Tensegrity: Basic Design Project

This is an unfinished research on textile tensegrity technique, developed at Basic Design I Studio of Istanbul Bilgi University. The result was not satisfactory as a design outcome, but yet an interesting educational experiment. Students explain their project as follows: Coral reefs and corals themselves were starting points of our research. After analyzing some of the coral forms and a couple of studio sessions, we came up with experiments of using “textile tensegrity” in our designs. We got inspired by many…

This student project named Happy Ivy was lightweight but also very strong, a good start for research on fibrous structures. The 2015 group of first-year Basic Design students explains their project as; Arboriform, meaning “something tree-shaped” was the central theme of the project, however, we decided to focus more on the entwining movement of ivy. In order to create a material system that reflects this entwining behavior, we chose to research fibrous structures, specifically PVC hoses. It was a challenge to understand…

This year’s first semester at Basic Design Studio was full of surprises. Together with Can Sucuoğlu and Birgül Çolakoğlu, we coordinated 9 student groups in their 4-week final project called “Arboriforms“.  “Arbori-” is derived from the Latin word “arbor,” meaning “tree,” and “-form” indicates a shape or form. Therefore, we can understand “arboriform” as an adjective describing something that is tree-like in appearance, structure, or form. For example, one might use the term “arboriform” to describe the branching pattern of…

This group used aluminum expanded mesh in order to test its balance between structural capacity and weight. They folded different-sized sheets to create components, then assembled them creating a span of 2,5 meters approx. They managed to control the macro form by manipulating the component precisely. This year, the dominant discussion among the studio instructors was the context; how to include (or not include), manage, and think about the context, specifically the place these structures are built on. However, for…

The material system of group 2 at İBU Basic Design project was based on a component developed using tensegrity forces on aluminum bands. Although it was hard to maintain structural solidity with the heavy material, they proved that letting aluminum fly over a predefined distance (at least for a limited time) is possible. *Students: Büşra Kavuk, Büşra Pamuk, Mustafa Sert, Ahmet Evci, Safa Bayam, Sibel Küçükcoşkun, Gizem Işıkalp, Serenay Erbektaş, Cem Şakar, Kübra Göl