The Task

The task was to develop, design and produce an interlocking system consisting of 2-dimensional elements that create a 3-dimensional object when pieced together, thus creating interesting shapes.

Ideas and Sketches

To find my idea, I started with sketching what came into my mind. In the beginning, I used a square as the basis. After sketching on paper, I decided to take my idea further with Rhino. As it was my first time using Rhino I decided to experiment with what I could create. Which is how my first piece was created.

First Try

After I had the parts laser cut (from 3 mm medium-density fibreboard(MDF)) and tried them out, I noticed, that the connection points didn't fit as tightly together as anticipated, which is why they didn't hold the pieces together very reliably.

I therefore decided to curve the sides of the slits inwards (slightly) to increase pressure on the pieces in. order to hold them tightly together, despite potential variations in the thickness of the material.

Concept Development - Trying out Different Shapes

As I didn't find the square shape exciting enough on its own, I decided to try out other shapes. I started with a pentagon and then decided to transfer the design of the pentagon to a hexagon so that I could combine it with the square pieces from my first draft to create a truncated octahedron. This idea came to me because we created a truncated octahedron at the beginning of the course to familiarise ourselves with Rhino.

Final Idea

Inspired by church windows, which are usually designed with a lot of ornamental elements, I set about creating a harmonious interlocking system, making sure that all parts matched the visual language.

As I really liked the design of the pentagon, I decided to transfer it to my hexagon.

Creating Links

Finally, I needed connecting pieces to create an interlocking system in the shape of a truncated octahedron.

To create these, I first had to calculate the two prevailing angles. I determined these with the help of the model that we built in Rhino in the first lesson using the command ”angle“.

According to these calculations, the angle between two hexagons needed to be 109°and the angle between a hexagon and a square 125°

I tried my hand at this and in a first step created two- as well as three-pointed elements.

After testing them out, I realized that both angles were very close to each other and there was hardly any difference to be seen with the naked eye. So I decided to give the first connecting part (hexagon – hexagon) a circle and the second (hexagon – square ) a triangular star. These would otherwise be difficult to keep apart after lasering and would cause problems if they were to be mixed up during assembly.

Another important part was measuring the correct length of the tips. If the tips were to short, this would make it impossible to connect both plug-in parts completely with the connecting piece, as both would then meet in the centre. However, if they were too far apart, the shape would be lost a little.

It was therefore important to find the middle ground.

In my final pass, I decided to make two different connecting parts. I created one connecting piece with two tips and another one with four tips, thus allowing several truncated octahedrons to be joined together.

Rhino 3D-Modell

To get a better feeling of what my plug system would look like after assembly, and whether all parts actually fit together, I started using Rhino to model my system in 3D.

End Result

By combining all the elements described, you can now create various constellations, combining all of them together, leaving out the square pieces, or simply just using the square-shaped pieces on their own. 

The Ornate Truncated Octahedron is a very versatile plug connector system.