ctbuh.org/papers Title: Authors: Subjects: Keywords: The Graphic Interface of the CAD-Tool Morphology System 3.0 for Non- Orthogonal Buildings Karel Vollers, Assistant Professor, Delft University of Technology Sagar R. Thorat, Technical Director, Free-D Geometries Façade Design IT/Computer Science/Software Façade Sustainability Technology Publication Date: 2011 Original Publication: Paper Type: CTBUH 2011 Seoul Conference 1. Book chapter/part chapter 2. Journal paper 3. Conference proceeding 4. Unpublished conference paper 5. Magazine article 6. Unpublished Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat / Karel Vollers; Sagar R. Thorat
TS11-01 The graphic interface of the Cad-Tool Morphology System 3.0 for Non-Orthogonal Buildings, evaluated in the Context of Websites as Sources of Building Information. Dr Karel Jan Vollers, Sagar R. Thorat (MSc AE) Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology and Company Director of Free-D Geometries bv, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, k.j.vollers@tudelft.nl, Technical Director of Free-D Geometries bv, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, s.thorat@free-d.nl Presenter Photo Karel J. Vollers Sagar R. Thorat Biographies Dr Vollers was projectleader for projects ranging from offices and low-energy ultra-light housing, to the 300m span Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam (designed by UN-Studio). His commitment to systemised building, resulted in a PhD cum laude at Delft University of Technology on the thesis Twist & Build, creating non-orthogonal architecture (2001). He was awarded the Dutch 2005 Aluminum Award for Architecture, for designing the AA100Q-Twist system. This first industrial framing system for freely curved façades was developed with Alcoa Architectural systems (now Kawneer) and Van Campen Industries, both in The Netherlands. In 2007 he made, assisted by PhD graduate Daan Rietbergen, a computer adjusted mould prototype. Next Dr Vollers in 2010 founded Free-D Geometries to develop and market adjustable moulds for industrial production of freely curved façade panels of glass, composites and concrete. The mould development is financially supported by the Dutch gouvernmental organisation STW. From 2006-2010 Dr Vollers was secretary of Booosting, a Dutch institute focused on building innovation. He is member of CTBUH Sub-Group #5: Research & Researchers database. Dr Vollers initiated the Free-D.nl website. When Sagar Thorat in 2006 at Mumbai University graduated with honors in architecture, he along with his father started S.R. Construction. Providing AEC services for various projects from schools to corporate offices, he honed his skills in integrating engineering and architecture at a young age. His passion for creating innovative engineering solutions motivated him to pursue a Masters in Architectural Engineering at Delft University of Technology. He successfully completed it in 2009 with a research in complex geometry structures using ultra high performance concrete. In 2010 Sagar Thorat joined Free-D Geometries to manage the free-d.nl website and assist in developing the computer adjustable mould. Abstract 210
The authors compare websites that provide building information with www.free-d.nl, a forum focused on non-orthogonal buildings that they in 2010 initiated. This website features an interface that connects to the CAD-tool 2.0 morphological scheme for non-orthogonal high-rise buildings. The building shapes are classified by the CAD-tools by which they efficiently can be drawn. The website also classifies the detailing of non-orthogonal façades by the applied materials and geometries. Curved façades often resulted in making buildings more sustainable than when composed of flat facades. In line with this, the website informs how to produce such façades more sustainable and economical. Future developments of the website will be indicated. Keywords: building, non-orthogonal, shaping, morphology, facade Tracing building information on the web Traditionally buildings are traced with keyword systems based on the building s location, architect, owner, contractor, function, year of design/inauguration/demolition. Often additionally, physical features like height, façade finishing, etc. are used. The number of categories into which buildings can be grouped, increases daily: one may search (also described as filter) by the architect s gender, by proximity to the web visitor s location, by recommendation of a web-editor, by related keywords, etc. However, these former keywords don t enable tracing the building by its shape. As the number and shape variety of non-orthogonal buildings grows, the need increases to have a morphological system to describe and recognise specific building shapes. The Cad-Tool Morphology System 3.0 The Cad-Tool morphology system 2.0 classifies buildings by their overall curved shapes, and lends them shape names related to the drawing tools that most likely were applied to generate them (Vollers, 2009). The drawing tools are divided into primitive shapes and transforming tools. Building volumes are classified by the applied primitive shape, by one or more tools used, or by a combination of primitive shape and tool(s). Buildings of which the applied tools are hard to recognize, are classified as Free shapes. The system was designed to categorise high-rises, as these have a predominant vertical axis, and usually only a few tools were applied in generating the building volume. The system suffices to store and retrieve non-orthogonal buildings on a computer. However, application of the system resulted in the users developing and