POPULOUS The Official Architectural and Overlay Design Services Provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

A new players lounge at Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis Club is opening for business for the 2013 championships. The 'bubble' is an extension of the existing Millennium Building, which houses the players' facilities (medical, tournament administration and so on) this is where the players and their entourage 'hang out' during competition days.

The design strategy of pursuing the bubble form came about from trying to build in such a way that would minimise the extension's impact on the St. Mary's Walk - which operates as the main street of the site.

The grasshopper element came about from previous research where Populous created parametric versions of stadium grids to use in design - the grid system came from an oval-shaped stadium designed and constructed on the Gold Coast in Australia between 2008 and 2011. In this way the grasshopper aspect became integral to the projects form and constructability. They will also address this development from the stadium grid into the new project.

Populous has been involved in the redevelopment of a number of key areas at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. They are also the Official Architectural and Overlay Design Services Provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Featured Technology: Rhino, Grasshopper & Revit.

Rhinoceros, Design Environment and Development Platform

An overview of the latest developments at McNeel and emerging communities, including:

• Rhino 5.0

• Rhino OSX

• iRhino 3D

• Flamingo nXt

• Bongo 2.0

• RhinoPython - More details with Giulio Piacentino at 11:45am

• RhinoCommon

• RhinoFabLab

• Generative Design with Grasshopper - More details with David Rutten at 04:05pm

EvoluteTools - Designing and optimising panel layouts made easy

Evolute GmbH is a high-tech company founded in February 2008, motivated by a strong need for geometric computing expertise in modern architecture.
Evolute provides consulting services and software related to geometry optimization, data management, manufacturing technologies, and logistics.
Our customers include leading specialist contractors, manufacturers, engineering offices and architects. In 2010 Evolute launched EvoluteTools, a plugin for Rhino providing its users access to the most advanced panel layout and optimization technology.

Alex' and Florin's presentation will start with an overview of Evolute's portfolio of services, which lead to the development of EvoluteTools for Rhino. An introduction to the main features of the plugin will be followed by a presentation of built example projects. The presentation will conclude with an overview of powerful new features available in EvoluteTools V1.2

Two Projects, Al-Bahr Investment Council HQ Towers Abu Dhabi, UAE plus Dubai Metro Dubai, UAE.

Aedas won an international competition in 2007 to design a worldwide unique landmark development for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council New Headquarters (ADIC HQ) in Abu Dhabi-United Arab Emirates (figure 01). The office twin towers will stand 150 meters high and are due for completion in 2012.

Geometric Composition: The intersection of the infinite arrangements and populations of circles (2D) & spheres (3D) generate infinite arrangements of nodes that-when connected following a mathematical logic-generate the famous Islamic patterns and forms.

Main Form: All floor-plates and vertical profiles of each tower-made of tangential arcs following specially devised mathematical rules-generate an intelligent fluid form that maximises volume to envelope ratio and natural lighting distribution while minimizing wind-load impact on the building skin and structure.

Main Structure: An intelligent honeycomb formation-inspired from beehives and uniquely applied to towers-provides a highly efficient and redundant structure.

Façade: A series of smart folding kinetic shading components generate a screening layer to the weathering glass skin protecting the building from excessive solar gain.

The design brief was based on the desire to create a building which would represent the ethos of the Investment Council, while relating to the context and also reflecting the underlying cultural tradition of Abu Dhabi in a contemporary idiom.

There will also be a shorter 2nd presentation. Aedas were appointed in 2005 as Architect for the Dubai Metro project. 47 railway stations and 2 rail depots on the first metro system in the United Arab Emirates.

Fearured Technology:

Al-Bahr Towers

• AutoCAD; basic drafting for all parties
• AutoCAD VBA; to automate AutoCAD parametrically
• Rhinoceros; conventional 3D modelling
• Rhinoscript, for the following:

a) automate Rhino parametrically
b) geometric analysis
c) solar analysis
d) kinetic simulation

• Grasshopper, for the following:

a) automate Rhino parametrically
b) kinetic simulation

• Java Script (Pablo Miranda), for the following:

a) develop stand-alone java applet and automate Rhino’s output
b) basic mass kinetic simulation of the mashrabiya

• Ecotect; solar analysis

• 3DS Max; visualisation

• CAD Plus, GSA, RAPT, ETABS, and Tekla; Structures, and (later) Steel sub-contractor

