UNL Architecture Courses - Towerpalooza!

A series of spring technology courses at UNL have concluded this past month.  I taught two parallel courses in parametric modeling and computation for BIM for undergraduate and graduate architecture students. Both courses positioned Revit as the primary design platform:

• Conceptual Design with Revit:  The first course was focused on conceptual family creation and parametric modeling workflows.  
• Computational Design with Dynamo: The second course introduced Dynamo as a computational design tool that can be used to facilitate design exploration with BIM.

The mini-courses were taught over the span of three Saturday sessions with between 10 and 15 students. Both course assignments used a "tower" as the design prompt and it was interesting to compare and contrast the student results. The student products from the parametric family course tended to be more "free" in terms of geometric control with a higher level of development for different design components. The Dynamo course had a much higher barrier to entry for learning a 'new language' and the products were more formula-driven in terms of overall geometry.

Parametric Modeling with Revit

Student: Dexter Hansen

Student: Anna O'Neill

Student: Abdulrahman Nahas

Computational Design with Dynamo

Student: Michelle Lindgren

Student: Kristen Schulte

Student: Caitlin Tangeman

Parametric Forms for Dynamo with LunchBox

I have had a long standing fondness for parametric forms and surfaces that I thought it was about time I re-introduced some of them into the LunchBox package for Dynamo.  The Grasshopper plug-in already had many of them implemented so it was a matter of migrating some of the code to the Python nodes.  Dynamo is a bit touchy with self-intersecting surfaces and there is currently no way to establish "preset" parameter inputs for a node.  With that in mind, I have also included a few sample definitions in the latest package so you can check out some of the parameters.

Have fun.... oh and Happy New Year!

Parametric Strategies Issuu

Originally published in 2009 as part of the ACADIA conference. This article is an overview of the parametric tools and systems used in the design process of civic and sports architecture at NBBJ.

Open publication - Free publishing - More computation

The Hangzhou Tennis Center Issuu

Earlier this past year, I had presented a short paper at the ACADIA Regional conference on some of the parametric tools and systems used on the Hangzhou Tennis Center.

The full article is now available as an Issuu...

Open publication - Free publishing - More computation

Transformable Batwing Surface

I have created a fun definition for manipulating Schoen's batwing surface and tiling the results into 3D patterns.

Head on over to The Proving Ground Wiki to download the Grasshopper file.

FYI. All of my previous Grasshopper definitions (and more!) are hosted and organized on The Proving Ground Wiki. Enjoy!

USC ARCH 517: Featured Student Work

Visit The Proving Ground Wiki
....to see the results of the 5 week USC Grasshopper course!

arcCA 10.1: Parametrics and IPD

arcCA (Architecture California) has recently published its latest issue on Parametrics and IPD. Included is an article titled "Parametric Voices" where various practitioners and academics have chimed in with their thoughts on the relevance and potential of parametric technology. I am happy to have my thoughts included alongside other leading practitioners involved in the field....

Articles:
Integrated Project Delivery: A History of Leadership, Advocacy, and Commitment
by Stephan Castellanos, FAIA

Toward Integrated Project Delivery: A New Design and Delivery Method
by Armando L. Gonzalez, FAIA and David L. Goodale, AIA

Internships for IPD: Gaining Perspective on Collaboration
by Dorit Fromm, AIA

Parametric Design: A Brief History
by Stephen Phillips, PhD

Parametric Voices
With contributions from....
Mark Anderson, Anderson Anderson Architecture
Phil Bernstein, Autodesk
Thomas W. Chessum, CO Architects
Tim Durfee, DurfeeRegn
John Enright, Griffen Enright Architects
Thom Faulders, Faulders Studio
Lisa Iwamoto, IwamotoScott Architecture
Hina Jamelle, Contemporary Architecture Practice
Michael Meredith, MOS
Nathan Miller, NBBJ
Pierluigi Serraino, Author
Nick Sowers, UC Berkeley
Carrie Byles, SOM
Mark Sarkisian, Eric Long, David Shook, SOM Structural Group
Craig Hartman, SOM

Pick it up if happen to come across it!

The Torus

Here is a strategy I am working on in Grasshopper for creating rationalized doubly curved surfaces. The example below uses a torus (defined parametrically using a GH function component). The use of a toroidal "slice" to drive the geometry allows for flat panels, repetitive panel sizes, and quadrilateral panel shapes.

USC Parametric Lecture and GH Mini-Tutorial

On Monday, I presented a lecture on parametric techniques in practice followed by a tutorial on Grasshopper. The presentation was for Jeffrey Kim's Rhino course. Jeff is an instructor and principal of Forward Design. The students were enthused by the technology and were quick to pick up some of the basics of GH. I introduced the same panel exercise as I did before with my office (NBBJ).

Panel exercise by Jeffrey Chinn

Panel exercise by Patrick Wong

NBBJ Grasshopper Workshop 1

Below are some of the results from the Grasshopper workshop I did for my office, NBBJ Los Angeles. We did two exercises. The first was an exercise in creating a surface which changed shape in relation to a point object. The second (featured below) was an exercise where the participants modeled a unique panel object and then propagated it across a curved surface. Some participants had not previously used Rhino.

Competition 5: Anfractuo[c]ity

Competition: eVolo 2009 Skyscraper
Date: January 2009
Award: TBD