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Table of Contentsp4 ASSIGNMENT 1: THE VASE

p10. ASSIGNMENT 2: PAVILLION

p14. ASSIGNMENT 3: PATTERNS

p22 ASSIGNMENT 4: KANGAROO

p24 ASSIGNMENT 5: MAGNETIC FIELDS

P26 ASSIGNMENT 6: STRUCTURAL

P42 ASSIGNMENT 7: REVERSE ENGINEERING

P48 ASSIGNMENT 8: PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

P50 ASSIGNMENT 9: BRIDGING MERRI-CREEK

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First attempt at using the ‘GRASSHOPPER’ plug-in to rhino, using simple circular geometry to experiment with the different loft functions available and the variations of radius and levels of the object.

Through this first attempt at ‘GRASSHOPPER’, I learnt the uses of the various connections and how sliders are useful tools to quickly adjust the perimeters of the geometrics used.

Main tools used were the ‘MOVE’ function, which allowed ease in positioning the circles; and the ‘LOFT’ function which connected all the circles together creating the vase variations.

I did experiment with lofting different shapes, the results produced were illogical and had no functions of a vase. It was a good experiment however to test the behaviour of ‘GRASSHOPPER’.

FIG 1.1

FIG 1.2

FIG 1.3

FIG 1.4

FIG 1.5

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Second attempt at using the ‘GRASSHOPPER’ plug-in in rhino, this time using a different shape to construct my tower and also using more modules to allow more specific adjustments to the overall look and design of the product.

This time the main function that produced these designs was the ‘ROTATE’ function which allowed me to rotate specific square to produce a twist in different degrees and variations.

The slider was used to vary the angle instead of the size of the base shape which I did in the previous definition.

‘LOFT’ was once again used to complete the look of the vase. I did try over twisting the shapes which resulted in a cluttered twist at the top of the object. In other words it was as if a rubber band was over twisted and the design simply collapse on itself making it unrecognisable and some what obscene.

FIG 2.1

FIG 2.2

FIG 2.3

FIG 2.4

FIG 2.5

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Third attempt was a simple one which started with a basic shape drawn in rhino, then referencing it to the geometry tool. Using ‘LINEAR ARRAY’ to create more of the same shapes along the ‘Z’ axis that would later allow me to twist each one systematically and achieve the desired form.

Using the ‘ROTATE’ tool to rotate each one individually with the help of the ‘RANGE’ tool that would systematically rotate each by a slight degree each time.

The trouble with using certain shapes like this oval was that at certain twist or rotations, when the modules rotate to abruptly and too close to each other, it loses that hollowness within the form. Had to be careful in ensuring it still could function as a vase.

FIG 3.1

FIG 3.2

FIG 3.3

FIG 3.4

FIG 3.5

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Fourth attempt was based on a ‘POLYGON’ which was arrayed in a series along the ‘Z’ axis, there should be another way to array but this is the one I used. Seemed very logical and straight forward.

After the multiple arrays have been done, I added sliders to allow me to control the ‘STEPS’ and ‘COUNTS’. I learnt that ‘STEPS’ will affect the spacing between each geometry and that ‘COUNT’ affect the number of geometric shapes used in the vase. The ‘COUNT’ value has a limit to how low it can go before the figure starts to deform and twist around itself.

Next I rotated the various shapes systematically by using ‘RANGE’ which rotated each one by a small degree which was controlled by sliders attached to the ‘DOMAIN’ and ‘NUMBER OF STEPS’ which is not to be confused with the previous ‘STEPS’ used to control spacing.

This ‘NUMBER OF STEPS’ slider controlled where the twist or rotation starts in the vase, as seen in fig.4.2, the rotation can start from which ever height I choose. The ‘DOMAIN’ slider controlled the torque and amount of twist put into the structure. Comparing fig.4.3 and fig.4.4, one is obviously more torqued than the other creating two very different designs.

FIG 4.1

FIG 4.2

FIG 4.3

FIG 4.4

FIG 4.5

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The fifth and final attempt was my favourite because it was formed up in my mind before I started to figure out how to have the shapes and forms to be constructed my way. I started out with a 6 sided polygon and wanted to have a thicker wall than before. Since the polygon had 6 sides, it could be surrounded by itself in a ‘honey comb’ like form.

