|Medellín, Colombia|
Designers and architects have used biomimicry as a recurrent tool to solve human problems through the analysis of referents from nature. On the other hand, digital fabrication technologies and parametric software have been emerging in the last decades changing the paradigms of how the designing-prototyping-validating process is made. Biodigital design emerges from a fusion between digital technologies and the possibilities of biology, integrating a variety of concepts such as nature, algorithms, cybernetics, genetics, mathematics, among others.
This project aimed the design of a stool based on three-dimensional patterns extracted from nature, through the integration between parametric design and additive fabrication technologies, highlighting a morphological and material experimentation. A transdisciplinary and empirical-experimental approach was proposed, a combination of analog and digital tools, and the use of quantitative analysis methods. The project followed this methodological sequence (1) Selection of references from nature (2) Morphologic synthesis (3) Compression test (4) Analysis of thicknesses and stress (5) Fabrication of 1:1 scale prototype through Fused Deposition Modelling technology -FDM- (6) User testing (7) Conclusions and improvement proposal. The chosen referents from nature were the following: differential growth, ramifications and the Voronoi diagram. In the compression test, the branching pattern had the highest specific resistance and at the same time the lightest, this interesting information can be useful in other design projects in the future. The 1:1 scale prototype fabrication process (Voronoi diagram) presented various challenges in terms of dimensions, printing times and costs. Finally, this project has demonstrated that it is possible to materialize functional, and resistant objects through FDM technology; the proposed goals were achieved in the context of a valuable experience, a dynamic process of do and do again, trial and error, as a result of a transdisciplinary collaboration.
