With 3-D models of all the divided tribes, we placed the ten trees so that one of the branches always associated with a branch from a neighboring tree, so we got a rigid construction. So we designed a cutting pattern, a spatial topology that stretched over several tribes. The parameters for this pattern is the geometry and the characteristic “anatomy” of each tree and the safety of playing in and with the trees. So we added details such as hand grips for climbing, signage, seating, etc.
Finished Pavilion
Milling:
Milling Company received 3D files with the smooth cut surface and a faceted model of the original trees for calibration and visual inspection. The company programmed milling paths out from the cut surfaces. Milling process gave one large continuous inner surface with a furniture quality, with climbing holds and a long poem inscribed around the row of trees.
Milling
Assembly:
All parts of the tree – stem, bark, roots, branches and wood chips – is processed and assembled into a new whole. We would emphasize the contrast between a rough untreated exterior and a refined interior, and between the heavy rhythm of the tribes and the thin textured ceiling. The roots are reinforced with extra support as a foundation, and stems and roots are held together by joints in wood. The roof is woven of split branches that are attached to the tribal branch stumps. Bark and wood chips are collected in mesh bags to form a soft toy landscape under the trees. The whole setup thus consists of prefabricated elements, which are easy to set up and take down.
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