To get this array I simply used the ‘POLAR ARRAY’ tool which allowed me to adjust the number of polygons around the center shape and also control the radius of the array. Once I had this starting template, I arrayed it along the ‘Z’ axis and lofted the form to get an enclosed vase.

The twisting and rotating is the same as previous attempts, using the ‘RANGE’ and ‘ROTATE’ tools, I could twist the form into the desired form.

Apart from that, I could still adjust the individual radius of the polygons which allowed me to create openings through out the twist and rotations. Along with the ‘RANGE’ tool, I formed the various vases.

FIG 5.1

FIG 5.2

FIG 5.3

FIG 5.4

FIG 5.5

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THE PAVILION

FORMTHE FORM OF THE PAVILION WAS SHAPED WITH

2 CURVES AND 1 ATTRACTOR CURVE WHICH THE

FORM WOULD REACT TO. BY FACTORING THE

DISTANCE BETWEEN THE ARC AT THE TOP OF

THE FORM AND THE BASE, THE ATTRACTOR WAS

ABLE TO CHANGE AND VARY THE HEIGHT OF THE

FORM AT DIFFERENT AREAS. A THIRD CURVE WAS

ALSO USED TO LIMIT THE HEIGHT OF THE FORM.

DIVISIONNEXT I DIVIDED THE SURFACE IN TO SEGMENTS

WHERE I WOULD LATER APPLY THE DESIRED

PATTERNING VIA MORPH METHOD. THIS

WAS DONE BY DIVIDING THE DOMAIN OF THE

LOFT CREATED AND ADDING SLIDERS TO

VARY THE NUMBER OF SEGMENTS IN THE

HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL DIRECTION.

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MATERIALISATIONI WANTED TO CREATE PERFORATION OF A SPECIFIC GEOMETRY THAT WOULD FILL UP THE SURFACE OF

THE FORM. THE DEFINITION ALLOWED ME TO USE THE MORPH FUNCTION TO MULTIPLY THE GEOMETRY

ONTO THE SURFACE. A PROBLEM I FACED WAS THE INABILITY TO ‘BAKE’ THE FINAL PRODUCT, I’VE

TRIED BAKING THE GEOMETRY, THE SURFACE, THE LOFT, BUT THE FORM WOULD NOT COME OUT.

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THE PAVILION

FORMTHE FORM IS BASED OFF THE SAME

CURVES AS PAVILION 1. THE PRACTICE

WAS AN EXPERIMENTATION ON THE

DIFFERENT TYPES OF MATERIALISATION

TECHNIQUES THAT COULD BE APPLIED.

DIVISIONDIVISION WAS DONE BY DIVIDING THE SUB-

SURFACE AND USING SLIDERS TO CONTROL THE

NUMBER OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL DIVISIONS

WHICH WOULD LATER VARY THE FREQUENCY

OF TRIANGULAR PATTERNING ON THE SURFACE.

MATERIALISATIONTHE METHOD OF MATERIALISATION USED WAS

THE TRI PANEL SYSTEM WHICH BASICALLY

MULTIPLIED THE TRIANGLES ACROSS THE SURFACE

OF THE GIVEN FORM. THE TRIANGLES VARY IN

SIZE AND DENSITY BY THE SLIDERS ATTACHED

TO THE DIVISION OF THE SUB-SURFACE.

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PATTERN 1 FORMUSING A SIMPLE PLANAR SURFACE THAT WOULD

BE DIVIDED BY A SERIES OF POINTS INTO SECTIONS

DEPENDING ON THE ‘CULL PATTERN’ ASSIGNED.

CONNECTIONSAS I FOLLOWED THE TUTORIAL VIDEO ONLINE,

I REALISE THE VERSION OF GRASSHOPPER

THEY USED WAS VERY DIFFERENT, EVEN

AFTER I’VE FOLLOWED EVERY STEP

CAREFULLY SEVERAL TIMES, THE ‘VORONOI’

TOOL HAD A CONSTANT ERROR MESSAGE.

