closed loop system

This diagram depicts how i envisage my systems operation, facilitating a closed loop system I look at the life cycles of retail products in the context of the future scenario proposed.
In the scenario parasitic residential towers have become a part of the future Myer centre, the waste from the towers would go through a crushing process  before entering the nano pit chambers where the nano bots would break the materials into their constituent components to then be sorted and distributed to produce new 3D printed products.

Circulation

Looking at the circulation of the design and the issues that arise in the movement of the materials output by the nano pits i have devised a system to move and store the materials.

 

As seen in the sketch above i am proposing a set of tracks running throughout the floor plates and between levels. Robots will run along these tracks moving the different materials output from the nano pit to their storage location and then ultimately to the 3D printers to produce the customised products for the community.

Above is a sketch floor plan proposing the extent of the tracks and within that extent the location of the storage facility for the raw materials awaiting use by the 3D printers. There is a distinct interaction created between the users and the function of the space through the incorporation of the robots, storage and nano pits making the overall experience more voyeuristic.
The interaction between the users will be carefully narrated and coordinated to allow the best use of the space and maximum ease of useability and circulation.

model developement

Clay model

Investigation the design through models i created this clay model to obtain a grasp as to how it might come together as a physical entity. It became evident however that this was a purely aesthetic approach and that i needed to explore the mechanisms of the design further. 

Balloon heart

In investigating how i might get the mechanisms of my design to work i looked at the pumping actions and how this could be translated into the design. The balloon being squeezed depicts the contraction of the material facilitating the opening of the valve and the movement of material from one chamber to the next. 

Cardboard mechanism

This model further investigates the mechanisms of the design approaching it in a 2D manner. The cogs of the model simulate the pumping of materials through the various chambers of the nano-pit.

Design developement

Looking at the nano - pit, I have started to consider more carefully how the organic form of my design can be modelled in 3Ds Max and how materials could enter and exit the pit and be stored. The lines represent the 'segments' of a sphere which could be deformed using various modifiers to extrude them and create the form of the nano pit. 

NANO PIT 2.0

Previously i thought that the waste might flow into the pit where the nano bots would disassemble the material and would release the sorted material from the bottom as a type of dust, but now i have been looking into the heart and how it acts as the muscle in the body which acts as the vessel of distribution and control of old and new re-oxygenated blood. 

Not dissimilarly, i now see the nano pits as an organ in the 'body' of my building pulsating and processing the waste of the residential component. So the waste will go down one tube of the nano pit utilising gravity, entering the disassembling chamber; once processed, the pit will contract like a muscle in the body increasing the pressure and forcing the disassembled material into the sorting chamber to be sent up the release valves through the same 'organ like contractions'. These release valves will be the new system that transports the sorted material to its storage location within the Myer center.

Looking at how to recapture the concept of a heart in a futuristic and industrialised way this image below was quite striking for me. I would like to capture a similar sort of feel in my final design but perhaps in a slightly more abstract way. I do find it interesting though looking at the heart as an industrial machine and i would like this to be construed within the design as i feel it would reflect my whole scenario well.  

On another note, as an industrial machine, my nano pits will require maintenance. As such, i have decided to incorporate maintenance access to the nano pits, these access paths will wrap around the pits and access the different levels which will house the storage of the different materials.

Waste management inspiration

As i develop my nano pits i have looked to the beating heart for inspiration, the wonders of the human heart and how each mechanism contracts to allow the flow of blood through the body supplying vital life to the extremities of the body is what i intend to develop my design upon. Bellow is a short film illustrating how the heart pumps old blood through the lungs, filtering it and supplying fresh clean blood to the rest of the body. 

I intend to transfer these biological systems into the design of my nano pit, i will be further exploring the waste management system which will collect, disassemble, sort and then distribute the broken down constituent parts of the waste to its storage facility until the constituent components are required for the use in 3D printing individual products.

Idea developement

In the Myer centre i plan on hanging my 'nano pits' from the current ceiling (to be the sub structure of the new apartment buildings of the future scenario) in the existing voids, this is for a number of reasons. The pits will hang here so that the waste from the new parasitic apartments can funnel down into the pits to be processed, disassembled and sorted into constituent components. Another reason for the placement of the pits is that they can act as a spectacle in the new retail interface of the Myer centre. Finally, they will hang in the void so that people can make the connection between the life cycle of the building. This is achieved as the residential component produces the waste to fuel the industrial component that sorts and stores material for the retail front. 

So tracks will run through the voids, this will have robots running on them capturing the disassembled materials and transporting them to their storage level to be kept there until required by the retail. The materials will be transported to the retail front as required to produce the 3D printed customised products for the public.