Investigating lichen growth sytems to “grow� secondary timber structures for use in church restoration Digital Design thesis by Zimmie Sutcliffe
Advanced Digital Design Techniques (AR7043) Taught by Arrash Fakouri & Georgios Tsakiridis
Contents
Abstract
Abstract: 3
In an era of rapid change and uncertainty we find ourselves looking for certainty all the more, in
Introduction: Rhino & Grasshopper: 4-9 Setting: Romney marsh churches: 10-17 Photogrammetry: 18-22 Lichen growth system: 23-28 Complex timber structures: 29-32 Understanding growth structure: 33-35 Modelling in Rhino/Scripting DLA in Grasshopper: 36-45 Final output: 46-49 Conclusions: 50 References: 51-52
long standing institutions, entrenched political beliefs, daily routines. Entities that have remained stable over long periods provide a comforting counter to the seeming chaos of modern life, and this is true of our built world too. The constant sight of construction cranes & new towers rising can seem alien & disorienting-the places we know & love become unrecognisable. However, a historic building can remind us that not everything changes, providing a reliable juxtaposition & allow a sense of familiarity - St. Paul’s may no longer be the tallest building in London’s skyline but it remains one of the most loved & visited. The role of historic buildings extends beyond the merely sentimental, with the need to preserve & re use what is existing more important now than ever in light of the deteriorating state of the environment. Many old buildings are being salvaged & re-purposed, at once both retaining a beautiful historic structure & providing the new spaces to live, work & play we need in the 21st century in a way that extracts much less from the environment than constantly building, demolishing & rebuilding. These are two incredibly strong reasons to preserve our historic buildings but the practicalities of this are not always so straightforward. Many of these structures are deteriorating or even failing & the costs involved in restoration can be extreme, so restoration for restoration sake many times doesn’t make economic sense & the desire to merely restore to the same aesthetic as the original adds no new cultural or programmatic value. What is needed is a method of continuous light touch support for these structures that requires low up front costs & minimal maintenance; a more organic, regenerative process that breaks the inefficient cycle of decay, heavy one off investment, unchecked decline, one off investment... etc...... I propose harnessing the tools of digital design in pursuit of this solution, using the best of modern technology, parametric design & adaptive systems to preserve the best of our historic structures, many of which are outstanding feats of design, structural innovation & cultural significance. The aim of this investigation is to use the principles of biomimicry, in which the best of nature is studied and adapted to optimise & invent designs for human needs. In my study I will be looking at the growth structures of lichens, inspired by the lichens that frequently grow in, over and around historic structures, covering them in a vivid skin. I hope to extract the drivers from these systems to write a script for a timber endoskeleton structure to support a dilapidated historic church building. I will employ the techniques of photogrammetry to survey & model the church then look at growth systems to inform my script which will harness the parametric power of grasshopper to produce a 3d representation of this structure in Rhino.
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Introduction: Rhinoceros & Grasshopper
Fig 1. Rhino start screen
Fig 4. Using gumball tool to manipulate a 3d surface
Fig 2. Creating a surface with polyline & surface from planar curves tools
Fig 5. Using control point curve tool to create organic shapes
Fig 3. Using extrusion tools to create 3d elements
Fig 6. Using array along curve tool to create a series of elements along a path
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Fig 7. Using pipe command to create 3D tube forms
Fig 1. First steps in grasshopper - creating & setting point parameter
Fig 8. Results of pipe command to create railings
Fig 2. Adding a number slider to control the length of a line generated from a point
Fig 9. Final design of vertical louvres along a curved path with railings & plinth
Fig 3. Connecting line length parameter to point parameter resulting in controllable vertical line
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Fig 4. Adding divide curve command to seperate line into segments with a series of points along a line
Fig 7. Previous script in full - Using Series & Polygon parameters to control number of sides, position & size of polygons
Fig 5. Above script in full - number slider to control number of points on line & grafting
Fig 8. Using Rotate parameter to control the rotation of polygons and create a twisting effect
Fig 6. Creating a series of polygons based on points already established on the line
Fig 9. Above script in full
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Romney Marsh
The setting for my investigation is based in Romney marsh in Kent. The marsh is home to a series of historic churches, owned by the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust. As part of my work in Unit 14 with Pierre & Pereen D’Avoine we took a trip to study these churches. The church I was given to survey was St. Augustine’s Church in the hamlet of Snave. Situated on marsh land, the church has sunk & twisted over time, distorting its plan and height. This process has been gradual over centuries but the church is now very uneven, which could lead to significant structural issues over time. Fixing these problems would be very costly, probably too costly for the trust, meaning this great church could cease to be a functional place of worship for the first time in 800 years. It is in light of this that I began thinking of ways in which digital design & cutting edge techniques could respond to this challenge. Church restoration is an issue faced across the western world due to the deterioration of these wonderful but incredibly old buildings & the declining role of the Church in society making financing maintenance and repair more difficult. Nowhere is this more evident than in the tragic fire at Notre-Dame in April 2019. The cost of rebuilding has been estimated at 600 million to 1 billion Euros.
