STUDIO AIR ALGORITHMIC SKETCHBOOK
2014, SEMESTER 2, PHILIPSARAH WARING
COVER IMAGE:PAUL MCCOLLAM, ‘HILLY’, IMAGE, STRUCTURAL SURFACE, <HTTP://PAULMCCOLLAM.COM/WP-CONTENT/UPLOADS/
HILLY.JPG> [ACCESSED 4 AUGUST 2014].
Table of Contents
4 Week 1: Introduction to Grasshopper
6 Week 2: Understanding Geometry and Transformations
9 Week 3: Controlling the Algorithm: Lists, Flow Control, Matching
20 Week 5: Patterning with 2 Attractor Points
24 Week 6: Calculating energy output of solar panels
27 Week 7: Simulating annual amount of solar radiation on a building
29 Field Fundamentals: Point Charges and Field Direction Colouring
30 Evaluating Fields
31 Mesh Relaxation
32 Week 10: Apply & modify variations from matrices into landscape manipulations or surface patterns
38 Expression Component
39 Creating a stage from the projected curve of the opening
40 Step and Stair definition for B.6 interim design
42 Linear Arrayed Stairs and Box Seats set according to Plane Frames
44 My final design
46 Reference List
46 Image Reference List
4 CONCEPTUALISATION
The first task we were given for this algorithmic sketchbook was one to introduced the interface and basics of Rhino and Grasshopper, which we will use for parametric modelling. Grasshopper, paired with Rhino allows the relationship between numerous design paramaters to define a parametric model, the parts of which are related and can be modified according to the parameters and dependicies defined.1
1 Ronnie Parsons and Gil Akos, Introduction to Grasshopper,
Modelab collective, (aired 21 September, 2012) < http://lab.modecollective.
nu/lab/introduction-to-grasshopper/> [accessed 1 August 2014].
The steps involved:
This introductory task comprised creating 5 construct points and 5 number slider componments set to range from 0-100, to create 4 points in Rhino.
When linked by the addition of a Polyline compoenennt in Grasshopper, these points created a credible outline of a building. When the value of the sliders was altered the outline changed accordingly.
To create a roof to the building, these previous commands were copied and pasted, but the slider connected to the Z components was set within a range above 1 but less than 100 so as to elevate the form above the ‘ground plane’. The building was given volume once the Polyline components were connected to a single Loft component which was then connected to a Cap component. Lofting the structure created a freeform surface.
What resulted was a modifiable volume bound by 6 surfaces that changed according to the number sliders, to produce varying shapes. In other words, a parametric building, in which a change of the inputs consequently changes the outputs as the overall geometry is formed by numerous related geometries.
Week 1: Introduction to Grasshopper
THE BASICS: POINTS, SLIDERS, LINE, AND SURFACE VOLUMES
FIG.1. GRASSHOPPER ALGORITHM FOR TASK TO GENERATE VOLUME
CONCEPTUALISATION 5
FIG.2. VOLUMES GENERATED ACCORDING TO ALGORITHM IN FIG 1
CREATING A GRID
6 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG.3 CREATING A GRID IN GRASSHOPPER
Week 2: Understanding Geometry and Transformations
FIG.4 ARRAY OF CYLINDRICAL COLUMNS
FIG.5 COLUMNS OF VARIABLE RADIUS AND HEIGHT BUT IN OPPOSITE DIRECTION IN Z-AXIS
This weeks task was to generate a grid with an array of columns extending from it. These columns were to orient their axis according to the relative tangent of the curved surface from which they are extending. Variations to the columns heights and radius could be achieved by modifying the inputs.
