ARC180: Computation and Design
Assignment #2: Implying a City
Selection from ‘Framework Houses’, Bernd and Hilla Becher
In Assignment #1, you selected a typology of fabric building in Toronto and produced a Rhino model and drawing of one instance of the typology. In Assignment #2a, you will design a parametric model that can reproduce your chosen typology across a range of sites and scales.
Your parametric model will use Toronto Property Data Maps as a primary input. Your model should accept a given site outline and build your typology by setting back from property lines. The model should also be driven by an additional parameter of your choosing—think roof slope, overall window/wall ratio, etc.
Strong projects will include additional options that might activate in differing site contexts. For example, houses on narrow lots might deploy a staircase running parallel to the street, while houses on wider lots might run their staircase running perpendicular to the street. Think critically about how site informs your chosen typology and work backwards from its ‘building blocks’: where stairwells are located, or the minimum sizes of rooms, for example.
First, produce a series of diagrams or sketches that describe five of these typological ‘building blocks’. You can include site setbacks and orientation in these sketches or diagrams; read as a whole, they should describe the step-by-step process by which your typology is constructed.
Step-by-step development of the Les Closiaux gymnasium by Dominique Coulon & associés
In addition to these diagrams, you will produce a design space drawing showing at least 9 examples of your typology with varying sites and parameters. Each example of your typology must be produced using your parametric model. You can choose the parameters and site types to vary, but the design space drawing should demonstrate a range of outputs that approximate the range of real-world examples of your typology. I suggest working with three different sites on the x-axis and a varied parameter in the y-axis.
Design space drawing from ‘Dimensionality Reduction for Parametric Design Exploration’ by John Harding
You can choose whether the model describes the typology’s interior, exterior, or both. You are permitted to switch typologies from your first assignment, if you choose.
Submit the following two files to Quercus on November 5th by 11:59 pm Eastern time:
1. PDF document
o On the first page, display your design space drawing, name and student number
o On the second and following pages, show the following:
§ Images of at least four different examples of your typology, describing its deployment on varying site conditions
§ Five or more diagrams or sketches showing step-by-step development of your typology
§ A high-res image of your Grasshopper script.
§ A 150-250 word narrative describing your typological ‘building blocks’ and modelling process.
2. Your Grasshopper file in .GH format. All references to Rhino geometry must be internalized, including your initial link to the property data map.
This assignment is worth 35% of your final grade. The mark breakdown is as follows:
15%: Organization and performance of your Grasshopper script.
Does your script. open correctly? Does it accurately reproduce your typology on a variety of sites? How detailed are the models produced by your script?
5%: Success of step-by-step development diagrams or sketches
Do your diagrams clearly communicate the design development of your typology?
10%: Success of design space diagram
Does your design space diagram indicate the breadth of different typological outcomes?
5%: Clarity and creativity
Does your written submission clearly your modelling process? Did you approach the assignment in a creative or conceptual way?