*I have received an extension for Module 7 from TA Daniel Diaz on Thursday, May 25th.
Please expand “Step 1,” Step 2,” and “Step 3” below to see my journal for Module 7.
Step 1 - Generative Design Framework
A very brief description of the design decisions from Step 1 following the Generative Design Framework.
- Design Decision 1
- Design Variables
- Height
- Evaluators
- Floor area
- Most Important Tradeoffs to Consider
- Taller is costlier to construct
- Design Decision 2
- Design Variables
- Architectural design
- Evaluators
- Surface area
- Most Important Tradeoffs to Consider
- Aesthetic appeal
- Design Decision 3
- Design Variables
- Positional placement
- Evaluators
- Volume
- Most Important Tradeoffs to Consider
- Combining buildings can only have small increases in volume but massive decreases in surface area
Step 2 - Generative Design Study
- A more detailed description of the design decision from Step 2 that you decided to run a Generative Design Study with.
Firstly, I decided to based my design off of the beautiful Chicago skyline to keep on track with the theme of the rest of my modules! I wanted to examine the changes in height and locations of the buildings to better understand the implications of creating larger buildings; this is depicted in the generative design case study as the bildings being budded up together and connected simulating a single building from two separate ones.
The height without a doubt would increase the floor area of a building but comes with heigher construction costs in the end. Additionally, the architectural design and positional placement of each building leads to either a decrease or increase in surface area and volume, saving construction costs and building a more textured building to add to the city.
I decided to run my generativ edesign case study with certain requirements to maximize the floor area and volume while simultaneously minimizing the surface area.
- Use the Generative Design Framework structure to explain how you’ve set up your Generative Design Study to keep it consistent.
I utilized Dynamo to create ghost structures that resemble the main buildings of the Chicago skyline and generalized the rest.
I set up the parameters of height and location as “Is Input” and the measured parameters of surface area, volume, and floor area as “Is Output” in order to run a case study and determine the generative design outcomes.
Afterwards I examined the results and analyzed the differing costs and benefits described in “Step 3.”
Step 3 - Generative Design Study Results
- The screenshot of the Scatterplot or Parallel Coordinates Graph illustrating the tradeoff that you chose to model and study.
Below are a selection of various images depicting different design alternatives generated; not every alternative is shown. An exported Excel (.cvs) file is within my ACC folder. Note: the Revit model is a placement and the generative design will appear once the dynamo file is ran.
- Provide a brief explanation of what’s being shown in the Scatterplot or Parallel Coordinates Graph and how the tradeoff being illustrated would impact the design decision. What would you do with this info?
Here it is being shown the different heights and locations that could be designed for construction in order to reduce the surface area and increase the floor are and volume of the solid. The image below depicts the highest volume and floor area achievable. It includes each building being at its most extreme maximum heights. However, the tradeoff is that the surface area is at its highest when we wanted to reduce it.
An increase in surface area means an increase in solar exposure increasing botht the heating and cooling loads, costs, and emissions of the building. The first image shows all the different design options in detail by blue lines while the second image shows each option based on graphing criteria, such as volume by floor area, but it can also show various other combinations of the 3 outputs.
Similar to the first two images, the next two despict the same general concept. The difference is that this generative design options combines two different building in the Chicago skyline. This is able to reduce the surface area of the design as can be seen in the output details sections of the images below. The tradeoff, however, is that this now decreases both the floor area dna volume of the design.
Below is another example of a combined building positioning where the volume and floor area may increase a little for a specific building but the surface area of the overall design is substantially decreased in the design. This can be observed by examing the output detailed in the images on the middle right side and comparing the results to the other generative designs.
- An image of your Dynamo Study Graph (showing all your nodes and the connecting logic) -- You can use the File > Export Workspace As Image... command in Dynamo to save a PNG image to upload with your posting.
This can also be seen in “Step 2” above.
