I studied the interlocking joint details in Grasshopper here and here. This time, the interlocking structures were revisited with a cleaner code and an in-depth explanation. I believe that this is a very good educational exercise for learning the potential of the native Grasshopper components. The Preparations The Region Difference (RDiff) component is used to create the interlocking detail of a surface that is contoured with bi-directional spacing. In the […]

Today, I am introducing a student work from the Design Mathematics course. Foad Sarsangi is a very talented designer, who attended my elective course last semester. The final project he studied was inspired by Peter Zumthor’s Bruder Klaus chapel. Foad wanted to experience its special production process. However, as the course was about “mathematics”, he also studied, solved, and generated an interior volume to be subtracted from a solid mass. […]

It has been nearly 2 years since we designed and produced this garden. Similar to the first version, Common-action Gardens #2 is injected in formal park layouts. We build it for recreation as garden structures with an aim to support the “preserve, sustain, and share” idea. Thus, we expect to bring people together while producing. These gardens organize sustainable models for communal living by integrating raised beds, planting holes, water […]

IABA 2015 International Architecture BiennialAntalya // October 2015, Exhibition at Karaalioğlu Park Design and Prototyping: Fulya Akipek, Tuğrul Yazar, Aslı AydınTeam of students: Alara Lüküs, Burak Güney, Elif Soylu, Tufan İşcan, Tunç ŞenmanConsultants: Anonim İstanbul_Burcu Serdar Köknar, Hande Kalender, Dilek Yürük Video by Elif Soylu COMMON action GARDENS I is an urban garden structure that is exhibited and still in use in Karaalioglu Park as part of the 3rd Architecture […]

The A-Chord folding structure was developed and constructed for the World Wood Day 2015 event in İstanbul. The structure had fifty wooden struts of 4 cm X 4cm with changing heights from 200 cm to 230 cm. Two struts joined with a hinge enabled the folding motion of the structure. Thus, the nearby unit is folding in the opposite direction. The Grasshopper model generated all construction details and drawings automatically. As a result, […]

Site models could be calculated for laser cutting easily using Grasshopper’s native components. This definition was a practical one we created in the Parametric Modeling course to see that Grasshopper could also be utilized to prepare fabrication documents not generating design outcomes. However, this definition is a draft one and could be improved more by putting labels inside of each cut piece, trimming the edges properly and so on. It is […]

After this tutorial, we are still working on the basic ways of making contouring easier in Grasshopper. This is the updated version of the 2-year-old contouring definition in Grasshopper, with some additional functionality. It produces a flat and properly numbered output for each section. However, it does not include optimized nesting to reduce material use. Here is the Grasshopper definition (don’t left click, use right click and “save” option) [GHX: 0.9.0076] and the […]

This video is dedicated to Design Computing and Basic Design students, who “contour” and then move each section by hand in Rhino. They do it individually to fabricate their laser-cut homework from cardboard. It could also be a macro but I prefer this. Because it does not work in all conditions. Maybe you should orient your contouring results similar to those shown in the video, and then use the shear command […]

This is a project proposal designed at the workshop organized together with Simge Esin Orhun and Fulya Akipek as part of the International Wood Day Exhibition in İstanbul. This time, the final Grasshopper definition is created “after” some experiments with physical models. Here is the first model showing the idea inspired by the folding chairs studied here. I realized that in order to make a “wall” instead of a chair, it would […]

Euclidean constructions, when represented computationally, rely on algorithms and mathematical principles to generate geometric shapes and forms. Through precise calculations and logical operations, a computer program can emulate the actions of a compass and straightedge, constructing lines, circles, and polygons with accuracy and efficiency. These digital incarnations of Euclid’s timeless techniques enable the exploration of geometric concepts and the creation of visually captivating representations. This project is interesting because of […]

Here are two macros that automate some of the classical structural styles in today’s architectural geometry. They could be developed more to include joint details, however. It is a relaxing experience to study macros when the process doesn’t have algorithmic expressions (such as recursion, iteration, or conditionals). It is today’s subject in the first-year design computing course at İBU. The first one requires at least two curves already present in order […]

Here is the winning team of this year’s mid-term jury competition in the first-year Basic Design studio at İstanbul Bilgi University. The challenge they undertook was called “Void by Subtraction.” Initially, the students engaged in a series of short-term exercises exploring solid and void relationships. Alongside the studio sessions, they honed their digital modeling skills through Architectural Geometry courses. Their task was to create a contoured structure within a restricted […]

Design Computing classes conducted a “voluntary” assignment; a “contouring” fabrication, that outputs physical prototypes of the previous parametric wall assignment. They worked very well with the corrugated cardboard in fact and extended the simple contouring exercise in Rhinoceros into a design study of patterning and transparency. It seems that corrugated cardboard is a perfect material to study the shift from digital to the material. Below are some of the student works […]

SPEC disappeared from our garden suspiciously. Hopefully, we’ve already finalized its parametric survey. Can create the original model by measuring exact corner coordinates. Then, it manipulated shape by creating diverse vectors for each shape. Emre has also tried a similar approach. Can be definition was too long, and did not use data trees, therefore it is slow. But it’s very effective at offering a solution for animation. I re-captured his […]

Here is a funny sketching system for the “SPEC” homework. [GHX: 0.8.0066] Four (or more) points are created using 2d sliders (MD slider) and decomposed these points into x,y and z numbers. Then, they are re-populated in 3d points by changing their plane. X coordinates are connected into Y, and Y coordinates are connected to Z’s. Tricky part comes then, the X number is defined by a serie of numbers started from […]

It has been a tough problem for me, for the last two days. A parametric model of an interlocking structure (sometimes also called egg-crate, waffle, or contouring structure) can be created easily in Grasshopper using a Contour component. In addition, you need a couple of list management operations and a boolean (or region) difference event. However, Rhino and Grasshopper are very slow at calculating boolean differences on both solids and […]