monolith
Inspiration
For this project I took most of my inspiration from brutalist architecture. I wanted my final design to feel towering and other worldly.
project constraints
The focus of this project was on casting, and using one mold to cast a common part for every chess piece.
Casting Blank
Silicone Mold making
Silicone mold
Sketch iteration
As I began to develop the form for my chess sets I kept materials forward in my mind. In trying to encapsulate the oppressiveness and weight of brutalist architecture, and one way these buildings convey power and emotion is through the honesty in the materials used in them, especially concrete. So, I was very much focused on using concrete, or something like it, in my final design.
early cad exploration
At this point in the process I started to explore 3 different design directions in Fusion360. By exploring and modeling the shapes and materials I wanted to pursue in Fusion I was able to get a better feel of the structure, weight, and limitations of what my final pieces would be.
Direction 1
Direction 2
Direction 3
project constraints
The entire structure of this project was based on one major design constraint. Every single chess piece had to incorporate a common cast piece, made from one single mold. With this constraint in mind I wanted to see how far I could push the limits. For my casting process I laser cut acrylic, crossed the pieces together and casted in concrete using my silicon mold. What made my process unique was that I had intention break points in my acrylic and concrete.
Build process
Each piece in my set was designated with one of three heights. Every piece that was cast starts out with every concrete layer included, and layers were broken off to show the order of importance of the pieces.