The shifting ground level can be seen here
St. Augustine’s Church - viewed from West side
Buttressing to maintain stability in shifting marsh land 10
The misalignment of the two arches shows how the building has moved 11
Romney Marsh site plan 1:100,000 @ A3
West Hythe
Kenardington
Hamstreet Warehorne
9 7
Burmarsh
Newchurch 6 Appledore
SNAVE
3 Snargate
4 Brenzett
1 Fairfield
ROMNEY MARSH
10 Dymchurch
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St Mary in the Marsh
Ivychurch
St Mary’s Bay
2 Brookland 12
New Romney 11
Old Romney
Littlestone-on-sea
Water marks above the altar show the deterioration from weather
Minor restoration place is currently taking place, shown on the right
WALLAND MARSH
Greatstone-on-sea Romney Sands
13 Lydd
Camber
DENGE MARSH
Dungeness
Rye Harbour
Denge Beach
Church location Church surveyed Minor road B road A road River/stream Railway line
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Lydd-on-sea
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Dr
Snave site plan
St. Augustine’s Church yard plan
1:1000 @ A3
1:200 @ A3
Pond
FB
Drain
The Willows Manor House FB Drain
St Augustine’s Church LB
Pat h
Glebe Lodge
(um
)
ack Tr
Snave
ze tt
Se
we r
(D
ra in
)
Manor Farm
Br en
Drain
Drain
FB
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St. Augustine’s Church, Snave - Ground Floor Plan
Sectional elevations
1:100 @ A3
1:100 @ A3
1. Fireplace 2. Piscina
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2 1
3. Pulpit
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4. Seating 5. Font Chapel
Chancel
6. Ancient font 7. Piano
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8. Altar 9. Sedilia 3
Nave 4
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Porch (Disused)
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Tower (3 bells)
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Photogrammetry
Photogrammetry software
“Photogrammetry is the science of making measurements from photographs. The input to photo-
There area range of photogrammetry softwares available now, including for mobile
grammetry is photographs, and the output is typically a map, a drawing, a measurement, or a 3D model of some real-world object or scene. Many of the maps we use today are created with photogrammetry and photographs taken from aircraft.
phones but I have chosen to use Autodesk Recap & RecapPhoto as they are both free for students & I am familiar with many other Autodesk products. From my experience, Autodesk’s products are user friendly and produce great results.
Photogrammetry can be classified several ways but one standard method is to split the field based on camera location during photography. On this basis we have Aerial Photogrammetry, and Terrestrial (or Close-Range) Photogrammetry.
RecapPhoto is a cloud based photogrammetry software that takes a series of photo inputs of an object and uploads them to Autodesk360 (Autodesk’s cloud service) where it analyses them and combines them into a photo-realistic 3d model formed of a complex series of meshes which can then be downloaded and edited using the software’s inbuilt editing tools.
