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. It is a difficult challenge to respond to it with another pavilion while respecting its position in Architectural history. So instead of competing with it, I chose to deconstruct it in the neighboring landscape, providing opportunities to perceive its elements in a new way. This expression of the pavilion becomes more of a landscape than another pavilion, yet provides the same amenities of seating and shelter and vantage point, and also makes use of the existing reflecting pool at the opposite end. In looking at it now, the design almost reads as remnants of construction of the original pavilion, which is an unintentional bonus. The whole experience was a pleasure, albeit a little stressful, cranking out a design in the 20 minutes!

My presentations went well and the rest of the conference was fantastic. The Newport application was presented and should be showing up on Autodesk Labs soon. I can tell you that it is a cutting edge, real-time, visualization tool, that enables you to take your Revit models via FBX to new levels of experience. I'll talk more about this at the end of the month.

I've been toying with another thing, inspired by a project we are doing in Riyadh. A faceted design in Revit should be relatively easy correct? Well maybe not but what if you had a massing family that let you adjust the facets of your facade as you pleased?

These examples are a quick, proof of concept with the one on the left skinned with Generic wall and the one on the left partially skinned with a curtain system. The facets are adjustable in many ways but will always be cohesive. It is something that uses the void-hosting technique that Phil Read showed off a while back for curtain panels, but releasing it from the panel restrictions to be a more free-form or large scale building envelope that uses a portion of these facets to make up it's facade. This in combination with other masses could whip up a slew of design options for a faceted tower in Riyadh.

Cheers!

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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 other Reviteers in the AU Design Slam! The event proves to be very entertaining with 20 minutes to crank out a design in Revit, while our screens are projected high in the air to an on-looking rave-like audience of AU attendees. If you are at AU, come and cheer me on!

AU Design Slam
Wednesday, December 3
7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
Palazzo, Halls A–D
Venetian Hotel

Come and say Hi. See you there!

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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 advances [both hardware and software] have made possible the deep exploration of architectural theories in this area of focus. The most commonly used software tools used for generative design are

1. Grasshopper plug-in for Rhino,
2. Generative Components and
3. Revit Architecture.

Other tools used for generative purposes at this conference were developed by Architectural firms and Universities in-house. Scripting is the buzz-word of this genre of Architectural designers. Along side these tools are mathematical tools to understand and develop algorithms and mathematics behind form. All of these are used to explore and design systems that create environments.

Rhino3D with the Grasshopper plugin is the most recently developed generative tool currently offered free by McNeel. A huge benefit of this tool for a cutting-edge design firm is the ease of getting Rhino-Grasshopper generated geometry into Revit Architecture for BIM documentation. See this post for a demo. The results of the Grasshopper plug-in are as responsive and as complex as you can imagine.

Generated in Grasshopper by Jon Bailey   Generated in Revit by Craig Barbieri   Generated in Revit by Craig Barbieri Generated in GC by Jason Johnson Generated in GC by Jose Galarza

There were three workshops at the start of the conference focusing on each of the three main generative tools above. At the end of the 2 and 3 day(GC) workshops, the students' work was presented. The goals of the workshops varied but I will note that the only two workshops that produced a recognizable Architectural form were the Grasshopper and Revit workshops. To the Left you see a Grasshopper generated form rendered in Rhino. Below left you see several forms generated and rendered in Revit. Both of these workshop classes lasted two days and began at the introductory level. Rhino's ability to create and modify organic form makes it a clear winner in my judgement. It's ability lends itself more closely to the theme of this conference. Revit's capability to generate form is far more limiting, currently, but as I have shown in previous posts, the engine at Revit's core can handle complex geometries. To generate form it requires one to use a mathematical 'change per level' as it's basis. As a result, your generated design is segmented instead of being a single mass. The image to the left is an exaggeration of this segmentation, indicating the level change at each break. The visibility of the level change is not typical unless the modules are created as rigid and the math is incorrect. Revit's main hang-up is that the geometric tools currently available leave something to be desired, and the ability of creating a single complex form from a single equation is not accessible. I expect this fact to change soon. The 2009 revision introduced the 'swept blend' and 2010 revision will add ... hopefully a great deal more. Another avenue to generative design might be the Revit API. I suppose if the Rhino development team can create a 2.14Mb grasshopper plug-in to be as functional a generative component as it is, I am sure their is a talented API developer somewhere out there that can do something similar for Revit.

