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BRIDGES, Winfield KS, July 2000

Explore the feasibility of building bridges in the shape of Möbius bands, inspired by M.C. Escher's artwork. This talk discusses various designs and concepts for creating usable and functional Möbius bridges and buildings.

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BRIDGES, Winfield KS, July 2000

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  1. BRIDGES, Winfield KS, July 2000 MATHEMATICAL CONNECTIONSIN ART, MUSIC, AND SCIENCE “- To Build a Twisted Bridge -” Carlo H. Séquin University of California, Berkeley

  2. Talk Objectives • Explore the feasibility of buildings or bridges in the shape of Möbius bands. • Title is an allusion to Robert Heinlein’s delightful short story“- And He Built a Crooked House -”

  3. Motivation • Annual series of BRIDGES conferenceswould like to have a commemorative entityon the campus of Southwestern College. • During the 1999 BRIDGES conference,there was a brain-storming session in which various (crazy?) ideas were brought forward. • Escher, Möbius, Klein,… are the heroesof this ART-MATH community. • So why not an Escher Garden, or a Klein-bottle house, or a Möbius bridge ?

  4. Escher Illustration by Sean O'Malley We don’t just want an optical illusion.

  5. Our Real Goal We want a realizable 3D structure: • a bridge that we can walk across; • a building that accommodates usable rooms.

  6. Inspiration ! M.C. Escher: “Möbius Strip II”

  7. A Twisted Slab ...

  8. A Twisted Slab ... … is difficult to walk on !

  9. Bézier Patch

  10. Bézier Patch

  11. Twisted C-Section Inspired by Brent Collins’ Sculptures

  12. Close the Loop ! • A twisted band is not a Möbius strip ! • It is only complete when the loop is closed. • It is not so obvious what to do with thereturn path !

  13. Supported Bridge Return path lies underneath the walk-way.

  14. Möbius Suspension Bridge

  15. Another Suspension Bridge Closes the loop through a non-planar space curve

  16. Emulating M.C. Escher Can we turn this shape into a usable bridge for humans ?

  17. Figure-8 Möbius Bridge, Type I Inspired by Escher’s “Möbius Strip II”

  18. Figure-8 Möbius Bridge, Type II Use edge-flange as walk-way

  19. Möbius Bridge

  20. Möbius Bridge

  21. Möbius Bridge

  22. Another Approach Starting from M.C. Escher’s “Möbius Strip I” Recycling Symbol with 3-fold symmetry.

  23. “Japanese” Möbius Bridge Asymmetric recycling symbol Walk on edges of Möbius band

  24. Other Möbius Constructions ? • There are plenty of possibilities forfunctional Möbius bridges. • What about Möbius buildings ?

  25. Möbius Building Designs Peter Eisenman Van Berkel & Bos

  26. Deforming the Basic Möbius Loop

  27. Form Follows Function Start with a practial building module, say, 30’ by 30’ by 30’.

  28. Möbius Structures 90° 180°

  29. Towards Real Möbius Buildings Flatten cross section to 2:1(4 stories tall in upper arch).Soften the corners for more aesthetic appeal.

  30. Practical Möbius Buildings Reduce the span of the arch by closing loop on the outside.

  31. A Practical Möbius Building Glass windows Office Tower(view windows) Mostly opaque Entrance atrium, Cafeteria, Lounges, Library (glass ceilings)

  32. Experiments with Vertical Loops Reducing the flat area by unwinding the spiral

  33. “Lambda” Möbius House The shortest way to connect “front” to “back”

  34. “Lambda” Möbius House

  35. Lambda Möbius House

  36. Möbius House and Bridge Non-rectangular profile for comparison

  37. Functional realizations exist for both. Bridge constructions seem quite feasibleand affordable (depending on scale). Möbius buildings tend to be rather largein order to allow a usable inner structure. What if the funds are not sufficient for either one ? Möbius Houses and Bridges

  38. Möbius Sculpture by Max Bill

  39. Möbius Sculptures by Keizo Ushio

  40. More Split Möbius Bands Typical lateral splitby M.C. Escher And a maquette made by Solid Free-form Fabrication

  41. Another Möbius Split Typical lateral splitby M.C. Escher Splitting the band in the thickness direction --creates a Möbius space.

  42. “Möbius Space” Interior space has the shape of a Möbius band.

  43. Maquette of “Möbius Space”

  44. Möbius topology is mysterious, intriguing. It constitutes a good symbol for the annual Bridges Conferences. A commemorative construction might takethe form of a Bridge, a House, a Sculpture. Various conceptual possibilities have been introduced in this talk --more development and refinement is needed. Hopefully, there will be an actual physical construction on Campus before too long. Conclusions

  45. Questions ?

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