Parametric Study for Large Residential Development (Ecotect and Grasshopper)

Recently I have been going through some old files and found this parametric study I had done. I thought it would be worth sharing. The study focused on housing in NYC, specifically large residential developments like Stuyvesant Town. The narrow floor plates in cross like morpholgies of the Stuy Town housing offers increased access to light and air. However the protrusions don't differ from one facade to another and seem to be based on a classical orthogonal relationship to the grid rather than solar or air flows and rhythms.

Ariel of Stuyvesant Town (center)

The first part of the Grasshopper script creates a stepped building with variable depth protrusions or teeth. At this point the depth of the protrusions are not functional.

Script to create "tooth" effect along a give curve or structure

The second part of the script creates two programmatic ovals. One of the many criticisms of the tower and the park style is the distance of a given apartment to the street aka public space. One can imagine a mother poking her head out of a brownstone window to watch her children play. Jane Jacobs fans know this as "eyes on the street". Despite the survival of many of the low rise neighborhoods, the street has increasingly transformed from a multi-function essential living space to the private, dirty and dangerous realm of the automobile. The double oval system can achieve high-rise density and create public spaces connected to the upper levels of the tower while saving footprint area for green space. The green bar represents dense housing and the red a mixture of retail and public space with a green roof.

The script for the two programmatic oval

The final combination of the two scripts uses solar radiation data outputted from Ecotect. The solar radiation gradient along the housing oval is used to create the protrusions depths. The Southern protrusions project the farthest offering self shading from the hot summer sun. On the Northern Side the protrusions sink into the facade maximizing use of the weaker diffuse light. The Protrusions could be sized anywhere from a whole room to a bay window. They increase FAR and access to light with consideration to the sun's seasonal movements.

The combination of the two scripts with ecotect data overlay on the right

End of Summer

The Summer has ended and it is finally cool in the city. I spent the majority of the Summer writing my Master's Thesis. Currently I have been creating digital models of Hugh Ferris' "The Four Stages", a massing interpretation of the1916 Zoning code. I also built a parametric model of Ralph Knowles' studies on solar envelopes. Once they are all modeled I plan to do a series of shadow studies and solar gains simulations. It will be interesting to see how the archaic zoning and Knowles hypotheses function in an actual solar simulation. I will be submitting my thesis draft this month so check back soon for images and selected text!

Stage 3 of Ferris' renderings, a classic example of the wedding cake typology

Smary Geometries 2012 Troy: Cluster Update

Smart Geometries just finished this weekend. I will upload some images and videos of the cluster I helped run, Form Follows Flow.Until then here is the video we showed as our cluster update during the confrence. Since the video was played while our cluster champion talked there is not much text in it. It shows some of the digital simulations we did in Vasari then the model testing in the subsonic wind tunnel at RPI. We were very lucky to be able to use the tunnel. There are strict regulations on the type and strength of models that can be tested. Usually you cannot see the wind flows with the naked eye, so helium bubbles are dropped into the flow. That is what creates the white streaking around the model. The models were powered by a cam and axle system connected to one high torque servo each. For data collection they have an accelerometer on the top and multiple tubes connected for pressure measurements. The models and sensors are controlled via an arduino microprocessor (except for the pressure senors).

 

SMART GEOMETRIES 2012: Troy

Form Follows Flow Cluster

Subsonic Wind Tunnel Testing

Interesting Videos of Robotic Fabrication (not mine)

Studio Fall 2011:Bioclimatic Skyscraper Frankfurt

 

 

Summer ventilation capitalizing on primary wind axis

 

Winter solar radiation heat gain and atrium stack effect

Smart Geometries

A quick video I produced for the Smart Geometries 2012 conference at RPI. I used CamStudio to capture the program footage. All the video editing was done in Adobe After Effects and Premiere. No fancy fades or effects since this is simply a schedule. Some of the technology featured includes: Vasari, Ecotect, Rhino, Grasshopper (firefly) and the arduino microprocessor.

I was assigned to the team, Form Follows Flow. The team consists of RPI professors and students, in collaboration with workshop participants. We will look at dynamically testing building geometries and use an artificial neural network to create calculations for every given depth (of a certain configuration). This project will catalog the effects of certain geometry change to wind loading for tall towers. Less load on a building means that less material is needed for structural support (structure presumably being more expensive than the addition of the surface boxes). The surface geometries could then become balconies (although they may be to windy) or other architectural features.

Click for more on SG2012!

Skywater (not mine)

Skywater

Atlelier CMJN

Interesting project done by a team of architects and engineers across the pond. Aesthetically combined rainwater capture and wind turbine power generation. Take a look at their other projects, great stuff.