• Cad-Duct; MEP

• Digital Project, for the following:

a) Test the first parametric design
b) Test the first mashrabiya kinetic model
c) First detailed solar rays simulation analysis for the mashraiya
d) Integrate the various scopes into one platform (BIM)

• Mechanical Desktop; early partial kinetic studies for mashrabiya

• Solidworks; first detailed engineered mashrabiya prototype

• Inventor; final detailed engineered mashrabiya prototype for fabrication

• Microstation; conventional 3D modelling

Dubai Metro

• AutoCAD; basic drafting for all parties

• AutoCAD VBA; to automate AutoCAD parametrically

• Rhinoceros; conventional 3D modelling

• Microstation; conventional 3D modelling

• Generative Components (Microstation Plug-in)

PPS7 Country House in Tyne and Wear - A complex shape solved in a simple way.

Design team: Sadler Brown Architecture, Buro Happold Engineers, Alistair Baldwin Associates.

This country house proposal, inspired by the shape of a gentle leaf laying on the ground, has been developed to accord with the PPS7 (Planning Policy Statement 7) criteria, allowing very occasionally the developments of single houses in rural areas only if they are exceptional in their quality, innovative in their design and they contribute to the enhancements of their immediate settings.

A previous project by the same team, the Lake House in Northumberland, also developed in Rhino, is one of the few schemes which have been approved over the years under this policy and this second iconic design, after the previous experience, tries to contribute further to raise the standards of design in rural areas exploring advanced use of timber technology.

The complex flowing timber roof which characterizes this dwelling, has been solved in a simple yet ingenious way by making extensive use of the parametric visual programming in Grasshopper, guiding the Rhino geometry. Several design options have been evaluated in collaboration with Buro Happold, in order to achieve a structure which is elegant and simple, emphasizing the thinness of the feathered roof concept which has to be in tune with a fragile landscape setting near a Golf Course. The buildability of this concept is guaranteed by the fact that all the members generating the roof ruled surface are rectlinear, making it very easy to be constructed via traditional straight timber joists, just tapered at the end. This simple method of construction shows a way to innovate tradional timber roofs which are always built on pitched planes only. This proposal has been submitted for planning, and we are waiting for the Authority's response.

Featured Technology: Rhino 5, Grasshopper, Autodesk Robot, V-Ray for Rhino.

V-Ray for 3DSMax for visualisations (performed by external services).

HP Designjet 3D Printers

With HP 3D printers, office-ability is more than just a claim. Trust the company that really knows office printing — our shared desktop 3D printing solution is clean; office-friendly; and so easy to operate, just about anyone can do it.

Produce quality models and prototypes in the convenience of your own office environment. This series fits perfectly right next to your desk for easy model access. And it has a built-in network card for easy workgroup sharing.

The HP Designjet 3D printing solution uses recyclable ABS plastic.

Models are ready-to handle directly from the printer without gloves. And with the HP Designjet 3D Removal System, special disposal methods or equipment are not typically required.

Creating models doesn’t have to be a messy or painstaking process. The HP Designjet 3D Removal System eliminates the need for manual post-processing — so you can easily create models that are ready to show while you and your office stay clean.

No need to spend a lot of time training or learning how to operate this new 3D printer from HP. It is so intuitive and easy to use, you can spend more time working on your design.

Projects with Antony Gormley Studio - Design to Production - Cumulate, Drift, Firmament IV and Another Singularity

CUMULATE II

Cumulate are the latest series of human scale works carried out by the Antony Gormley Studio that demonstrate the almost complete transition of working process within the studio to the digital domain, through concept, design, analysis and fabrication.

DRIFT

Drift is installed in the foyer of Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore. Drift is a light weight structure that exists on the cusp between a drawing and a thing. Conceived of as a three dimensional drawing in space derived through generative evolution. It has adequate mass to be called an object but expresses enough of a field function to be thought of as a place.

Drift is a large polyhedral field containing a body-shaped void. The work is 39.6 x 14.6 x 23 metres, containing 16,138 unique elements connected to 8,327 nodes. The project is one of the most geometrically complex sculptures ever built and demonstrates the seamless integration of craft and technology.
Featured Technolgy: Rhino, 3DSMax, custom Rhino plugins, custom standalone software, plus structural analysis tools GSA & Nastran

FIRMAMENT IV

Firmament, the ancient name for the night sky, brings to mind an assembled matrix of volumes that map a celestial constellation, while also implying the form of a body lost within it.

