I O N

TO RS
AT IN
H E
W

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
TABLE OF CONTENTS

+ BEGINNING MODELING 4
+ EXPLORING RIGIDITY 6
+ EXPLORING POPULATION 8
+ FABRICATION TECHNIQUES 10
+GLOBAL POPULATION 12
+STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS 14
+GLOBAL POPULATION REFINEMENT 16
+LIGHT STUDY 18
+COMMUNITY TIES 19
+MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 20
+CONSTRUCTION PHASE 22
+ENDING DISCOVERIES 24
+INSTALLATION REVEAL 25
+SPONSORS AND SPECIAL THANKS 26

2 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
INTRODUCTION

PROJECT CONCEPT
Wheat Intorsion from the beginning was focused heavily on finding rigidity of the com-
ponent itself. The process itself started with paper modeling of form finding. When we
think about rigidity of a folded piece of paper, its rigidity is weaker in the horizontal
direction. However, when the piece of paper is stood on edge in the vertical direction, it
then becomes rigid and strong. This form finding concept was then applied into creat-
ing the end result of this column structure.

GEOMETRIC CONCEPT
From the initial form finding process, it then became a process of identifying simple
fabrication techniques that could give us an end result of this vertical rigidity. This idea
started with the development of being able to create a contour that could have a con-
tinuous curvature to it while it expanded in elevation. Growing on that idea we realized
that since the focus was this aim of vertical rigidity, the realization then became that
the contour itself could also be cut in the vertical direction, creating a torsion effect on
the vertical members.
Structural analysis showed that the fabrication technique of such a vertical strip orien-
tation rotating in torsion at a 15° angle would create a more structural member. When
the strips are placed in torsion, they are covering a greater distance in the x and y plane,
making the vertical rails cover more of a distance than if they had just been oriented
with no twist. The end result is that the column is much more structural when placed in
compression because of this factor of twisting torsion pressure. Final computer struc-
tural analysis proved this torsion ratio was more structurally sound than a standard 4”x
4” column.

MATERIAL CONCEPT
Moving to full scale fabrication of the column, it was decided to use the local material
of the Palouse, wheat straw as a way to tie the end result of the column structure back
to the community that helped us complete this installation. With this local material, we
made further ties back to the local community by engraving “Welcome to the Palouse”
in 75 different languages.

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 3
BEGINNING MODELING
Beginning exploration with
the model was focused to
create a component that
could use both rectilinear
and curvilinear folds to form
a rigid surface. This process
proved to be inclusive and
a great failure in beginning
exploration as its weakness
in its complex connection
proved to be much of a bur-
den for the component it-
self.

LARGE SURFACE EXPLORATION SINGLE GRID EXPLORATION SINGLE GRID EXPLORATION_2 SINGLE GRID EXPLORATION_3 SINGLE GRID EXPLORATION_4

4 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
 FIGURE 5-1 FIGURE 5-2

FIGURE 4-1

RESULTS FROM USING A THICKER MATERIAL (WATER COLOR PAPER) AND A LARGER SCALE TO EXPLORE CONECTIONS

BREAKING DOWN COMPONENT INTO ONE SINGLE

LOOKING AT COMPRESSION POINTS THAT REPEATING COMPONENT
SUCCEEDED FOR ISPERATION

POINTS
POINT OF OF COMPRESSION
FAILURE FIGURE 5-3
FIGURE 3-1 | Cut Paths and Fold lines

ARCH 491 | FALL 2011 | AUSTIN.D.MILES 5

| FALL 2011 | AUSTIN.D.MILES 3
ARCH 491 | FALL 2011 | AUSTIN.D.MILES 4

FIGURE 4-2

BEGINNING MODEL ASSEMBLY POPULATING TECHNIQUES POPULATING TECHNIQUES CONNECTION TECHNIQUES

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 5
EXPLORING RIGIDITY
Moving forward, the aim was
to still find rigidity. Looking
at any sheet material, when
placed in the horizontal di-
rection it is not rigid, but
when folded into the vertical
direction, it becomes quit
rigid. With this exploration,
model making continued to
form a component that fit
into these aims.

