Stage 1: Creating Forms with Revit Conceptual Masses
For part 1 I chose to use the Parametric Tower - Twisting Rectangular Mass since I wanted to start with a relatively simple form. I chose to flex the building height ranging from 300’ to 1000’ with an increment of 100. The screenshots below show heights of 800’ and 300’.
Points to Ponder: What’s the advantage of exporting the values to Excel?
There are many advantages of exporting the values to excel, rather than to a simple csv file. Excel will allow you to compute many metrics of interest, beyond simple metrics such as min/max/average. For example, if you export many different design alternatives with their inputs and outputs of interest, excel could then be used to run a linear regression analysis on the results and produce optimized values for certain inputs.
For part 2 I decided to create an L-shaped tower with 3 resizable L shaped profiles, though I ultimately set all of the profile dimensions as constants. I chose to flex the building height of my original building form, also ranging from 300’ to 1000’ with an increment of 100. For both the Revit building form and my original building form I exported the input height, output gross floor area, and output gross volume into excel sheets. The screenshots below, like above, show my original building form with heights of 300’ and 800’.
Stage 2: Creating Forms with Dynamo or Grasshopper Geometry
For stage 2 I wanted to keep my building form relatively simple, while also allowing for all of the parameters to be flexed. In terms of the base logic, I created three resizable rectangular profiles, with number slider inputs for the length and width of each profile, the height of the upper and lower portions of the tower (I.e. the height between the upper and middle, and middle and lower profiles, respectively), and the degrees of rotation for the middle and top profiles. While all of these inputs can be changed, I chose to keep the top and bottom profiles and heights constant and only flex the inputs for the rotation and width of the middle profile. The screenshots below show two variations: the first has a middle width of 50’ and a middle profile rotation of 15º and the second has a middle width of 125’ and a middle profile rotation of 30º.
Points to Ponder: Which of these inputs tested has the biggest effect on creating a desirable building form?
As would be expected, the dimensions of the building profiles (particularly the base profile and middle profile) as well as the building height values have the biggest effect on creating a desirable building form in terms of establishing a viable footprint. However, the rotation of the building profiles is also very significant not only for aesthetic purposes, but also to ensure that the building is making efficient use of space and materials.