The Firmament series of sculptures have evolved through an ongoing development process within the studio of generating packed polyhedral structures constrained to a human form. The processes that have been developed enable the interactive digital sculpting of these forms and the subsequent ‘automation’ of their fabrication and construction.

ANOTHER SINGULARITY

Another Singularity are an evolution of the body zone constrained packed polyhedra that are formed from a purely tensile network . The skin of this zone is connected to the inner skin of the building by radiating elements along trajectories that maintain tensile equilibrium.

V-Ray for Rhino

In the past one year, Chaos Group made significant improvements to its portfolio, announcing V-Ray® 2.0 for Autodesk® 3ds Max® and V-Ray® 2.0 for Autodesk® Maya®. With its great flexibility and the unprecedented speed of the interactive rendering system V-Ray® RT GPU, V-Ray® 2.0 sets the industry standard for excellence among render engines. Furthermore, Chaos Group is set to announce major developments with regards to V-Ray® for Rhino® and V-Ray® for Autodesk® Softimage®. V-Ray® for Rhino® is expected for release by the end of 2011, and will amaze with new exceptional additions to its functionality such as RT, Proxy and significant Light improvements. With this launch, together with V-Ray® for Autodesk® Softimage®, Chaos Group will be moving towards a complete set of solutions for the 3D industry, helping our partners and clients excel in their work and achieve unparalleled image quality.

Konstantin Gaytandzhiev

Konstantin joined Chaos Group in 2010 and since then he is one of the main 3D artists and presenters at the company. His past experience as a 3D artist in several production studios brought to Chaos Group talent, inspiration and deep knowledge of the production process. He is primarily focused on V-Ray for Maya. However, he will also demonstrate professionally the magic in V-Ray for 3ds Max, V-Ray for Rhino, V-Ray for Softimage and introduce you to the best features in Phoenix FD and Pdplayer. Konstantin holds a Master V-Ray Licensed Trainer status.

Inside the P.ART team at AKT

Daniel Bosia heads up the P.ART team at AKT. P.ART (Parametric Applied Research Team) is a group of geometric, structural and computational designers who specialize in the research and application of new structural organizations, form-finding tools and techniques within AKT.’

Daniel will be discussing how different special organisations (tiling, packing, weaving, etc) have been used to create structures like the ones shown in the images below moving from digital form-finding to physical realisation where fabrication is one aspect, but also sequencing of the construction, etc."

Projects discussed will include those completed for Matthew Ritchie, Anish Kapoor and BIG and projects in progress with BMW, Coca-Cola and Heatherwick Studio.

Featured Technology: Rhino, Grasshopper, custom VB.NET components and Kangaroo, plus structural analysis tools Sap2000 and Sofistik

SMART concept design tools: real-time analysis and simulation tools for rapid design optimisations

Pushing the boundaries of innovations in computational design, the SMART Solutions team at Buro Happold will demonstrate how one can perform real time analysis, simulation and design optimisation without leaving their CAD platform.

Includes live demos of SMART Form and SMART Move VIZ tools

Grasshopper

For designers who are exploring new shapes using generative algorithms, Grasshopper® is a graphical algorithm editor tightly integrated with Rhino’s 3-D modeling tools. Grasshopper requires no knowledge of programming or scripting, but still allows designers to build form generators from the simple to the awe-inspiring.

David will also update all on the evolutionary solver Galapagos

"rhino.Python™ - Powerful Scripting and Automation for Rhino 5 and Rhino for Mac

"rhino.Python™ is a powerful scripting language in Rhino 5.0 for 32 and 64-bit Windows and Rhino for OS X. rhino.Python scripts will run unchanged on both platforms. Python is built for flexibility and clear syntax.

Guilio will also update all on the development of the Python component for Grasshopper in Rhino 5.

Association for Robots in Architecture

The international Association for Robots in Architecture is originally a spin off association of Vienna University of Technology. Its goal is to make industrial robots accessible for the creative industry, artists, designers and architects, by sharing ideas, research results and technological developments.

Founded in December 2010 by Sigrid Brell-Cokcan and Johannes Braumann, robots in architecture is an open platform for everybody interested in the creative use of and innovative fabrication with industrial robots. Robots in Architecture is engaged in applied research, soft- and hardware development, “robot pedagogics” – and in the question: how soon will robots revolutionize architecture?