HORIZONTAL RIGIDITY INTO VERTICAL RIGIDITY

VERTICAL RIGIDITY EXPANDING DIMENSION OF VERTICAL RIGIDITY POPULATING COMPONENT

6 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
 COMPONENT ASSEMBLY FORCES IN THE VERTICAL DIRECTION ARE MUCH
STRONGER THAN THE HORIZONTAL DIRECTION

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 7
EXPLORING POPULATION POPULATING COMPONENT WITH HORI-
ZONTAL RIGIDITY

Looking at connection pos-

sibility, it was demonstrated
first that simply stacking the
component in the vertical or
Z axis worked quite well, but
the was a desire to explore
a more complex edge con-
nection that would allow
the component to create an
arch form to create an inhab-
itable structure. The edge
connections that where at-
tempted through this explo-
ration however, ignored the
components great vertical
rigidity, making it an obvious
decision to then continue to
move forward with populat-
ing the component into the
vertical direction.
POPULATING COMPONENT WITH
VERTICAL RIGIDITY

CONCEPTUALIZING DISADVANTAGES OF HOR- CONCEPTUALIZING ADVANTAGES

IZONTAL RIGIDITY OF VERTICAL RIGIDITY

8 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
 12 Feet

8 Feet

FIRST ATTEMPT AT A GLOBAL POPULATION

AUS

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 9
FABRICATION TECHNIQUES
Now that the component
was going to be populat-
ed in the vertical direction,
focus then moved toward
determining a fabrication
technique. The idea cutting
contours through the model
was the first idea. Doing so
would allow light to refract
out from the structure as
well as giving it a less dense
structure. Soon it was real-
ized that cutting the con-
tours in the vertical direction APPLYING A HORIZONTAL CONTOUR CUT APPLYING A HORIZONTAL CONTOUR CUT

instead of the traditional

horizontal fashion, would
also increase the compo-
nents unique element of the
vertical rigidity while also
accentuating its 15 degree
twist.

APPLYING A VERTICAL CONTOUR CUT APPLYING A VERTICAL CONTOUR CUT

10 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
 VERTICAL TORSION TWIST SUPPORTING
LARGER ARE IN COMPRESSION
VERTICAL RAIL NO TORSION TWIST VERTICAL RAIL 15 DEGREE TORSION TWIST

COLUMN GEOMETRY ABSTRACTING COLUMN COMPONENT DIVISION

ABSTRACTED COLUMN GEOMETRY CONTOUR CURVATURE AND VERTICAL RAIL ASSEMBLY

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 11
GLOBAL POPULATION
From the analysis of fabri-
cation techniques, we then
reached a point to which we
could create a global popu-
lation that resulted in a col-
umn structure.

2 FEET

9 FEET
2 FEET

DIMENSIONING THE GLOBAL POPULATION

1 FOOT

12 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 13
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
With the global population
creating a column structure,
there was a definite intent
to then analyze its structural
capabilities of the column.
Our range of testing was
limited as testing ranged
from digital modeling ca-
pabilities, to scaled model
testing, and full scaled mod-
el testing. The end result of
analysis was that the col-
umn structure could support
more than a 4”x4” fir column
showing us that it does have
structural potential. LOADING SCALED MODEL LOADING FULL SCALE MODEL

COLUMN GEOMETRY LESS STRONG COMPONENT GAINS STRENGTH COLUMN GEOMETRY UNDER FREQUENCY PLAN VIEW OF TORSION FORCE FORCE TEST OF GLOBAL POPULATION
WITH NO TORSION FORCE WITH A TORSION FORCE TEST FOR EARTHQUAKE FORCES

