My shelter is inspired by the moon snail and tree branches. The aim of my modeling approach was to create an elegant, curving structure that is easily maintainable.
(Image of Moon Snail from http://www.seashoretoforestfloor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FullSizeRender.jpg)
I used five lines for the starting geometry to create the gently curving structure. Although the ratios are hard-coded, the length, width and height of the structure is adjustable. The ratios can be adjusted in future for more varied geometries.
Next, I constructed the NURBS curves and used the 5-pt tube adaptive component to create the ribs of the structure.
The coverage area of panels can be adjusted. The design intent is to have the panels only extend across a portion of the structure.
Additional ribs have been created along the top edge. It is possible to change the number of additional ribs, which also adjusts the breadth of panels. The second dimension of the panels can also be adjusted with an integer slider, which varies the number of panels along the curve.
Overall, these are the elements that can be changed by a slider function in my structure:
- Length
- Height
- Width
(Correspondingly, this affects the articulation of the curve.)
- Number of ribs on structure
- Panel length and breadth
- Panel extension along rib