Computer Graphics World

OCTOBER 2010

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Design n n n n plates that comprise the steps. Iterations are driven by transaction definitions, which are also scripted. Tis method allows users to create, for instance, a high-rise tower whose shape is defined by a stack of hexagons. By alternating the sizes and angles of the skeletal hexagons and the distance between them, ar- chitects and designers may continue to create variations of the same tower derived from the same set of rules. As a result, they are able to bypass the pro- Above shows the shape of the acoustic- enhanced room designed by the SmartGeom- etry workshop group, as rendered in Bentley’s Generative Components software. a totally absorbing to a totally reflecting surface was created through variation in panel perfora- tions. An amplified space was created by using raytracing to predict sound reflections focused at a single point. A scattered sound space was cre- ated by having complex geometries that would scatter sound waves and not allow distinct echoes to be heard.” Tus, by careful texturing the enclosures in geometric patterns, the team further controlled sound behavior in each chamber. For an area of the enclosure with recursive holes (an aesthetic treatment), the team once more turned to GC to automatically generate the hole patterns, then use a computer numerical control (CNC) laser cutter to cut the patterns. Playground at a Glance In computational design discussions, the names of two software packages—Bentley’s GC and Robert McNeel & Associates’ Grass- hopper—tend to crop up often. GC is tightly integrated with Bentley’s flagship product, MicroStation, but a stand-alone version is also available, currently downloadable free of charge. Grasshopper is a plug-in to McNeel’s popular NURBS modeler Rhino and available as a free download for Rhino users. While GC lets users refine designs through dynamically modeling and directly manipu- lating geometry, it also uses a C-style pro- gramming language to record and store feature sets “under the hood,” such as the curvature of a spiral staircase’s railing or the individual cess of modeling each altered component of the design by hand. Instead, they can refine or edit designs by directly manipulating those features, or by working under the hood and editing the transactions and scripts directly. A case in point is work by the SmartGeometry cluster exploring acoustic surfaces: Te group didn’t have to sketch each wall hole; the pat- terns were automatically generated based on a set of rules. GC comes with an integrated development environment and a debugger—familiar tools for programmers but perhaps not so much for architects used to working with solid shapes, splines, lines, and arcs. Rhino plug-in Grasshopper allows architects to create geometry in a similar fashion, with an interface that is more graphical. All the rules governing the geometry generation (or regen- eration) process—base profile, logic, vector lines, equations, Boolean operations, and so forth—are embedded in drag-and-drop icons, allowing designers to work in a flowchart-like environment. Te designers are still develop- ing scripts, but the operation happens in the background, behind the visible canvas. Another contender for generative design is currently in development at Autodesk. Te ini- tiative is led by Robert Aish, the silver-bearded Obi-Wan Kenobi of computational design. In his former role as Bentley’s director of research, he once shepherded the early development of generative computation. His departure from Bentley in 2007 stirred fans of this particular design process—so much so that Lars Hessel- gren, a veteran of the SmartGeometry Group, was prompted to offer assurance in a blog post at Bentleyuser.org. “We have to acknowledge the enormous role Robert played in creating GC. It was very much his baby. Autodesk’s move underlines the acceptance into the marketplace of tools designed for the new design age, where com- puters are used as active design participants. It is a fundamentally different concept from BIM (building information modeling). From all the reactions I have had so far, it is clear that GC will carry on without dad. Being brought up by foster parents, he will be different. We can look at it as an experiment in the ‘nature versus nurture’ debate. We, the GC users, hope to nurture him through adolescence to a fully mature and rounded young man. And we wish dad the best of luck in his new life.” Aish won’t get into details about the contrast between his work at Bentley and his work at Autodesk, except to say, “If an architect builds a brilliant sports stadium, and a few years later another client comes along and asks, ‘Can you build me one just like that?,’ then the architect, if he’s got any gumption and creativity, would say, ‘Nope, I won’t do the same thing again; I’d like to do something different.’ ” Te debut of the new technology will most likely be inside AutoCAD, Autodesk’s rival product to Bentley’s MicroStation. Autodesk doesn’t have a specific time frame for deliver- ing the software, but Autodesk customers have had glimpses of the technology at Autodesk University (AU) 2009, first in a computational design symposium and later during CEO Carl Bass’s main stage presentation. “Our whole intention is to provide a gentle learning curve, where you start off with sketch- ing,” says Aish. “Te software is writing the script for you under the hood. You don’t even need to know we’re doing that for you. But if you say, ‘Now that I’ve drawn the curves and lines, I’d like to do something to every other curve,’ then we can open the panel to show you a more complicated set of controls. But that’s optional.” (Top) This tessellated profile was created by Hyoung-gul Kook using the Rhino plug-in Grasshopper. (Bottom) This is the code used to create the profile. October 2010 19 © Hyoung-gul Kook. © Brady Peters.

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