Nature and Form
--
Yash Shenai
2nd Year Industrial Design
National Institute of Design, Andhra Pradesh
Course — Form II (Nature and Form)
Guide — Mrs Snehal Joshi
Back to continuing the form course that got left off due to the quarantine. The course is called ‘Nature and Form’, the scope of the course is studying forms in nature and paying attention to the detail that gives identity to the form. Back at college, we had chosen a plant, animal, fruit, vegetable, etc. (rather, whatever is naturally found in the wild) to study the form.
We had sketched out multiple views and characteristics of the natural object and had made a few sketch models from wire and paper. The objective was to simplify the form while retaining its characteristics as much as we can. The form I had chosen was the Manta Ray.
The primary exploratory sketches are as follows
13 July 2020
The task today was to warm up and get into the groove for the course. I sketched a few iterations of the animal to get started.
14 July 2020
Abstraction
The natural form of the manta ray is quite an elegant one, and there are a few defining characteristics that bring out the identity of the form. Understanding those characteristics would pave the way of sculpting any form to speak ‘manta ray’.
In this exercise, I explored the possibilities of finding these characteristics through abstraction and simplifying those abstractions. I took certain views of the animal that I thought to be iconic to it, and abstracted and simplified it in each step
Exploration 1 — Top View
The basic outlines portraying the form and texture on the ray
This iteration lets go of the texture and shows only the fins and centre bulk of the form
These are two iterations further abstracting the centre bulk in two ways
Here I let go of the centre bulk altogether. Somehow, this form still says manta ray.
I felt maybe a slight indication of the centre bulk might direct to the volume of the animal, hence decided to add it back.
The final abstraction heavily weighs the ‘idea’ of a manta ray. It directs to the huge wingspan of the animal, it is the most defining characteristic.
Exploration 2 — Side View
The side view of the manta ray gives a better idea of the volume of the animal, and the curvature of its wingspan.
16 July 2020
Continuing from where I left off yesterday, the feedback I received from my peer and my faculty, was that the explorations were very indicative of the animal. I could try steering away from what the animal is, and try to denote the form majorly.
The following are a few explorations where I steered away from what lines indicated the animal, but how organic lines could indicate form.
Exploration 3
This exploration was governed by the attribute fluid.
17 July 2020
Exploration 4
Yesterday, I came across a very dynamic view of the animal and used it to conduct similar explorations. This time, I tried to emphasize on the dynamism of the form. The last two views saw the form in a very flat sense, though in the following explorations, the dimensionality adds to the dynamism of the form.
Exploration 5
Continuing on the above explorations, I found out that the lines going across the body creates a rhythm due to repetition. I explored to see whether it added to the dynamism.
Observations
- It is seen that this form exploration lies in the 3D space more than the previous explorations. The implication of the third dimension adds to the dynamic aspect of the form.
- It is reinforced here how the wings play an important role in the character of the form. The twist added in this view of the animal enhances the dynamic aspect of the form.
- The line that follows the front edge of the wings of the form, the one that remains in the exploration 6, is the most exaggerated defining character of the form.
- As the explorations are more simplified, the cephalic lobes (front extended structures) are shortened in the first set of explorations, as they act as disruptions to the continuity, but are still not completely removed, to retain character. However in the second set of explorations, they act in favour of the explorations.
20 July 2020
Exploration 6
The feedback session today spurred my creative juices, and I scribbled a few form abstractions on a sticky note size piece of paper lying around
The dynamic form I had fixated on in the previous two exploration series came to my mind. I had been looking at that form from a very front-top angle, so as to see the flat body.
However, that view would also have a side view, which showed a very interesting form, similar to exploration 2, yet a bit dimmed down and very directional.
Soon as the class finished, I immediately got to sketch it on a larger piece of paper before the idea slipped my mind
If this exploration is combined with exploration 4 or 5, it will give rise to a dynamic sheet form.
21 July 2020
Exploration 7
This exploration is sort of a combination of morphing of the exploration 6 and 4. Taking the same dynamic view into account, and the abstractions brought in by the side view, it was interesting to put it into three dimensions.
I felt it was much better to ideate on paper using a fine liner and alcohol markers, as it abided to the flow of my arm and produced iterations that reflected the emotions of the form.
23 July 2020
The final deliverable of this course is styling a teapot or a table lamp inspired by the abstractions.
In the process of abstracting forms in three dimensions, it gave me ideas about the lampshade of a table lamp. Beware the crazily rough sketches.
25 July 2020
The feedback suggested in the last explorations was that the lamp looked as if the concept was forcefully morphed into it, and the harmony of missing. It lead to a few days of utter confusion, as the earlier concepts didn’t leave my mind.
After talking to the faculty again, I started thinking about how the concept of a lamp can be manipulated. Can it be art on the wall, can it be a sculpture, can it be a chandelier or a night lamp?
Also, one major advice was to consider the environment around the animal of inspiration itself. It is an elegant animal that gently moves in harmony. Can the lamp reciprocate that movement?
I combined a few explorations done earlier in three dimensions to get a direction.
This sculptural piece was initially meant to be manufactured in sheet metal, but it soon dawned on me that it could be used to create a beautiful ambience of the underwater realm.
I used a highlighter to colour through the spaces and imagined a direction where the pieces would be medium frosted blue glass, which caused the light to play into the surrounding atmosphere and simulate an underwater fantasy realm.
This could be used in a museum or an aquarium as a chandelier. However, the greatest addition to ambition is the motion.
28 July 2020
Final Submission
The form course officially ended a couple of days ago, and the submission is due today.
The final product designed is a chandelier abstracted from the manta ray’s form and the whole installation will be a play of lighting simulating the underwater realm, with the chandelier revolving around the centre of the site in carousel motion.
The renders of the chandelier are as follows
The chandelier will be made out of textured, tinted, frosted glass, with transparent polymer strings hoisting it on the roof (shown below)
To simulate the docile and gentle nature of the manta ray in its dynamic form, the plates will move in the carousel motion. I ran out of time to animate the circular motion of the carousel motion, but I’ve animated the linear motion part of the same.
The course also required us to make an advertisement for the product. However, I didn’t felt this would be a mass-manufactured and marketed product, rather it would be a part of a museum exhibition, or an aquarium, as a custom made product or installation. Hence, I made an advertisement for an event where this would be showcased.