maintaining all an own data-base. The Cad-Tool Morphology system 3.0 for non-orthogonal buildings is designed to be an user maintained open source data-base. By the shared use, the dissipation of information about projects that are designed and built all over the world, will increase greatly. Whereas initially the realised non-orthogonal buildings mostly were either very large or very small, now buildings of all scales get built. The new morphology scheme incorporates all scales of building. The system is implemented into the Free-D.nl website. The building data-base on the website subsequently was combined with a data-base on ways how to materialise such façades. This considerably increased the number of web visitors. The Façade materialising section will strongly aid in bridging the gap between design and knowledge / production. Context of websites providing building information Most websites that provide building information, are commercial. They are owned and maintained by firms and individuals who on the websites give detailed information on their commercial products or activities. Sometimes they also show projects in which they participated. For example, the News section of agcglass.eu briefly describes projects they took on, and illustrates these with architectural images that focus on glass panels the firm supplied. Generic oriented websites provide information that is not trademark / brand related. The focus can be very wide and cover the whole architectural spectrum but can also be limited to specific topics. Most such websites aren t self-supporting (yet), but sponsored, sometimes by a public organization. The running costs can be (partly) compensated by public funding or advertising like Google Adsense. An example of this is wikiarquitectura.com. The generic oriented websites are owned by: 1. Private persons sometimes operating as a group. The start may have been a commercial intent to exploit a niche in the market, or a joy in spreading the word about interesting architectural projects. For 211
example architizer.com, archello.com, arcspace.com, world-architects.com, worldarchitecturefestival.com, archinect.com, worldarchitecturenews.com, openbuildings.com. Often they follow the same formula. On the one hand, general building information is provided that attracts the attention of designers, contractors and clients. On the other hand, the building and running costs of the website are (partly) paid for by advertising products and companies, including architects. Additional income is found in offering services, like organizating congresses, mediating jobs, selling photos or in-depth info in various media (books, films, etc.). Focusing on specific topics, features or typology, some such websites grow into major sources of information and leading fora. For example on high-rises: skyscrapercity.com and emporis.com. Avant-garde design of vast projects is the topic of evolo.us. Sustainability as yet is a popular website topic too. 2. Industrial institutions. The websites provide info related to an industrial branch and are not limited to one brand. Some such sites elaborate on general topics, for educational purposes, but ultimately to stimulate application of a material. Often a major firm belonging to that industry is the main sponsor. For example constructalia.com focused on the use of steel in building which is mainly sponsored by ArcelorMittal. 3. Research and educational institutions, for example aeworldmap.com. Sometimes Universities link up with industrial branches - especially when the website can be linked to doing research. The link with industrial branches often implies funding of research. For example, maintenance and elaboration of the ctbuh.org website is heavily linked to Universities and research institutions. 4. Commercial parties that provide architectural services sometimes include generic topics on their websites to support own activities, like architravel.com. Similarly Google Earth supplies info on architectural buildings, as this links well to their maps related services. 5. Governmental sites, focused on providing national, regional or local building information, for example gulfnews.com/business/property. 6. Publishers often focus on a variety of art fields, like sculpture, graphic design, architecture and interior design (designboom.com, arhouse.co.uk). Some focus on architecture, like architectsjournal.co.uk. The above websites resulted from a quick field research by the authors. As they master only a few languages, many major websites, especially from other regions, are not listed. The Free-D.nl website as yet is privately owned. Phasing of the Free-D website s development The website is being developed in steps: 1. In Phase 1 the data-base with non-orthogonal buildings was created, to contain the most prominent buildings and building designs with curved façades. The Cad Tool graphical interface enables tracing them by their shape - by simply clicking icons. An additional filter based on keywords offers an alternative way of filtering. The data-base is designed to make the site a relevant information source on non-orthogonal buildings. The Users will be students, designers, professionals and a public with cultural interests. 2. In Phase 2 the Façade section was activated. The non-orthogonal façades are categorised, applying again a graphical interface. The icons represent the applied materials and geometries. The projects are selected for their relevant use of materials and/or detailing. The section also contains roofs, and surface geometries in which façade and roof fluently interconnect. The Users will be professionals, especially students, designers, producers, contractors. 3. In phase 3 the details of projects in Phase 2, are abstracted and reduced to their underlying principles. Next the details will be organised. By clicking a detail, the projects that make use of such detail, are listed. This section will make the website even more relevant for students and professionals. The aim is to get educational institutions worldwide, participate in the website. 212
