Finally, I had a chance to test and understand the force fields tab in Grasshopper. It creates a continuous vector field inside of a given boundary. Therefore, it is very useful if you want to create an effect of the continuous presence of a force, such as gravity. The Wikipedia definition of a vector field is very basic and understandable: In vector calculus and physics, a vector field is an assignment of a vector to each point […]

Another tutorial we’ve analysed together with ARCH362 students last week was the one that mimics Zaha Hadid’s Kartal Masterplan. Although the project of Zaha Hadid was pretty much controversial among Turkey’s architectural critics (and most people also), we’re not dealing with how successful or “ugly” it is, but the most simple version of the technique that generated such forms. We have a term “çakma” in Turkish that means “conscious imitation, possibly […]

This year’s Parametric Modeling class starts with some of the very basic use of Grasshopper concepts. This definition is a practical start-up of using force fields in the architectural design process. However it does not compute any physical phenomena (such as circulation of people, wind, or anything else), but shows a simple way to tell Grasshopper about walls that push the field, and points that pull the field. I’ll post more […]

After this tutorial, we are still working on the basic ways of making contouring easier in Grasshopper. This is the updated version of the 2-year-old contouring definition in Grasshopper, with some additional functionality. It produces a flat and properly numbered output for each section. However, it does not include optimized nesting to reduce material use. Here is the Grasshopper definition (don’t left click, use right click and “save” option) [GHX: 0.9.0076] and the […]

Gaudi-like columns are generated as part of the “boolean” classes of Design Computing. The most inspiring, beautiful, and ugly variations are often done by boolean intersection, as this operation is the surprising one of the three brothers. While the class deals with the concept of emergence once again via solid and void relationships, constructive solid modeling techniques are introduced. Although it is widely used as a spatial analysis approach in […]

This video is dedicated to Design Computing and Basic Design students, who “contour” and then move each section by hand in Rhino. They do it individually to fabricate their laser-cut homework from cardboard. It could also be a macro but I prefer this. Because it does not work in all conditions. Maybe you should orient your contouring results similar to those shown in the video, and then use the shear command […]

This is a project proposal designed at the workshop organized together with Simge Esin Orhun and Fulya Akipek as part of the International Wood Day Exhibition in İstanbul. This time, the final Grasshopper definition is created “after” some experiments with physical models. Here is the first model showing the idea inspired by the folding chairs studied here. I realized that in order to make a “wall” instead of a chair, it would […]

This quick project was about a special tiling pattern inside a multi-story residential building’s hallways in Grasshopper. While drawing the construction documents of the project, it was necessary to apply some coding here, as each floor had a different shape to be tiled. Although it is not a real Herringbone tiling, I named it because I couldn’t find a better name yet. First, I’ve imported the geometric boundaries and the “middle curves” […]

Classical folding methods were subjects to be tested and studied in this semester’s design geometry classes. This has been very useful in introducing first-year students to 3d euclidean constructions and using physical objects as references to a digital model. Groups of students studied different folding methods and made both physical and digital models. Two of these methods were dominant in the class however, one of them was the variations of Miura-Ori, […]

Euclidean constructions, when represented computationally, rely on algorithms and mathematical principles to generate geometric shapes and forms. Through precise calculations and logical operations, a computer program can emulate the actions of a compass and straightedge, constructing lines, circles, and polygons with accuracy and efficiency. These digital incarnations of Euclid’s timeless techniques enable the exploration of geometric concepts and the creation of visually captivating representations. This project is interesting because of […]

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 the material system, but now; only the final result of the digital sketch we’ve developed together with students is presented here. This was a kind […]

The Hose is our last material system of 2014, designed and produced at the Computation-based Basic Design I studio section. We instructed this section together with Can Sucuoğlu and Birgül Çolakoğlu. This group of students succeeded in developing a flexible but strong connection detail. It allowed them to generate the desired macro form quickly. However, the overall look of the final composition should have been much better. Because, it was placed in […]

The 2015 Basic Design Studio was one of the good seasons. The project named “Fireball” is an example of high concentration. A group of students developed a material system from a very weak connection detail. The interesting part of the project was making it possible to stand by itself. They created the result purely by experimentation. In the beginning, they decided on the components and the overall geometric composition. So their […]

This student project named Happy Ivy was lightweight but also very strong, a good start for research on fibrous structures. The 2015 group of first-year Basic Design students explains their project as; Arboriform, meaning “something tree-shaped” was the central theme of the project, however, we decided to focus more on the entwining movement of ivy. In order to create a material system that reflects this entwining behavior, we chose to research fibrous […]

This is a student project on Computation-based Basic Design at Bilgi. The group of students completed it in the 2015 Spring semester. This research was very successful in achieving its intended physical performance, which was holding on to a tree designed for (and even near climbing up in some cases). The system is lightweight yet very powerful, holding on but not causing any harm to its “host body“, the tree. […]

This is an unfinished research on textile tensegrity technique, developed at Basic Design I Studio of Istanbul Bilgi University. The result was not satisfactory as a design outcome, but yet an interesting educational experiment. Students explain their project as follows: Coral reefs and corals themselves were starting points of our research. After analyzing some of the coral forms and a couple of studio sessions, we came up with experiments of […]

This project named Two Plus One explains itself very well. The students explained their motivation differently from the rest of the studio. In our Computation-based Basic Design Final Project, we are inspired by Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest sculptures, and we wanted to make our arboriform kinetic. First, we made a copy model of the original kinetic sculpture for ourselves in order to observe its shape, parameters, and movement patterns. We realized that the […]