Architecture for a rhythmic gymnastics center

Architecture in the spirit of rhythmic gymnastics: Rhino with Grasshopper and Archicad were used in this design for Irina Viner-Usmanova Rhythmic Gymnastics Center (RGC), near Moscow, Russia.

The RGC's roof was designed in Rhino/Grasshopper, from concept through to the production of construction drawings.

Ennoble Enhanced: New Swarovski zirconia gemstone Library

Ennoble is a set of proprietary plugins for Adobe Illustrator and Rhino. The software includes the Swarovski digital component catalogs and is ideal for digital jewelry/fashion/luxury designers and engineers.

With the latest release, Ennoble now provides access to over 1200 cut and size combinations from the Swarovski Crystal and Gemstone catalogs (hottest new addition: Swarovski Zirconia), as well as a new feature set for the creation of component prongs and cutter builders, primarily addressing common challenges of gemstone applications.

Enjoy the following generative design and engineering tools for Swarovski components in Rhino, now available for both Rhino 5 and 6:

• Drag & Drop Placement of over 1200 geometries (cut and size variations) from the Swarovski digital component catalogs, for NURBS (curves, polysurfaces, solids), subdivision surfaces and polygon meshes
• Real-time Updates, both in terms of the software (rolling updates for active subscribers) and new Swarovski collections (e.g., seasonal launches)
• Prongs, both aesthetic as well as functional
• Pavé for curves and surfaces/mesh geometries, such as spray-on brushes as well as color and texture-based circle packing modifiers
• Cavity Creation and geometry optimizations for product visualization, rapid prototyping, and metal production
• Cutter Builder primarily for gemstone settings, e.g., fine jewelry applications
• Cup Mesh structural creation to transform designs into production-ready, self-sustaining geometric structures with accurate cavity settings, inspired by and ideal for 3D printing
• Bill of Materials of utilized Swarovski components automatically compiled for export

Release notes now online. New FAQ as well. Download the beta today. Or join the mailing list to receive follow-ups from the recent Total Chaos Master Class in Sofia and Rhino UGM in London, as well as general Ennoble news and release updates.

Ennoble is brought to you by D. Swarovski Distribution GmbH.

Camillo De Gaspari (Camdesign) on yacht design workflow

Camillo De Gaspari (Camdesign), Yacht Designer, has been kind enough to share his 3D design workflow with the Rhino community:

"Most of these concepts have been sketched on paper and then made as 3D models, and then redefined, in this case, inspiration came from various sources like a trend in the design world or the shape of an animal. When working starts from some specification or requirements from a customer, we speak of a conventional design spiral.

Rhino and its suite of plugins have been a very effective environment for creating these concepts. It can easily import and read most of the file formats used for the engineering of boats and larger, more complex projects, that require more participants and complementary software. 

YD requires a multi-disciplinary approach and the following is my usual workflow. When 3D modeling with Rhino that is the main part, Naval architecture is already consistent thanks to the use of Orca3D marine plugin. Sometimes after modeling, a mockup of the boat might be sent to a 3D printer. 

Delta-eco (ABS plastic, 2011)

2D drawings can be generated and printed with very little effort from inside Rhino. Then I proceed adding textures for the rendering engine and then I follow two different pipelines if working for an animation or for a still rendering. In the first case, I have utilized both the Bongo plugin for Rhino or external programs like 3ds Max to add the kinematics. Then after rendering, the sequence of frames assembled in a video. Still images (or single frames) instead, allow for more post-production effects like multi-lighting or photo editing with a dedicated and well-known software like Photoshop, but there are also a good number of alternatives to this software especially on Mac. 

I tend to add a good amount of details to 3D models of small crafts and yachts, not only because they look more realistic but because there will be less modifications to be made during the executive phase and the construction of the project."

Sagrada Familia Nativity facade - 3D modeling from point clouds

Works carried out by Modelical for the Junta Constructora del Templo de Sagrada Familia.

You have probably heard of the basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, a project by Antoni Gaudí. Surely you are aware that it is a building begun in 1882 and that it is still being designed and built, with the latest technologies available. What you may not know is that until 2018 the Nativity façade, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, had no reliable documentation describing it, either in two or three dimensions.

On the occasion of the restoration and cleaning works, a topography team was commissioned to survey the entire façade with point clouds and photogrammetry. From this work, Modelical's commission was to 3D model the whole set, both with NURBS surfaces and meshes, and extract 2D documentation of plan layouts and sections describing the facade.

Read the entire article on Modelical's blog...