The graphical interface of Free-D.nl Figure 1. The graphic interface of the Cad-tool morphological system 3.0 Free-D Geometries The graphic interface of the Cad-tool morphological system 3.0 has a vertical row of icons that represent the primitive shapes and a horizontal row of icons depicting the transforming tools. In the Defined Shapes, the building volumes are classified as being generated by either one or more tools in a row, or by a combination of tools from the 2 rows. Buildings of which the applied tools are hard to recognize, are classified as Free shapes. Special features contains sub-groups with building volumes that resemble curved volumes (i.e. Voxelated Buildings, Slicers, Turners, Media façades), and sub-groups with volume shapes that are optimised for a specific functioning (i.e. Wind-energizers, Green façades) or have a shaping that doesn t fit the in the morphology system yet (Clusters). Figure 2. Project Overview, showing projects generated with the selected tools By hovering over an icon, a text appears that elaborates on the tool that the icon represents. By clicking one or more icons, all buildings get listed that were generated with the use of the tools that the icons represent. 213
Figure 3. Project Page, providing detailed info on a selected project. The Project Page is opened by clicking a building picture in the Project Overview. A big picture appears, which can be scaled up by clicking an enlarge icon. By scrolling down on the page, a brief description of the building appears, with building facts: location, owner, architect, engineer, consultants, etc. and links to media like YouTube. When available, papers, books, articles connected to the project are mentioned Façade materializing Figure 4. Graphic interface by which information on façade materializing details is organized Free-D Geometries Façades focuses on detailing and materials. This section holds three categories: Skins, Structures and Special features. All have sub-categories. Skins are the outer surfaces, Structures categorises the various constructions that hold the skin. The Special Features contains the subgroups Media façades and Kinetic 214
façades., i.e. the projects with special effects of the surface, and those with moving elements. By clicking a specific geometry (Doublecurved roof or façade, Singlecurved roof or façade, Fluently connected roof and façade) and next a material (Glass, Wood, etc), projects with such materialising combination are listed. Sustainable production of façade components Figure 5. The pinbed as produced by authors Façades can be curved to improve the inherent sustainability of a building volume. Outward curving façades result in a better floor / façade area ratio. Windage on a twisted volume is considerably lower than on a orthogonal volume because of confusing the wind at the winddrag side. In line with improving the sustainability of curved building volumes, the Free-D.nl website will be a platform to inform on and discuss methods to produce curved façade components more sustainable and economical. A variety of production apparatus will be featuring, ranging from 3D printing of large freely curved components to adjustable moulds to produce such panels. Adjustable moulds lead to cheaper and more sustainable production, less material waste, less manual labour and less mould transport. Soon such moulds will make the use of curved façades economical and sustainable. The authors developed a computer adjusted pinbed, on which flexible surfaces can be positioned to function as moulds for making freely curved panels in for example concrete, composites or GRP. They also integrate the computer adjustable surface with a glass bending furnace. Future outlook Many websites have an impressive collection of projects in their data-base, illustrating them with drawings, details and info presented in other media, like films on YouTube. Standardising the data, for example the format of drawings, will ease assembling and distribution information. The resulting eased storing and retrieval of data, probably will raise copyright issues. Increasingly the web will be used to find information on designing buildings and materialising them. Books as yet are referred to on the website for in-depth information, but most will be replaced by new media. The building and upkeep of extensive data-bases is costly. Developing data-bases in parallel, is a waste and doesn t match modern global developments. In the near future a few websites that provide building information will turn into the major global players. Such sites, may be run by research and educational institutions, in collaboration with institutions representing branches of industry. Conclusion 1. The graphic interface is an effective medium to filter information on non-orthogonal buildings and façades. 2. User maintained building info websites will play a global role in education and engineering support. 215
Acknowledgement Web design by Active IDs and graphic design by studio hooikoorts (The Netherlands). Both firms are founded by Architectural Engineers who studied at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology. References Vollers K.J., 2009, CTBUH Journal, Issue III, p.38-49 216