Advances in Architectural Geometry (AAG) Symposium 2016–September 9-13, Zurich (Switzerland)

AAG2016 Symposium

AAG2016 workshops: September 9-11

AAG2016 conference: September 11-13

ETH Hönggerberg - Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse

8093 Zurich (Switzerland)

Advances in Architectural Geometry (AAG) is a biannual symposium addressing the community of computer scientists, mathematicians, engineers and architects. It aims to connect academia and industry through presentations and discussions of innovation in geometric and computational applications in architecture.

The fifth edition of this biannual event will take place in Zurich, from Friday, September 9 to Tuesday, September 13.

The AAG2016 workshops will be offered by leading experts. The AAG workshops are a great opportunity for participants to encounter the latest design and fabrication tools as well as processes in architectural geometry.

In most of these workshops, participants will be using Rhinoceros and Grasshopper.

The AAG2016 conference will have Lord Norman Foster and Francis Aish, Werner Sobek, Erik Demaine and Urs B. Roth as keynote speakers. Their participation highlights the importance of AAG as a central platform for the exchange of ideas in architecture and engineering, mathematics and computer science.

More information...

Registration...

Custom data visualizations and heads up displays

Conduit is an open source data visualization heads up display (HUD) plugin in development for Grasshopper that allows for live, fast, and presentable overlays of chart widgets within Rhino viewports.

Conduit is authored by Proving Ground and enables designers to create custom data visualizations and heads up displays that update with your parametric models.

Find more information and download from food4Rhino...

Architectural Design training by Pivot Produktdesign AS - Oslo (Norway)

Rhino for Architects

Pivot Produktdesign AS

August 8-19, 2016

Oslo (Norway)

Join Pivot Produktdesign AS for the course Rhino for Architects at their new Oslo offices on August 8-19.

This course will cover common areas in architecture, such as solid modeling, paneling, BIM/file exchange, 3D printing, and presentation. You will gain in-depth knowledge of the methods used to create high-quality models. You will also look at ways to present designs directly from Rhino and with rendering plugins. The McNeel plugin PanelingTools and paneling will be included if desired.

Trainers

Fredrik Wenstop: An industrial designer and certified Rhino trainer. He has experience in both product engineering and architecture. Fredrik has also been involved in many architecture projects.
Since then he has been involved in several building projects and held training courses for architectural and design offices in Norway.

Liam Woolley: A design engineer with education in the automotive sector. His specialties are developing and prototyping products and special fabrications within architecture. Liam also has long-time experience with rendering and visualizations, 3D modeling, and optimization through FEA.

More information...

Create and share WebGL files from your models with 3dxiuxiu

3dxiuxiu is a free export plugin for Rhino for Windows. Rhino models can be translated to WebGL format then shared through www.3dxiuxiu.cn website.

Download 3dxiuxiu plugin from food4Rhino...

Project for a Multipurpose Cultural Center in the city of Matera (Italy)

New Fundamentals Research Group is a team of Italian architects and academics coordinated by Professor Giuseppe Fallacara. The team is affiliated to the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAR) of the Polytechnic University of Bari, and develops research projects which deal with the relationship between innovation and tradition in architecture.

Professor Fallacara's students from the 3rd year course in Architectural Design (Master Degree in Architecture - Polytechnic University of Bari), with the support of tutors Maurizio Barberio and Micaela Colella, have been developing different proposals for an architectural design project for the city of Matera. They've put together a video to summarize their projects.

The goal was to simulate the activity of a large architecture practice, involved in the design of a public building, which generally requires the contribution of a large number of architects and designers. Each group had to deliver a design proposal, a rapid-prototyped model, an article about their own project and the relative part of the final video. The project concerns a new Multipurpose Cultural Center, a contribution from students in form of new urban and architectural ideas for the city of Matera, which has been selected as European Cultural Capital for 2019. To model their architecture, they have been using mostly Rhino and Grasshopper.

Watch the video...

Silvereye - PSO-based solver

Silvereye is an optimization add-in component for Rhino’s Grasshopper. It is dedicated for single-objective searches and can be used for solving complex, real-world optimization problems in the design space.

Silvereye is based on the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, a member of the Swarm Intelligence family of methods. PSO is a type of biological system inspired by the social behaviors of flocking birds and schooling fish. The individuals in the swarm, interact and learn from one another to find the optimal solution.

Download from food4Rhino...

AAG workshop: Optimize this!

Optimize this! revolves around using different optimization tools in Grasshopper, Goat, and SuMO. This 2-day workshop (September 9-10) is taught by Thomas Wortmann, Aloysius Lian, and Dimitry Demin. It's just one of the workshops at the upcoming Advanced Architectural Geometry 2016 (AAG) in Zurich, Switzerland.

AAG is a symposium revolving around geometry and the architectural design process. It presents both theoretical and practical work of new geometrical developments, and the diverse components of contemporary architecture. Participants include architects, engineers, mathematicians, software designers, and contractors.

