Saturday, April 28, 2012

Revit API: Divided Surfaces and Excel Interop

A few more sections of the Revit API have been published.
  • Creating Divided Surface:  Explains how to create a Divided Surface using the API and access the tiling patterns available.
  • Reading and Writing Excel:  Explains how to access an Excel spreadsheet to read and write values.
...to learn more visit my Revit API Notebook....

Additionally, Lilli Smith recently posted on an interesting example on Buildz for using RevitPythonShell to generate program blocks.  The approach is built on top of my Revit API notebook examples related to adjusting family instance parameters and accessing external text files.

On my end, here is some eye candy to show what I have been up to lately.  I am creating a strange 'catenary' surface with Kangaroo and Grasshopper.  I am then feeding the information into an Excel spreadsheet and reconstructing the shape using Adaptive Components via RevitPythonShell.  Note how I am also able to adjust the radius parameter of the pipe members within Revit to reflect the 'force' diagram created in Kangaroo.




Saturday, April 21, 2012

Revit API: Adaptive Components

Below are some tests for automating the creation of Revit's Adaptive Components using the API and Python.  

The placement of the Adaptive Components is driven from a Klein surface and quad grid created in Grasshopper using my LunchBox plug-in.  This workflow allows the user to create and manipulate a lightweight model in the Grasshopper environment and then automate the creation  of the design within the Revit/Vasari environment using native parametric elements.

For information on placing Adaptive Components with the API and Python....



Monday, April 16, 2012

Monday, April 9, 2012

'Algorithms are Thoughts' Lecture



This week and next, I will be giving presentations at two venues:  The Digital Provocations Symposium at UMN and Woodbury University in Burbank...  here is the lecture synopsis.

Algorithms are Thoughts*


Using several NBBJ works-in-progress Nathan will contextualize the radical changes occurring in the global practice of architecture as enabled by new digital paradigms. 


Nathan will discuss two primary professional works. The first project is an 84,000 square meter corporate headquarters currently in schematic design. The second project is an Olympic-sized sports venue currently under construction. Both projects made extensive use of computational frameworks to enable performance-driven workflows, accelerate production processes, and extend creative decision making. Additional work surrounding NBBJ’s Design Computation initiative and Nathan’s personal blog ‘The Proving Ground’ will also be discussed. 


The lecture’s claim that ‘Algorithms are Thoughts’ argues for a design culture that transcends the discussion about digital tools and techniques. Nathan will, instead, articulate a designer-programmer paradigm where computation acts as a necessary extension to (and expression of) design thinking… the ultimate outcome of which is the inseparability of concept and performance.


*Title inspired by the concept of Live Coding and the Toplap Manifesto

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Revit API: Objects, Parameters, and Parametrics

I have made a few more additions to my Revit API Notebook...
  • Object Oriented Programming:  The section shows how to define classes within an IronPython script for improved workflow.
  • Reading and Writing External Files:  Shows a few helpful techniques for reading and writing external text files.
  • Parametric Forms:  Demonstrates a technique for creating cool, parametric forms and surfaces.