|Medellín, Colombia|
In the Colombian rural area, it is usual to burn the residues from the pruning of trees, shrubs and grass. This practice is done in the open sky without permission from environmental entities, generating health problems for people and damage to the environment. The objective of this practice is to quickly eliminate the residue or make charcoal.
Based on this problem, and the need to give tree branches a second life, a standing coat rack is designed based on a prosthesis that reuses pine branches. The shape of the prosthesis is developed in Rhino Software, with the Grasshopper application. This tool allowed us to parameterize the shape and program an algorithm that would respond in a similar way to how biological membranes do. The elasticity and flexibility are emulated to join wooden rods and complete the structure of the coat rack.
Likewise, biomimetic principles based on evolution, structural efficiency, and aesthetic perception were used: (i) biophilia, innate emotional attachment for the forms of nature; (ii) morphological adaptation, just as biological individuals adapt to environmental conditions, the prosthesis adapts to the different shapes of the branches thanks to parameterization; (iii) structural maximization, the geometry that supports the branches of the prosthesis are two inverted catenaries; (iv) minimum surfaces, generation of mathematical surfaces that cover the largest area with the smallest surface; (v) sustainable materials, use of a polymer based on the fermentation and polymerization of corn (PLA).