ShadowBlocks AgataDalach ChairofArchitecturalInformatics TechnicalUniversityofMunich
2 ShadowBlocks ChairofArchitecturalInformatics Prof.Dr.-Ing.FrankPetzold PerformanceBasedDesign Dr.-Ing.GerhardSchubert,İlaydaMemişM.A. AgataDalach 03737988
3 4 6 9 12 16 23 31 37 38 39 Introduction VerticaldensificationGrasshoppertool Geneticalgorithms Workflow Thecityscale Optimization „Userinterface“ Outlook Sources Contact TableofContents
Introduction
TheprojectShadowBlockshasbeendesignedduringthecourse PerformanceBasedDesign,whichdealtwithemployingRhinoand Grasshoppersoftwareinthefieldofarchitectureandurbanplanning.The givendesignproblemwas:whatwouldhappeniftherewereonemillionnew inhabitantsinMunich?
Urbandensificationisaproblemofmultiplefacets,andapartfrombeinga solution,canalsocausenumerousissuesthathavetobewidelydiscussed andsolvedbyinterdisciplinaryteamsofspecialists.Asasmallseminar projectcannotpossiblysolveamajorpartofsuchacomplexprocessby itself,is itonly meantto bea visualizationtool, helpingenvision ideasof urban growth.
Introductionof moreinhabitants cancause housingshortages. Thisissue has beenaddressed bythe project.The mainidea wasto visualizean introduction ofadesirednumberofpeopletotheexistingcitywithoutconsideringthe technicalandsocialinfrastructure,propertyownershipandregulatory aspects(such asthe firesafety orlocal zoningplans), butonly providingthem withtheneededlivingarea.Thetoolismeanttobesimplebutpractical.
Urbanisationisamajorworldwideissue.Urbansprawlhasbeenprovennot tobeareliablesolutiontotheincreasingnumbersofnewinhabitants.
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Because of the need for extensive infrastructure, car-oriented lifestyle and use oflargeamountsofterrainperperson,neighbourhoodssprawledaroundthe citiescannotbeconsideredsustainable.Ontheotherhand,bringingmore peopleto thewalkable andfully-equipped insocial infrastructurecity centres, maybeamuchbettersolution.Suchaprocessiscalleddensification.
5 Densificationstrategy1 Conversion Manyobjectoccupycityareas withoutfulfillinganyimportant function.Thisappliesto,for example,formerindustrial sites, wherebuildingswere preserved,butlosttheirpast purpose.Suchareascanbe transformedandbringbackto operationbyfindinganew purposeandrepairingor readjustingthestructures. Sometimessuchbuildingsare torn down to gain space for new investments. Densificationstrategy2 Horizontaldensification Evenindenseurbanareas, therecanstillbesomespace lefttoerectnewbuildingsorfill thegapsbetweentheexisting ones.Infillscanbemadein placesthatforvariousreasons remainedundevelopedorby repurposingparkingspaces, publicparksorotheropen spaces.Thedrawbacksofsuch actionsinclude reductionof free areasandoftenincreaseof walkingtimeforlocalpeople. Densificationstrategy3 Verticaldensification Thisstrategyhasbeenchosen fortheproject,asitcanoffer introductionofnewlivingunits withoutcreatingadirectthreat tothepublicareas.Increasing theheightoftheexisting buildingsmayprovidenew areastoliveintheplacesthat alreadyhavethenecessary infrastructure.Thereare multiplemajorissues connectedwithvertical densificationthatwillbe describedlaterinthebook.
Theaspect thatis alwaysvalid whenthe heightof buildingsis increasedis the physical reduction of the daylight available to other objects and to the ground. Byaddingnewfloorstotheexistingbuildings,theamountofcastshadows willincreaseandthehoursinwhichtheaffectedspaceswillreceiveenough solarradiationwilldecrease.Thus,suchasolaranalysisbecamethemain topicoftheprojectandgaveititsthename:ShadowBlocks.Thename includesthefactthatthefirstapproachestotheprocessincludedsimple geometricboxesinsteadofarealisticcitymodel,that-likeLegoBlocksweregrowinginheightbyaddingcuboidelements.
