Algorithms

This is the final Grasshopper sketch of our graduate studio conducted together with Fulya Akipek at Yıldız Technical University Computational Design Unit. The project was about designing parametric “Landscape Extensions” at Kabataş Park. I hope I’ll be able to post the actual student works and…

This is a macro exercise in Rhino, showing that Rhino is pretty much capable of automating some cool text effects. Just copy and paste the below code into the command bar of the Rhino, or open the macro editor by typing macro edit, then paste…

This is the Grasshopper definition that generates a tetrahedral helix (also called as Boerdijk-Coxeter helix) but in a funny way. This geometry is also a solution for tangent spheres. I generated the helix using Anemone components for recursion and gave it a little bit of responsiveness….

This is a Cycloid-like family of curves, generated by its classical description: a rolling circle. I had several other studies on similar topics before. In this cycloid experiment, I used Grasshopper in which, we don’t need to roll the circle. Instead, we can divide a…

While testing Anemone components for Grasshopper, I accidentally generated these branches by looping. In fact, I was trying to develop the definition that mimics the well-known “Arch SED” component method. This method uses the tangent vectors for the endpoints of the arcs. Then, it iterates…

Here are two macros that automate some of the classical structural styles in today’s architectural geometry. They could be developed more to include joint details, however. It is a relaxing experience to study macros when the process doesn’t have algorithmic expressions (such as recursion, iteration, or…

Here is the simple Grasshopper definition [GHX: 0.9.0072] that activates Rhinoceros’ camera by given parameters. Camera position is determined by the “point-oriented” method here. This means that you have to have a target point for the camera first. In fact, I was trying to find a suitable…

I’ve been searching for a way to implement edge bundling on Grasshopper. It is an effective visualization technique that you can use in connectivity diagrams. There are a couple of different approaches to this problem. It is a nice way to analyze common paths within…

Anemone is a simple but effective plug-in for Grasshopper that enables loops. It has been a while since Hoopsnake succeeded in extending the dataflow capacities of Grasshopper with recursion. However, Anemone is much more user-friendly and easy to use. Below is my first test, yes…

Here is a test of the optical flow component of Firefly. You can check the Firefly add-on to Grasshopper here. As an ongoing research project, I’ve been searching for a suitable platform to study responsive geometric patterns. This initial study focuses on one particular effect…

Currently, Rhinoceros does not offer the capability for an aligned text onto a curve, to the best of my knowledge. However, Grasshopper, with its latest version, provides a solution for such tasks by offering a range of text components. For my current project, I am…

Lokma is the name of a pastry made of fried dough soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon, typically shaped into a ring or ball. Unfortunately, it is not the “Lokma” we’ll study here. In Turkish, there is another meaning of the same word…

In this fun experiment, points rock and roll! It should be based on a sound input of course but this is only a test to see if I can handle a timer and graph input at the same time. I’ll modify this definition to actuate with…

Bending is an easy operation in Rhino and Rhinoscript, however, Grasshopper did not include that particular transformation (along with cage editing) yet. I tried to simulate the bending transformation by using native Grasshopper components. First, surface projections and pulls did not work at all, because…

In today’s drawing class, we taught methods of drawing basic transformations by hand. Mirror was one interesting subject of that. However, then I opened Grasshopper and Rhino to test the effects of curved mirror planes. Unfortunately, I realized that there is already a curved mirror…

I’ve come across this nice website about the short history of tilings and tessellations. In this post, I am regenerating a tiling of Dürer rhombii. Albrecht Dürer sounds like one of the pioneers of some of the concepts of today’s emerging field of architectural geometry….

While looking at the student works of my 2009 class, I realized that in some cases, the “pipe” component takes a considerable amount of time to execute even on fast computers. Students mostly create pipes to model structural frame systems such as canopies and facade…

Force fields might be one of the most influential component sets of Grasshopper. Thus it also becomes a de-facto standard design approach like the Voronoi subdivision. There are beautiful examples of this mathematical solution. Here is a good explanation of mathematics underneath, and here are my…

While searching for a way to work with random points and growing populations, this idea appeared accidentally. I wasn’t trying to mimic the behavior of Karyokinesis of biological cells (in fact I’m in serious doubt about biomimicry in general). The trick is to use a…

This was the initial example of image processing in our Parametric Modeling class. I saw this design on Maxthreads Architectural Design’s website (especially here). Hand-drawn and digital diagrams can also be digitized and used in order to describe certain parameters for design formation. Such algorithms would…