CONCEPTUALISATION 7
FIG.6 COLUMNS CORRECTLY ORIENTED AND WITH RANDOMLY GENERATED RADIUS
FIG.7 ALGORITHM THAT FORMED FIG 6,
VARIATIONS OF THE DESIGN
8 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG.8 VARIATION TO PARAMETERS DEFINED IN FIG. 7
FIG.9 VARIATION TO PARAMETERS DEFINED IN FIG. 7
FIG.10 VARIATION TO PARAMETERS DEFINED IN FIG. 7
CREATING A DATA TREE OF LISTS
CONCEPTUALISATION 9
Week 3: Controlling the Algorithm: Lists, Flow Control, Matching
FIG.11 DATA LIST OF TREES IN RHINO
FIG.12 ALGORITHMS TO PRODUCE DATA TREE OF LISTS
LIST & CULL PATTERNS TO DELETE CONDITIONALLY
CREATING A GRIDSHELL
10 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG.13 ALGORITHM AND RESULT OF CONDITIONALLY CULLED PATTERN
FIG.14 ALGORITHM TO PRODUCE GRIDSHELL
PATTERNING LISTS
FIG.15. LGORITHMS TO PATTERN LIST
CONCEPTUALISATION 11
12 CONCEPTUALISATION
TASK: RE-CREATING THE RMIT BUILDING 80
FIG.17 TRIANGULAR GEOMETRY APPLIED TO GRID BY CREATING EDGES AND APPLYING THEM TO LISTS
FIG.18 ALGORITHM FOR FIG 12
FIG.19 TRIANGLES MADE INTO SURFACES, DIVIDED INTO LISTS AND COLOURED
FIG.16 GRID GENERATED ALONG LOFTED CURVE SURFACE
CONCEPTUALISATION 13
FIG.20 RMIT BUILDING 80
14 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG.21 VARIATIONS: PATTERN OF COLOURED TRIANGLES BY CULLING NTH TRIANGLE AND DEFINED PATTERNS
FIG. 22 MODIFYING CONTROL POINTS OF ORIGINAL CURVES IN RHINO
MODIFYING THE GEOMETRY AND PATTERN
FIG.25 GENERAL VERSION OF ALGORITHM USED TO
GENERATE FIIGS 21-24
CONCEPTUALISATION 15
FIG.23 MODIFICATION OF CURVE CONTROL
FIG.24 ALGORITHM APPLIED TO NEW CURVES
16 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG. 26 ALGORITHM APPLIED TO RHINO GENERATED SPHERE FIG. 27 ALGORITHM APPLIED TO RHINO GENERATED SPHERE WITH MODIFICATION TO VECTORS CREATING TRIANGLES AND SOME TRIANGLES LEFT OUT
APPLYING ALGORITHM TO SPHERE
CONCEPTUALISATION 17
FIG. 28 FURTHER MODIFICATIONS MADE TO ALGORITHM APPLIED TO
RHINO GENERATED SPHERE
FIG. 29 A VERSION OF THE ALGORITHM APPLIED TO RHINO GENERATED SPHERE
18 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG. 30 AN ATTEMPT TO CREATE AN ORDERED GRID OF COORDINATES FROM THE CONTINUAL LIST OF TRIANGLES BY USING TREE COMPONENT
FIG. 31 THE TREE ALGORITHMS I USED IN AN ATTEMPT TO GENERATE AN ORDERED GRID OF COORDINATES
CONCEPTUALISATION 19
FIG. 32 GAP IN PATTERN THAT REMAINS 2X2 WHEN PARAMETERS ALTERED
FIG. 33 ALGORITHM TO PRODUCE GAP IN PATTERN THAT REMAINS 2X2 WHEN PARAMETERS ALTERED
CREATING A GAP IN THE PATTERN
20 CONCEPTUALISATION
Week 5: Patterning with 2 Attractor Points
FIG. 35. PROCESS OF DEVELOPIGN GRID OF CIRCLES WITH RADIUS CHANGING ACCORDING TO ATTRACTOR POINTS, FOLLOWING VIDEO:HTTP://DESIGNREFORM.NET/2008/07/GRASSHOPPER-PATTERNING-WITH–2-ATTRACTOR-POINTS
FIG. 34. ALGORITHM FOR 2 POINT ATTRACTOR PATTERNING
CONCEPTUALISATION 21
original radius radius Bake 3 - level of attraction
