Stewart Dickson
23115 Bluebird Drive
Calabasas, CA  91302
(818)223-9117
Stewart.Dickson@disney.com

Portfolio of Geodesic Constructions

Circles Oriented at the Vertices and Edges of a Tetrahedron, Mathematica computer rendering, (c) 1990 Stewart Dickson.

This is the first step in the construction of a smoothed modular hull based upon a lattice made of units derived from the Platonic Solids.

Hardware/Software used: The Mathematica system for doing Mathematics by computer, Sun 3/160.

Tetrahedral Circular Arcs Truncated at their Intersections, Mathematica computer rendering, (c) 1990 Stewart Dickson.

This is the second step in the construction of a smoothed modular hull based upon a lattice made of units derived from the Platonic Solids.

Hardware/Software used: The Mathematica system for doing Mathematics by computer, Sun 3/160.

Tessellated Six-Arc Boundaries, which form the Tetrahedral Lattice Unit, computer rendering, (c) Stewart Dickson 1986.

This is the fundamental unit of an approximation of an Infinite, Periodic Minimal Surface of tetrahedral lattice topology. It is constructed by repeated instances of a smoothed, triangulated surface patch unit. The basic sub-assembly is homeomorphic to an tetraehdron with its vertices removed. The construction process is theoretically infinite and is a geodesic structure of non-spherical topology. The infinite variety of possible designs has a very organic quality.

Software/Hardware used: Form originally developed on a pdp11/40 using Tom DeFanti's GRASS, later adapted to Wavefront Advanced Visualizer modeling environment and the Mathematica system for doing mathematics on the computer with C-language enhancements by Stewart Dickson. Computing hardware: Silicon Graphics Personal Iris 4D/25TG.

Geodesic Tetrahedron, Mathematica computer visualization, (c) Stewart Dickson 1990.

This is the fundamental unit of an approximation of an Infinite, Periodic Minimal Surface of tetrahedral lattice topology. It is constructed by repeated instances of a smoothed, triangulated surface patch unit. The basic sub-assembly is homeomorphic to a tetrahedron with its vertices removed. The surface in the slide has been closed with geodesic hemispheres. The construction process is theoretically infinite and is a geodesic structure of non-spherical topology. The infinite variety of possible designs has a very organic quality.

More information on the construction scheme can be found in: Dickson, Stewart; "Graphics Gallery: Many-Handled Surfaces", The Mathematica Journal, pp. 51-58, Volume 1, Issue 4, (Spring, 1991) Addison-Wesley, Publishers.

Software/Hardware used: Form originally developed on a DEC pdp11/40 using Tom DeFanti's GRASS, later adapted to Wavefront Advanced Visulaizer modeling environment and the Mathematica system for doing mathematics on the computer with C-language enhancements by Stewart Dickson. Computing hardware: Sun 3/160.

Geodesic Cyclohexane, Mathematica computer rendering, (c) Stewart Dickson 1991.

This is one of an infinite number of possible designs based upon the Smoothed Tetrahedral Lattice Unit. This is an approximation of an Infinite, Periodic Minimal Surface of tetrahedrallattice topology. It is constructed by repeated instances of a smoothed, triangulated surface patch unit. The basic sub-assembly is homeomorphic to a tetrahedron with its vertices removed. The construction process is theoretically infinite and is a geodesic structure of non-spherical topology. The infinite variety of possible designs has a very organic quality.

Software/Hardware used: Form originally developed on a DEC pdp11/40 using Tom DeFanti's GRASS, later adapted to Wavefront Advanced Visualizer modeling environment and the Mathematica system for doing mathematics on the computer with C-language enhancements by Stewart Dickson. Computing hardware: Sun 3/160.

Geodesic Adamantane, Mathematica computer rendering, (c) Stewart Dickson 1991.

This is one of an infinite number of possible designs based upon the Smoothed Tetrahedral Lattice Unit. This is an approximation of an Infinite, Periodic Minimal Surface of tetrahedrallattice topology. It is constructed by repeated instances of a smoothed, triangulated surface patch unit. The basic sub-assembly is homeomorphic to a tetrahedron with its vertices removed. The construction process is theoretically infinite and is a geodesic structure of non-spherical topology. The infinite variety of possible designs has a very organic quality.

Software/Hardware used: Form originally developed on a DEC pdp11/40 using Tom DeFanti's GRASS, later adapted to Wavefront Advanced Visualizer modeling environment and the Mathematica system for doing mathematics on the computer with C-language enhancements by Stewart Dickson. Computing hardware: Sun 3/160.

Polyp City, maquette Plaster Gauze, Dimensions: 18" x 18" x 18", (c) Stewart Dickson 1986.

A one-piece mould in wood, wire and plaster gauze is fashioned for single instances of a six-arc-bounded surface. Many instances of these surface patches are fashioned in composite material (papier mache, plaster gauze, expoy-fiberglass, ...) then assembled in position.

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