Afterthechoiceof densificationstrategy,itsvarious aspectsanditsinfluence onthecitytissuehavebeenanalysed.Thestructuralbearingpossibilitiesof theexistingbuildingsareatopicofaprojectofanotherstudent.The architectural aspects, such as location of additional staircases or other means ofverticalcommunication,isamatterofindividualcasesandcouldnotbe addresseduniversally. Regulatoryaspects, includingthe firesafety measures, especiallythechangeoffiresafetyclassofhigherbuildings,introductionof newevacuation ways,would alsoneed anindividual approachand couldlead tomakingthepluginfunctionalforonlyonelocation.
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ThetopicappearedtobeverysuitabletobedoneinGrasshopperand,after someadjustmentstotheoriginalideas,achievableandsuccessful.
Verticaldensification Grasshoppertool
Becauseof globalwarming, thiscase maybe even moreimportantinthefutureandmayalsoaffect otherbuilding typesand openspaces, suchas city squaresandparks.
https://unsplash.com/photos/hlOpCML8twI
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Inthedenseurbanareas,verticaldensification maylead todecrease ofsunlight inthe livingareas, whichcannotonlyworsenthequalityoflifeand healthoftheirinhabitants,butcanalsobeillegal. Ontheotherhand,variousbuildingsandopen areas could benefit from additional shadow cast by neighbouringbuildings.Thiscanbeacaseof officebuildingswithglassfacadesthatareprone tooverheating.EveninGermany,suchbuildings mayrequireextensiveairconditioninginsummer.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dresden_%C3%9Cberblick_9.jpg
Moredifficultappearedtobetheissueofmakingtheaddedvolumesmatch thedesirednumberofpeopletypedinbytheuser.Withalreadyexistingfloor areasoftheroofsofmodel’sbuildings,theproblemappearedtobedifficult. Tosolveit,anoptimizationmethodhadtobeadopted.
Theapproachtothisproblemrequireddividingitintosmallerstepswhich couldbetested,updatedandimproved.Thefirstideaincludedcreationofa staticmodelrepresentingasolaranalysisofagivenplotandasolaranalysis ofthesameplotwithincreasedheightsofseveralbuildings.Withsuchan approach,amethodofevaluationofthechangeinthesunandshadow conditionscouldbeestablished.
Thefirststepinthedesign:comparisonoftwosolaranalyses.
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Aworkflowofageneticalgorithm.
Atthebeginning,afunctionneedstobedefinedwithitsparameters,based onwhicharandompopulationcanbecreated.Amongthepopulation,the bestelementsarechosentobepaired.Duringthecrossover,partsofthe genomesofbothparents’organismsareexchangedinordertocreate offspringthatisamixofbothparents.Thenextgenerationcanexperience pseudorandommutationsthatwilladditionallychangetheperformanceof affectedrepresentatives. generations bymixingthebestsolutionsfromthepreviousones.
Geneticalgorithms
Optimizationcanbeunderstoodassearchingfor(an)optimalsolution(s)with regardtosomecriterion/criteriafromasetofviablealternatives.Depending onhowtheproblemisdefined,thesoughtresultcanbeexpressedasa maximumoraminimumvalueofafunction.Intheformercase,wherethe valuecanbeassociatedwiththebestperformanceoftheresult,thefunction is called a fitness function. In the latter case (when the result is minimized), the outcomeis calleda cost.Those characteristicsare theopposite, butboth can bethegoaloftheoptimizationprocess.
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Itcanbealsocontrolledandstoppedmanuallyatanytime.
Aconvergencecheckisdefiningifthealgorithmapproachedadesired solution.Withoutthis,itcouldpotentiallyrunforever,creatingnewandnew generations.Therearethreemostcommonwaysofdefiningtheendofthe algorithmevaluation: •stoppingwithafitnessvalue,forexamplereachingavaluedefinedbya normorcode, •stoppingwithafitnesschange,e.g.reducingtheenergyintakeofthe systembyaparticularvalue, •orstoppingwithtime,forexampleonthe50thgeneration.