In 2011, Robots in Architecture leleased KUKA|prc (parametric robot control), a plugin for Grasshopper that for the first time enables robot control from within architectural software. It is continuously updated with new features and freely available for Robots in Architecture members.

Four Projects - Design to Production

Serpentine Pavilion, SANNA, 2009

Describing their structure the architects say: ‘The Pavilion is floating aluminium, drifting freely between the trees like smoke. The reflective canopy undulates across the site, expanding the park and sky. Its appearance changes according to the weather, allowing it to melt into the surroundings. It works as a field of activity with no walls, allowing uninterrupted view across the park and encouraging access from all sides. It is a sheltered extension of the park where people can read, relax and enjoy lovely summer days.’

Danish Pavilion, BIG, 2010

The Danish Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010 is an exhibition building designed by BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, in collaboration with ARUP.
The pavilion is a temporary building and is designed to operate over the six summer months from May to October.
Architecturally, the building articulates into a continuous geometric knot, forming a looping ramp which serves as the backbone of the exhibition. The exhibition space has been designed to be a continuous flowing display area, where pedestrians will move from internal to external and back to internal spaces as they move around the looped building, built on a continuous spiral rising to a total height of approximately 11 meters.

Taichung Metropolitan Opera House, Toyo Ito, On Site

“Architecture has to follow the diversity of society, and has to reflect that a simple square or cube can’t contain that diversity.”
Toyo Ito

KAPSARC, Zaha Hadid, On Site

This presentation will be co-hosted by Brian Dale and Monika Bilska of Zaha Hadid Architects

The King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre (KAPSARC) is a 50,000m2 energy and environmental research centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The complex comprises five main buildings, and a number of smaller support buildings across a 5200,000m2 site.

The architectural form of the building is extremely complex. A series of modular, crystalline structures represent scarce water resources, while each building is penetrated by courtyards designed to capture prevailing cooling winds and shade the inward-facing windows from direct solar gain. The roof and walls are multifaceted, with few vertical surfaces.

The client’s requirements for the project included an accelerated design, progressing from concept design to construction drawings in one year.

Fearured Technology:

• Rhino
• Grasshopper
• custom VB.NET components
• REVIT
• TEKLA
• Microstation
• GSA Structural Analysis

Innovations in engineering design, analysis, optimisation, panelisation and fabrication solutions provided by Buro Happold on this iconic Zaha Hadid architecture

The winning design for Cairo Expo City by Zaha Hadid delivers a unique facility for Cairo - a 450,000 square metre, state of the art city for exhibitions and conferences, located between the centre of Cairo and the airport. The project comprises a major international exhibition and conference centre with business hotel. A further office tower and a shopping centre are also proposed.

Buro Happold is providing structural, building services, transport and facade engineering and specialist consultancy services.

The undulating fluid forms of the Cairo Expo City design were inspired by natural topography of the Nile valley explained Zaha Hadid: "It is an honour to be selected as the architects of Egypt's most important venue for international events. The exhibition spaces require the greatest degree of flexibility, so we wanted to ensure that all the public spaces and formal composition of Cairo Expo City are uniquely Egyptian.

"Along the great rivers of the region, most particularly the Nile, there is this amazing flow between the land, the water and the wildlife. This flow extends to incorporate the buildings and the people. It is almost timeless - and very endearing. For the Cairo Expo City design, we worked to capture that seamlessness and flow in an urban architectural context."

Carving and sculpting processes have been used to divide the very large and flexible areas required of the Cairo Expo City design into smaller clusters of individual buildings that have their own formal composition, yet each building relates to the overall design. A main north-south artery is carved through the Cairo Expo City design, with secondary streams converging at the centre to ease crowd traffic during events. The movement of people within these streams informs the building entrances on the site.

RhinoTerrain, Powerful Digital Terrain Modelling for Rhino 4.0 & 5.0

Claude Vuattoux, CEO of RhinoTerrain, will show the latest developments of this powerful digital terrain modelling plug-in for Rhino including RhinoTerrain 64bit for Rhino v5 currently in development.

A powerful new module in RhinoTerrain for Rhino v5 64bit is RhinoCity. This includes automatic creation of building forms from photogrammetric data (flight images, and Aero triangulation) and automatic texturing of building faces and roofs.

VisualARQ

VisualARQ adds architecture features and parametric architectural objects that are suitable for both 3D modeling and 2D documentation.

• Model a project of architecture using the library of parametric architectural objects. Create and edit new objects.

