Waterfall Architectural Component by Naai-Jung Shih

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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

NS : This installation is for people to play with in front of a window or next to a coffee table in a public space. A user can route bead strings around notches as wanted and pull them to enjoy the dynamic movement running in different directions. The modular and surface-friendly design can be structured vertically in different orientation for diversified interaction appearances.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

NS : This installation is a metaphor of interaction with waterfall streams in dry and solid but flexible bead strings. Waterfall is a running natural scene that people are willing to jump into to enjoy the summer coolness. The interaction between the waterfall and people is a delightful involvement. The streams of water can be considered as a shared remark to invite people to join. The remark can be formed as an installation to play with. The stream is pulled as a start to interact with people just like playing with water in summer.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

NS : Promote it, sale it, or keep developing it in different scales, materials, or under different themes.

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

NS : This project started in September 2016 in Taipei, Taiwan.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

NS : This design is not commissioned and acts as a pursuit of an inspiration.

DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

NS : This design was not produced or used by another company. To sell or lease related production rights are welcome, although I prefer to produce this work myself.

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

NS : A dynamic interpretation of geometries and spaces is always the focus of my design. This is a pursuit of an inspiration and re-interpretation of a form that has been in my mind for a while.

DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

NS : No other designs and designers that helped the influence the design of my work.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

NS : The potential target customers include interior designers and architects to be added as part of design or decoration, or for private collectors for personal collections.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

NS : There might be design with similar concepts, but it’s the manner of interpretation in terms of configuration that makes difference.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

NS : Waterfall is a running natural scene that people are willing to jump into to enjoy the summer coolness. The interaction between the waterfall and people is a delightful involvement.

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

NS : The design was explored using software and hardware platforms. The former was parametric programs, and the latte was 3D printing machines.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

NS : Paired installations can be placed in a vertical manner and different orientations to let the beaded stream running from one set to another to create a conversation in between. The combination of cubes and beaded stream present a contrast of static object and dynamic flow around frames. The interaction between them creates a visual effect associated with sounds. A single set can be displayed individually. The number of sets to be deployed is not limited.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

NS : Nobody collaborates with me for this design. The 3D printed parts were made by paid output service. The finish was made by paid coating service.

DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?

NS : A set of wall installation includes a notched rectangular block, two intersecting steel frames, and acrylic blocks. Magnets are used inside the frames as a surface-friendly mechanism on interior or exterior metal surfaces. The notched cubes were made by a 3D printer. Each part of cube has to be smooth enough to ensure a frictionless full.

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

NS : A research was made to find out which mathematical program can create the desirable model. The final choice was k3dsurf v0.6.2®. (http://k3dsurf.sourceforge.net/ ) and Geomagic Studio®.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

NS : Challenges were solved in designing magnet attachment, planning modules, translating metaphor, and matching bead streams. The surface-friendly mechanism is made by magnet-based attachment that works with any architectural component with steel surface. No screws or penetration fasten components are needed. The order of the cubes and frames create the depth and hierarchy of a waterfall metaphor.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

NS : It is a self-promoting or self-evolving process to become part of an international design competition.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

NS : A design work was improved through stages of development in a recursive loop of examination under different scales. That’s why some design works were made more than one year.

DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

NS : There is always issue to be addressed. Let’s keep it open for next year or next competition.