14 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
LOADING COMPONENT WITH GREATER FORCE LOADING COMPONENT WITH GREATER FORCE LOADING COMPONENT WITH GREATER FORCE FINDING COMPONENT POINT OF FAILURE

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 15
GLOBAL POPULATION
REFINEMENT
Moving toward the global
assembly, there was some
refinement to the fabrica-
tion of each component. To
add strength to the vertical
contour rails, we changed
the connection to a simple 0.13
dado connection that would
CNC into the top and bot-
tom chords of the compo- 16.50 C
nent. This also eliminated
the fabrication time and cost

1.50
15°
of a face connection using A

screws. At this point we also A

R43.75
changed the width dimen-
1.52

1.52
DETAIL C
R45.75

sions of the column as the

15°

SCALE 1 : 1

structural analysis proved to

15°
A

1.52
the column would be large C C

enough with an overall di- DETAIL C

15°
1.52

1.52
1.15
ameter of 18 inches, verses SCALE 1 : 1
15°

1.52
DETAIL C

R45.75
A
0.18

15°
SCALE 1 : 1
the initial 24 inches. DETAIL A 0DETAIL
.25 A 0.13
SCALE 1 : 2 SCALE 1 : 2
F
F
0.75
1.52

1.52

C C
DETAIL C
R45.75
15°

SCALE 1 : 1 DETAIL C
SCALE 2 : 5
1.15
C

0.18
R45.75

1.50
F G G
C C F
0.75

0.50

DETAIL A 0DETAIL
.25 A
0.75

SECTION F-F SCALE 1 : 2F-F

SECTION SCALE 1 : 2
F
F 1.15
0.75
1.15 DETAIL G
TOP AND BOTTOM CORD DETAIL TOP AND BOTTOM CORD DADO DETAIL
SCALE 2 : 5 TOP AND BOTTOM CORD DADO DETAIL DADO ANGLE DETAIL DADO SPACING DETAIL

0.18
0.18

DETAIL C
DETAIL A 0DETAIL
.25 SCALE 2 : 5
A UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED: FINISH:
0.50

SCALE 1 : 2 SCALE 1 : 2 DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERS

0.75

F SURFACE FINISH:

F
0.75

TOLERANCES:

F G G
LINEAR:
ANGULAR:
F DETAIL A
0.75

DETAIL G
0.50
0.25

DETAIL C
0.25

0.75

SCALE 1 : 2
NAME SIGNATURE DATE

DETAIL C SCALE 2 : 5
SECTION F-F SECTION F-F SCALE 1 : 1
DRAWN

SCALE 2 : 5 CHK'D

APPV'D
DETAIL G
SCALE 2 : 5
F G G
F
0.75

0.50
0.75

UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED: FINISH:

0.50

SECTION F-F SECTION F-F DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERS

0.75

SURFACE FINISH:
TOLERANCES:
DETAIL G LINEAR:

16 Washington State
SCALEUniversity
2:5 School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites
DETAIL G
ANGULAR:
Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
0.25

0.25

NAME SIGNATURE DATE

SCALE 2 : 5 DRAWN

CHK'D

UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED: FINISH: APPV'D

.50

DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERS

75

SURFACE FINISH:
Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 17
LIGHT STUDY
Now that the design was
finalized, the idea of illumi-
nating the column from the
interior was implemented
to greaten the view of the
lightness of the structure
and to analyze the effect
that shadows would have on
the structure.