• Level manager: create floors and control new floors at different levels.

• Get the 2D documents automatically from the 3d model: Floor plans, sections, elevation, room areas, schedule tables…

• Dynamic section: view the 3D model sectioned in real time.

• IFC export.

Two Projects: Brian Jungen bench series and 20 Fenchurch Street

Brian Jungen bench series - The ghosts on top of my head

The ghosts on top of my head (2010–11), a series of public sculptures by renowned Vancouver-based artist Brian Jungen commissioned for Canada Plaza.

The ghosts on top of my head, is comprised of three white powder-coated steel benches, each assuming the shape of a different antler: elk, moose and caribou. The ghosts on top of my head reference Harry Bertoia’s famous modernist furniture, and are illustrative of Jungen’s characteristically meticulous craftsmanship and profound study of design.

Modelled entirely with Rhino 4.0 and T-Splines for Rhino.

20 Fenchurch Street

Client: Canary Wharf/Land Securities
Architect: Rafael Vinoly Architects

Yolles, now a part of the CH2M Hill, was retained to provide full structural and façade services for this 160m, commercial use tower. During the design process, the Studio for Progressive Modelling (SPM), a service provided by Yolles, was engaged to provide production pipeline optimization and geometry consulting.

By operating across multiple modeling platforms and using interactive optimization tools, the SPM helped Yolles iterate through many fully documented variations of the design in a compressed timeframe.

 

Château Lacoste Bridge, V&A Exhibition Road and Timber Wave

Bruce Davison is an Associate at AL_A. His current work in the office ranges from a large campus development to a bridge design for a private client. Davison was the project architect on the award-winning Corian Super-Surfaces installation showcased at the Milan Design Fair in 2009.

Davison leads the office’s computational research and design team, integrating this work with the offices’ broader design approach. He has taught at Columbia University GSAPP and Syracuse University in New York and London.

Château Lacoste Bridge

The design proposal for the Château Lacoste footbridge in Le Puy Sainte Réparade, Bouches-du-Rhône, France seamlessly merges the objectives of an efficient structure and a stepped deck into a single cohesive and undistilled geometry. The form of the bridge evolved based on the opportunities provided by its site, environment and the chosen material – steel – as well as constraints entailed by structural forces and the requirements for pedestrian use. Instead of a traditional approach – a gestural sketch – rules for the relationship of individual components were laid out algebraically, based on study models and structural diagrams. Ultimately it is these relationships that gave the bridge its final form. The result is a bridge that honestly expresses its structure while responsively reflecting its natural setting, challenging the perception of solidity and imposition usually associated with a bridge of this scale.

V&A Exhibition Road

The design proposal for the V&A Exhibition Road project aims to unite the gallery below and the new public courtyard above. The articulation of the gallery ceiling is a direct response to its function and the challenge of spanning 39 metres. The pattern of the courtyard derives from this ceiling structure, continuing the didactic tradition of the V&A and its museological tradition of ornate neoclassic and neo-gothic ceilings. As is the case with natural systems, where a small amount of instructional information generates seemingly endless complexity, the fractal pattern of the courtyard is generated by a single precise rule of subdivision. Each change of scale in the courtyard pattern is initiated using the output from the previous iteration, where the starting input is the tessellated geometry of the folded plate ceiling structure. The resulting architecture cannot be understood in a reductive way as changes made at the structural level cascade through the system, leaving an undeniable trace in the public realm above.

Timber Wave

The Timber Wave installation for the 2011 London Design Festival at the V&A showcases the integration of traditional timber fabrication techniques with digital design tools. The gesture of the form is purposeful, intentional and responsive to the context. The design of the repetitive module or motif used to express the form was informed from specific material and fabrication studies, handmade maquettes, and structural performance criteria. The scale, repetition and cost economies of these modules were then tested in a flexible computational model. Further customised digital tools proved invaluable in managing the drawing data and producing the complex production information.

Kangaroo

Kangaroo is a Live Physics engine for interactive simulation, optimization and form-finding directly within Grasshopper

02:15pm Gregory Epps - RoboFold - The State of the Art

02:45pm Presentation 1 - Corian/Evolute Tools

03:15pm Coffee

03:45pm Presentation 2 - Cordek/Galapagos

04:15pm Presentation 3 - KOGE/SMART Form

04:45pm Presentation 4 - Robofold/Kangaroo/Lobster

05:15pm Discussion & Drinks