Stage 1
Part 1
Design Description and Parameter Flexing: I started by making my form able to go up to 75 additional 10 ft levels as to not exceed the height mandate (below 755 ft) for the site development. The top height was set to reflect this maximum, and the midpoint set to the true middle. All parameters worked when manually flexed. The parameter that I chose to flex in Dynamo for the Parametric Tower - Twisting Cog example conceptual mass was the Mid Outer Radius as the top and bottom ones remain equivalent and constant. Shape parameters could be scaled to meet the square footage required by the design brief.
Example Building Form Geometry, Variation 1:
80 ft Mid Outer Radius
Example Building Form Geometry, Variation 2:
100 ft Mid Outer Radius
Part 2
Design Description and Parameter Flexing: For my original mass profile, I made a simple hexagonal shaped form with a side fillet to provide some variation. This profile could serve a special function for the interior, maybe where common areas are placed and people can have an observational view of the outside. The levels were created following the same direction as before. The parameter I decided to flex was the twist of the middle hexagon form. Shape parameters were scaled to have at least 2 options meet the square footage required by the design brief.
Original Building Form Geometry, Variation 1:
5 Degree Mid Rotation
Original Building Form Geometry, Variation 2:
40 Degree Mid Rotation
Stage 2
Design Description and Parameter Flexing: For this stage, I originally planned to make sine curved surfaces, but ran into issues with the code implementation. I instead took a step back and stuck with using the polygon creation nodes. Many of the parameters could be flexed, but for the sake of this portion, I stuck with flexing the polygon number of sides and the top twist of the structure. Keeping other parameters constant like building radius and level height allowed me to meet the square footage constraints as outlined in the brief within some of the 18 combinations of flexed parameters. To modify the standard polygon, I introduced a “wiggle” factor in the form within my custom node: PolygonTowerWiggle to add some interesting asymmetry.
Original Building Form Geometry At Different Perspectives, Variation 1:
Polygon Sides: 3
Top Twist: 70 degrees
Original Building Form Geometry At Different Perspectives, Variation 2:
Polygon Sides: 5
Top Twist: 80
POINTS TO PONDER ANSWERS
Stage 1
Q: What’s the advantage of exporting values to Excel?
A: Exporting the values to Excel is much more efficient than doing it by hand, so it saves valuable time. You can also iterate over more flexed parameters and evaluate the effect of doing so quickly since it exports to a nice table once the list is transposed correctly. One could show in real time what a design choice could do to the overall metrics.
Stage 2
Q: Which of these inputs tested has the biggest effect on creating a desirable building form?
A: From the two inputs I iteratively flexed, it seems that the number of polygon sides had the biggest effect on a desirable building form in terms of the floor surface area variation and modulation of the building envelope. This can be seen in the Excel file “Stage 2 Results”. The twist did have a non-negligible effect but had decreased sensitivity in providing the desired outputs.