Part 1

I started the process by picking one of the available three-component building shapes and defining its location in Revit.

After that, I started building my Dynamo logic by defining the model element from Revit and some constant parameters that can be manually changed using a slider, such as top and base rotations.

My next step was to define alternatives to flex. I chose that I will be testing the top height and base rotation of the building. The range of height and base radius values can be easily changed by using code blocks. Then I created a list that combines both alternatives I want to test into a list.

After that, I downloaded a custom node from Google Drive and used it as a function to test the alternatives I chose. I connected function outputs with the list of testing combinations to create a list of four values that represent the top height, base rotation, and corresponding gross surface area and gross floor area.

My last step was exporting the results into the Excel file. After my Dynamo logic was working, I manually changed the top height and base rotation in Revit and compared the results with the Excel file. Since the results were matching for all the testes cases, I was satisfied that Dynamo logic worked correctly. The results are shown below.

Part 2

I started part 2 by creating a circular profile and saving it as a mass family. After that, I created a new mass template with three levels, where the top height=2*middle height, and placed the profile I created on each level. I checked that the height and radiuses of the profiles can be flexed correctly by manually changing parameters in Revit. Finally, I used the same Dynamo logic as for Part 1 to flex the height and base radius of the building and record the results in an Excel sheet.

Overall, I had a hard time with the second part of the assignment. I could properly flex radiuses and the height of the building before making a solid out of three profiles. However, a solid wouldn’t change the height, and the top profile wouldn’t move together with a top plane. After changing the approach, I finally got it to work and flex the forms!

Random Fact

I was happy to see that we have a picture of the Moscow International Business Center as a cover for this assignment. So here are some pictures I have of the cool parametric buildings they have there.