In Terrestrial and Close-range Photogrammetry, the camera is located on the ground, and hand held, tripod or pole mounted. Usually this type of photogrammetry is non-topographic - that is, the output is not topographic products like terrain models or topographic maps, but instead drawings, 3D models, measurements, or point clouds. Everyday cameras are used to model and measure buildings, engineering structures, forensic and accident scenes, mines, earth-works, stock-piles, archaeological artefacts, film sets, etc. In the computer vision community, this type of photogrammetry is sometimes called Image-Based Modelling.” (www.photogammetry.com)
1. Extensive photo survey on site
2. Transfer images to PC
3. Import images into Recap Photo
4. Generate 3D model in Recap Photo Recap is a similar programme that deals with point cloud data and laser scanning as opposed to photographs and mesh data.
5. Clean up in Recap Photo
6. Export model for use in Rhino/Grasshopper
Aerial Photogrammetry
Terrestrial Photogrammetry 18
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Photogrammetry Test
I produced a series of partially successful photogrammetry test models using Recap Photo after returning to St. Augustine’s Church to conduct an exterior photo survey. Below documents the process I went through to do this and some of the results I achieved. Unfortunately, this phase of the investigation didn’t produce the results I had hoped but it was still informative learning the process and software involved in producing photogrammetry models.
Fig 3. Photogrammetry study of north facade
Fig 1. Transferring photos from PC into Autodesk Recap Photo
Fig 4. Photogrammetry study of south facade
Fig 5. Photogrammetry close up study of West tower
Fig 2. Uploading the project to the cloud for construction
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Photogrammetry in restoration
Lichen
“Just like people, buildings age, and regular diagnoses can detect health problems. With architectur-
“A lichen, or lichenized fungus, is actually two organisms functioning as a single, stable unit. Lichens
al preservation in mind, five cathedrals in France’s Loire region are being fully digitized in 3D. Once completed, these digital surveys will make it possible to extract plans and sections for future restorations, ensuring that these precious landmarks can be preserved for posterity.”
comprise a fungus living in a symbiotic relationship with an alga or cyanobacterium (or both in some instances). There are about 17,000 species of lichen worldwide. Fungi are incapable of photosynthesis because they lack the green pigment chlorophyll. That is to say, fungi cannot harvest light energy from the sun and generate their own nourishment in the form of carbohydrates. Instead, they need to seek out outside sources of food. On the other hand, algae and cyanobacteria can conduct photosynthesis, similar to plants.
“To put it in medical terms, it’s like taking an X-ray of the building,” says AGP founder Gaël Hamon. “The Ministry of Culture and France’s Architectural Review Board will be able to use it to make a diagnosis and then decide on the right course of treatment in case of damage, infiltration, erosion, or severe pathologies.” Creating precise records of France’s monuments will also be crucial in the event of a disaster like the one that befell Paris’s Notre Dame in April 2019. “Our work will enable each architect to respond precisely to the DRAC’s request with a fair assessment of positioning and costs,” Hamon says. This is the end goal of such radiography work, already performed on some 30 cathedrals in France—including Notre-Dame de Paris, Amiens, Alès, Troyes, Soissons, Limoges, Perpignan, and Poitiers—offering unprecedented knowledge of humanity’s heritage and making it possible to pass it on to future generations.” (https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/ architectural-preservation/)
So when a fungus, which is the dominant partner in this relationship, associates with an alga (usually from the green algae) or cyanobacterium to form a lichen, it is providing itself with constant access to a source of nourishment. In return, algae and cyanobacteria secure a protected environment, especially from damaging ultraviolet rays. Fungi often form a protective cortex [or shell] with pigments that absorb ultraviolet light. In general, the inside of the lichen thallus appears stratified, with the mycobiont and photobiont cells arranged in layers. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the outer layer or cortex is made up of thick, tightly packed fungal cells. This is followed by a segment with the photobiont (either green algae or cyanobacteria). If a lichen has both an algal and a cyanobacterial partner, the cyanobacteria can be seen within little compartments above the upper cortex. The final layer is the medulla, with loosely arranged fungal cells that look like filaments. For the mycobiont, the association with the photobiont is “obligate,” or one of dependence. “As far as it is known, the mycobiont cannot persist in nature without lichenization,” Lücking told LiveScience. “The mycobiont is by itself [for] only a brief period when it disperses using fungal spores.” In order to create and maintain a stable association, evolution has selected for certain characteristics within the lichen partnership. “There are three important factors for the establishment of lichens: recognition, acceptance and fitness of the association,” Lücking said. “All three are assumed to undergo evolutionary selection and hence are being optimized.” Lichens are key players in a variety of environmental processes. For example, cyanobacterial photobionts participate in nitrogen fixation. Lichens also contribute to a phenomenon known as biological weathering. The lichen mycobionts can break down rocks and release minerals by producing certain chemicals. Finally, lichens are excellent indicators of pollution. According to the Forest Service lichens can absorb pollutants such as heavy metals, carbon and sulfur into their thalli. Extracting these pollutants gives an indication of the levels present in the atmosphere. This process is known as lichen biomonitoring.” (https://www.livescience.com/55008-lichens.html)
Angers Cathedral portal - 3D photgrammetry
Angers Cathedral portal - Extraced survey drawing
Photgrammetry surveying at Notre-Dame 22
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Lichen growth - St. Augustine’s @ Snave
Growth patterns of lichen
Gravestones 64 “The string rewriting language of L-systems provides a framework for creating strikingly realistic geometric models of plants and trees. Parametric L-systems incorporate continuous attributes and allow more sophisticated simulations of plant development. Earlier work on plant development...incorporates interaction with the environment but in a different context than L-systems. The “environment-sensitive automata” uses ray casting to test for intersections and proximity so that simulated plants avoid obstacles. Several researchers have proposed mathematical models directly related to lichen growth, but these models are quite simplistic from the point of view of morphogenesis. In cluster growth models, a cluster gradually expands into its surrounding medium. The cluster is given some initial shape, and expansion occurs based on an aggregation algorithm. Simple algorithms often generate complex structures that resemble certain types of morphologies. Witten and Sander proposed a cluster growth model called diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) that simulates diffusion using random movements of particles. Kaandorp used an accretive growth model to simulate three-dimensional formation of corals and sponges. In this iterative model, layers of materials are added to a growing tip. The thickness of the layer can be parametrized such that more growth occurs at the tip than along the sides. If this process is tuned properly, it can result in branching patterns that resemble corals and sponges. A lichen consists of a fungus and an alga living together in a symbiotic relationship. The fungus lichen consists of a fungus and an alga living together in a symbiotic relationship. The fungus is the visible part of the lichen, while the algae form a thin green layer just under the surface. The fungus provides a physical structure that captures minerals for the algae and protects it from desiccation. The algae, in turn, generate food through photosynthesis for the fungus. This relationship allows the lichen to survive and grow in habitats that neither symbiotic partner could exist in alone. Lichen are divided into three morphological groups: crustose, foliose, and fruticose. Fruticose lichen are shrub-like and stand out from the surface of the substrate. Since fruticose lichen are structurally similar to plants, their form is a good candidate for a structure-oriented model such as L-systems.” (Walker Sumner, R. (2001)
A series of images showing the extent & different types of lichen growth on grave stones in the church yard
The three types of lichen 24
Internal structure of lichen 25
Crustose lichen
Fruticose lichen
Foliose lichen
Fruticose lichen
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Urban Woods Yoshiaki Oyabu Architects - Osaka, 2011
“ Conceived as a small forest, the design consists of a grid-like system of lumber pieces that loosely wrap around the building’s volume. The natural element of the installation purposely contrasts itself from the industrial site, creating chaotic wood assemblage on the otherwise rectangular steel frame, wall, ceiling and tarmac road. Integrated with the exterior expression of the building, the wooden structure lends a distinct identity to the design. The ‘forest’ elements permeate into the interior space, spreading on the ceiling like a system of roots. A built-in bench that runs along the side of the layout extends beyond the glazing to form a long outdoor terrace that benefits from a level of privacy behind the wooden installation. As a result, the structure performs as an extra skin to the building, providing additional shading from. As time goes by, the wooden structure will age and slowly change its appearance with growing ivy planted in the flowerbed of each floor. The ivy blooms, and emits a good smell. The characteristic shadow on the road changes the form with passage of time. Such changes charms people. The installation containing such changes is urban woods.” (Meinhold, B. (2011)
Site plan
Lichen lithograph - Ernst Haeckel, 1904
Ivy growing over structure 28
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Agri Chapel Momoeda Yu Architecture Office - Nagasaki, 2016
Billed as a new Gothic style chapel, this project uses a fractal system to create a pendentive dome using timber structures resembling trees. This minimises the amount of columns on the ground, increasing floor space for church goers. The fractal system is an example of using a mathematical growth structure to create an efficient structural solution that would likely not have been implemented, instead a more conventional structural grid would probably have been chosen. The images below show the beautiful patterns created by the overlapping geometry and the mathematical rationale behind the design of the system. The image to the bottom right demonstrates how digital design was used to test for buckling in the structure and ensure its safety. Although a fairly simple example, this kind of growth system mimicking is what I wish to explore in more complexity in this report.
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Vortex
Nature reclaiming structures
1024 Architecture - Bordeaux, 2014
“Vortex is a generative light sculpture built into the unique architec-
The process of abandoned structures being reclaimed has fascinated
ture of the Darwin ecosystem Project. Merging organic materials with new technologies, this hybrid architectural artwork wraps around and embraces the footbridge between the complex’s two buildings, revealing and enhancing the venue’s dynamic energy while working as a live visualizer of energy consumption. Manually controlled via a joystick, the structure can be synchronized to music and also displays its location’s energy consumption through a series of illuminated tubes. It ultimately answers to the ambient environment around it, capturing the Darwin Ecosystem Project’s unique energy consumption footprint, and converting it into data that is processed to spawn real-time visuals.” (Rawn, E. (2014)
many for a long time and risks being purely aesthetic, even sentimental in its exploration. The images right & below show buildings at different stages of reclamation right up to being wrapped in roots, almost swallowed by a tree. Again, this is pretty but what use does it hold here? Much like the lichen on the graves, these images show the capacity of living organisms to encase structures & adapt themselves to the particular forms of that structure. I am interested in the question of if this process can be replicated by parametric modelling but in a more focused form. What if timber structures similar to tree branches could be designed to target areas of decay or structural weakness in a building and “grow” towards that spot? This conclusion is beyond the scope of this report but its underlying principles I wish to begin to understand.
This scheme focuses more on the environmental & data feedback than purely structural and this extra layer is something I wish to explore.
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Initial sketches
Lichen growth formulas
To begin the process of translating the vision in my mind into a work-
Organisms grow according to a number of patterns and systems, in-
able design strategy I produced a series of rough sketches aiming to deduce the location and form of the structures I want to produce in Grasshopper.
fluenced by a multitude of factors including sunlight, moisture, space, ability to form symbiotic relationships with other organisms etc. Much scientific literature aims to analyse and understand these systems & I have documented the basic principles of some here.
The sketch to the right is my initial vision for “tree like” timber structures to support the building externally, acting as additional buttressing against sinking and twisting. How these would attach to the existing structure and where I would attempt to resolve in Grasshopper.
My growth system will be based on a version of diffuse limited aggregation (DLA) which creates random branching patterns within a bounding area. There are many examples of people modelling organisms such as algae, coral, snowflakes etc using forms of DLA algorithms, which I have studied and taken elements from.
Below sketches show my strategy for supporting structures internally. Using the principles of DLA I intend to create a bounding grid based on the existing church layout and insert slender timber columns at the centre of these grids from which a timber canopy would “grow” until it connects with the existing walls. This gives a highly random, intricate web pattern of slender elements. The sketch below left shows the points of structural strength and weakness in the building currently, and strategically where to locate the new secondary structures.
Algae growth system diagram
Fractal growth - as seen in Agri Chapel
Laplacian growth equation
Diagram showing DLA process 34
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Grasshopper script tests
Fig 1. Downloaded DLA Grasshopper script pt 1. Surface meshes
Fig 4. Running plug in test variations to 500 acretions. Mesh updating on the left
Fig 2. Downloaded DLA Grasshopper script pt 2. DLA growth simulation
Fig 5. After 500 accretions I stopped the script, baked the geometry, as above, & re-ran it with different settings
Fig 3. Downloaded DLA Grasshopper script pt 3. Weaverbird plugin add-on
Fig 6. Results achieved with 3 different settings showing the variety of growth achieveable with limited knowledge
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Final modelling
I imported an existing
To place the columns
CAD drawing I had done of the Church and grouped the sections of solid wall in the plan.
I copied the grid to ground level in order to extrude the column footprint up to the level of the original grid.
I then extruded each of these surfaces up to the height of the eaves, roughly 3.3m. Next, I drew rectangles to form a grid, with corners at the centre lines of existing walls.
Fig 1. Creating a grid framework using existing structure
Fig 4. Replicating the grid at floor level
The plan to the left shows the final division of the building into a series of grid squares based on the unconventionally aligned existing walls.
This screenshot shows the 7 new columns formed using the grid layout, with 3 aligned down the centre of the nave and 4 in the chancel & chapel forming an inner ring that echoes the existing grid of buttresses and walls.
I have located the centre of these rectangles to form the points for new timber columns.
Fig 2. Using grid rectangles to locate new columns
As the columns are slender their positioning should not impair movement in the church, being strategically placed. Fig 5. Final column layout
The grid connecting the existing loading points in the structure is located at the height of the eaves line as this is the level at which the new branching structure will be place to provide stiffening without compromising movement through the space.
Fig 3. Final suspended grid layout
This image shows better the relationship of the new secondary timber column grid to the existing walls, providing a complementary yet alternate rhythm to enhance the space.
Fig 6. Relationship of old and new structures
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Having built the grid system, I next began preparing my model for the Grasshopper phase of the design. Adding points at the intersections of columns allowed a consistent base for the algorithm to work from in each grid square.
Fig 7. Adding points to columns as basis for DLA acretion
Fig 10. Base church structure modelled in Rhino
The DLA process is intended to run with the same settings and base points for each section of the grid, allowing the algorithm to produce unique results for each square within a consistent framework. The hope is this framework will provide a series of beautiful, unique geometries that share the same language and core elements. Fig 8. A series of points at the centre of a grid square form the basis of the “growth�
Fig 11. Base church structure with new columns
The next stage was to load the Grasshopper script. The algorithm is fairly simple, with 4 sliders to control the output and manipulate this. The points placed on top of the column act as the seed points from which to grow the branches within the circular boundary.
Fig 9. Running the DLA script on column 1
Fig 12. Base church structure with columns and final branch forms generated by DLA script
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Re-creating Grasshopper script
To build my DLA script I used a script written by a third party and spent a while manipulating the parameters of this script to understand the function of each component and how the script had been built up. I then attempted to rebuild a similar script from scratch, beginning with a VB script component that I added additional inputs and outputs to. Fig 13. New lichen growth inspired structure generated in Rhino & Grasshopper
Fig 1. Beginning with a VB script to enable me to plug in the number & type of parameters I want
Next I created the number of additional inputs and outputs I needed based on the parameters I wanted to be able to manipulate when growing my geometry. I then named each parameter based on its function.
Fig 14. Results of DLA script process
Fig 2. Naming the inputs and outputs
The first step in generating geometry was to give the VB script a series of seed points from which to start the DLA process. By adding a point button and right clicking to add multiple points I could then simply select the points I placed on the columns through Rhino.
Fig 15. Results of grid modelling in Rhino
Fig 3. Input 1 - adding seed points
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Next, I added a series
Next, I defined the type
of number sliders to control the growth input parameters:
of outputs I wanted; either points, curves or other geometry.
Proximity: to control distance from the origin new aggregate can form
The filaments refer to the “branches” created, hence the output as curves (lines) so they can be seen.
Pull: to control the strength of pull towards the origin
The outer circle parameter sets a bounding circle that aggregate can’t form outside of.
Wander: to control how far the particles wander from the origin Spin: to control the amount of rotation of new branches
Fig 4. Adding editable growth parameters
Fig 7. Defining geometry outputs
The final step in this simple script was to add a panel linked to the timer to show how many times the process has run. This allowed me to test what forms were created after 500 runs, 100, 2000 etc.
threeD: controls whether the growth is limited to two dimensions or three Wind: Acts similar to pull but with another input to simulate wind from a specific direction Show: Toggles whether the DLA process is visible
Fig 5. Inputting additional optional controls based on “true/false” switches
I used the meshpipe plugin connected to the filaments output to turn these lines into 3d meshes.
Fig 8. Adding a panel to provide a numerical visualisation of growth progress
Finally, I added a rotate command connected to the meshpipe output to rotate the final meshes from horizontal to vertical. This was to test growing structures on the outside walls, which I abandoned in favour of horizontal growth between structural points.
After defining the input parameters I added a button that would act as a play/stop button to start and re start the algorithm. I also added a timer to count the number of times the process ran from start to finish, allowing more precise control over growth.
Fig 6. Adding a stop/start button and a timer for counting acretions
Fig 9. Using Meshpipe plugin to give generated geometry 3d form
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St. Augustine’s Church, Snave - Ground Floor Plan with Bamboo Insertion
Sectional elevations
1:100 @ A3
1:100 @ A3
New DLA generated bamboo secondary structure
New DLA generated bamboo secondary structure
Existing stone Church structure
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St. Augustine’s Church, Snave - 3d rendered view with Bamboo Insertion
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Conclusions
References
Producing this investigation was incredibly rewarding and I learned a lot about 3d modelling,
Books:
parametric modelling, photogrammetry, biomimcry and growth systems. However, I feel more work is needed to properly bring these lines of study to a rounded conclusion.
Cheng, R.K.C. (2014). Inside Rhinoceros 5. Stamford: Cengage Learning.
I am pleased with the progress I have made in 3d modelling and parametric design; at the beginning of this module I had never used Rhino or Grasshopper so to take on the challenge of ADDT and produce any kind of parametrically generated design I see as an achievement. In terms of the final output of my project, I feel it is only the beginning. I would have liked to produce a completed photogrammetry model with interior views but I ran out of time to achieve this. However, I have gained an introduction to photogrammetry and feel like next time I attempt it I will be much more successful as I understand now the key to taking the correct types of photographs and have knowledge of the software used.
Leach, N. (2002). Designing for a digital world. London: Wiley Academy.
My grasshopper investigations are similar; I am happy with what I have produced and I believe I have hit my brief in regards to investigating natural growth structures and using these in a grasshopper script to produce a complex structural model. However, I would like to gain more understanding of how to manipulate the script in detail to produce consistent connections between elements & a more uniform, controlled geometric pattern. I do believe I have shown my ability to understand the basics of grasshopper and manipulate it to an extent and with more experience I will be able to produce more precise results.
Publications & papers:
Finally, I feel the topic I have explored is an incredibly rich one that excites me a great deal; I will definitely continue this area of research using grasshopper and growth systems, hopefully through my studio work this year or in practice when I graduate. If I had the luxury of time to deliver this thesis to its full potential I believe I would have generated some genuinely exiting results. Given that this is just the beginning of my journey into parametric modelling I am very happy with the work I have produced.
Pawlyn, M. (2011). Biomimicry in Architecture. London: RIBA Publishing. Tedeschi, A. (2014). AAD, Algorithms-aided design : parametric strategies using Grasshopper. Brienza: Le Penseur Publisher. Terzidis, K. (2006). Algorithmic architecture. Oxford: Architectural Press.
Berti, S. (2013). Monalisa wood Pavillon: optimization and parametric design by using poplar plywood engineered components. 4th International Scientific Conference on Hardwood Processing. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/7482221/Monalisa_wood_Pavillon_optimization_and_parametric_design_by_using_poplar_plywood_engineered_components (Accessed: 14/12/2019) Walker Sumner, R. (2001). Pattern Formation in Lichen. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. Available at: http://groups.csail.mit.edu/ graphics/pubs/thesis_sumner.pdf (Accessed: 18/12/2019)
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