Carlos K. Quinones: Ferrofluids in the Basement

Since not everyone got to see this last semester, and those that did were subjected to my disorganized, mad ramblings about this black goop I managed to get all over my hands, I am going to post it here, (hopefully) with a better narrative attached, so that everyone who cares can understand where I started from, and that I started off the project about a third of a semester ahead of some people. Sorry about that.


Anyways, I presented this slideshow to the
emergent scholar's (re)House members in the fall of 2009, after I decided not to do the directed research for that week (although, prior to that I was under the impression that I didn't even have time to do the project due to an upcoming space planning presentation, which was actually the next week due to some crazy Jewish Holiday).

Yes, I did make all these slides by myself.

The ultimate purpose of the (re)House project was to explore structure in a more roundabout way, by observing the structure of the human body and morphology, and to ultimately use that research to move forward into constructing multipurpose furniture constructs. However, I also saw the furniture's structural design to be a microcosm for the structure inherent of the built environment itself; as many architects would create design the furniture that would occupy the space, so could we (maybe).

At this point, I wanted to remind the group of classic types of structures, both rigid and flexible. They generally require that one force needs to act on another static object in order to hold it taught, rigid, or erect. However, these were the old ways, and something that I felt we should ultimately build upon, but not directly copy.








As I mentioned earlier, I felt that we should be considering new ways of not only encapsulating space, but also holding up buildings. The pictured balloon animal stands because it the forces pushing out of the balloon (air pressure) cause it to take a shape, and stand erect.

Likewise, the tensegrity structure (edited, 4/6/10 - CKQ) manages to maintain a shape via tension in the strings and on the poles, to hold itself fast and rigid. These were the types of structures I believed we were headed towards, if only because of the analogous connection that they had with components of the human body.

And here's where the ferrofluid came in. I originally saw it in a how-to video posted on Gizmodo.com, explaining (in layman's terms) the science and principles behind it. I immediately saw insurmountable potential in this substance: a fluid that becomes rigid in the presence of a magnetic field? My brain got a speeding ticket for going so fast after seeing this in action.

And the very thought of being able to make some at home? From materials recycled from dying technology that would line garbage dumps anyways? I already was postulating on how many problems I could solve with this one material, even though by doing so I created many more. Namely, where could I find the VHS tapes used to make this stuff?

Now, I had to tie this into what we were doing for the Emergent Environment (re)House Project. This page was merely to appease my supervisors, although it does provide a valid point: that the ferrofluid, which in the absence of a magnetic field (stimulus), collapses to a viscous state (relaxes). In the presence of a stimulus it flexes, much like how a muscle will flex when the nervous system sends an electrical signal to a rotary nerve.





From there, I started to postulate on uses for magnetic fields in structure. Originally, I thought it impossible for any built environment to be composed primarily of liquid. However, that is now the point of my final thesis project. Last semester, though, I was concerned with making it work, and I hamstringed my thought process by tying it to old methods of creating structure. These were my earlier attempts to combine magnets with structure.

The neodymium magnet assemblies (top right) posed a possibility for quick-assembling structures from pr-fabricated structural members that would lock onto each other and remain connected solely due to strong magnetic forces.

The image on the bottom left is a canopy-like structure, tied to the ground, with magnets embedded into the fabric. It would be tied down to another large, permanent magnet of the same charge, and the magnets would repel. As the magnets embedded in the canopy would be far lighter, and spread apart, and also woven into a fabric, they would lift up and hold the canopy over the space below, creating a hyperbolic tent-like structure below.

My final idea was a bit nutty (pictured bottom right), but was based on the premise in the previous example, but on a heavier scale, with solid building portions lifted into the air via similar magnetic charges. Originally, it felt like a major pipe dream, even while speaking about it to my audience, but Phillip Morgan and I later spoke on the subject and he brought up the subject of magnetic levitation trains, and how they weigh hundreds of tons, but float on a cushion of air, gliding along at hundreds of miles an hour. Suddenly, my ideas stopped being so crazy, but they remain expensive.

To once again dial it back to the need to make furniture, I postulated that the ferrofluid itself had the possibility for tons of different uses in a smaller scale (I remind you that a semester ago I felt very sure that I could not apply this to buildings).

Pictured on the top is a sketch of a person sitting on a glob of magnetically activated ferrofluid (within a soft, flowing membrane, of course). The middle image is of a table, held up by ferrofluid arcing from the ground upwards, carrying a tablet that could carry a load. The bottom image is of another glob of far more shapeless ferrofluid lifting up a person who is lounging on it in what may be the worst possible manner; very bad for ones back.

In my final slide, I speak of what I plan(ned) to do in the future, which is now. I've already spoken with Dr. Spellane, the head of the Chemistry department, and he seems very intrigued and may be able to procure me some lab time (as well as a partner, so as to make sure I don't blow my arm off in the lab).

My timeline may be better at explaining what I plan to do in the future, actually, especially now that it's apparently 3 in the morning and I am too exhausted to be witty anymore tonight.