ORIGINAL COMPONENT ILLUMINATED ORIGINAL COMPONENT RADIATING SHADOWS FINAL COMPONENT SHADOWS FINAL COMPONENT SHADOWS

18 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
COMUNITY TIES
As an effort to tie the final telugu (Telugu) Український (Ukrainian)

WELCOME TO THE PALOUSE

installation of the compo-
nent back to the communi-
ภาษาไทย (Thai) ‫( ودرا‬Urdu)

Türk (Turkish) Việt (Vietnamese)

ty it was and idea to display
Cymraeg (Welsh)
“Welcome to the Palouse” in
several different languages
‫( یسراف‬Persian) român (Romanian) slovenský (Slovak) katikati (Swahili)
on each vertical rail of the
column structure with a key polski (Polish) русский (Russian) slovenščina (Slovenian) Svenska (Swedish)

for visitors to find their own português (Portuguese) српски (Serbian) Soomaali (Somali) தமிழ் (Tamil)
language. The total number ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਦੇ (Punjabi) español (Spanish)
of languages that we ended
up with was 76. khmer (Khmer) Latine (Latin) Melayu (Malay) मराठी (Marathi)

한국의(Korean) Latvijas (Latvian) Malti (Maltese) Монгол улсын (Mongolian)

telugu (Telugu) Український (Ukrainian)
WELCOME TO THE PALOUSE

ສປປລາວ (Lao) Lietuvos (Lithuanian) Maori (Maori) नेपाली (Nepali)

ภาษาไทย (Thai) ‫( ودرا‬Urdu)
македонски (Macedonian) norsk (Norwegian)
Türk (Turkish) Việt (Vietnamese)

Cymraeg (Welsh)
kreyòl ayisyen (Haitian Creole) Hmoob (Hmong) Igbo (Igbo) 日本の (Japanese)

Hausa (Hausa) magyar (Hungarian)

‫( یسراف‬Persian) român (Romanian) Indonesia (Indonesian)
slovenský (Slovak) Javanese katikati
(Javanese)
(Swahili)

‫( תירבע‬Hebrew) polski (Polish) Icelandic (Icelandic)

русский (Russian) Gaeilge (Irish)slovenščina (Slovenian)ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
Svenska (Swedish)

हिंदी (Hindi) português (Portuguese) српски (Serbian) Soomaali (Somali)

italiano (Italian) தமிழ் (Tamil)

ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਦੇ (Punjabi) español (Spanish)

čeština (Czech) English (English) suomalainen (Finnish) Georgian (Georgian)

Special Thank You to our Sponsors

khmer (Khmer) Latine (Latin) Melayu (Malay) मराठी (Marathi)

dansk (Danish) Esperanto (Esperanto) français (French) Deutsch (German)
한국의(Korean) Latvijas (Latvian) Malti (Maltese) Монгол улсын (Mongolian)
Nederlands (Dutch) eesti (Estonian) Galego (Galician) ελληνικά (Greek)
ສປປລາວ (Lao) Lietuvos (Lithuanian) Maori (Maori) नेपाली (Nepali)
Pilipino (Filipino) ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)
македонски (Macedonian) norsk (Norwegian)

Afrikaans (Afrikaans)kreyòl ayisyen (Haitian

Azərbaycan
Creole)(Azerbaijani)
Hmoob (Hmong) বাঙ্গালী (Bengali)
Igbo (Igbo) Cebuano 日本の
(Cebuano)
(Japanese)

shqiptar (Albanian) Hausa (Hausa) Euskal (Basque) magyar (Hungarian)bosanski (Bosnian)

Indonesia (Indonesian) 中国的 (Chinese)
Javanese (Javanese)
• CMEC
• Inland Lighting ‫( תירבע‬Hebrew) Беларускі (Belarusian)
Icelandic (Icelandic) български (Bulgarian)
Gaeilge (Irish) ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
‫( ةيبرعلا‬Arabic) hrvatski (Croatian)
• Modern Millwork
• NVSD Woodworking
հայերեն (Armenian) हिंदी (Hindi) italiano (Italian)
Català (Catalan)
• Pomeroy Fairgrounds

čeština (Czech) English (English) suomalainen (Finnish) Georgian (Georgian)

our Sponsors

dansk (Danish) Esperanto (Esperanto) français (French) Deutsch (German)

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 19
Nederlands (Dutch) eesti (Estonian) Galego (Galician) ελληνικά (Greek)

Pilipino (Filipino) ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)

MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT
As to further tie back to the
community we wanted to
fabricate the column out of
a locally based material. For
this we where able to fabri-
cate the material ourselves
out of the material wheat
board. This process went
from picking up the wheat
straw bales, to the final
pressing of each board.

