Modeling and Unrolling Tetrahedron
A tetrahedron is a three-dimensional shape with four triangular faces, four vertices, and six edges. It is the simplest polyhedron and, in its regular form, has equilateral triangles as faces, with all edges of equal length. Thus, known as one of the Platonic solids, a regular tetrahedron is highly symmetrical, and its shape is considered stable and efficient in many natural and man-made structures. In this short tutorial video, I am modeling and unrolling a tetrahedron. I studied this platonic solid here and here before. The key point of this exercise is to utilize Euclid-like strategy and reasoning in 3D. By placing and intersecting 3 spheres instead of 2 circles, we can locate any point in 3-dimensional space.
In this video series, I demonstrate in-class exercises from the Architectural Geometry course I teach to first-year students. Using Rhinoceros software, we explore Euclidean constructions, basic drawing and transformation commands, introductory fractals, regular and semi-regular tessellations, patterns, modeling, and unrolling polyhedra. These short drawing exercises benefit junior architects, interior designers, and industrial designers interested in related disciplines. I’ll be posting exercises weekly on my blog and other platforms. So, today’s exercise is Modeling and Unrolling Tetrahedron.
The software used in this course is Rhinoceros 3d (www.rhino3d.com). However, if you want to find out more and see the whole list of this video series, you can check my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@designcodingnet. The music of this video is ‘Falling Together’ by Scott Buckley (CC-BY 4.0). www.scottbuckley.com.au
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