EVEN THOUGHT I COULD NOT COMPLETE THE

ALGORITHMIC PROCESS, I UNDERSTAND THE

FINAL OUTCOME AND TECHNIQUE USED TO

CREATE THE FINAL PRODUCT IN THE VIDEO.

TECHNIQUEAFTER THE SERIES HAVE BEEN CREATED, THE

‘JITTER’ COMPONENT WOULD SHUFFLE THE POINTS

INTO RANDOM AREAS, THE ‘RUNION’ WOULD THEN

CONNECT ANY REMAINING POINTS THAT WERE

SIMULTANEOUS AND NEXT TO ONE ANOTHER. THIS

WOULD CREATE A RANDOM PATTERN THAT COULD

BE ALTERED BY CHANGING THE PARAMETERS.

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PATTERN 2 FORMUSING A SET OF GRIDS WITH MULTIPLE

POINTS, THEN CONNECTING CIRCLES TO THEM

WITH VARYING DIAMETERS ACCORDING TO

THE PATTERN OF THE IMAGE SAMPLER.

CONNECTIONSTHE DIAMETER OF EACH CIRCLE IS DETERMINED

BY THE BLACK AND WHITE AREAS OF THE

IMAGE. THE SIZES ALSO VARY ACCORDING TO THE

DENSITY OR GRADIENT OF THE TWO COLOURS.

MATERIALISATIONPROJECTING IT ONTO A SURFACE THEN USING

IT AS A CUTTING TOOL TO PERFORATE THE

SURFACE WITH THE PATTERN. SOME OF THE

MANY USES OF SUCH TECHNIQUES ARE FACADE

ORNAMENTATIONS AND SUNLIGHT CONTROL.

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PATTERN 3 FORMINSPIRED BY TOYO ITO’S SERPENTINE

PAVILION, I VISUALISED THE CONNECTION OF

POINTS TO CREATE A SERIES OF SURFACES

THAT COULD BE DELETED OR ADDED TO

SUIT THE INTENTION OF THE DESIGNER.

CONNECTIONSFIRST EACH CURVE WAS DIVIDED INTO POINTS,

THESE POINTS WERE THEN RANDOMLY

CONNECTED TO OTHER CURVE POINTS. THIS

RANDOMNESS WAS STILL CONTROLLED TO

ONLY ALLOW CONNECTIONS ALONG A SINGLE

AXIS OR FACE. THE LINE CREATED WAS THEN

PROJECTED ONTO THE SURFACE AND USED

AS A CUTTING TOOL TO DIVDE THE FORM.

MATERIALISATIONMUCH LIKE THE ORIGINAL PROJECT

BY TOYO ITO, THE PAVILION HAD A

SIMPLE LOFTED SURFACE WHICH I ALSO

INCOPORATED INTO THIS PATTERN FORM.

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PATTERN 4 FORMSTARTED OFF FROM SIMPLE CIRCLES OF

DIFFERENT DIAMETER WHICH WAS DIVIDED

BY POINTS OF VARYING NUMBERS.

CONNECTIONSBEFORE ANY CONNECTIONS WERE MADE, THE

REFERENCED CURVES WERE MOVED INTO

DIFFERENT LEVELS IN THE ‘Z’ AXIS. CONNECTIONS

WERE MADE BY USING THE ‘CROSS REFERENCE’

COMPONENT. BY CONNECTING ONLY THE

LEVELS DIRECTLY ABOVE THE OTHER, A SPACE

COULD BE CREATED WITHIN THE FORM.

MATERIALISATIONTHE SURFACE WAS MAD BY USING THE

WEAVERBIRD MESH COMPONENT WHICH

ALLOWED ME TO CREATE MESHES OUT OF LINES.

LASTLY, THE MIDDLE SECTION WAS LEFT WITHOUT

A MESH AND INSTEAD MADE INTO ‘PIPES’. THIS

WAS AN EXTRA STEP TO VISUALISE HOW THIS

ALGORITHM COULD DETERMINE THE PATTERN

OF STRUCTURAL CONNECTIONS AND HOW THE

MESH COULD BE VISUALISED AS CANVAS THAT

HAVE BEEN TENSIONED BY STEEL CABLES.

