Spiramentum

Spring 2023 - With Keng Pu Li

In approaching this project, we were interested in exploring how the use of randomness in conjunction with a computational workflow could create an infinite number of possibilities for fabricating a waffle structure. We began by creating two surfaces that are randomly generated using a unique set of points, and automatically lofting between these surfaces to create a solid, from which we make our waffle. Through automation, we were able to effortlessly change the top and bottom surfaces using a “seed” to generate thousands of unique surface combinations. Additionally, we chose to automate a height function, so the surfaces can be moved towards or away from each other, creating taller or shorter waffles. Upon moving the surfaces closer together, we found that some areas would overlap, due to the fact that our top and bottom surfaces are uniquely wavy, rather than offset. We chose to subtract the overlapping areas, creating holes and voids in our waffles. This subtraction process is automated, which saved us from doing countless “boolean intersection” commands, and therefore allowed us to make many more iterations. Finally, we automated the process of subdividing the solid to make the waffle ribs and the corresponding notches for each piece of waffle, which greatly improved our workflow, and expedited the process tremendously.