APPLYING 2 ATTRACTOR POINTS TO WEEK 2 ALGORITHMIC SKETCH
original radius radius Bake 3 - level of attraction
FIG 36. 2 POINT ATTRACTOR ALGORITHM APPLIED TO FROM WEEK 2 ALGORITHMIC SKETCH
FIG. 37. PERSPECTIVE AND PLAN OF ORIGINAL COLUMNS
22 CONCEPTUALISATION
original radius radius Bake 3 - level of attraction
APPLYING 2 POINT ATTRACTOR TO MODIFY COLUMN RADIUS
FIG 38. PERSPECTIVE AND PLAN OF COLUMNS WITH RADIUS DETERMIINED BY PROXIMITY TO ATTRACTOR POINTS
FIG. 39. ALGORITHM OF COLUMNS WITH HEIGHT DETERMIINED BY PROXIMITY TO ATTRACTOR POINTS
CONCEPTUALISATION 23
Bake 4 - move points closer together and increase effect of their attraction
Bake 5 - move points closer together and increase effect of their attraction
APPLYING 2 POINT ATTRACTOR TO MODIFY COLUMN HEIGHT
FIG 40. PERSPECTIVE AND PLAN OF COLUMNS WITH HEIGHT DETERMIINED BY PROXIMITY TO ATTRACTOR POINTS
FIG 41. ALGORITHM FOR COLUMNS WITH HEIGHT DETERMIINED BY PROXIMITY TO ATTRACTOR POINTS
24 CONCEPTUALISATION
Week 6: Calculating energy output of solar panels
FIG. 42. ALGORITHM TO CALCULATE ENERGY OUTPUT OF SOLAR PANELS
FIG. 43 ALGORITHM AND RENDER FOR TRIANGUALR GRID PANEL SYSTEM .LEARNT FROM RHINO GUIDE, TRI PANEL SYSTEM WITH GRASSHOPPER,
VIDEO, HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V-IK20-F4-ANA.
Annual energy output of 330.616 kw/y
CONCEPTUALISATION 25
FIG 44 . TUBE CREATED USING SWEEP COMPONENT AND PANLED WITH
SUBDIVIDED QUADS (RIGHT)FIG. 45. CIRCLE AND CURVE INPUTS
TO CREATE TUBE (BOTTOM),
FIG 46. ALGORITHM TO CREATE TUBE AND ITS PANELLED PATTERN
Annual energy output of 310.233278 kw/y
26 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG 48. PANELING WITH MORPH GEOMETRY DEFINITION. LEARNT FROM NICK SENSKE, GRASSHOPPER LECTURE 3 - PART 4: PANELING WITH MORPH GEOMETRY, YOUTUBE, HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/
WATCH?V=MUQIXAF9W3A, [ACCESSED 27 AUGUST 2014]
FIG 47. RENDERED MODELS OF GEOMETRY WITH HOLES CUT OUT OF PANELS IN THE SHAPE OF THE INPUT GEOMETRY
Annual Energy Output 724.562002 kw/y
Annual Energy Output 694.151546 kw/y
CONCEPTUALISATION 27
Week 7: Simulating annual amount of solar radiation on a building
FIG 49. LADYBUG SIMULATION OF ANNUAL AMOUNT OF SOLAR RADIATION GIVEN GEOMETRY
FIG. 50. SIMULATION OF ANNUAL SOLAR RADIATION ON BUILDING WITH CYLINDICAL TUBES, SHOWING THE MOST RADIATION HITS THE HIGHEST AREAS OF THE BUILDING
28 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG. 51. SIMULATION OF ANNUAL SOLAR RADIATION ON FORM MORE REMINISCENT OF A TYPICAL BUILDING WITH SETBACKS AND OVERHANGS, SHOWING THE MOST RADIATION HITS THE HIGHEST AREAS OF THE BUILDING
FIG. 52. SIMULATION OF ANNUAL SOLAR RADIATION ON FORM THAT BE AN ABNORMALLY SHAPED FACTORY OR OFFICE BUILDING, SHOWING THE MOST RADIATION HITS THE HIGHEST AREAS OF THE BUILDING
CONCEPTUALISATION 29
Field Fundamentals: Point Charges and Field Direction Colouring
FIG 53. FIELD DIRECTION COLOURING ACCORDING TO THE CHARGE OF TWO POINTS
