FREQUENCY
Penn Design | Fall 2012 | Halee Bouchehrian
Architecture 301: Biomimicry
A study of motion
“Architecture is not a synchronizing phenomenon, but a gradual unfolding. It consists of a sequence of tableux, associated in time and space. Like music it is a means of conceiving time.” - Le Corbusier
A study of the musculature and anguilliform motion of the lamprey. As an early chordate, the lamprey triggers individual muscle sections, or myomeres, in succession through a regular nerve pulse traveling its spinal chord, resulting in the animal’s movement along a sine wave frequency.
Focusing on the range of motion of individual myomere muscle segments, one can calculate the ratio of a sine wave amplitude to the length of the lamprey, resulting in 4/9.
Early drafting Studies
Anguilliform motion study
Muscular sequential motion study
Motion Study Models
Muscular analog model
Translation of analog concept to design of kinetic solar shade
Design of a kinetic shade for University of Pennsylvania’s Quain Engineering Courtyard referencing the motion studies of the lamprey
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kinetic study model
Position and range of solar shade kinetic motion set to adjust to hourly changes in solar glare