The Design Addict vase project (part 3)  

sdr
sdr; the picture that ishow was in fact not really "explaining". the dark outlines were just to accentued the photo, i didn't mean to ad some ornament or black lines to the vase. i did draw 2 ideas in one picture; the ferrari opening and hexagon supplementary base, you have to consider them separatly. but this said it was just an idea and didn't had to be a good one ;-). i fully agree with the rest; basaltcolored vases, hexagon (not circles), 2 heights; but why has a lower height have to contain lesser hexagons?; it feels like the it should be reversed; a high small vase with 7 hexagons and a lower, broader one with more holes. man, i am curious to see the end result!

Koen, one more vase idea...
Koen, one more vase idea from left field which I thought might be interesting, not for this project but perhaps for the future, a scroll (wavy?), kind of like a partially untied roll of parchment, with the top of the vase being a slightly convex spiral.
How long can we expect until a prototype is ready for the hexagon vase, has anyone been thinking of names yet?

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Gerrit, thanks -- I just liked the idea of outlines that your sketch suggested to me; I know that wasn't your intention.
I agree that a low and broad version could be a good variation. There are so many different kinds of flower arrangement, and locations -- a dining table might want a low and large bouquet !
HP -- I like your last idea; I'm going to sketch it as I understand it. . .
SDR U S A

"Parchment"

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Just to give you an update...
Based on the reactions on the different 3D modelings, I have looked at different ways of getting from top to bottom with this concept and look at different transitions between the top middle and base. The differences are minor but are certainly worth looking at. In this stage we would start to build rough prototypes in cardboard or some stiff paper, but given Amiel's willingness to 3D model them I am going to wait for his results and see if by showing them here we can reach some kind of concensus. In the meantime we are looking for a prototype facility that would be willing to make the prototypes in stereolithogarphy. If we can not find someone who is willing to do it as a contribution to this great website, I am going to do it the way I was educated to do it: by hand. It will take about a day to make the necessary templates and probably the better part of a week to cut the model from a solid block. A first prototype mould should not take more than a day but we need three of them (I will have to explain that in a drawing)) That's about the timetable...
The reason for trying to get a SLA lab on board is simply that we would save some time and most likely gain some precision. But for a SLA lab it is a major effort because the prototype is worth anywhere between $1500 and $2000 depending on the finish.
I hope we will soon be back with some images of different solutions to choose from.
I am also trying to solv a production problem. Right now we avoid contamination between stoneware and porcelain by keeping both materials in seperate areas, divided by a 4 feet wall. Everybody washes his or her hands before going to the other side and tools are never used on more than one material. If we produce basalt black clay we will have to create yet another separate area, with it's own slip reservoir, slip pumps and delivery pistols, recycling equipment etc. One solution would be to use the old workshop that we used before this one was build, but it is not a very nice place to work in, whereas this one, especially now that it is warm, is pure pleasure. The alternative would be a satin gloss or matt black glaze, but it is not as crisp as coloured clay that is vitrified. Let's get to work!

Thanks heaps! SDR, thats...
Thanks heaps! SDR, thats pretty much what I was thinking of,perhaps a tighter spiral but obviously it must close the spiral at some point, I was thinking of maybe deforming a thinner top edge by hand, I don't know anything technical but it looks like a handbuidling sort of thing to me.
But anough with that, I hope Koen can work out all of the technical problems with the hexagonal vase, and if he does do a protoype by hand I think we all owe him a lot, thankyou Koen.

Yes --
hard to believe he could make that piece by hand -- out of any material ! I can't wait to see it.
I think of your spiral piece having some connectors within that would help locate stems -- and one that closes the form to contain water. I like the "parchment" image -- it would be cool to have it slightly translucent around the edges, maybe, and with variegated color and texture. But, as you say. . .

As Koen mentioned above, we...
As Koen mentioned above, we are looking for a company which can built a prototype in stereolithography. We are exploring some possibilities but if somebody has an idea concerning this point, he/she should not hesitate to share it.
Concerning the basalt finish, you will understand that one cannot ask Koen to make major modifications to his installation, just for our vase. Well, as for any projects, there are some obstacles to surmount, but one will succeed!
For those who wish to continue to explore ideas about other shapes of vases, we opened new a thread so it doesn't bring too much confusion in the understanding of this thread. Follow the link below.
http://www.designaddict.com/design_addict/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/th...

Yea, yea, Koen...
This modelling is another one of those things some one asked you about that you just happened to know. Good lord, man,the Smithsonian Institution is going to have to do a brain dump with you BEFORE you go. Civilization can't afford to let this encyclopedic knowledge of design process of yours go with you to the great beyond.

Dear dc,
It is very kind of you to suggest the Smitsonian as a final resting place for my brain. I do not know if it is a "family" thing but this kind of separation in resting place has happened before. A great,great,great etc. uncle of mine is burried in the Pantheon in Paris (he served Napoleon) but his heart is kept in a church in Kampen aan de IJsel a peaceful place in Holland where he was born...
The truth is that making models after calculating the vertical and horisonal shrinck and making production moulds around it to produce porcelain, stoneware, eartheware or any other kind of ceramic material was part of my education. After finishing my ceramic education I thought of it as a major mistake. I grew up in an environment in which craftspeople were considered very high on the social ladder. They could make things, from planning the project and chosing the right raw materials, all the way to making it and conclude the proces by meeting, upon delivery, the satisfied customer and being rewarded with an honestly earned compensation. It therefor seemed "natural" to learn a craft...which I did. For me, finishing that education coïncided whith becoming aware of the fact that crafts as a means of producing, would either result in working for an elite, or be irrelevant compared to the needs of a much larger group of people...so, I dicouvered there was something called design and I choose on of the three or four available schools in Europe and started all over again.
Over the years I have realized that what I initially thought of as a mistake (learning a craft) was in fact a blessing because the ability to plan the process from raw material to satisfied customer and the skills to execute the plan step by step have served me well in the industrial process as well. Sometimes I have regrets about throwing away the skillful copy I made of a 13th century Persian Bowl, decorated with twelve fully armed horseman running around the rim....but one has to express ones mistakes in some way or an other, and at the time I thought that having learned this had been a waist of time and the horseman and all the other interesting projects became the victims of my anger. But fortunately skills can not be thrown away.
Just to put it in context. The idea that crafts were a thing of the past was so strong that the school was closed only a few years after I left.

New 3D rendering

Just a few words...
to explain the 3D modeling. This solution should in fact be compared to the one of may 18th. In the earlier one the overall hexagonal shape is kept from top to bottom. James Collins suggested with the basalt rock formation to introduce some irregularity in the pattern. The lasted 3D shows the same hexagonal top divided in smaller hexagons, but as the small hexagons go down one out of three moves out and they all form a circle at the base. Personally I could not imagine exactly the effect of this "controlled" irrégular shape so we had to model it. There does not seem to be any functional advantage so...we are waiting to hear your preferences.

Well, it is
a subtle enhancement. It perhaps makes the piece more "sophisticated" - but there is something disingenuous (dishonest, forced) about the result. I don't dislike it, but I question that it is an improvement. One of those "OK, we COULD do that. . ." alternatives.
I prefer the direct correlation of the top to the bottom, I guess. It's clean and clear.
SDR

Thank you, Koen and Amiel,...
Thank you, Koen and Amiel, for working on this new option.
It is, indeed, very difficult to decide. This last version is less classical. There is a tension in the curves that contrasts with the evident lines in the previous 3D modeling, which is not in its disfavour. But the ceramic seems to be forced a little, stressed. No, it is really not easy to choose.
What do you all think about it?