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KANGAROO RELAXATION

WITH ANCHOR POINTS

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KANGAROO RELAXATION

WITH TENSION CABLES

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KANGAROO RELAXATION

& MAGNETIC FIELDS

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ORGANIC STRUCTUREINSPIRED BY CORALS AND ITS DESIGN AS

INDIVIDUAL STRUCTURES HELD STRONG BY A

LAYER OF HARD SKIN. THIS DEFINITION AIMS TO

CREATE A BENDING STRUCTURE FRAME CAPABLE

OF HOLDING MOST OF ITS LOAD BY ITS FORM

AND RELYING THE REST ON ITS MATERIALS

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CURVATURE IN STRUCTUREINSPIRED BY THE WAVES AND CURVES MADE

BY RIPPLES, THIS FORM SEEKS TO FLOW GENTLY

BUT MAINTAIN A STRONG STRUCTURAL LOOK.

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DOME LIKE STRUCTUREDOMES ARE ONE OF THE BEST

FORMS THAT CAN EASILY

SUPPORT ITS OWN WEIGHT AND

SHEAR FORCES. IT IS STABLE

AND EVEN IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

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ABSOLUTE

TOWERSCREATED BY A SERIES

OF ROTATING OVALS

JOINT TOGETHER BY

AN ORIENT CONSTANT

INTERNAL STRUCTURE..

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ROTATIONEACH OVAL ROTATES BY A SET DEGREE AND PRODUCES THE TWIST

LOOK OF THE BUILDING. THESE OVALS ARE BASED OFF THE ORIGINAL

FLOOR OVAL AND CAN BE UNIFORMLY CHANGED IN SIZE AND RADIUS.

STRUCTURETHE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE TOWER REMAINS IN

ONE ORIENTATION BUT HAS BRANCHES OF BEAMS AND

STRUCTURAL WALLS THAT EXTEND AND RETRACT TO THE

EDGES OF THE OVALS DEPENDING ON THE ROTATIONS.

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FORMCREATING THE OVALS AS A START

BASE THAT CAN BE EASILY CHANGED

WITH PARAMEER INPUTS.

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TORQUE & TWISTGRAPH PARAMETER TO CHANGE

THE INTENSITY OF THE TORQUE AND

THE START/ END OF THE TWIST.

MATERIALISATIONTHE SLAB IS A THICKENING

OF THE BASIC ARRAYED

CURVES. THE GLASS IS

AN EXTRUSION OF THE

EDGES. THE GLASS IS A

SET BACK EXTRUSION

AND PANAELISED.

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BRIDGE OF PEACEA BRIDGE IN GEORGIA THAT IS ONLY SUPPOERTED

AT BOTH ENDS, IT SPANS 150M AND HAS A

SEPARATE ROOF STRUCTURE THAT SUPPORTS

ITSELF WITH THE HELP OF ITS STRUCTURAL

FRAME AND THE FORM IT TAKES.

FORMTHE INTERSECTIONS OF 2 CURVED SURFACES

CREATES THE FORM AND SHAPE OF THE ROOF.

THIS CAN BE CHANGED ACCORDING TO THE

PARAMETERS OF THE 2 ORIGINAL SURFACES

DIVISIONBY DIVIDING THE SURFACE, POINT ARE

ATTAINED AND LATER USED TO CREATE THE

FRAME WORK AS WELL AS THE PANELS

THAT WILL CLAD THE STRUCTURE.

FRAMEFRAMES TRAVEL HORIZONTALLY AND

VERTICALLY ACROSS THE FORM. ONE

DIAGONAL DIRECTION IS ALSO CREATED TO

ACT AS BRACING FOR THE STRUCTURE.

GLASS PANELSTHE POINTS OF THE DIVISIONS ARE

USED TO CREATE 4 POINT SURFACES

THAT WILL BE STRAIGHTENED AND

PANELLED ACROSS THE FRAMES.

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FORM2 SEPARATE DEFINITIONS THAT ARE

RELATIVELY SIMILAR BUT OVERLAP

EACH OTHER TO CREATE A NEW FORM.