The Generative Components class was a three day course and the results of the course were markedly different as you can see from the images to the above left. GC has on it's side the benefits of it's engineering background but the results after a 3 day long workshop left a lot to be desired for the quick creation of an Architectural form. From my vantage point the potential is great if time is not a critical factor. Several of the papers and presentations used GC as the foundation tool. I was amazed at the number of design iterations and explorations many of these GC designers performed over a period of months to get the results that they did. I later found that most of those who presented were academic faculty and had the benefit of their classes as their work horse(s). With this experience I come to the conclusion that GC has great capability when partnered with a team of talented mathematicians and scriptors, but is not well suited to a large firm with tight budgets and schedules. I have not yet explored the porting of GC-generated designs to the Revit platform but as of yet haven't seen a simple demonstration like that of designreform.net, taking the geometry into a true BIM platform such as Revit. In discussions with a representative of GC's creator, the interoperability with the preeminent BIM platform falls short of possible. This is a very bad strategy on their part in my opinion.
GC has been the most popular and trendy tool for generating design and has influenced the world of digital architectural theory into a module-focused fetish. There were a number of presentations at this conference that looked at very small modular relationships based on organic systems that they carried through to develop a "occupiable space". Whether or not the creations were build-able in a practical sense or not remains questionable.

Of the three applications, Grasshopper currently has the most generative potential for Architects. While Revit is capable as a generative modeler, it is not as easy to develop comparable responsive geometries as in Grasshopper. GC is seemingly the most comprehensive generative tool but it's complexity, plethora of required applications, learning curve, and archaic user interface keeps it from reaching its potential as a practical tool for architectural firms at the cutting edge.

What was missing from this conference was Catia, Geomagic, Gehry Technologies Digital Project and Autodesk Inventor and Maya, among others. These tools clearly belong in the tool-belt of the modern techno-savvy Architect, but were neglected by the majority of the iphone-toting black-garbed trend-induced "Architects" Architects speaking at this conference. Feel free to leave comments ;)

Conference theme: Biology and Architecture

As described earlier, the title of this conference was "Silicon & Skin", representing a theme of studying natural systems to inform an architecture. Biological inspiration and technological implementation is a technique that has been used for thousands of years, but never referring to the scale to which we do today. An example of how applicable the theme may be is the eye of a Fly which is remarkably similar to a geodesic dome. Another example is that of the surface tension of a bubble and the Chinese National Aquatics Center. Both lending themselves to both Architectural design and structure. These are simple and literal examples. More profound examples of natural systems the warrant architectural exploration are those of the capabilities of natural system, such as drag reduction(shark skin) adhesion(penguin feather) Mass transfer (stomata cells in plant leaves(trees can move water up 100meters without a pump) or pores in insect exoskeleton), transparency( collagen fibres in cornea). Such natural systems have the potential to inspire profound architecture.

In general the conference was a valuable experience and one that refreshingly woke the slumbering academic in me. It has been a long time since I took a temporal section through a dynamic system or discussed the intricacies of a chreod. The keynote speakers were inspirational and the presentations of the various academics and practitioners verified my assumptions of generative architectures as being of the now. Those who generate design base on rules they set or systems they are inspired by are the Architects of the current and next generation. This generative technology will develop further, become easier, grow in capability and practicality. Those large firms that can harness it's potential now will make a name for themselves in the design community.

Specialist Design Group and the Black Box Studio

How does a large firm harness the potential of this generative wave? At the conference several representatives of different firms spoke of their "Specialist Groups". A number of large and medium sized firms have established a specialist design group that is comprised of talented young designers who are capable in scripting, advanced 3D generation, modeling, writing their own software, etc. These groups are used by designers and project teams to create and develop challenging designs and establish the methods of development and documentation. Foster and Partners calls theirs the SMG or Specialist Modeling Group and SOM calls theirs the "Black Box Studio". This is something similar to what I heard about RTKL's "Studio X" yet as I understand it, this group was specifically a Revit specialist group. From their appearances and excitement at the conference, the representatives of these specialist groups were fervent about what they did and loved an impossible challenge. They are the type that work on similar problems for fun and develop robust software tools when a need is recognized or proposed. The formation of one of these groups are one way of pushing practice technology in the direction your firm wants to go. Is it the only way? No. The number of free software tools and freelance programmers and avenues for such work in today's market makes it practical to hire out development if you don't have a team in-house. The marketability of having a team in-house is another story...