Other workshops will be presented in the days preceding the conference, covering elements of modeling, structural design, scripting, virtual reality, and additive manufacturing.

Dates
AAG Workshops: September 9-11
AAG Conference: September 11-13

To register ....

Starfish: New Grasshopper add-on for parametric generation of various patterns

The Starfish plugin allows the parametric generation of various patterns. It focuses on 2D tessellations and can be used to create structural systems based on the topological interlocking principle.

Commands included:

• Tessellation. Main component for 2D pattern generation that is based on the numerical representation of polygons as the input. For example '4.8' will result in a tessellation composed of squares and octagons.
• TI_Block, CurvedBlock, SharpBlock. Generation of 3D interlocked blocks from closed planar polylines.
• Maze, MazeRandom, Ornament. Components for creating maze-looking patterns.
• DualPreview. Component for custom preview of breps using separate colors for brep surfaces and its wireframe.
• Map2dToSurface. Mapping of two-dimensional curves onto a surface with optional inputs of rotation angle or scaling factors in {x} or {y} directions.
  
  
  Download on food4Rhino...

See Fabric for Rhino/Unreal at SIGGRAPH

Fabric Software is presenting Fabric for Unreal Engine at SIGGRAPH 2016, Tuesday July 26th, 2 pm. The focus is getting data from Rhino and into Unreal Engine.

Fabric explains, "Unreal is a great engine for visualization and VR but there are headaches around getting AEC data into Unreal. This session shows a complete pipeline for getting data (including materials) from Rhino into Unreal."

Sign up at Fabric Engine's SIGGRAPH page ....

3D printed glass - Beautiful!

The Mediated Matter group at MIT Media Lab is expanding the potential of additive manufacturing and 3D printing.

The research group, a collaboration between MIT and Harvard University, has built an additive manufacturing machine that extrudes molten glass. Neri Oxman, the MIT Media Lab director, and her team have used the technique to produce a wide range of vases and bowls. But Oxman emphasizes that the new glass-printing technology could be valuable for components in architectural design and building systems.

More details in the online Journal of the American Institute of Architects...

Crystal texture in jewelry

Inspired by nature, Allegra Crespi and Martin Griswold for NVM Design, are using both new and traditional technology to create jewelry.

Using lichen as their core inspiration, they first scanned the lichen, then digitally manipulated it to fit their visions.

The second element is a crystal texture, generated with the help of Python scripting in Rhino. NVM Design explores different versions of the complicated crystal texture until they get it "just right", without needing to manually composing each design option. The finished textures are incredibly distinct.

Every piece is 3D printed, then hand finished by local artisans in New York City.

Read more in the Shapeways article ....

KUBRIX-Geo plugin for Rhino 5

The KUBRIX-Geo mesh generator is an Itasca Consulting Group software product used to build models for hexahedral and tetrahedral meshing in numerical analysis.

Although built for the demanding geometrical requirements of petroleum and mining geomechanics, this unique automatic grid generator is also used by design engineers and researchers in the civil, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, biomedical, and electronics industries.

You can launch KUBRIX-Geo directly from Rhino.

Features

• Interactive solid-based mapped hexahedral meshing.
• Interactive solid-based convex block decomposition for specific use with Itasca's 3DEC polyhedral DEM/Continuum analysis product.
• Automatic all-hexahedral meshing based on KUBRIX fuzzy-logic block decomposition.
• Automatic tetrahedral/hexahedral meshing.
• Automatic octree meshing.
• Hybrid and multi-scale meshing combine far-field and near-field meshes with interfaces and joints.

Input format

STL (closed, manifold, or non-manifold triangular mesh) or Rhino solids (topological hexahedra, prisms, or tetrahedra).

Output format

ANSYS, ABAQUS, FLAC3D, 3DEC.

More info on KUBRIX products....

Download the demo version....

Basilica Gospe od Otoka in Solin, Croatia

Image provided by Vladin Petrov - Vyonyx

The stunning design and construction of the Basilica Gospe od Otoka (Solin, Croatia) is by Vyonyx Architecture, an architectural design and research office based in the UK, Croatia, and France.

Vyonyx used Rhinoceros and VisualARQ to realize this non-standard design and maintain BIM data throughout the process. VisualARQ objects were especially useful in creating the curved walls of the Basilica. The designers could freely explore window positions and dimensions without needing to reconstruct the model repeatedly, all the while automatically generating the 2D documentation of every iteration.

The project is currently under construction. See more pictures of this project at the VisualARQ gallery.

More details...

Rhino and Grasshopper workshops in LA

SomewhereSomething has announced their summer series of workshops. Take a look at their line-up:

• Introduction to Rhino
  July 16-17
• Introduction to Grasshopper
  July 23-24
• Intermediate Grasshopper
  July 30-31
• Grasshopper Plugins
  August 6-7
• Physical Computing with Firefly
  August 20
• GIS in Grasshopper
  August 21

All workshops will be held at:

SomewhereSomething

530 South Main Street

Los Angeles, CA 90013

Questions? Call (213) 986-7663

Details and registration...

