Dynamo-litia Boston - September 2017

For this month's installment of the Dynamo-litia, we celebrated the 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the user group's existence!

plus...

Comparing Computational Approaches / Dynamo-litia Turns 2!
The AEC industry is currently experiencing a surge in technology with new tools emerging every day to produce time-honored deliverables in unique ways. What has long been considered "industry standard" software is being aided and at times replaced by the "right tool for the job".

Please join Ilaria Giardiello Assoc. AIA and Kyle Martin Assoc. AIA as they lead a live demonstration of the spectrum of computational approaches that can be used to accomplish the same task, including: Dynamo, Custom Nodes, Design Script Syntax, and Python. Today there are many ways to get to the same end result; this session seeks to illuminate why it is important to be aware of the tools at your disposable and play to your strengths.

Also this month is the 2 Year Anniversary of the Dynamo-litia Boston user group! To celebrate we will be recapping the past year as well as highlighting a flurry of events happening this Fall. This is one session you won't want to miss.

When: September 27, 2017
Where: BSA Space - Boston

More information at the Boston Society of Architects .
Presentation slides and datasets can be downloaded HERE .

Facades+ Boston - Visual Programming with Dynamo Workshop

Originally featured on the Tocci Blog, I recap my recent experience co-leading a Dynamo workshop at this year's Facades+ one-day conference in Boston...

Last week I attended and presented at this year’s Facades+ Boston event — a one-day symposium and trade show focused on the importance of high performance envelope design in the AEC Industry.

SYMPOSIUM:

The first half of the day featured three engaging panel discussions.

Panel 1 – Expanding the Envelope: Generating Urban Data for Responsive Design:
This group of panelists urged the importance of data, tech innovation, and digital equity in the Boston built environment. Capturing data for many city metrics helps reveal trends and provide insight for a prosperous and safer tomorrow.

Panel 2 – Modernist Performance Retrofits:
One presentation in architectural detailing for a historical retrofit project provided an intriguing contrast against a second presentation about examining materials and fenestration details to identify high-performing wall assemblies at different price-points. While one project carefully considered the aesthetic ramifications of their intervention, the other team thoroughly emphasized performance.

Panel 3 – Making Space for Bostonians:

Place-making is an essential consideration in urban design and these three panelists discussed the role that strategic programming, structural and material innovation, and inviting public space has played in creating thriving districts in the city of Boston.

VISUAL PROGRAMMING WITH DYNAMO WORKSHOP:

Colin McCrone and I led an afternoon workshop that demonstrated the usefulness of visual programming for Revit in facade design and analysis workflows. Our workshop kicked off with an introduction to the concepts of computational design, migration across various software platforms, and examples of how the tools are being used in the industry today.

After providing an overview of the interface, terminology, functions, and features, the first exercise tackled one of Revit’s most temperamental elements – curtain wall. Modifying curtain wall requires many sequential clicks to adjust overall size, mullion spacing, and exchanging pinned panels, mullions, and doors. Dynamo provides the capability to query information from the model, target specific items, and batch alter them as needed. The accompaniment of math and logic adds further analysis and opportunities for customization to the process.

For the final portion of the workshop, we highlighted three panelization processes that demonstrate the geometric design potential of Dynamo. The first used pixel brightness from an image to swap out panels by color and generate a mosaic interpretation.

The second read point coordinate data from an excel spreadsheet to place 4-point adaptive curtain wall panels in a curvilinear wall configuration.

Lastly, the third utilized the Revit Sun Path tool to analyze solar gain on each panel of a wall surface and colorize the panels from least to most exposure.

Overall the experience was a huge success and we both thoroughly enjoyed sharing our knowledge with the 20 or so members of the Boston AEC community who attended our workshop.

If you would like to learn more about Dynamo, the June gathering of the Dynamo-litia Boston user group will feature a brief recap of the Facades+ workshop and more in-depth presentations of how Dynamo is being used in practice.

More about Facades+ Boston

Dynamo-litia Boston Turns 1!

This week the Dynamo-litia Boston celebrated it's One Year Anniversary. To celebrate, I used Dynamo to generate a virtual birthday cake.

Here are some of the highlights of the first year:

First session: September 21, 2015

7 Presentations:

1. Introduction to Dynamo
2. Dynamo for Production
3. Dynamo and the Evolution of BIM
4. Dynamo for All
5. Dynamo and the Zen of Data Flow
6. Work Smarter Not Harder
7. Bringing Engineers & Architects Together Through Digital Design

1 Workshop:
Revit parameter export
Panelized surface & analysis

Did you know there is an entire Vimeo album devoted to the Dynamo-litia?

Dynamo-litia Boston Album

6 videos
1,777 Plays
51 Finishes
Average time per view: 34m,06s

Top 10 Countries:
US, UK, Spain, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, Germany

Lastly, this year would not have been possible without the contributions of many. Special thanks to:

Boston Society of Architects:
Conor MacDonald
Sara Garber
Revit User Group

Autodesk - Dynamo Team

Shepley Bulfinch

Speakers:
Zach Kron - Autodesk
Kevin Tracy - NBBJ
Christina Tully – Shepley Bulfinch
Masha Pekurovsky – Perkins Eastman
Eric Rudisaile - Microdesk
Timon Hazell - Silman

Most importantly, the Boston AEC Community! Looking forward to future sharing and collaboration.

Dynamo-litia Boston - September 2016

This installment of Dynamo-litia featured Timon Hazell, Sr. BIM Engineer at Silman (Washington DC).

Bringing Engineers and Architects Together Through Digital Design
Design changes that took weeks to coordinate are now happening in hours. We are now able to create new iterations of complex designs in seconds. This speed has its benefits, but it also adds complexity to current collaboration practices. How can we work better as a single design team? How can we use conceptual abstract models to generate documentation models? How can we model non-planar framing directly in Revit? You know the answer to many of these involves Dynamo! Join us as Timon Hazell from Silman shares his experiences and talks through a few case studies using Revit, Rhino, Dynamo and Grasshopper.

When: September 22, 2016
Where: Shepley Bulfinch - Boston

More information at the Boston Society of Architects.

Due to A/V difficulties, a few portions of the presentation did not make the video. To follow along AND see upcoming announcements, make sure to download the presentation slides HERE.