ARRANGED IMAGEs
1. General Introduction
1) Location
The project located in Jinxianding Zone, Weihai, Shandong, China. The site is in the center of Bay of Weihai, to the west, it is adjacent to the mainland; to the east, it is opposing the Island Liugong. The zone was previously a well-known landmark. However, with the economic and city development, it lost its glory, due to outdated industrial layout and low efficiency of land use. A reform plan is called for in order to activate the area and make it retrieve its splendor. Being part of the reform, the Weihai Tower project also carries this responsibility. As a vital spot in the coastline, the site has vital influence on the whole city image; thus, producing a remarkable landmark is an inevitable choice.
The project located in Jinxianding Zone, Weihai, Shandong, China. The site is in the center of Bay of Weihai, to the west, it is adjacent to the mainland; to the east, it is opposing the Island Liugong. The zone was previously a well-known landmark. However, with the economic and city development, it lost its glory, due to outdated industrial layout and low efficiency of land use. A reform plan is called for in order to activate the area and make it retrieve its splendor. Being part of the reform, the Weihai Tower project also carries this responsibility. As a vital spot in the coastline, the site has vital influence on the whole city image; thus, producing a remarkable landmark is an inevitable choice.
b) Concept
Since the project located in a crucial point in Bay of Weihai, I choose “sea” as the design concept, which is expressed as sub concepts of “water” and “marine organisms”.
In the micro level of the design, “sea” was interpreted as “water”, reflected as space generating unit. The unit is the point of a cubic, representing the unit of crystal structures. The process of this cubic unit forming the space segmentation is mimicking that of water crystal unit forming water crystal.
Since the project located in a crucial point in Bay of Weihai, I choose “sea” as the design concept, which is expressed as sub concepts of “water” and “marine organisms”.
In the micro level of the design, “sea” was interpreted as “water”, reflected as space generating unit. The unit is the point of a cubic, representing the unit of crystal structures. The process of this cubic unit forming the space segmentation is mimicking that of water crystal unit forming water crystal.
micro level
In the macro level “sea” was translated as “marine organisms”. By Boolean minus of a simple cuboid and a group of ellipsoids, I got the whole body or space boundary of the tower, which very much resembles marine organisms.
macro level
c) Function distribution and transportation system arranging
The tower includes functions of exhibition space, club space, hotel space and dining space. To make a convenient approaching, spaces with higher publicity, such as exhibition space and club space are arranged in lower floors, and spaces with lower publicity are arranged in higher floors. In this case, spaces with higher publicity mainly require more flexible space division, thus requiring larger space sizes. From this assumption the space units are larger in lower floors and smaller in higher floors, resulted in a sparser point array in lower floors and denser in higher floors.
The vertical transportation is mainly carried out with a core tube in the center, assisted with some outdoor planes and staircases between them.
d) Sightseeing character analysis
i. In the micro level: the seeing and seen inside the building
For people inside the building, the series of “ellipsoid space” formed the yards on the surface of the tower, arouses stay and gather of people. Lines of sight connected the ellipsoid spaces, leading to a distinguishing seeing and seen pattern
The tower includes functions of exhibition space, club space, hotel space and dining space. To make a convenient approaching, spaces with higher publicity, such as exhibition space and club space are arranged in lower floors, and spaces with lower publicity are arranged in higher floors. In this case, spaces with higher publicity mainly require more flexible space division, thus requiring larger space sizes. From this assumption the space units are larger in lower floors and smaller in higher floors, resulted in a sparser point array in lower floors and denser in higher floors.
The vertical transportation is mainly carried out with a core tube in the center, assisted with some outdoor planes and staircases between them.
d) Sightseeing character analysis
i. In the micro level: the seeing and seen inside the building
For people inside the building, the series of “ellipsoid space” formed the yards on the surface of the tower, arouses stay and gather of people. Lines of sight connected the ellipsoid spaces, leading to a distinguishing seeing and seen pattern
ii. In the medium level: distortion mirror of the city
The reflection and refraction of city images on the ellipsoids are more complicated and interesting than that on planes, which creates a varied and distorted response to the city.
The reflection and refraction of city images on the ellipsoids are more complicated and interesting than that on planes, which creates a varied and distorted response to the city.
iii. In the macro level: Eye of birches
In traditional Chinese landscape architecture, there is a technique called “framed scene”, which means we design windows or other “frames” to circle out the scene we architects would like people to appreciate. This ellipsoid space is another form of “frame”. It draws people’s eye lines to meaningful spots of the city and the world.
In traditional Chinese landscape architecture, there is a technique called “framed scene”, which means we design windows or other “frames” to circle out the scene we architects would like people to appreciate. This ellipsoid space is another form of “frame”. It draws people’s eye lines to meaningful spots of the city and the world.
2. Design process: the generation of complicated forms
a) The algorithm: 3D voronoi
2D voronoi creates a partition of a plain from a set of points based on "closeness" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_diagram). The algorithm creates perpendicular bisectors of the line segments connecting every two adjacent points as the boundaries of the partitioned (convex) regions. The algorithm can be extended to 3D space, where the perpendicular bisector lines extend to perpendicular bisector planes and the output is a 3D space partition.
b) Design process
1. Create the boundary of the 3D space to be partitioned based on the functional and aesthetic considerations discussed above. The boundary is formed by some Boolean operations of basic geometries of a cubic a set of ellipsoids.
