Our team has has been investigating the conditions and limitations of a rose shaped reciprocal system. The system we are working with provides mainly two unique challenges firstly being that it is constrained to a singular n-sided polygon as it’s footprint, like a dome and secondly that it’s shape is directly linked to the member depth.
We have divided our system into two components, the horizontal rings and their diagonally connecting vertical members. The interaction between these two elements was the most difficult part in defining our reciprocal system as we had too many variables to create a definition. The first parameter we tested restricting was the angle at which the diagonal member and the extended support member of the upper ring would meet shown in the connection details. Testing done in Karamba showed that increasing the angle past 90 degrees would increase displacement by nearly 200% so we constrained that connection to a right angle which is seen in the detail and top views of the model. We also began testing vertical variations in terms of convex and concavity as seen in the diagrams below returning results where the tested concavity caused a 35% increase in displacement.
Timber Tectonics in the Digital Age 
Leave a Reply