FIG. 54. POINT CHARGE AND FIELD DIRECTIONAL COLOURING ALGORITHM
30 CONCEPTUALISATION
Evaluating Fields
FIG. 55. THE PROCESS OF CREATING DIFFERENT PATTERN BY EVALUATING FIELDS. READ AS THE INPUT CURVES, VARYING THE NUMBER OF DIVISIONS, CHARGE OF THE POINT, CIRCLE RADIUS AND ADDING THREE DIMENSIONAL ELEMENT
FIG. 56. THE ALGORITHM FOR EVALUATING FIELDS
CONCEPTUALISATION 31
Mesh Relaxation
FIG. 57. (TOP) MESH RELAXATION OF TOP LEFT MESH GEOMETRY, WITH
LESS POINTS SELECTED AS INPUTS TO KANGAROO COMPONENT
FIG. 58. (BOTTOM) MESH RELAXATION ALGORITHM
32 CONCEPTUALISATION
Week 10: Apply & modify variations from matrices into landscape manipulations or
surface patterns
B.2 MATRIX VARIATION
FIG. 59. RESULTS FROM B.2 MATRIX VARIATION OF BANQ ALGORITHM
FIG 60. ISOMETRIC VIEW OF APPLICATION OF FURTHER MODIFIED ALGORITHM APPLIED TO LAGI SITE AS MAZE-LIKE LANDSCAPING ELEMENT, VARIATION 1
CONCEPTUALISATION 33
FIG. 65. ALGORITHM FROM B.2 MODIFICATION OF BANQ ALGORITHM. REMOVING ELEMENTS BY DIVIDING THE CURVES, SELECTING POINTS TO
FORM LINES PERPENDICULAR TO THE ORIGINAL CURVILINEAR EXTRUDED CURVES ALONG THE SURFACE. DIVIDING UP THE EXTRUDED CURVES BY THEIR INTERSECTION WITH THE INTERPOLATED CURVE AND SELECTING SEGMENTS.
FIG 60. ISOMETRIC VIEW OF APPLICATION OF FURTHER MODIFIED ALGORITHM APPLIED TO LAGI SITE AS MAZE-LIKE LANDSCAPING ELEMENT, VARIATION 1
FIG. 61. (TOP) PERSPECTIVE OF VARIATION 1FIG. 62. (RIGHT) CLOSE UP OF VARIATION 1
FIG. 63. BANQ DEFINITION VARIATION 2 FIG. 64. BANQ DEFINITION VARIATION 3
34 CONCEPTUALISATION
B.4 TRIANGULAR PANEL DEFINITION MANIPULATED INTO LANDSCAPING PATTERN OF PLATFORMS
FIG. 66. AERIAL RENDER OF FINAL PROPOSAL FOR B.6
CONCEPTUALISATION 35
CHANGES:
Extruded triangles to create platforms
Scaled and elevated structures within larger platforms
Path by culling triangles by proximity to attractor curve
Offset triangular frames to varying degrees to create pathways and platforms that change in size
according to distance to set attractor point
FIG 67. DEFINITION I CREATED TO FORM THE SKIN AND SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE OF PLATFORMS FOR MY DESIGN PROPOSAL IN B.6. EVOLVED FROM ALGORITHMS
USED TO EXPLORE TRIANGULAR PANELLING IN THE MATRIX FROM B.4
36 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG 68. B.4 DEFINITION VARIATION USED TO CREATE B.6 LANDSCAPING FURTHER MODIFICATION TO CHANGE AMOUNT
AND DISTRIBUTION OF EXTRUSION USED FOR FINAL DESIGN
CONCEPTUALISATION 37
FIG 68. B.4 DEFINITION VARIATION USED TO CREATE B.6 LANDSCAPING FURTHER MODIFICATION TO CHANGE AMOUNT
AND DISTRIBUTION OF EXTRUSION USED FOR FINAL DESIGN
FIG. 69. ALGORITHM FOR FINAL EXTRUDED TRIANGULAR PLATFORM LANDSCAPING DESIGN
38 CONCEPTUALISATION
Expression Component
FIG 70. EXPLORATION EXPRESSION COMPONENT. USING FUNCTION THAT CHANGES SCALE, CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS, .
