Troubles in Paneling: Modeling a one-off sculpture in Rhino and the burden of the use value of para-metrics

The sketch to the right is a quick 3/4 view of an aluminum panel sculpture that I have been wanting to create for a while now that consists of a large number of aluminum panels that are all flat and connect at all their edges. The product, a three dimensional mass of precarious, perforated and highly polished aluminum panels occupy space in a spatially heavy though architecturally light and airy manner. Each panel is CNC routed in 1/8 aluminum and each hole is dimple died to make these repetitious, almost drain-like voids where accent LED lighting can peer through. The finished product is this highly polished, structurally sound object that becomes the visual mash-up of  Watts towers meets Sears tower meets the leaning tower of Pisa meets custom automotive culture.

This project spurred my interest in this course as its wonky form is a material enigma to create physically allowing all the panels to fit together correctly to be TIG welded. What I have come to realize in the past three weeks working on modeling this in rhino is that what are typically praised for being time saving tools in Parametric modelling  (and in rhino specifically Paneling tools) create major logistical problems for what I am attempting to do as an artist. The result is a large number of hours playing with different configurations of point arrays and grids to allow for the manual manipulations that I am seeking. Once the grids are manipulated, I attempt to panel from the grids to make the four sides of the object, accepting ad embracing the limitations and resistance of the software as it impacts the physical outcome of the finished product. But, the panels, chosen to create flat surfaces output as the instantaneous snapshot visually equal to a deck of cards falling to the ground (as seen in the screen shot second from the right)

Being stubborn by nature and true to my sketch, I am forcing the panels to all roughly be some odd form of rectangle rather than the easy answer to the problem which would be to switch to triangles. There is something about the horizontal vs vertical components that point visually towards urban, man-made life such as buildings or apartments and more generally the idea of compartments (living, working, storage compartments) that interests me in this piece. In playing around and watching numerous Tutorials on YouTube ad Vimeo (higher quality) I decided to copy the sides to start to visualize a somewhat 4 sided form. I was having trouble with patching the uneven sides with flat panels and came across the blend surfaces command, which I employed here.

Even though it is a new concept for the work (to have molded corners) I am intrigued by it as it opens up to other material possibilities rather than sticking with the rigidity of the aluminum, though I am still partial to it. I am really hoping that tomorrow In class I can nail down a few objective and get some quality feedback on form and possible modelling tips. I hope to get input on:

1) meshing the side with flat panels

2) moving control points and panels to manipulate further this shape

3) can i now create a grid from this object and panel in 3d?

4) flattening panels to meet prior expectations of artists sketches