Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

Complex curtain wall

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi, I'm trying to create a complicated curtain wall; something like the Basque Health Department facade in Bilbao. It seems to me that all Archicad's methods of creating curtains work similar to creating complex profiles: you make the profile and then extrude it to the desired length.
But I have no idea of how I could drag a node (a mullion or a scheme node) outside the curtain wall plane; this would solve the entire problem; is this possible?

P.S. I can do this with the mesh tool; I simply create a mesh and then I start dragging points vertically, higher or lower. I could replace the curtain with the mesh, but I don't know hot to rotate it to a vertical position.
3 REPLIES 3
Anonymous
Not applicable
A picture would help (I don't have time to Google the building you mention). The CW tool is quite flexible but still constrained. The reference line can be curved and manipulated pretty much like any polyline, as can the outline of the frame. It cannot do compound curves as far as I know though.
owen
Newcomer
Painful .. but possible

http://www.archdaily.com/7093/basque-health-department-headquarters-in-bilbao-coll-barreu-arquitecto...
mihaibala wrote:
P.S. I can do this with the mesh tool; I simply create a mesh and then I start dragging points vertically, higher or lower. I could replace the curtain with the mesh, but I don't know hot to rotate it to a vertical position.
Almost but from what I can see there are curtainwall faces which lean out of the vertical plane (overhang panels below) which cannot be done within a single mesh (a stupid limitation but ...). But you could of course split it into multiple meshes - I assume you intend to convert to solids using the mesh-to-roof tool?


os
1735064902_ssgv10-528x412.jpg
cheers,

Owen Sharp

Design Technology Manager
fjmt | francis-jones morehen thorp

iMac 27" i7 2.93Ghz | 32GB RAM | OS 10.10 | Since AC5
Anonymous
Not applicable
Each planar section would have to be done as a separate curtain wall but it could be done. The building in the picture would be difficult but that is kind of in its nature. There is no software I know of that could do it easily, at least beyond a sketch model.