#archimedean-solid

In geometry, a truncated icosidodecahedron, rhombitruncated icosidodecahedron, great rhombicosidodecahedron, omnitruncated dodecahedron, or omnitruncated icosahedron is an Archimedean solid. It is one of thirteen convex, isogonal, non-prismatic solids constructed by two or more types of regular polygon faces. In this short tutorial, I am constructing an irregular truncated icosidodecahedron. It is not the regular Archimedean solid, but a rough approximation of it. I made this model to exercise the exploration of new polyhedra by using rectification and truncation operations. Nevertheless, here…

The rhombicosidodecahedron, an Archimedean solid, is one of the 13 convex polyhedra made up of regular polygons. While all its faces are congruent, they consist of various types of regular polygons. I previously explored this fascinating polyhedron and am revisiting it now as part of the Architectural Geometry course. In this short tutorial video, I demonstrate the modeling of a rhombicosidodecahedron. Despite its lengthy and unusual name, this polyhedron is truly a remarkable and beautiful structure. I hope that this…

A truncated cuboctahedron is an Archimedean solid, meaning it is a highly symmetrical, convex polyhedron with identical vertices and faces of regular polygons. As its name suggests, you can create the truncated cuboctahedron by truncating (cutting off) the vertices of a cuboctahedron. A cuboctahedron is a rectified cube. After you model it, you can divide all its edges into 1/3s. Then, connect those division points to draw the squares, hexagons, and octagons. In this short tutorial video, I am folding…

An icosidodecahedron is a polyhedron that is part of the family of Archimedean solids. It has 32 faces, consisting of 12 regular pentagonal faces of a dodecahedron and 20 regular triangular faces of an icosahedron. It is highly symmetrical, with the same arrangement of faces around each vertex. In this short tutorial video, I am modeling and unrolling an icosidodecahedron. This polyhedron is very interesting and is mostly used as a basis for more sophisticated designs. Its dual polyhedron is a rhombic triacontahedron,…

The truncated octahedron is an Archimedean solid, characterized by a mix of hexagonal and square faces, and it has a very symmetrical and regular structure. Buckminster Fuller called this solid “Mecon”. The truncation process includes the cutting the edges of a polyhedron. We do this by dividing every edge of the polyhedron into 1/3s. Then, we carefully re-connect these division points to generate new, planar polygons. In the case of a truncated octahedron, we transform the 8 regular triangular faces…

Buckminster Fuller used the term “dymaxion” for a variety of his designs, and one of these was the dymaxion map. It was based on the geometry of a polyhedron. While the dymaxion map is more directly related to the icosahedron, Fuller’s work often involved using other polyhedral shapes. One of them is the cuboctahedron. He used this term for various conceptual and practical designs, particularly in the context of his ideas on efficiency and structure. The cuboctahedron itself is notable…

A Buckyball, (or Fullerene), is a molecule of 60 carbon atoms with a structure resembling a soccer ball. It is a specific type of fullerene, often referred to as C60, where the carbon atoms form a series of pentagons and hexagons in a pattern that creates a spherical shape. This structure is similar to the arrangement found in a truncated icosahedron, with 12 pentagonal and 20 hexagonal faces. The buckyball is named after architect Buckminster Fuller, who popularized geodesic domes,…

Truncation in mathematics and geometry refers to cutting off parts of a shape, typically the vertices, edges, or other extremities, to create a new modified figure. This process is often used with polygons, polyhedra, or functions. A truncated tetrahedron is a polyhedron we can derive from a regular tetrahedron by truncating (cutting off) its four vertices. This process creates a new shape with additional faces while maintaining its symmetry. In this tutorial video, I am modeling and unrolling a truncated…

Modeling a rhombicosidodecahedron requires exploding and extending the faces of a dodecahedron and an icosahedron of the same edge length. We begin with both polyhedra centered at the same point. Then, we explode the faces of the dodecahedron and icosahedron outward from the center. We extend their planes while maintaining their orientation and shape. As these faces extend, they intersect and form new polygonal regions. Triangular and pentagonal faces emerge naturally from the extended faces of the dodecahedron and icosahedron,…

Today’s polyhedra are the famous Archimedean Solids! I created a simple Grasshopper script to generate pendants from these beautiful solids. I call this Archimedean Pendants. However, you can implement other polyhedra to the same code. I hardcoded the vertex coordinates so you won’t need an extra add-on to generate the polyhedra. Thanks to the new SubD component Multipipe, it makes life much easier to produce 3dprint-ready results. To make this definition more useful, you can add scale operations in all…