SEPARATING WHEAT STRAW BALES CHIPPING WHEAT STRAW IN HAMMER MILL FINAL WHEAT STRAW FIBERS APPLYING RESIN TO WHEAT FIBERS

20 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
SPREADING WHEAT FIBERS IN PANEL FORM PRE - PRESSED WHEAT BOARD PANEL FINAL WHEAT BOARD PANEL

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 21
CONSTRUCTION PHASE
Now that our material had
been fabricated, we began
final fabrication of the glob-
al population. Due to height
restrictions we where limit-
ed to a six foot height limit.
Final construction included
using the CNC to route out
all the dado cuts for the ver-
tical rails. The laser cutter
was used to cut and etch in
the languages on each rail.
Finally the column was as-
sembled and glued together.

ROUTING IN THE DADO CUTS CUTTING THE VERTICAL RAILS

22 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang
FINAL SANDING SOLDERING LIGHTING ELEMENTS SOLDERING LIGHTING ELEMENTS GLUING COMPONENTS TOGETHER FINAL GLOBAL POPULATION

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 23
ENDING DISCOVERIES
As we approached the end
of our exploration, we real-
ized the organic nature that
the columns interior pro-
duced. In plan view, the col-
umn produced a phyllotaxis
condition which as a spiral-
ing arrangement of leaves
in some plants. This charac-
teristic obeys as number of
subtle mathematical rela-
tionships that can inherently
be seen in the column. We
where unaware of this factor
until final construction was
complete

(555,212,2457)

(555,212,2457)
(248,34,2457)

(529,152,2152)

(378,521,2457)

(186,59,2152)
(440,64,1524)
(248,34,2457)
(437,496,2152) (76,348,2457)

(529,152,2152)

(94,404,2152)
(136,97,1828)

(378,521,2457)

(136,453,1828)

(95,153,1524)

(186,59,2152)
(440,64,1524)
(187,498,1524)

(437,496,2152) (76,348,2457)

(73,209,1219)

(248,521,1219)

(249,34,609)

(73,209,1219)

(377,34,1219)
(72,343,609)

(313,26,914)
(97,404,304)

(136,452,0) (492,99,0)

(94,404,2152)
(492,99,0) (136,97,1828)

(189,59,304)

(144,97,-0.00)

(136,453,1828)

(95,153,1524)

(187,498,1524)

24 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 24
(73,209,1219)

(248,521,1219)
INSTALLATION REVEAL
Finally the exhibit opened
and the column was open
to be viewed to the public,
both here at Washington
State University, and then
again at the Spokane mall in
another exhibit.

Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang 25
SPONSORS AND SPECIAL
THANKS
We would like to take a mo-
ment to thank all our spon-
sors to our efforts as well as
all who make this construc-
tion possible for us. SPECIAL THANKS ALSO TO...

Kevin
Will
Emily
Jannita
Irene
Nandita
Fernando
Ashley Vigen
WLT CREATIVE Photography Credit Ashley Kopetzky
Piya
WSU CMEC Wheat Board Fabrication Cody
INLAND LIGHTING Lighting Fixture Donation Alex
MODERN MILLWORK MDF Donation Dane
POMEROY FAIRGROUND Wheat Straw Donation Gerardo
David
NVSD WOODWORKING Donated Shop Time Nathan
AIA SPOKANE Spokane Mall Exhibit Carrie
WELLER FELLOWSHIP Donation of Research Funds Erick

26 Washington State University School Design + Construction Professor Mary Polites Austin Miles | Jay Henson | Johnny Wang