graffiti screen: revised framework

This week I started over with the creation of a formwork that would drive the geometry of each piece using four curves.  I projected the spacing onto perpendicular planes, added points coincident with the intersections, and set up parameters to drive offsets.  Potentially this will allow me to morph the entire screen by simply changing numerical values.  I kept the parameters global such that all the powercopies could be controlled at once.  

The problem I'm having right now is that even though I enabled hybrid design, I am not able to powercopy the multi-section solid.  I keep getting an error about ordering.  Maybe I need to shift around my geometrical sets?  

screen wall (in progress)

In an attempt to make the swerve in the pieces parametric I created a sketch with a curve to control the heights from the bottom and top.  However, when all the parameters are added the model becomes over-constrained.  I think it might have something to do with the rectangular pattern used to create the grid.

I also setup the named views to eventually create a catalog of conditions.  With more mutations it will create a taxonomy of the parameters in use. 

final_framework+powercopies

For my final project, I'm starting by modeling the geometry for a graffiti-proof screen wall.  The idea is that the slats make any tagging illegible and therefore discourages defacement.  


Initial parametric framework and powercopy failures:

Parametric rectangular pattern formwork based on a critical base point that can be modified:

Variations of the spacing and base points to create different patterns:

 

And then I found the limits of the sweeps:

What I'd like to do next is to use a spreadsheet to drive the parameters of the start and end lengths of the straight runs.  The powercopy is set up such that the straight pieces are controlled and then a curve connects the two endpoints. 

final project proposal

For my final project I intend to model a portion of my studio project from this semester.  Currently, it does not involve anything that resembles a building, but my intention fr the rest of the semester is to develop a building that embodies the ideas I have been investigating so far.  

My proposal for the part of the project that is just now wrapping up is about inserting color into a neighborhood in Hamtramck as a means to create productivity in the empty spaces of the city.  This takes on many forms: infrastructure, barrier reassessment, wetland creation, and house painting.  

I want to translate these ideas from disparate non-specific urban proposals into a singular building.  Potentially working in concert with the urban interventions the project would be linked visually with a wider system.  

I intend to use Digital Project to investigate how surface treatments of color translate into material practices.  Specifically, I want to model surfaces that are graffiti-resistant, not through surface finishes, but through their geometry.  The first task will be to create a fence-like structure that is more dynamic. 

knowledge patterns

In an attempt to model Maya Lin's Wave Field as a series of instantiated parts that each contained a knowledge pattern, I encountered some resistance from Digital Project.

 

  

Attempts to control the high point of the surface in the design file resulted in oddities in the udf.

After multiple attempts to include additional parameters from the beginning of design failed miserably, I decided to take a different path.  

 

I created ten profiles to drive a multi-section solid.

 

 I was tempted to add parameters to drive the curves, but wanted to make sure that I could create a UDF from a solid (instead of a surface).

  

 And then the surface got some color:

 

  

The next step would be to find a way to edit the UDF such that the individual waves could be controlled by parameters or values in a spreadsheet.


Additional color studies: 

(p1.Color =   ToString(round(i*(200/sn)))+","+ToString(round(i*(500/cn)))+",500")

tutorial_six (knowledge patterns) in progress

 

Reducing the CURVENUMBER to 5:

 

  

Increasing the CURVENUMBER to 30 (the beige at the top is the new sections that have been created during the update):

  

I would like to replicate this section to create a construction like Maya Lin's Wave Field.  

 

I have determined so far that using a Document Template to instantiate a Knowledge Pattern does not work. 

tutorial five_document templates

This is what I started the other day, but it didn't really look or function like the form I was attempting to model.

  

 

So, I modified the geometry.

  

Instead of being multi-section cuts, the two cylindrical pieces were modeled as multi-section solids.  Also, two additional planes were introduced so that the ends could extend beyond the block.

The planes and dimensions of the profiles are linked parametrically to rule parameters such that no parameters are controlled in the product file.  

 When the document template was instiating from document multiple times to fill the grid, the failures of the part parameters were revealed.  In some cases the shell command could not be undertaken because the faces intersected.  In more extreme cases, certain geometric combination led to the cylindrical pieces leading to cusps, and therefore could not be drawn.  

 

  

And after adjusting the coupling and closing points on some of the parts:

  

 And four variations from altering the framework sketches.  Some of the voids did not work with the altered framework.