Designing aesthetically pleasing freeform surfaces in a computer environment
Name
48126100-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
27.53 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b460ab1d822342962e9b83b3bc202af7
Author(s)
Smyth, Evan P. (Evan Patrick), 1967-
Advisor(s)
William J. Mitchell.
Date Issued
2001
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Statement: If computational tools are to be employed in the aesthetic design of freeform surfaces, these tools must better reflect the ways in which creative designers conceive of and develop such shapes. In this thesis, I studied the design of aesthetically constrained freeform surfaces in architecture and industrial design, formulated a requirements list for a computational system that would aid in the creative design of such surfaces, and implemented a subset of the tools that would comprise such a system. This work documents the clay modeling process at BMW AG., Munich. The study of that process has led to a list of tools that would make freeform surface modeling possible in a computer environment. And finally, three tools from this system specification have been developed into a proof-of-concept system. Two of these tools are sweep modification tools and the third allows a user to modify a surface by sketching a shading pattern desired for the surface. The proof-of-concept tools were necessary in order to test the validity of the tools being presented and they have been used to create a number of example objects. The underlying surface representation is a variational expression which is minimized using the finite element method over an irregular triangulated mesh.
Description
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, February 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-160).
Subjects
Architecture.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
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reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
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