ETFE cushions

[Anonymous]

hi,,
is it possible to design something similar to Nicholas Grimshaw's national space center with ArchiCAD?? My concern is how can i design the cushion and the structure with ArchiCAD?? your info will be appreciated..
THANKS

[Dwight]

A Complex Profile used in a circular wall gets you most of the way.


Complex Profiles.

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

Dwight wrote:
A Complex Profile used in a circular wall gets you most of the way.
Complex Profiles.

And a Solid Element Operation subtraction, with a gull-shaped slanted profiled column, for carving the end conditions.

Nice thing with complex profiles is that it is very easy to try out and manage profile design variations.

[Dwight]

Iggy: Can you show me that?

[Ralph Wessel]

dash_medo wrote:
is it possible to design something similar to Nicholas Grimshaw's national space center with ArchiCAD?? My concern is how can i design the cushion and the structure with ArchiCAD??

Take a look at OBJECTiVE as a solution to this problem - an example image is attached. I did the following:

• 1) modelled the internal volume as a simple swept profile (using OBJECTiVE's profiling tools)
  2) Used OBJECTiVE's Bend and Rotate to shape the Regular Profile object to the vertical ribs
  3) Produced another (section) profile for the horizontal ribs with OBJECTiVE's profiling tools, and used the Bend tool again to shape it the curve.
  4) Used OBJECTiVE's Split tool to chamfer the ends of the horizontal ribs.

I also used the Assembly tools to good effect to enable me to rotate the components to different working planes to simplify the modelling process and quickly restore them to the original position when complete.

You can find out more about OBJECTiVE here.

[Anonymous]

Ralph wrote;
"4) Used OBJECTiVE's Split tool to chamfer the ends of the horizontal ribs."
Question:
Could you have radius'ed the ends instead, if you had wanted to?

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

Dwight wrote:
Iggy: Can you show me that?

Well this is an embossed-ashlar-looking ETFE cushion proof-of-concept[-and-limitations].

The ridges would go away for rendering purposes smoothing out the cushion material in Artlantis --don't know if there is a practical way of doing it on the model without add-ons.

[Ralph Wessel]

lec1212 wrote:
Ralph wrote;
"4) Used OBJECTiVE's Split tool to chamfer the ends of the horizontal ribs."
Question:
Could you have radius'ed the ends instead, if you had wanted to?

I'll respond with a cautious "yes", although it comes down to the specific detailing required. I've attached one example with a curved end. Is this what you had in mind?

[Anonymous]

Yes, Thanks Ralph
That is what I was asking.
I assume that is done with provided tools of Objective and did not require additional gdl programing?
Curious, do you mind; why is that a qualified yes?

And, can two of more objects created with Objective, be combined as one
in either Objective or AC's "Save selection as"(.gsm)?

[Ralph Wessel]

lec1212 wrote:
I assume that is done with provided tools of Objective and did not require additional gdl programing?
Curious, do you mind; why is that a qualified yes?
And, can two of more objects created with Objective, be combined as one
in either Objective or AC's "Save selection as"(.gsm)?

1. Yes, all the objects were created with OBJECTiVE's toolset and required no additional GDL scripting. I don't believe GDL is a practical solution for the vast majority of ArchiCAD users.

2. I qualified my answer because I know what a deep subject architectural detailing can be. There are many possible answers to a given problem. I proposed one, but there are others that would be much harder to model.

3. You can save multiple objects into a single object, but then you lose all their intelligence and flexibility - you are left with (essentially) static geometry. If you keep the original parts, you can continue bending, twisting, or re-profiling etc as required. The assembly tools group a collection objects together (just like ArchiCAD's "Group") but add additional information for different working planes (so the entire assembly can be instantly translated into a different orientation).