Zexi Yin

Journal Entry For
Module 5 - Flex Your Form
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Please enter the following info in the fields above:

  • Your Name as the Card title
  • The link to your Module 5 folder in our Autodesk Construction Cloud project

Please also type the first few letters of your first name into the Link to Student field, then hover over your name from the list of matching records and click the blue plus sign to link this entry to your Design Journal.

image

Module 5 link: https://acc.autodesk.com/docs/files/projects/6db2c3ca-7a2c-4f34-96a1-8a8189c7754d?folderUrn=urn%3Aadsk.wipprod%3Afs.folder%3Aco.DD4cGcJET-qvfI6ulttMvw&viewModel=detail&moduleId=folders

Note: I use one Dynamo code for Stage Part1 and Part2 in submission

Stage 1 Part 1: (Screenshot is shown above)

Modeling Method To test the performance of the parametric concept tower form, I loaded a twisted tower mass family into Revit, aligned it with a series of equidistant floors, and used the “Mass Floor” tool to generate the floor slabs for each level. The “top height” parameter of the tower was systematically adjusted in 20-meter increments from 90 meters to 230 meters, with the total gross floor area (GFA) and total gross surface area (GSA) recorded at each step.

Geometric shapes The bottom contour of the tower is triangular, and its shape gradually twists along the height. The building volume is located at the center of the site boundary line: width ≤ 300 meters, depth ≤ 100 meters, and maximum height of 230 meters.

Height(meter)
GFA(SF)
GSA(SF)
90
1029446.79
437148.6661
110
1280526.26
499915.9654
130
1519538.95
563313.1675
150
1747820.37
626036.0791
170
1968072.59
688013.574
190
2182533.82
749379.9129
210
2393050.32
810311.707
230
2601233.14
870994.2564

As shown in the tables and charts: Due to the stacking of more (or larger) floor plates, the gross floor area (GFA) increases almost linearly with the height of the top floor. The gross surface area (GSA) also increases, although slightly non-linearly, as greater height increases the surface area of the twist. At a height of 230 meters, this design provides approximately 2.6 million square feet of gross floor area, meeting the planning objective of providing 2.5 to 3 million square feet of usable space.

image

Stage 1 Part 2: (Screenshot is shown above)

Modeling Method Based on the previous tower volume model, I customized the upper contour of the tower, replacing the top triangle with a rounded triangle (or “softening”) to create a smoother transition and richer curvature. The core geometry remains unchanged, but the middle layer rotation is selected as the bending input to evaluate the impact of torsional strength on spatial indicators.

Geometric shapes The bottom remains triangular, while the top is a rounded triangle, creating a subtle organic twist effect. The floor height and floor area remain unchanged. The only parameter that changes is the middle rotation, from 40° to 47°, with a step size of 1°.

Mid Rotation
GFA(SF)
GSA(SF)
40
2725304
917047.5
41
2692241
913972.5
42
2659946
910995.4
43
2628435
908122
44
2597726
905359.6
45
2567836
902712.4
46
2538770
900188.1
47
2510553
897793.9

As the rotation angle increases, both GFA and GSA decrease slightly. (However, both remain within the GFA requirements.) This may be due to increased deformation in the middle section, which reduces the usable floor area and the compactness of the building structure. Additionally, I believe that the parameter testing in Stage 2 indicates that even minor rotational changes can affect the total GFA and GSA.

image

Stage 2: (Screenshot is shown above)

Modeling Method

The starting point for this study is the parametric tower—the FlyingChevron concept block series. To customize the design, I modified the top contour from a sharp triangle to a rounded triangle, introducing smoother curvature to the upper part of the tower. The new contour was lofted together with the bottom, generating a new twisted tower form.

Geometric shapes

The tower base has a distinctive Chevron-like triangular form with curved edges.Each test case maintains the same height and floor count, ensuring only the footprint area varies.The footprint expansion strictly respects the site limits: ≤ 300m depth and ≤ 400m width, both within the assignment constraints.

Base Width(m)
Base Depth(m)
GFA(SF)
280
180
1510888
280
220
1746807
280
260
1982726
280
300
2218646
320
180
1674529
320
220
1941692
320
260
2208856
320
300
2476019
360
180
1838169
360
220
2136577
360
260
2434984
360
300
2733392
400
180
2001810
400
220
2331462
400
260
2661114
400
300
2990765

Gross Floor Area (GFA) increases continuously with the increase in base width and base depth, exhibiting a nearly linear trend. The most ideal configuration (GFA approaching 3,000,000 square feet) occurs at the maximum allowable site area (400 meters × 300 meters). The influence of base depth appears slightly more pronounced than that of base width.

Then, share your Design Journal entry here including:

  • Screenshots of your building form geometry from each stage of the assignment that you completed:
    • For 2 or More Units: Creating Forms with Revit Conceptual Masses
      • Images/screenshots showing two variations of the input parameters for:
        • your flexing and testing one of the provided example building forms
        • your flexing and testing your new, original building form
    • For 3 or More Units: Creating Forms with Dynamo or Grasshopper Geometry
      • Images/screenshots showing two variations of the input parameters for your new building form created with Dynamo or grasshopper
    • For 4 Units: Summarizing the Testing Results
      • An image of your summary table showing the test results highlighting the maximum and minimum values found
  • A brief description of your design outlining the parameters that can be used to flex and dynamically change your building form
  • Your answers to the Points to Ponder questions for each stage of the assignment that you completed.