Facets

My last post mentioned the parametric facet massing family component I have been working on. The little image I posted may have given you an idea of what it is supposed to do. But I have had a couple hours to push my little project further and test it out on a quick building design, providing a more descriptive image. Four of these faceted components are used for the base and four are used for the fractured top in the image below: click for full...

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Design Slam @ AU 2008

After walking away from a smoking mouse last Wednesday night, I find myself icing down my mousing arm and keyboard fingers, and still recovering, but that's right, I won the Design Slam! It was sure fun! Here's couple Renders of my design: I have never been to Mies Van Der Rohe’s German Pavilion in Barcelona, but have a new appreciation for it after this awesome competition. The pavilion is very much about space, material and perception....

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Autodesk University 2008 ~ Design Slam

This year's AU is set to be a very busy one for me. I'll be Presenting a session called "Techniques for large project Architectural interiors in Revit" on Tuesday December 2nd at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. Then on on Thursday I'll be presenting an Autodesk Newport(you'll have to be at AU to find out what Newport is) project I have been working on at KlingStubbins. But to top all of this, on Wednesday night I will be competing against two...

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ACADIA '08 - Expanding the boundaries of Computer Aided Architectural Design

Minneapolis, MN - This year's ACADIA conference [Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture]  was titled "Silicon & Skin" and had a theme of bio-mimicry or studying natural systems to inform an architecture. These complex designs are achieved through a process or processes of generative design. Generating an Architecture by means of modular systems created and modified by factors of interest is a hot topic in design. Technological...

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Complex Geometry in Revit 2009

Hi Folks! It's past midnight and you are catching me blogging again. I'm a little overdue for a post but you know that when duty calls, blogging stalls. Generative design is a hot topic these days and so is complex architectural geometry. I hear from a number of people in my firm that it is too difficult or impossible to create organic complex geometries in Revit. Do you hear this too? Well don't worry, complex geometry in Revit2009 is a very real...

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Hauer explorations continued

Although the tools available in Revit make it very difficult to get even remotely close to the prototypical Hauer panel like in the photo below without spending an inordinate amount of time, we can still explore some of the ideas. Addition, subtraction, perceived connections, pattern, foreground, background, and opportunities for the play of light make the latest renditions of this exploration the closest in theory.   Minimally complex swept...

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Exploring Erwin Hauer's opus in Revit

I recently attended a panel discussion at Siggraph 2008, where Enrique Rosado discussed his work with Viennese Sculptor Erwin Hauer. Hauer explored continuous perforated modular structures that as architectural panels, expanded into infinite surfaces with escher-esque qualities. Inspired by the idea of these panelized systems,  I made a first attempt at one as a Revit Curtain wall panel. From the rendered image, you can see the joins relatively...

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One Step further into the Future

This is not a Revit related post, at least not yet, but I felt it drives home a point, which is that our future as Architects and Designers will be very different to what we have known for the past 20 to 5000 years+/-. The rate of change in the tools we use is accelerating and the current methods of designing and documenting a design through the disconnection of a mouse may well change back to a much more active, interactive and immersive method. I say change 'back' because many of us learned Architecture when the pencil and ink were still commonly...

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Large Project's & Lighting

Recently one of the discussion's we have been having in the office is about lighting in large projects where there is an Architecture model and a separate MEP model.   As an Architect, I want to place and move lighting as I work and so do our Interiors folks. The electrical Engineer needs the lighting in his MEP model to make the electrical connections and get his loads totaled and etc.. When there are two separate models, there arises a...

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Immersive Building Information Model viewing

  My friend over at BIMx posted HKS Gaming Engine for BIM which discusses using Environment engines or "gaming" engines with BIM and which is long overdue for Architecture and design. Essentially this is not static image rendering but real-time immersive environments. I have seen attempts at this before but never to the extent or ease that I expect. Design firms spend thousands of dollars to produce a single static image of a 3 dimensional...

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TIP: The Open/Close or Welcome Page

One of the most useful tools we use at KlingStubbins is what we call the the Open/Close or Welcome Page. It has several uses especially for larger Work-sharing projects and teams, and is also useful for smaller projects. Welcome page as file/team information page - Being able to have a quick summary of file, project and team information when the file is opened is invaluable. Company name(self promotion) and Client logo and/or...

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I get this question a lot

I get this question a lot - I love hearing from people about their projects and renderings - so I thought I'd post this one To: craig irevit.com Subject: Rendering Settings Dear Craig, What settings do you typically use for interior and exterior renderings to get the best rendering?  In switching over to Revit 2009, I am having a hard time getting the same, if better, quality of renderings.  Also, are there no clouds anymore...

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