Form-finding through minimisation

News from the Master's Degree in Parametric Design in Architecture (MPDA): Daniel Piker will lecture and take part in the jury of Studio2 next Thursday, June the 20th, at 14.00h in ETSAV's Assembly Hall in Sant Cugat del Valles, Barcelona.

The course will focus on construction-aware design and conclude with the fabrication of 1:1 models based on novel and experimental building systems. This year students are designing and fabricating hybrid bending-active spherical GFRP elastic gridshells, with a high emphasis in the fabrication feasibility, and extensively relying on both physical and digital models made with Kangaroo and analyzed with K2e. The course has included several seminars and masterclasses with the participation of international field experts including Christoph Gengnagel, Riccardo La Magna and Cecilie Brandt.

Daniel Piker
Form-finding through minimisation

Daniel is involved in the design and realization of complex forms in architecture through both research and practice. Formerly working at Arup's Advanced Geometry Unit, and currently, in the Specialist Modelling Group at Foster+Partners, he is also the developer of the form-finding tool Kangaroo which enables a wide range of interactive physical simulation and optimization within the Rhino 3D CAD software.

ICERM workshop: Illustrating Number Theory and Algebra

Illustrating Number Theory and Algebra

ICERM (The Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics)

October 21-25

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island

The symbiotic relationship between mathematics illustration and mathematical research is now flowering in algebra and number theory. This workshop will showcase and develop the connections, including the development of new visualization tools for algebra and number theory. Topics are wide-ranging and include Apollonian circle packings and the illustration of the arithmetic of hyperbolic manifolds, the visual exploration of the statistics of integer sequences, and the illustrative geometry of such objects as Gaussian periods and Fourier coefficients of modular forms. Other topics may include expander graphs, abelian sandpiles, and Diophantine approximation on varieties. ICERM will also focus on diagrammatic algebras and categories such as Khovanov-Lauda-Rouquier algebras, Soergel bimodule categories, spider categories, and foam categories. 

See details, speaker lineup, more events...

Essential Mathematics 4th Edition

We're delighted to share the release of the 4th edition of the Essential Mathematics for Computational Design. This publication by McNeel aims to help introduce design professionals to the foundation mathematical concepts that are necessary for effective development of algorithmic and parametric designs using Grasshopper. The text and examples explain, with some depth, concepts such as NURBS geometry, vectors, and transformation, all with visual illustrations and using nearly 100 Grasshopper definitions in Rhino 6. We are now recording the material into short videos (2-4 minutes each). The first set of videos are here, and more will follow.

Download Essential Mathematics text and Grasshopper examples...
View Essential Mathematics videos...

3D Printing Stone and Concrete... Explained!

Mass customization through Additive Manufacturing is already widespread for materials such as plastic or metal, but for others like concrete and stone, this process is still too expensive or too complex to be commercially viable.

Thanks to technical developments and a convergence of ideas like ShapeDiver and Concr3de, a company can now publish an algorithm in the form of digital product on their website. Their end users can then customize online and immediately 3D-print a unique design.

This combination of parametric design via Grasshopper and Rhino web-based customization and Additive Manufacturing can allow products to be designed and directly ordered online in a completely new range of materials at affordable prices. The design can go from concept to a real tangible product in a matter of days.

More information in the ShapeDiver blog post...

SuperD, a new modeling plugin

SuperD is a high-quality, watertight concept design tool in Rhino. 

It is easy to learn with an industry-standard, control mesh interface. It aims at users who want a recursive subdivision (SubD-like) tool such as the no longer available T-splines. You won't have to deal with any 'extraordinary' or 'star' points because there aren't any. No clusters of patches, and no cracks. Seams are very smooth (Near C2 in tech jargon). SuperD has excellent tools for edge sharpening and smooth dissipation between sharp and round. If the model follows common sense design rules the output will be watertight; it will 3D print without any extra 'healing' work. The B-spline conversion is a button click and fast. It enables any polygon file to be input, smoothed, and output as Rhino B-splines. Check out the tutorial video.

In short, SuperD:

• Uses the popular SubD interface for existing or original models and easy learning.
• Yields high quality (C1, near C2) surfaces, no extraordinary points.
• Generates excellent triangulations: no cracks, no overkill, no clusters, with good Level of Detail (LOD) management.
• Creates quality, Rhino compatible B-spline outputs. A superb way to convert polygons to B-splines.
• Has a compact database.
• Produces watertight models for 3D printing.
• Employs OBJ input/output.
• Allows open or closed models with Bezier curve boundaries.

Try the free trial version on food4Rhino...