Forces of Nature – Wind Topography

¨what if the wind could create his own topography¨

This experimentation aims to create an live-interactive installation using nature forces as design parameters with the help of Kangaroo Physics. What if the user only had to create the boundaries of the form to be generated by the wind?.

This project aims to build a ultra simple and minimalist design interface, where the user only has to design the basics elements as the  general boundary and the point where the kites will pull up the topography to create a live landscape.

Experimenting with interactivity and  physics simulations in computational design with rhinoceros, grasshopper and kangaroo we can arrive to create an clean interface for the user. Achieving to make the scripting and grasshopper completely transparent, by setting up the rules of behavior of the elements.

All the elements of the scripts are adaptative and live changing for emulating the real behavior of the wind and tension of the cables attached to the kites. As well as the kites fabric.

Behaviors build in the simulation: random wind with direction preference of the real barcelona rose of wind, gravity, elastic tension of the ropes, maximun lenght, fabric elasticity, strengh of the kite frame, attachement of the whole geometry,rigid objets and detonation for launching the kites initialy.

Thanks to comparative algorithm we can check the tension and displacement on each node of the topographic mesh. With the help of a warm to cold scale we can visualize the over displaced zones allowing us to change the design by variating the curves or their positions.

Interactive Strategy:

– Create the boundary curve of your topography (on the layer ¨exterior¨)
– Click the reset button to preview you flat topography.
– Create closed curves or circles where you wan to situate the kites (layer ¨interior¨)
– Click the reset button an start the simulation.
– Move the curves or create new ones.
– Each time you move an element remember to reset the simulation.
-Start again

Grasshopper script:

This exercice is part of  the computational design studio.

Studio SO.3 faculty :Rodrigo Aguirre and Aldo Sollazzo.

Forces of Nature – Wind Topography is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia

developed at MAA1 in 2017-2018 by:

Student: Eduardo Chamorro Martin