Part One 

 

We were grouped into groups of six. I was grouped up with Jessica, Pyae Phyo, Javier, Royston and Zai Mei. Initially we were briefed to bring our own mechanical items from home (preferably faulty or rarely used), as well as tools such as screw drivers and piers for the dis-assemblage.

 

As instructed, we began to disassemble our own items and lay them orderly on a piece of A4 paper. We then selected a few of our favourite pieces from our items and placed everything on a piece of A3 paper, ensuring that the number of pieces was kept to 34. Next, we assembled and combined the pieces to form a new mechanical object using super glue. 

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After taking photographs of the new object at six angles, we printed them out in A3 and traced them over butter paper individually. We then combined the traces and traced the combination as a group, this time in A2 sized. Finally, we had to select an square area of 21x21 from the A2 trace, which is of our interest.

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Part Two

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Next, we were told to observe our square area critically and pick out the key design drivers. It was a little challenging, as we were unsure of the meaning of some prompters. With the help of our lecturers, we finally came out with 2 design drivers - Stability vs Instability and Contrast. Finally, we were able to start making mock-up models of our cryptex which had to be closely aligned with these 2 key design drivers. 

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Model making was a real challenge, as we were only constrained to the usage of 5 volumes, 8 planes and 13 lines to construct our models, and glue was not allowed to be used to combine the elements. 

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Part Three

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This time, we had to construct a 21x21 cube using compressed foam boards and cut out the hidden geometries. We then inserted our cryptex into the cubes and took many interesting shots of our light and shadows. It was difficult searching for sunlight, so we decided to go to the library to find artificial spot lights. 

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Lastly, we had to do up our half A1 presentation boards, featuring light and shadows, photos of our mock-ups as well as a short write-up of our cryptex. 

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Overall, this coursework was a fun and enriching experience for many of us. Unfortunately, my final model did not really express closely with the key design drivers, which caused a dip in my ADS marks. For MAT, my model was unstable at its base, and the usage of translucent materials was lacking. 

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I pray that the Lord will turn my grades around, and guide me for my future projects.