Modeling Process: Part 1

The original file building form I used in Part 1 was the Twisting Rectangular Mass, shown below.

After splitting up the mass into floors and the Revit project space into levels, I was able to create number sliders to flex specific parameters in the mass. I specified that the building top width would be half of the building bottom width. I also chose to create two code blocks that would calculate the base plan area as well as the top plan area to make sure that the building would lie within the site limits. The code to flex different parameters are shown below.

To begin, I flexed each of my parameters (Building Height, Building Top width, etc) to observe the changes in the structure visually and also to check that the square footage was between the range desired in the description before settling on the values I would keep constant as I iterated throughout the twist angle. These values shown below, with the building base width dependent on the building top width.

In order to test a variety of inputs and see the results for each run, I then used code blocks to create a series of numbers that would be inputted into a custom node to get the desired 3 sets of outputs, as described in the example videos.

The custom node called “BuildingForm.EvaluateSingleInput” was adapted from the custom node used in the example video to incorporate all three desired metrics: Gross Floor Area, Gross Surface Area, and Gross Volume. This custom node takes in inputs and uses transaction nodes to set element parameters, get desired values after the Revit updates, and then create a list of all the desired metrics of output in one final output node. The code in this custom node is shown below.

The output from the output node within the custom node is then exported to an Excel file for post processing needs as shown below. Several other series of values for other parameters were also created but were not used. These could be swapped in as input to the custom node if desired by the user.

I chose to test a series of twist angle values for my structure and report the metrics of Gross Floor Area, Gross Surface Area, and Gross Volume for each trial. A range of 25 to 60 degrees was chosen for the angle of twist and the step size was 5 degrees, returning 8 sets of outputs, as shown below.

Each of these gross floor areas are within the range of 1,200,000 sq feet and 1,500,000 sq feet. An optimized design from these options would most likely be a lower angle of twist because these designs decreased the gross surface area while staying within the floor area range requested for the new building.

Modeling Process: Part 2

Building a New Building Form

In order to create a new model with my own defined form, I chose to make a building with a triangular shaped profile as the original mass shape I used was rectangular based. I also was curious to see how the building metrics for a triangular shaped building would change when compared to the rectangular one.

The inspiration for my triangular form came from the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia designed by Thornton Tomasetti. This building has a relatively simple structural system and floor plan that does not use columns, outriggers, floor beams, spandrels, or vertical transfers. All structural elements resist both wind and gravity loads. While my Revit mass was much less complex than this real building, I used a triangular core design for my structure. Rather than creating spandrels that came out from the triangle, I used a larger triangle as the base and adjusted the base heights to taper the structure at the center. In order to create a structure similar to this shape, I first created two different profiles in Revit for the shape to be lofted through. I then loaded these profiles into a conceptual mass family file and created parameters to adjust the location of these profiles (top height and mid height). Then I placed the two profiles I made in the conceptual mass family and lofted a shape through them. For each of the two profiles, I created reference planes and model lines that would be controlled by dimensions to the reference planes. Then, I made these dimensions into instance parameters that would adapt the way the shape looked that I could easily control in the conceptual mass family when lofting my shape to my liking.

In order to retrieve the desired metrics for my new structure, I adapted my original Dynamo code from part 1 to include two inputs. Using a custom node called BuildingForm.EvaluatePairsofInputsAndReportMultipleResults I found the Gross Floor Area, Gross Surface Area, and Gross Volume of the different design options, as shown in the table below with ___ combinations of different heights that abided with the floor area constraints. The most challenging part of the assingnment was finding different profiles and configurations that would loft together well and also met the floor area requirements.

Custom Node for Double Inputs:

Code to Export to Excel: