Project 1: Parametric BIM

A Building Information Model and a Parametric Design for the selected case study:

Building 2345 / Howeler + Yoon Architecture

http://www.archdaily.com/142490/building-2345-howeler-yoon-architecture/

                                                                  Upon completion of all the exercises assigned for the

                                                                  Autodesk Revit tutorials throughout this semester,

                                                                       I was able to create a building information model 

                                                                                             using parametric design.  

I first selected the case study, "Building 2345" from ArchDaily.com for the reason that there were multiple opportunities for parametrics in the facades of this building (corregated metal).  

Architect: Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Location: Anacostia, Washington DC, USA
Project Team: J. Meejin Yoon, Eric Howeler, Carl Solander, Liz Burrow, Parker Lee, Daniel Sullivan, Dan Smithwick, Eric Maso
Structural Engineer: MGV
Contractor: FEI Construction
Mechanical Engineer: MepTech
Civil Engineer: CAS
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: Courtesy of Höweler + Yoon Architecture

Located in the under-developed neighborhood of Anacostia in southeast Washington DC, Building 2345 stacks a series of interlocking uses in order to maximize the site. The program includes a doctor’s office, retail and residential uses. The interlocking section exploits the building’s compact urban site to produce variable height spaces for both living and working with views to the Capital and Monument to the north. The exterior cladding takes cues from its context, creating a patterned façade along its long west face, while opening up to views on the north and south faces. The project folds a complex mixed-use program into a compact site, discovering unexpected potential in limits and constraints, transforming them into strategic advantage.

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© ArchDaily LLC, 2008-2011

I then collected more information such as drawings, background project information, photographs, etc. about the building to enable me to study and model the building using Autodesk Revit 2012.

My next step was to create a conceptual mass by creating a generic model family, then adding the appropriate dimensional parameters to be able to manipulate the form.  Although, the form of this building/project is quite simple, it was not really necessary to create a generic model family, but I wanted to show that I knew how to do this step.

          

I made changes/alterations to the dimensional parameters to extend the height of the building.

I then converted the surfaces of the conceptual mass into walls, windows, roofs, and floors with the general modeling tools of Autodesk Revit 2012.  These tools are found under the "home" tab in the Revit main interface.  There are drop-down menus from these "tool" tabs to specify details on each component.  I then would use the "properties" bar (left aligned) to change any other specifications of the components that make up the building.

              

              

               

Next, it was time to create the photo realistic renderings using mental ray.  I created three Revit photo realistic renderings of my BIM model: one exterior rendering, one interior rendering (daytime) and another interior rendering (night time). The format is set as JPG's at the size of 1,024 pixels (width) x 768 pixels (height).  The camera views are set as if you were standing in the location of where the viewer (camera) would be physically located.  It is a good technique or method to set the camera height between 5' and 6' or the average height of a person in order to create this illusion as if you are standing at this spot in the rendering, hence you can feel the space even though it is only a proposed rendering of a building. The lighting settings are set up as; exterior rendering with Rendering->Exterior: Sun only, the night time interior rendering with Rendering->Interior:artificial only, and the daytime interior rendering with Rendering->Interior:Sun and artificial.  

I created four screenshots (below) for the parametric families changed by different parameter values.  The first image (below) is the original object.  The second image (below) shows the outer facade changed by a height parameter.  This allows the facade to act as a skin for both the first and second story of the building.  The third image (below) shows how you can use length parameters of an extruded family to alter the position of shading panels.  The fourth image (below) shows the curtain wall track system.  I added a depth and length parameter to allow for manipulation of the track's position on the facade.  The fifth image (below) shows how you can use length parameters on a mass void to create interesting surface manipulation. 

I made an extruded family to generate the skin for the second floor.  

I created a conceptual mass then subdivided a selected surface to add a new family. I then created a new family to attach to the subdivided surface. The family is composed of a hexagonal geometry that through repitition creates the surface.  Due to the original model's lack of a complicated skin, I added the portion you see in the second image below. That image contains the parametric skin family.

I then  changed the U-Grid and V-Grid values to create a more symmetrical, smaller dimensional hexagon, creating a circular shape.

Criticism and Comments: I use to understand Revit as a great tool for the construction documents phase of an architectural project, but not so much for the design development phase. It seems that my opinion has change dramatically due to the accomplishments of each phase of this BIM project in ARCH 653. It seemed that there was more freedom in other three-dimensional programs during the design development phase than what Revit offers, but at that point I had yet to explore the possibilities of AutoDesk Revit.  Now, due to this project, I have been assured that Revit does offer all the components to all of the phases of a project from the conceptual massing phase throughout the construction drawings' phase just as equal to each other, not outweighing one another. It is truly an intellectually programmed interface that is nearly infinite in it's possibilities!