The Flowing Bridge, Entrance outdoor theatre footbridge, Taiyuan, China, by Sterling Presser Architects+Engineers

Copyright Rex Zou

The Flowing Bridge (by Sterling Presser Architects+Engineers) is a unique infrastructure project designed as an entrance to the Taiyuan outdoor theatre and a strategic connection to the whole park above the river Xiahoe meander. The bridge is conceived as an invitation to the arts and the entire composition is a sequence. Its indirect path allows the visitor to arrive from the side and discover the water step by step. The concept is to design a connection to the car park in harmony with the lotus pattern of the landscape and the outer theatre.

The balustrades are a specific feature using parametric design. It has been developed as a vibrant artistic surface to provide quality within the public space. The bespoke Grasshopper definition enabled a visual and differentiated effect. It is designed to be visually abstract using a moiré definition, which underlines the curved concept and plays with the natural light. The railing reads at different speeds, whether it is perceived by pedestrians, cyclists, or light VIP vehicles, and creates an ever-changing feel.

Two grids shift parametrically while keeping the code requirement of a minimum of 110 mm between elements for safety. Sterling Presser used Rhino geometry definition of the whole project to deliver a 3D coordinated construction information package for the local contractor.

Nemo, Grasshopper plugin for ship design, celebrates the new year

Nemo provides multiple tools to generate linesplan, compute hydrostatics, perform resistance prediction, extract structural data, produce 2D drawings, and exchange data with other external software. Nemo also includes free tools to create parametric shapes, such as Naca profiles, hydrofoils, keels, rudders, blade propellers, and sail plans. 

This 1.4 release brings new components to generate linesplan, estimate aerodynamic drag force, compute frictional + roughness resistances with ITTC 57' + 78' models, and now handles different speed units (kn, m/s, km/h). 

 The pricing table has also been updated, with a discounted price for updating any previously purchased version.

Full details, updates, and features on Nemo's food4Rhino page

V-Ray 6 for Rhino – Architectural Interior Scene

Creating a Night-time Architectural Interior Rendering in V-Ray 6 for Rhino

In this new Simply Rhino V-Ray video tutorial, part of our new ‘Getting Started with V-Ray’ series, we create a night-time architectural interior rendering using V-Ray 6 for Rhino 7.

Complete details...

KUKA|prc in Unity Visual Scripting – Association for Robots in Architecture

Robots in Architecture has been kind enough to share its new project that links KUKA|prc with Unity and Rhino.Compute:

"While Grasshopper is extremely strong at defining geometrically complex operations, it is less optimized for processes that incorporate live sensor feedback or branching data paths, due to its fundamentally acyclic, directed graph.

In our research at Creative Robotics we have integrated KUKA|prc into the game engine Unity and its included Unity Visual Scripting system, that features an accessible integration of state machines.

As Unity cannot cover the same scope of geometrical operations as Rhino, we still utilize Rhino and Grasshopper via Rhino.Compute for pathplanning, while depending on UVS’ state machine for controlling the process flow."

Complete details...

Point-E in Rhino: Generate Objects with OpenAi-Technology by Textprompts

Point-E creates point clouds of objects based on text input. Resolution is still relatively low to keep usability high, but the results are already amazing.

Point-E is the latest open AI web service that OpenAI released, following amazing tools like Dall-E for generating images and ChatGPT for generating text-based answers for almost any text prompt.

It is now usable in Rhino through the free version of the Adapative Parts Environment plug-in.

Multiple objects can be generated simultaneously and point clouds are even colored.

Currently, Rhenso is working on an automated meshing algorithm for Release 7.

If you are already using Release 8 beta, you should try the new ShrinkWrap feature with the result of Point-E.

To use it follow these steps:

• Install Adaptive Parts Environment (APE) through the package manager (win only) or by our installer
• Download and open this Example (3dm and Grasshopper file)
• Use the APE Panel and enter your query
• Copy and change the model as often as you like

More info...

Moving Pictures: The Art of M.C. Escher and Animation

National Museum of Mathematics

January 11, 2023

The work of M.C. Escher can be thought of as related to animation, for example, his long print Metamorphosis.  But Escher didn’t need an animation technique, instead finding his own solutions.  A square slowly changes shape and other recognizable shapes—such as birds and fish—emerge precisely because of the clear visual language that Escher developed.  Looking more closely from this perspective, are there perhaps other wonderful worlds that will become visible?  Join Dutch mathematician Rinus Roelofs and Authorized Rhino Trainer for a closer look at Escher’s work, a great source of inspiration from which unexpected moving images have arisen.  Math Encounters is MoMath’s popular free public presentation series celebrating the spectacular world of mathematics, produced with support from the Simons Foundation.

More details and registration...

How To Optimize Grasshopper Files with Transformations!

 

In this video, Edwin Hernández from ShapeDiver explains how to significantly improve the workflow and performance of your models by using math and transformations. Watch this video and learn different methods to ensure your Grasshopper models run efficiently on ShapeDiver.