Bio-Inspired Design / Parametric Design / Urban Furniture
Carnegie Mellon University - Digital Skills Workshop
Location: Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, PA, USA 40.4351° N, 79.9417° W
Instructors: Sinan Goral sgoral@cmu.edu & Matthew Huber mzh@andrew.cmu.edu
Inspired by the flexible yet durable structures of bryozoans— I Work: Individual through intricate lattices— colonial aquatic organisms that distribute load this pavilion reinterprets their growth patterns into a curved, skeletal form. Designed as an outdoor furniture piece, it functions simultaneously as seating, a resting shelter, and a lakeside observatory. The porous structure not only frames the front-facing view but also creates a light, airy enclosure that fosters quiet interaction with the surrounding landscape
Location and Surroundings
Schenley Park is a large municipal park in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania, United States. It is located between the neighbourhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. Schenley park consists of Pittsburgh's urban forest, which is dominated by broadleaf-decidious trees, such as black locust, Norway maple, and black cherry. The lake itself consists of a reed zone.
Approaches on Site
There are varying running and cycling trails around the site, which makes it a visitor attraction point by providing vista points. Also wind analysis conducted on site indicates that prevailing wind direction is primarily from the West-South-West between March and August. The prevailing wind direction and the main peedestrian axis on the site were crucial in determining the settlement area. By selecting this area, an easily accessible nature observation unit with a wide viewing angle is provided for visitors. Additionally, positioning against the wind offers protection from harsh weather conditions.
Bryozoans are one of the oldest species on earth, found mostly in North America with high adaptability and survival skills to their surroundings. Bryozoans are coral-like animals in that they are colonies of modular units termed zooids, The small animals (zooids) live near the ends of the tubes, and extend a crown of tntacles into the current. Bryozoans are sometimes known as "moss animal" as the branching colonies may look moss-like. Each unit of the modular structure of bryozoans are called zooids and they live throughout the colony in a dependent manner towards each other. These individuals can have unique and diverse functions. All colonies have "autozoids" which are responsible for feeding, excretion, and supplying nutrints to the colony tthrough diverse channels Each zooid consists of a "cystid" which provides the body wall and produces the exoskeleton, and a polypide which holds the organs.
Abstraction of the Bryozoan colony's growth behavior allowed to generate a pattern that is structurally flexible, duraable and applicable to the desired form. Inspired by the zooids consisting the bryozoan, each unit constructing the structural pattern consist of an exoskeleton, translucent membrane, and a moisture responsive lid that is imitating the Operculum (closable lid of the zooid)