2. Experimenting with different configurations of input point and select one based on the efficiency of space utilization and the design requirements. The form is generated with VB script (assisted by Weixin Huang).
2D voronoi creates a partition of a plain from a set of points based on "closeness" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_diagram). The algorithm creates perpendicular bisectors of the line segments connecting every two adjacent points as the boundaries of the partitioned (convex) regions. The algorithm can be extended to 3D space, where the perpendicular bisector lines extend to perpendicular bisector planes and the output is a 3D space partition.
b) Design process
1. Create the boundary of the 3D space to be partitioned based on the functional and aesthetic considerations discussed above. The boundary is formed by some Boolean operations of basic geometries of a cubic a set of ellipsoids.
2. Experimenting with different configurations of input point and select one based on the efficiency of space utilization and the design requirements. The form is generated with VB script (assisted by Weixin Huang).
3. Adjust the density of the points based on the assumption of the degree of privacy of spaces.
4. Form the partition with the algorithm and extract the boundary lines and the 3D segments.
4. Use the boundary lines as the axis of the steel grid structure.
5. Manually selecting a subset of 3D segments and toss the rest based on the arrangement of space and the aesthetic concern.
4. Form the partition with the algorithm and extract the boundary lines and the 3D segments.
4. Use the boundary lines as the axis of the steel grid structure.
5. Manually selecting a subset of 3D segments and toss the rest based on the arrangement of space and the aesthetic concern.
3. Summarization and reflection
a) Unsolved problems
Since the total area of each floor is only 20X20 m², the segmentation are tend to be a little too small, which should be adjusted in later design stages
The steel grid structure should be revised and strengthened in the lower part so that it can bare the load of the building and the wind.
b) Reflections
This design is the first project carried out mainly by myself during my internship. In this design, I applied a parametric method in form generation. I found it a powerful tool and would like to explore it in later studies.
Since the total area of each floor is only 20X20 m², the segmentation are tend to be a little too small, which should be adjusted in later design stages
The steel grid structure should be revised and strengthened in the lower part so that it can bare the load of the building and the wind.
b) Reflections
This design is the first project carried out mainly by myself during my internship. In this design, I applied a parametric method in form generation. I found it a powerful tool and would like to explore it in later studies.
4. Form generating code
# code supplied by Weixin Huang.
Call Main()
Sub Main()
Dim arrOutSrf, arrCrv, arrEndPt(10000), arrEndPt1(10000), arrEndPt2(1)
Dim arrDist(3), arrTemp, intDeleteFlag
Dim i, j
'arrOutSrf = Rhino.GetObjects("Please select the OUT BOUNDARY surface:", 16)
arrCrv= Rhino.GetObjects("Select the Curves:", 4)
Rhino.EnableRedraw(False)
For i = 0 To UBound(arrCrv)
arrEndPt(i) = Rhino.CurveStartPoint (arrCrv(i))
arrEndPt1(i) = Rhino.CurveEndPoint (arrCrv(i))
Next
For i = 0 To UBound(arrCrv)-1
Rhino.Print i
For j = i+1 To UBound(arrCrv)
arrDist(0) = Rhino.Distance(arrEndPt(i), arrEndPt(j))
arrDist(1) = Rhino.Distance(arrEndPt1(i), arrEndPt1(j))
arrDist(2) = Rhino.Distance(arrEndPt1(i), arrEndPt(j))
arrDist(3) = Rhino.Distance(arrEndPt(i), arrEndPt1(j))
If (arrDist(0) < 0.001 And arrDist(1) < 0.001) Or (arrDist(2) < 0.001 And arrDist(3) < 0.001) Then
Rhino.DeleteObject arrCrv(i)
Exit For
End If
Next
Next
Rhino.EnableRedraw(True)
End Sub
Call Main()
Sub Main()
Dim arrOutSrf, arrCrv, arrEndPt(10000), arrEndPt1(10000), arrEndPt2(1)
Dim arrDist(3), arrTemp, intDeleteFlag
Dim i, j
'arrOutSrf = Rhino.GetObjects("Please select the OUT BOUNDARY surface:", 16)
arrCrv= Rhino.GetObjects("Select the Curves:", 4)
Rhino.EnableRedraw(False)
For i = 0 To UBound(arrCrv)
arrEndPt(i) = Rhino.CurveStartPoint (arrCrv(i))
arrEndPt1(i) = Rhino.CurveEndPoint (arrCrv(i))
Next
For i = 0 To UBound(arrCrv)-1
Rhino.Print i
For j = i+1 To UBound(arrCrv)
arrDist(0) = Rhino.Distance(arrEndPt(i), arrEndPt(j))
arrDist(1) = Rhino.Distance(arrEndPt1(i), arrEndPt1(j))
arrDist(2) = Rhino.Distance(arrEndPt1(i), arrEndPt(j))
arrDist(3) = Rhino.Distance(arrEndPt(i), arrEndPt1(j))
If (arrDist(0) < 0.001 And arrDist(1) < 0.001) Or (arrDist(2) < 0.001 And arrDist(3) < 0.001) Then
Rhino.DeleteObject arrCrv(i)
Exit For
End If
Next
Next
Rhino.EnableRedraw(True)
End Sub
- Back to Top -
