Would somebody please be so kind as to perform an experiment with rats in varying nesting environments.
I want to find out if living in a cubic housing unit inhibits ones intelligence compared against living in a non cubic house, especially a rhombic dodecahedral shaped house. Maybe the evolution of our consciousness can be more focused. Does anybody know of any other creature that builds cubic nests??
In 1991 when I first arrived in Hawaii, I was honoured to be invited to play guitar for the monthly dances of Universal Peace which was hosted by the Sufis . Slowly I became aware of the love, the harmony and the beauty of these truly spiritual gatherings.
I met beautiful people......I met my good friend, Sheik Jelaleddin Loras who in 1978 was sent to America by his father Sheik Suleiman Dede, to continue his education and water the seeds of Sufism.
I had never met Sheik Jelaleddin Loras's father who in the early 70's had himself travelled to America carrying the mysteries of the Mevlevi tradition. Sheik Suleiman Dede coached men and women in the Sema ceremony, planting the seeds of love, unity and beauty in many hearts.
One night I had a vivid dream. I was on the top of a very high structure. I was in fear of falling.
As I wobbled back and forth, trying to keep my balance, I could see people below looking up at my situation with fear and awe on their faces. I was about to fall.......
In an instant I was in the secure and steady embrace of an old, small, smiling arab dressed all in white. He was slowly and gently turning us both around and around. We seemed to meld, he spoke softly.
In that seemingly endless embrace, I began to realise that we were on the top of a huge tetrahedral pyramid structure. My fears had now abated and as I looked down, now, all I could see were the smiling faces of the crowd below.
That's all there was...It left me puzzled for weeks ..it was strange, extremely vivid and awesome.
A few weeks later I began building a wooden model of a group of enjoined rhombic dodecahedrons using post and beam techniques. I came up with a simple truss system to stabilise the shear forces.
Using this truss system I realised it is possible to build a large open space contained within a huge tetrahedralpyramid .
This picture of the wooden model I made is 3 tiered. Imagine this as a seven tiered structure. That upper single RD if full size would equal approx 80 sq ft if using 6 ft beam lengths.
A short time later I was attending a a gathering of friends. The hosts Kim and Valerie are Sufis and I was admiring a shrine dedicated to Sufism when there, in a small picture frame, was the very image of the old arab man who appeared in my dream.
Wow! Really set back by this extraordinary coincidence I was, and still am, double wowed to find out from Valerie Noor Karima that it was Sheik Jelaleddin Loras's father... Sheik Suleiman Dede, who appeared in my dream and that he is famous for appearing in dreams!!!!
I conclude from this Serendipitous experience that I should build the pyramid.
I've been developing a modular building system which uses rhombic dodecahedrons (RD) as the basic module. The only present method, which stabilises what would be a very wobbly RD structure, is to use pre-fabricated rhombic panels which are then edge joined.
However, I wish to build RD structures using only post and beam construction technique.
I believe that the natural strength of a structure comes from inside not from the exterior shell.
However all of my previous methods I had used to join the posts to the beams had proved to be less than satisfactory.
Tenons, dowels, screws, various brackets had all failed me.
I finally came across an elegant solution.
A six way connection, hurricane tie bracket specifically designed for a modular building system based on rhombic dodecahedra using post and beam technique.
This product is patent pending. Filed on the 19th April 2010.
Description of Invention.
A heavy duty metal plate that when interconnected with five other identical plates becomes a 6-way, hurricane tie bracket specifically designed for a modular building system based on rhombic dodecahedra using a post and beam technique rather than using panels to create stability.
Typically the beams or rafters, in such a system, are connected to a six-way bracket which is in turn encircles a hexagonal cross sectioned post.
This invention solves the problem of the post to beam connection when building rhombic structures.
There is no satisfactory connector system available which can join six sloped rafters midway along the length of a hexagonal post. One could use six individual, variable sloped brackets on each face of the hexagonal post. The sloped bracket is more suited for uplift forces rather than tension forces. There would be over-nailing problems and inaccuracies in setting the required angle of the rafter to the post at 109.5 degrees. (The reflex angle of the rhombic in a rhombic dodecahedron).
The invention consists of six identical, preformed, metal plates each of which have two slots. The slots are used for interconnecting purposes. Each plate when alternatively interlocked, interconnect the six metal plates into a hexagonal ring creating a strong, 6-way, rigid bracket that encircles the hexagonal post. It can be slid up or down the post to allow for final field adjustment, whereupon it can be affixed to the post using minimal nailing. Plate Design
The bracket plate is water jet or laser cut out of flat sheet (10 gauge?). The width of the bracket plate is configured and designed to accommodate various dimensional lumber or hollow tube to fit in or around the ends of the plate. The flat bracket plate is somewhat chevron shaped wherein the reflex angle is 109.5 degrees at both ends. The bracket plate has two parallel slots distanced equally apart about the mid-line of the plate . The distance between the centre lines of the slots is equal to the width of the rafter or beam plus the thickness (gauge)of the two plates. The plate is then folded as shown in Figure 3 at angles of 150 degrees. The area between the slots at the centre of the plate is pre-drilled with holes to accommodate attachment of plate to hexagonal wooden post .
How the Invention Works:
A single bracket plate is nailed to a vertically positioned hexagonal cross sectioned post 10 (See Figure 8) so that the slots are facing upward and plumb. A second plate with the slots facing down is interlocked to the previously fixed plate , leveled and fixed. A third, fourth and fifth plate is attached in similar fashion. The sixth plate is lap-jointed to both the first and fifth plate completing a hexagonal ring structure. The resulting bracket offers six locations for attachment of beam or rafter member. Timber rafters, typically 2X’s, can be sandwiched between the two parallel inclined plates of the assembled bracket.
Hexagonal posts Hexagonal wooden posts are easily manufactured using standard sized lumber. The modular system that is envisioned will be using mainly 2 by 4’s,6’s and 8’s .
Why?
The rhombic dodecahedron is a more efficient structural shape than an orthogonal or cubic shape. An ideal structure would enclose a large amount of space with a small amount of building material. Cubes have a low volume to surface area ratio. Of all three-dimensional shapes, the sphere has the highest. The closer a building is to spherical, the better it is able to withstand high winds and weather conditions. The rhombic dodecahedron perfectly packages a sphere. It tessellates three dimensional space. The structures that, only now, are able to be safely built by the use of this product could initiate a growth market because of its possible green appeal.
Companies that accept timber for recycling back into the building trade will generally not accept anything less than 6 feet in length.
A timber beam length of 5 1/2 feet will make an approximate rhombic dodecahedral room area of 67 square feet. (9 feet flat to flat / 10 feet point to point)
Its simplicity of design indicates a low manufacturing cost and therefore an acceptable price tag.
A new way, using low tech, energy efficient, easy construction techniques to build strong hurricane /tsunami annealed housing units.
The beauty of this bracket is that it totally simplifies the construction process of what would have been a very complicated and somewhat inefficent structure to assemble.
Initially I was planning hardwood dowels to join the posts and beams together. This, as previously stated, was too questionable as most of the joints would be subject to tension forces.
No need to know this now!!!!
Designing the necessary dowelling jigs took the project beyond the scope of homebuilders.
Now the only main tools required are a laser level, hammer and saw. Let's get building!!!
