topic Re: Modeling a curve in plan flaring out in section in Modeling

Modeling a curve in plan flaring out in section

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2023 15:11:25 GMT

I’m trying to model a wall that looks like a curved cliff. (see sketch)
I tried using profiles, mesh tool and roofs but no luck. Any ideas?
To make things worse the profile of the tilt preferably should be a curve.
(Yes this is a proposal for a real project, and I have no idea how they do a curtain wall system for something like that)

Re: Modeling a curve in plan flaring out in section

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:27:09 GMT

I'm not sure it is something that can be done easily (if at all) in 'vanilla' ArchiCAD to a sufficient level of detail.

One technique you could try is to distribute a series of walls along the lowest curve, then in 3D cant each wall individually over until the top hits the highest slab. This doesn't work well for a doubly curved wall (see lower image). For the glass, try using a mesh with the contours set to the storey heights. This approach may be passable for visualisation purposes only. Detailing it to the level of construction drawings may be difficult!

You could also experiment using the ultra-buggy curtain wall library parts in various combinations to see if you can get something close by manual manipulation.

If you combined AC with Maxonform, you may be able to get closer to the form of the shape you want, but I believe the object it creates looses all 'intelligence' and cannot be tweaked very easily. (which surely is the whole point of BIM!)

I understand Revit would do this fairly easily. Freeform/organic modelling is something that AC does not do well at the moment.

Anyone know a better approach out there?

Hope that may be of some use to you anyway!

Re: Modeling a curve in plan flaring out in section

Dwight — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:04:44 GMT

A situation like this, you wonder if it is real or not. Those Torontario guys got some whacky ideas.... eh?

Has somebody's boss said "I wonder what a cliff metaphor would look like as a curtain wall" or whether a real building problem is being solved: ie: to build a curtain wall from real components. I assume that the challenge is to merely make an approximate shape for a superficial evaluation of the idea.

So i sat up tonite because i have no other life and solved it. With the Complex Profile. What else is new?

I am starting to feel like the father, Gus Portokalos in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" who claims that all English words are derived from Greek. Even "kimono." In my case: every trick in Archicad comes from the Complex Profile. That's all you need. That, and Greek.

Draw the elevation window mullions as a thick, complex profile wall [priority 0], then use two complex profile BEAMS [higher priority] to trim away the shapes in a "J" shape. Tilt the trimming beams for the distortion.

Re: Modeling a curve in plan flaring out in section

Dwight — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:32:30 GMT

oooops. forgot to flip the beam sections for the cliff hanger look.

Re: Modeling a curve in plan flaring out in section

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:19:47 GMT

Just to clarify Dwight, I'm guessing you are using one profile to cut the front and one to cut the rear face of the wall.

Regarding the actual wall that is displayed, instead of using another complex profile perpendicular to its length, could you just use a thick normal wall with normal window openings in and SEO the curved shapes out of it perhaps?

If we are allowed to use SEOs, (even though they don't display properly on plan), you could even use a large diameter sphere library part as an operator and subtract that from the front of the wall.
To cut the rear you would have to subtract another sphere from a block, then subtract the block from the wall.

I wonder if anyone with maxonform could describe the procedure to make a curved/slanted curtain wall. It does look pretty powerful.

Re: Modeling a curve in plan flaring out in section

Dwight — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:03:02 GMT

Yes, Two profiles since a solitary profile describing both faces is too large. See the first posting for two "J" shaped fills - these are them!

Now - the way things are right now, you can make a curved profile with the wall tool or a tilted profile with the beam tool, but not both.

There is a polygon limit to this operation - a smooth sphere is too big - I'd make a curved wall with a curved profile as a stand-in for a sphere.