Design Approach/Inspiration

I took my main design inspiration from the idea of using timber for a parametric structure and to make something that would be integrated into and be inspired by nature. One structure I found to be particularly interesting was the Garden of the Bay in Singapore (top middle photo) and the Nine Bridges Country Club in South Korea (below). I wanted my structure to resemble a tree that would overhang and provide shelter and natural shading to a space for people to enjoy. I also found some other examples of parametric designs, as shown above, that have been used to create similarly inspired structures.

Model Approach and Design

The first step for my design was to create the geometry that would define the structure. To do so, I created a code block with an origin point of (0,0,0) for the center point of the circle that would make up the base of the structure as well as the overarching “branches.” I knew from my brainstorming and inspirational structures that I would need two different circles of different radii, one much larger than the other, with curves extending out between these two circles. I used code blocks and number sliders to create flexible inputs for the circle radius of each aspect of the structure.

Two curves were created using the Geometry. Translate node and three flexible number sliders (X,Y,Z translation) for each curve.

One of these curves was translated into a wave within the structure, as described below. Placement points were defined for the ribs, grouped, and then transposed in order to make an additional curve for the panel placements.

Flexible number sliders were added throughout to add the ability to change the number of panel points on each rib and the number of ribs.

Lastly, points were grouped in order to place the adaptive components. I added these adaptive components by points in Revit last, and first finalized my geometry in Dynamo only in order to conserve run time and so I could see the design change more easily. Once I was ready for my last couple design iterations, I used the Adaptive Component By Points nodes in Dynamo to place Revit adaptive components at each designated point.

I used the adaptive components “Tube 3 pt- Tapered” and “Rect- Seamless Panel” from the Revit class library in my design as advised for the assignment. However, I chose to adapt the radius of the tubes to be 1’ rather than the initial 2’ to suit my aesthetic preferences for my design.

Dynamic Parameters

In order to add some dynamic qualities to the curves that make up my structure, I changed one of the two curves to be defined by a sine wave, similar to the examples shown in class. In order to do this, flexible parameters for number of wave definition points, number of waves, and wave amplitude were used as well as code blocks.

Final Design in Revit