This is a first-year design computing problem we studied last month. It is a simple parametric wall exercise introduced by Mete Tüneri. Creating a simple definition of a building brick to be placed on a straight path, and then manipulating the path to reform different variations of the brick. This aims to introduce a fundamental concept of associativity in contemporary architectural geometry and design computing. Students are then encouraged to develop their own parametric brick to be tested in different path conditions.

Below is a simple implementation of the above exercise in Grasshopper3D. I used this definition to show the basic idea.

This exercise might also be useful in a more advanced class of parametric modeling as it incorporates well with the use of reference point lists (as data trees) in Grasshopper. Here is my Grasshopper solution based on Mete’s modeling sequence [GHX: 0.9.0014] Below are Benay Gürsoy’s further studies about the same idea. We expect our students to define such seamless wall systems.