0139
27-09-1999
THE ABYSMAL DIVE
Philippe Samyn
Architect
Collection: Tijd & Dualiteit
1 NEWTON AT 1 METRE
‘AN ENDLESS UNFOLDING’
BREAKABLE
This is a collection of morphological insects, the MICHELL type, which forms part of my geometric and architectural dreams and games. They are derived from the pattern that A.G.M. Michell (Dr of civil engineering, Melbourne, Australia) described in November 1904 and from subsequent works published in 1979 by Erik Reitzel (MSc civil engineering, Copenhagen, Denmark). My contribution consists of the endless unfolding of this pattern (which transfers a vertical single point load in the lightest way to two equidistant horizontal supports) in order to transfer a vertical, uniformly distributed load. I call it MULTI-MICHELL, after the MULTI-TRUSSES and the INTERNALLY MULTI-STAYED TRUSSES, which I developed in recent years (for which a European patent will shortly be issued). The MULTI-MICHELL is slightly heavier (3%) than the MULTI-STAYED TRUSS with two angles. It is, moreover, thicker and cannot support an asymmetrical load. The MULTI-MICHELL insects are – like every structure – breakable. Play with them, but please be careful. Note how the patterns form and transform, how they resemble forms in nature, but also Islamic patterns and perpendicular Gothic arches. Turn them round in the sun and observe the projected shadows. As with all patterns, there are numerous possible variations. Herewith enclosed is the following supplement:
1)The drawings of ovals, circles and spirals that I derived from the pentagon and the heptagon, likewise the endless unfolding (or the fractal) of a square on a flat surface or an equilateral triangle on a sphere.
2)A summary of my work in which, with the help of two indicators, I describe the volume and transference of various structures in relation to their narrowness.
3)Rows of MULTI-MICHELL patterns arranged in different ways in the plane for copying and playing with.
-PS