3D printers in workflows

3D printers are currently being used in architectural design workflows and their use is growing significantly. Case Study: Foster & Partners purchased their first 3D printer in 2005 placing it on their design floor and incorporating it into their workflow. Initially they created about 4 models per week. This number has increased significantly to where Brady Peters of F&P proclaimed they have two currently running 24 hours per day. Each project currently has at any stage in it's development an array of 3D printed design iterations.  These printers are located on their design studio floor. In a Revit-based workflow the use of one these devices is a big step in the direction of advanced design. Revit can export directly to an STL file for printing and though I have not yet tested the process yet, I look forward to in the coming weeks.

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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 and possible and I find it relatively easy. Call me lucky.

There are two main methods of creating complex forms in Revit.

1. Using the Loft Blend solid and void tools or twisted blends or other combinations of solid and voids is one technique you might expect. To get an architecturally organic form, it is important to create named reference planes at the drawing plane angles you need. This is a bit of a mental leap as an architect generally thinks in terms of Plans, elevations, projections, and sections that are usually orthographic. Once your base reference planes are set you can draw in the 3D view on these planes by setting them as active workplanes(Tools\Workplanes\Set Work Plane) to start your sketch. Also when sketching you can orient the 3d view to the active workplane which makes sketching easier. This should get you well ahead of your neighbor in creating complex forms.
2. The second method is a combination of an imported ACIS solid (not mesh) through AutoCAD from an application like Rhino into a Revit massing. This is a completely valid and practical method of creating complex building forms. It gives you the plethora of advanced form building tools of Rhino and the update-able massing capabilities of Revit. To add a bit more functionality(that I wish Revit had built in), Rhino has it's generative design plugin called 'Grasshopper' which I highly recommend.

The example below is a super-quick one to show the kinds of complex geometries possible and show that is isn't a simple surface model but a full Building Information Model. Note that when working with forms such as this, as with most applications, the curvature and complexity can begin  to weigh-down your model file quickly so a higher-end workstation such as an animator's will prove valuable.

Perspective View

  Second floor plan

Perspective View

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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 blends compiled to create perforation, negative space and depth tiled in a regular fashion.

The "night" shot allows for the visualization of how the interior light bleeds through.

This would be the closest to the theory of Hauer's panels in my opinion. Void sweeps are the method of construction for this panel. The tiling method used is also much simpler than the first and makes for a continuity of form that the first did not have.

Greater shadow and light areas show clearly here. I think by far the most successful yet for the pay of light.

Close-up(the chair is for scale)

Ciao!

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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 clearly, but it has potential. By using the swept blend tool I came close to having a continuous weave. The negative space in my rendition needs to be expanded and the line at which they join to the next needs to be more fluid. With experimentation, the panelization is very dramatic.

The negative space in the panel creates an unclosed form, allowing light to pass through and space for shadows to play.

Below is one of Hauer and Rosado's panels on display at Siggraph. They clearly have mastered the art form.

 
Erwin Hauer and Enrique Rosado
EHR Associates LLC

The modern equivalent of the above is the mathematically based fractal sculptures, also on exhibit at Siggraph, below. I'd like to see that done in Revit. No, really. Doesn't Autodesk have one of the geniuses behind Generative Components on staff now? Generative procedures in Revit are limited and difficult to use effectively in my opinion. A full featured generative feature in Revit would be a powerful addition the tool. A third party tool that could import into Revit with parametric and/or structural information would be useful too. That's enough rambling for today.

A couple more shots of my little playtime panels:

 

Cheers!

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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 used in documentation; a method where one's whole body was enlisted.

Obscura's Visionaire, (the first video below) an adaptation of haptic interface technology, is another amazing development in the burgeoning user interface revolution. I'm sure most of you will agree that this technology doesn't lend itself well to measured documentation, or even measured Building Information Modeling, yet. Imagine standing all day long as you dance around your van-sized monitor, designing and building your model! We would get a great workout at work! But in the next 5-15 years some talented software/hardware developer will redefine the methods with which we design.

 

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