![image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2F59321c3a-29a9-420f-bb53-6a3620ed1b6f%2Ftree.png?id=157e3c3c-600a-4d25-92b8-6efbe345985b&table=block)
The Idea
After getting my first sunburn of the spring a few days ago, I was inspired to create a shade structure. When brainstorming different forms, I thought about my visit last weekend to Tulane. They used to have a tree where students would throw their Mardi Gras beads, but unfortunately it fell down. So, the university replaced it with a metal tree that is so incredibly ugly. It’s depressingly simplistic and, in my opinion, removes all of the whimsy that trees provide.
![image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2Fdcb6c4c5-6bd3-4751-86b7-0b7d7239ce5d%2Ftulane_tree.png?id=5b20034e-14a6-426d-9e2a-ca3ea9e1c4c0&table=block)
I thought: if I were to make a tree shade structure at Stanford, what would it look like? I’m from Boston and I will never forget the awe I felt when I saw the Stanford palm trees for the first time, so I decided to make a palm tree like form.
Process
The Basics
I started by making 3 concentric circles: a base, the top of the curve, and the rim. I connected the curves with vertical ribs and made an irregular shape to sweep over them. Then I lofted the surfaces together and created a grid of panels.
Creating the Sin Curve Rim
In order to get a whimsical wavy movement in the tree, I decided to make the rim a sin curve. This proved to be way more challenging than I thought and took me over 4 hours to get right. The hardest part was subdividing the circle and figuring out how to make a continuous sin wave. I ended up using vectors to calculate arc lengths and then did a bunch of math formulas to get the sin wave of points. Later, when looking on canvas to solve a different problem, I found a powerpoint with an example that did the same thing in way fewer blocks using circular coordinates. While I will definitely use that next time, I’m still happy that I tried it my way because it was a really fun challenge and exercised my problem solving, math, and Grasshopper skills pretty thoroughly :)
Differentiating the Panels
First, I applied panel frames to all the panels. Then, I split the panels into two groups, based on a series. I essentially wanted to isolate a spiral of panels I could make into different colors to make the tree more natural feeling. I colored the larger group of panels two shades of green (one for the frame and one for the inner panel), then I colored the frame of the spirals another shade of green. Finally, I colored the inside panels of the spiral a brown color to represent coconuts!
Parameters that can be Manipulated
- Base circle
- Radius
- Top Circle
- Radius
- Height
- Rim
- Radius
- Height of the rim
- Width of the rim
- Number of waves on the rim
- Amplitude of the waves
- Ribs
- Number of ribs
- Color
- Panels
- Number of frames (vertical and horizontal)
- Panel frame width
- Spiral
- Colors
Here’s another version that would be much larger and flatter!
![image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2F0c0fd323-85fd-4a37-9007-6c484fb25f3e%2Flarge_and_flat.png?id=932ed239-7553-4826-b7df-e8cd24f31477&table=block)