Bio-shell

year 2 (design practice 1 _ part 1)

Project Overview

An environmentally responsive system to develop and construct in the woodland.

an experiment of degradation on bio-plastic materials inspired by the decomposition occurs in woodland.bio-plastic is tested with different materials, gelatine, glycerin and water were chosen to be our final ingredient, strength, humidity and material test were carried with the chosen ingredients, as result, the estimated time for bio-plastic to dissolve completely is a month.bio-plastic sheets were connected with thread using french seam method. wood beam attached inside the bio-shell as frame, to hold bio-plastic in shape and connect to trees with ropes.we have documented the failure of bio-shell therefore to improve our structure in the future.

after experiment with different ingredients of bio-plastic making, we choose gelatine, glycerin and water as the bio-plastic made is the most stable shape and texture, a dissolve test of bio-plastic have done with checking the efficiency of bio-plastic

collage (top left), elevation (top right), isometric view (bottom left), plan (bottom right)

calculation of the wooden frame and bio-plastic sheet weight

calculation of tension of rod, shear & moment diagram

construction

experience inside the bio-shell:

From inside, the bioplastic blurs out the environment with a golden filter. All senses are less sensitive to the surrounding, the structure is like a protective bubble blocking out some sounds, wind, the cold weather, etc. However, it holds the funky odor of the gelatine bioplastic.

failure

After a short period of rainfall, the bioplastic is weakened and starts breaking apart.

The failure can only be seen along the seam meaning the sewing line reduced the strength of the material as it punctures small holes. The orderly geometric structure looks messy but the shape of broken bioplastic sheets still remain unchange.

When the material breaks apart, the four ribs also fall as they are only extending the material and are not attached together on the top which makes the ‘failure’ or decomposition stage more striking.

degradation

After roughly 20 hours of rainfall, the structure broke down, structure falls towards the center.

All of the bio-plastic had degraded with water, turns into gelatinous texture, not able to hold the tension from the rope anymore, therefore without tension within the structure, the wood beams fall to the ground. Non-soluble thread still connect parts of bioplastic and wood beams together.

Most of the bio-plastic remain their own shape, no reduction in size recognized.