INDN 252: Further Explorations Of The Knee

So, after deciding to do the knee for this 3D printing focused project, I decided to start some work on abstracting and understanding the concept of the knee further. My first task was not to come up with wild abstractions of the knee, but rather start off with the actual structure of the knee and work forwards into the gaping abyss of abstraction.

As I said, I started off with the actual simplified structure of the knee, and then slowly progressed into something, that while still bearing resemblance to a knee , was definitely NOT a knee any more. One of the architectural precedents I looked at for inspiration on this project was Santiago Calatrava, who designs inspirational pieces of architecture which draw definite parallels to the human body as well as other natural forms. The various buildings often have an extremely futuristic feel, with the large use of white, as well as often pseudo-structural-aesthetic cladding.

Image acquired from www.leadersmag.com

Having realised that I needed to start advancing on my design and creating some physical mock-ups of the joint as well as looking to how I could possibly abstract the joint. After having sketched the joint, I was fairly familiar with it, so I decided to move into plasticine and model the joint in a basic way that worked with my understanding of it.

Having the plasticine models of the bones is really really useful, as it allows me to get a perspective of the scale of the model, as well as to have a 3D view of the bones. 

Next, I'll attempt to do some basic Solidworks designs and get some 3-d printing going.