Waterman Polyhedra now supports Rhino for Mac

Create Waterman Polyhedrons with the Waterman Polyhedra plugin for both Rhino 5 for Windows and Rhino 5 for Mac.

A Waterman polyhedron is created by packing spheres, according to cubic close packing (CCP), then sweeping away the spheres that are farther from the center than a defined radius, then creating the convex hull of the resulting pack of spheres.

Some Waterman polyhedra create Platonic solids and Archimedean solids.

Waterman Polyhedra provides both a Rhino plugin and a Grasshopper add-on.

Waterman Polyhedra is free!

Download...

Rhino DOF training, August 8-12

Rhino DOF - Rhino Design Optimization & Fabrication 
August 8-12, 2016
Irvine, CA

Join RhinoFabStudio Director, Andres Gonzalez, for a week-long DOF workshop. In this hands-on, intensive class attendees will learn to create and edit accurate free-form 3D NURBS models. This fast-moving class covers most of Rhino's functionality, including the most advanced surfacing commands. This workshop will also give participants a functional understanding of Grasshopper and parametric design. This will allow them to build on this understanding into more advanced projects of their own. The class also covers information on fabrication techniques with RP or laser machines and optimization and fabrication using RhinoCAM for CNC machines. Details...

Seats are limited, register today!

Date: August 8-12, 2016

Hours: 8:00 am-5:00 pm
Price: US$995
Location: Laguna Tools, Irvine, CA

Questions? Contact Jody Mills at (206) 634-4571.

Details and registration...

What is a RhinoFabStudio? A RhinoFabStudio™ (fabrication studio) is a small-scale digital workshop, certified by McNeel, with an array of Rhino and Rhino compatible software and computer-controlled tools and training. These tools cover the various leading-edge industrial methods and materials needed to design, analyze, and fabricate almost anything.

Warka Water prototype at the Biennale Architettura 2016 - Venezia (Italy)

The awarded project Warka Water can now be seen at the Biennale Architettura 2016, the 15th International Architecture Exhibition organized by La Biennale di Venezia.

A full-scale prototype for a Warka Water, assembled on site in the Arsenale, was unveiled at the Biennale Architettura 2016 on Thursday May 26. A scale model 1:10 and 3 documentaries are also displayed showing the work that has been done: the installation of a pilot test prototype in Ethiopia, 1 year ago, and the future expansion of Warka Warka in 2 other regions, Colombia and Indonesia.

Rhino and Grasshopper were used from the early stages of the project. You can visit the exhibition and Warka Water until Sunday November 27, 2016.

More info on Warka Water...

Tangential Dreams: an architectural installation for the Burning Man Festival 2016 - Kickstarter campaign

Mamou-Mani has launched the Kickstarter project Tangential Dreams, an architectural installation for the Burning Man festival 2016 and a statement for a new kind of architecture in which the Architect is also the Maker. Tangential Dreams is a 30-foot high twisting tower with thin wooden tangent swaying in the wind with inspiring sentences written by people around the world.

Throughout the process algorithms maximize inexpensive materials such as timber or bio-plastic. Digital models (Rhino and Grasshopper) are linked with fabrication tools such as LaserCut and 3D Printers to improve the design and make the project possible.

You can back this project in exchange for different rewards (among them, a video tutorial and private classes on parametric design by Arthur Mamou-Mani himself).

The Kickstarter campaign is ending on July 21st. Check it out now!

More info on this campaign...

AA Visiting School Amazon: Digital Vernacular, August 2016

Infrared thermography of a non-vernacular roof type

AA Visiting School Amazon: Digital Vernacular

Lake Mamori, Amazonas

August 22-28, 2016

After studying the impact of the recent arrival of electricity on the small community of Mamori Lake, this year’s edition will explore how these changes can inform a new type of vernacular architecture that deals with this new electrified reality, yet is highly adapted to the rain forest environment. Through the use of biomimicry principles, digital measuring devices, data gathering and analysis, and digital design tools, participants will propose a new type of maison tropical digital that directly responds to the new needs of the area inhabitants, as they prepare for the imminent digital revolution.

About the workshop:

The workshop takes place in a simple but comfortable wooden lodge by the Mamori lakeshore, in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. The initial exploratory days of analysis and data collection offer the participants the possibility to discover the astonishing Amazon ecosystem and interact with the local communities. Social, mythological, economical, and natural environments will be overlaid to discover emerging patterns that inform the design process. The strategies of some plants, insects, and animals will be studied to trace parallels between nature and architecture. 

Read more...

Eligibility:

The workshop is open to current architecture and design students, PhD candidates, and young professionals.

Applications:

• Complete the online application found under Links and Downloads on the AA Visiting School page. If you’re unable to use the online application, email visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk for instructions to pay by bank transfer.
• Once you complete the online application and make a full payment, you are registered to the program. A CV or portfolio is not required.
• The deadline for applications is August 8, 2016.

Details...