FIG. 71. ALGORITHM FOR EXPRESSION COMPONENTS AND VARIATIONS OF THE INPUT EXRESSIONS
CONCEPTUALISATION 39
Creating a stage from the projected curve of the opening
FIG. 72. ALGORITHM I CREATED TO FORM AN EXTRUDED STAGE UNDERNEATH THE AMPHITHEATER OPENING, FOLLOWING ITS OUTLINE
FIG 73. ISOMETRIC PLAN OF GLASS LAYER OF AMPHITHEATRE AND STAGE, SEATS AND STEPS ARRANGED UNDERNEATH
40 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG 74. PERSPECTIVE OF VARIATION 1 OF LARGE STAIRS FROM B.6 ALGORITHM. PROBLEMATIC DUE TO NEED TO MANUALLY ALIGN STEPS AND SEATS AND OVERLAPPING
Step and Stair definition for B.6 interim design
FIG. 76. ALGORITHM TO CREATE STEPS AND STAIRS FOR INTERIM DESIGN. FIDDLY AND DOESN’T ALIGN SEATS TO CURVED STAIRS SUFFICIENTLY
CONCEPTUALISATION 41
FIG. 75. CLOSE UP OF PROBLEM ENCOUNTERED WITH ALGORITHM AS SEATS AND STEPS OVERLAPPED
42 CONCEPTUALISATION
Linear Arrayed Stairs and Box Seats set according to Plane Frames
FIG. 77. PROCESS OF FORMING STEPS AND SEATS ALONG LINEAR ARRAY OF CURVES MOVED UP IN SERIES
CONCEPTUALISATION 43
FIG. 78. AISLES CREATED BY CULLING SEAT ITEMS FROM LIST
FIG. 79 FINAL SEATING ARRANGEMENT WITH SEATS AND STEPS PROPERLY ARRANGED TOGETHER WITHOUT OVERLAPPING
FIG. 80. ALGORITHM FOR SEAT AND STEP ARRAY USED FOR FINAL DESIGN
44 CONCEPTUALISATION
FIG 81. THE WHOLE GRASSHOPPER DEFINITION THAT I USED TO FORM MY FINAL DESIGN, ENTIRELY WITH ALGORITHMS
My final design
CONCEPTUALISATION 45
46 CONCEPTUALISATION
Reference List
Ronnie Parsons and Gil Akos, Introduction to Grasshopper, Modelab collective, (aired 21 September, 2012) < http://lab.modecollective.nu/lab/introduction-to-grasshopper/> [accessed 1 August 2014].
Image Reference List
Cover. Paul McCollam, ‘Hilly’, image, Structural Surface, <http://paulmccollam. com/wp-content/uploads/hilly.jpg> [accessed 4 August 2014].
Fig. 20 Harrison, J., ‘Building 80 and Apartment Block, RMIT - University’, photograph, posted 2012, retrieved from < http://www.camera-enthusiast.com/forums/threads/ building-80-and-apartment-block-rmit-university.11085/> [accessed 20 August 2014].
CONCEPTUALISATION 47