ARCH653 Final Project

In this project the objective is to analyze the model presented in the last post, based on the orientation of its panels towards the sun using Dynamo.

Following the steps below, we can visualize orientation towards the sun at different times of the year: 

In order to turn on the sun path, the mass model should be uploaded into the Revit project file, since it can't be turned on or off in the family file.





In order to analyze the panels, first, their surface normals need to be generated, then the normal's deviation from the sun vector should be calculated.

Finding Normals:

Two kinds of panels are used making this model, which had to be selected separately:1. Flat Panels 2. Flat panels with opening
The panels were selected using Select.ModelElement node, hovering over and choosing the panels from the Revit file.

All the panels can be selected using Element.AllInstances node and after that their faces are selected using Topology.Faces.

Surfaces should be evaluated in order to find their normal. Surface.NormalAtParameter, finds the normal for each surface and Surface.PointAtParameter, visualizes mid point for each surface. U and V are set to 0.5 so that the normal would be located in the middle of every surface.

Sun Settings:

Sun path direction represents where the sun is in relation to the target element. Having generated the panel's normal, they can be referenced in relation to the Sun Vector.Vector.Dot evaluates whether the sun is parallel or perpendicular to the surface and at what level of perpendicularity it is.
Map.RemapRange, simplifies output to a range from 0 to 1.

Applying Color Range:

Using the aforementioned nodes, the solar path can be converted into a system of numbers related to the panel's orientation, now the adaptive components should be colored based on the dot product.
By the use of Color.ByRGB, the color which would be applied to the panels can be selected. In this case, Red and Green are selected so that the color range would be between these two.
The Color.Range, gives us a range of colors based on panels' orientation towards the sun. Using this method, the panels which are more situated towards the sun would be closer to red in color.

Here, you can find the video on the instructions above:

Solar Orientation Analysis Using Dynamo

Project 1:

Panama Art Museum by Fernando Romero

Firm: FR-EE/ Fernando Romero Enterprise
Type:  Cultural...Museum

Panama Museum

Reference: http://www.arch2o.com/panama-museum-fr-ee/arch2o-free_panama_museum12/
Retrieved on : 10.10.16

Panama Museum

Reference: http://www.arch2o.com/panama-museum-fr-ee/arch2o-free_panama_museum12/
Retrieved on : 10.10.16

The Mass:

I used the conceptual mass file and started by drawing a big circle and another circle as a profile with its center located on the perimeter of the first circle, however, this method didn't work.

Then, I tried drawing more circles as profiles to make the shape without the use of the loop. This method seemed to work better.

First, I drew the bigger circle using the explicit method so that I could move some of the points on it vertically, however, selecting the loop and the profiles didn't lead to making the form.

Next, I tried drawing only the profile circles and only use them to make the form which was the answer.

The profiles needed for this projects were more close to elipse in shape, therefore, I used elipses to make the form.

With the use of concentric circles located on  different levels, I could draw elipses with eccentric centers on the perimeter of the bigger circle and it allowed me to place them in different heights as was needed for the project.

Next step was making the shapes parametric so that they could flex together.

The ellipse's axis were defind by twi parameter like a and b and the longer axis was also set equal on both sides from the center so that they would change relatively whenever other parameters are changed. Both a and b were defined based on the r parameter which was the diameter of the big circle.

The final mass model was made using the ellipse profiles only.

The Curtain Panel:

I used the Curtain Panel Pattern Based for making the envelope of the buildingand started by adding Reference Points and drawing a circle to drive its formula based on R variable,

0 < R < 0.5 . The shape is driven by 3 factors : 1. Radius 2. Radius2 and 3. R3

Error: One of the problems I faced in this stage was when I wanted to use adaptive family for drawing the circle. I made the circle using 9 points and loaded it into the Panel family and placed the points on the perimeter of the circle shown in the image but when I wanted to make the form by extruding the circle it showed an error which I suppose was due to overlapping points 1 and 9 of the circle.

Next, These 3 parameters were multiplied by 3 different constrains, in order to make an ellipse which is later used to form the void in the square panel.

Then, the reference lines shaping the square were selected and extruded using

Create Form/ Solid Form and the offset parameter was associated with it to control the panel's thickness.

The ellipse shape was selected and extruded using the same method but with the use of void form and two parameters (Param and -Param) were assigned to control the positive and negative offset of the void form.

Param was defined so that for the R>0.28", its value would be 3', and in the case when R is smaller than 0.29", its value would become 0 so that the void would disappear. Because due to the panels used in the real project, the size of the opening doesn't get any smaller than a certain amount.

The Mass Shape was selected and divided by the Divide Surface command and 20 by 20 grid was applied to its surface.

The grid was selected and the panle was applied using the properties drop down menu.

The panel was loaded into the project with the R value smaller than 0.28 so that the panels would be flat with no opening and then the panels were manually selected and changed to different panels with opening wherever needed. One of the problem I encountered was that When I changed R from 0.28 to any number greater, the circles weren't built in the mass file, however it could be addressed by loading the panel with the R greater than 0.28 and then I could assign another number to R and it worked fine.Therefore, I saved two versions of the panel I had made with different R values and loaded them into the project. That way I could choose the panel one by one and change them to the panel I needed.

Video Tutorial by Me:

https://youtu.be/KsrpTfsNAs0