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GLASS PANELSUSING THE 4 POINTS OF

EACH ISOTRIM, THE PANELS

ARE FORMED AND MADE

INTO STRAIGHT PANELS

INSTEAD OF CURVED ONES.

STRUCTURELINES DRAWN FROM CONNECTION

OF THE POINTS CREATE THE

FRAME WHICH IS THEN ‘PIPPED’

TO CREATE STEEL TUBES.

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BEIRA-RIO STADIUMA STADIUM IN BRAZIL CONSTRUCTED

OUT OF STEEL FRAMES, A PTFE

MEMBRANE AND GLASS AS A SKIN.

FORMCHANGES IN FORMS CREATED BY VARIATIONS IN

HEIGHT, WIDTH AND RADIUS OF THE BASE OVAL.

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FUNCTIONCHANGES IN FORMS ALSO AFFECTS THE

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE STRUCTURE. THE

ROOF HAS TO ALWAYS HAVE SUFFICIENT

COVER OVER THE SPECTATORS.

CONCLUSIONFROM BUILDING THIS DEFINITION, SEVERAL LESSONS

OF GEOMETRY CAN BE LEARNT AS WELL AS

STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES. A 3 AXIS SUPPORT AS

COMPARED TO A 2 AXIS SUPPORT, AND CIRCULAR

NETWORK OF FRAMES CAN ACT AS A BOND FOR

ALL STRUCTURAL MEMBERS AND BECOME MORE

STABLE WITH A SMALLER FOUNDATION FOOTPRINT.

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FORM3 SETS OF OVALS USED TO

CONSTRUCT THE BASE AND HEIGHT

AS WELL AS THE EXTENT OF THE

VERTICAL CURVES OF THE FRAMES

THAT WILL BE MADE LATER.

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FRAMETHE FRAME IS CONSTRUTED BASED OFF A SINGLE CURVE

WHICH IS ROTATED ON AXIS ON BOTH SIDES THEN

CONNECTED BY A SERIES OF POINTES AND THEN “PIPPED”.

MEMBRANELOFTS ARE CREATED

ALONG THE FRAMES TO

SIMULATE MEMBRANES.

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CANARY WHARF

CROSSRAIL STATIONFORMA VISUALISATION OF THE FRAME WORK

REVEALS THE SIMPLE INTERSECTIONS OF

VARIOUS DIAGONAL LINES THAT WRAP THE

FROM CREATING THE STRUCTURAL FRAME.

ETFE PILLOWS CREATE THE SKIN THAT

LAYS ON THE FRAMES. THIS CAN BE

SIMULATED WITH PANELS OR FURTHER

MATERIALISED BY KANGAROO PHYSICS.

PARAMETERSSOME PARAMETERS THAT MUST BE

ABLE TO CHANGE IS THE CURVATURE

AND DENSITY OF FRAMES.

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IMAGE REFERENCETHE PROJECT IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

AND THERE WERE NO AVAILABLE PLANS TO

REFERENCE OFF. THE ONLY RELIABLE SOURCE

WERE PHOTOS FROM THE ARCHITECTURAL

FIRM AND FROM THE INTERNET. A ROUGH

FORM CAN BE CREATED AND NUMBER OF

FRAMES CAN ONLY BE SPECULATED.

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STEP 1CREATING A SERIES OF CURVES

THAT COULD BE PARAMETISED

TO BE ADJUSTED LATER.

STEP 2ROTATING THE EDGE CURVES TO

FORM THE END SHAPES OF THE FORM

SIMILAR TO THE CASE STUDY.

STEP 3LOFTING THE ENTIRE FORM TO CREATE THE

BASE FORM. THIS WILL LATER BE USED

TO CREATE THE SURFACE MATERIAL AS

WELL AS THE FRAME THICKNESS.

STEP 4THE FIRST DIVISION OF THE LOFT IS

CREATED TO MAKE A SET NUMBER

OF POINTS AND DIVISIONS.

STEP 5DIAGONAL LINES ARE DRAWN BY FINDING THE

CENTER OF EACH SQUARE GRID. THIS FRAME IS

DRAWN IN BOTH DIRECTIONS OF THE DIAGONALS.

STEP 6A MESH IS CREATED WITH THESE

LINES TO JOIN THEM AS ONE PIECE.

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STEP 7AN OFFSET CREATES THE DEPTH OF THE

FRAME AND BOTH LINES ARE LOFTED

TOGETHER TO SIMULATE THE DEPTH OF

THE BEAMS IN THE STRUCTURE.

STEP 8USING THE WEAVERBIRD PLUG-IN, THE

LOFT IS THEN THICKENED TO CREATE THE

WIDTH OF THE BEAMS OF THE STRUCTURE.

STEP 9THE CORNERS OF FRAME

INTERSECTIONS ARE THEN USED TO

CREATE TRIANGULAR PANELS.

STEP 10IN THE FINAL STEP, THE PANELS ARE PLACE TOGETHER TO CREATE THE SKIN OF THE FRAMES.

THESE PANELS CAN BE REMOVED OR ADDED BASED ON THE DESIGN CRITERIA. AN IMPROVEMENT

THAT COULD BE ADDED WAS THE MATERIALISATION OF THE PANELS INTO ETFE PILLOWS

THAT ARE INFLATED. THIS REQUIRES A FURTHER STEP IN THE KANGAROO PLUG-IN.

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CURVE PARAMETERSTHE GRAPH ALLOW EASY MANIPULATION

OF THE CURVE USED TO CREATED

THE FORM OF THE ROOF.

CREATING THE LOFTED FORMEND CURVES ARE ROTATED

OUTWARDS AND A LOFT IS

CREATED WITH THE CURVES.

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PANELING SURFACEFROM THE DIVIDE POINTS, THE COORDINATED OF EACH

POINTS ARE SPLIT INTO 4 (0,1,2,3) WHICH CAN BE

SURFACED TO CREATE INDIVIDUAL TRIANGUAR PANELS.

FRAMEWORKWITH THE DIVISION OF THE LOFT,

THE POINTS CAN BE CONNECTED

IN THE HORIZONTAL, VERITCAL

AND DIAGONAL DIRECTIONS

TO CREATE THE FRAMEWORK

SIMILAR TO THE CASE STUDY.

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Karamba Form FindingThe use of anchor points, forces and point positions to alter and create variations of forms with different outcomes.

RIVER LINK PODSFROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPOSAL AT MERRI CREEK, THE STRUCTURE

SEEKS A FLUID FORM BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF A GRID SHELL STRUCTURE.

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Form FindingUse of Grasshopper plug-ins such as Karamba to simulate loads and stresses on different forms.

Structural BracingA set algorithmic process that calculates number of elements needed to for the bracing of each form.

Membrane ApplicationUsing points on the form to create a simple surface that can later be made into different materials.

Mesh into Space FrameA set algorithmic process that creates a space frame from any form..

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BRIDGING MERRI-CREEK V1.0A DESIGN BASED ON THE INFLATION OF THE KANGAROO PLUG-IN TO CREATE A ORGANIC FORM THAT IS STRUCTURAL AND DESIGN BASED.

ALTHOUGH I’VE EXPLORE MUCH INTO DIFFERENT PARAMETRIC DEFINITIONS AND TECHNIQUES, I FOUND

THAT A SIMPLE DEFINITION USING KANGAROO’S INFLATION WAS SUFFICIENT IN CREATING MY DESIGN.

A SIMPLER MORE CONSTRUCTABLE DESIGN IS BETTER THAN A COMPLEX UNBUILDABLE ONE.

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BRIDGING MERRI-CREEK V2.0A SECOND DESIGN ALSO USING KANGAROO’S INFLATION ALSO UTILISED GRAVITY AND THE INFLATION TO CREATE SMOOTH CURVES THAT BRIDGE ACROSS THE RIVER.

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BRIDGING MERRI-CREEK V2.0A SECOND DESIGN ALSO USING KANGAROO’S INFLATION ALSO UTILISED GRAVITY AND THE INFLATION TO CREATE SMOOTH CURVES THAT BRIDGE ACROSS THE RIVER.

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