Theevolutionaryalgorithmshouldgenerateasmanypossibleversionsofthe verticaldensification, tillit findsthe onethat isthe closestto theone specified bytheuser.Thiswillbethecostfunctionofthealgorithm.
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Amongtheoffspring,thefitnessorcostperformanceevaluationhastobe madeinordertochoosethenextpairs.Twoofthemostimportantmethods ofachievingthisare:rankingandtournamentselection.
ThereadyGrasshoppertoolshouldgenerateasmanyanalysesasneeded. Thealgorithmshouldlettheuserspecifyanyrationalnumberofnewcitizents.
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Workflow
The tool should help simulate the vertical densification of cities. The additional volumeofbuildingstructuresshouldbeaddedontopofeachbuilding.This willaffectthesolarconditionsonthegroundandonthewallsofother buildings.Toassessthechange,twoscenariosmustbepreparedand compared: the first one analysing the existing solar conditions and the second oneconsideringalsotheaddedvolume.
Thetoolshouldenabletheusertotypeinthedesirednumberofthenew inhabitants.Thenumberofpeopleshouldbedependentontwoconstraints: theareaperpersonandthetotalheightofafloor.Thosevaluescouldbeset bytheuser,butbydefaulttheyareaccordingly:35m²perpersonand3.2m grossfloorheight.Thedifficultyinthismatterisassociatedwiththefact,that thisnumbershouldbethecalculationinput,notthereceivedvalue.The volumeshouldbegeneratedinsuchanamountastofullycorrespondtothe numberspecifiedbytheuser,nomatterifitisfiveorfivethousand. Thosetwoobjectives-thespecificnumberofnewinhabitantsandthe optimalverticaldensificationinthesenseofsolarconditionsshouldbethe goalsthatcanonlybeachievedwiththeuseofoptimizationtools,suchas geneticandevolutionaryalgorithms.
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ImplementingthepreviouslydescribedstrategyinGrasshopperrequiredan iterativeapproach,startingfromaverylimitedmodel.Atthebeginning,the toolworkedonlyononeparticulargeometry,withaspecifiednumberof cuboids.Thegoal,though,wastomakeaprogramthatwillbeapplicableto acitymodelcontaininggeometriesofvarioustypesandforms.Becauseof that,thedevelopmentofthetoolrequiredupdatingthewholeofit,notonly addingnewfeatures.
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Suchasimplification-forobviousreasons-could notbecontinued.Itwas,however,necessaryfor developingawayofcalculatinganddisplayingthe numberofpeoplethatcouldbeobtainedby addingvolumetoparticularbuildings.
Inthefirstapproach,abasicgeometricplothas beenmanuallycreatedinRhino.Thepositionof theSun hasbeen definedas asimple pointwith its rayscreatedintheformoflinesconnectingitwith themeshverticesontheplot.Thetoolwasthen alreadyabletocalculatethedifferencebetween thenumber ofrays thatwill hitthe groundwith and withoutthevolumeaddedtothebuildings,and thereforetomakethefirstassessmentofthe worseningofthelocalsolarconditions.
Introductionoftheclimatedatatothetool.
Firstapproachtotheproblem.
Asthe toolshould becapable tooperate withvalid solardata,theLadybugpluginhasbeen introduced.Firstly,toaverylimitedextent,it servedonlytoacquiretheactuallocationofthe Sun,dependingonthechosenlocationandtime. ThisdatawasobtainedwithanEPWfile,the downloadingofwhichisalsopossiblethroughthe Ladybugplugin. Asthepluginoffersmuchbetterpossibilitiesof solaranalysisandassessment,theideawithrays andgridonthegroundhasbeenabandonedand theplugin’sfunctionswereexploredfurther.
14 TheLadybugpluginprovedtobeafantastictoolforcreatingthedesired analysis.Itscomponent„DirectSunHours“canevaluatethegivengeometry, dividingitintoameshofarequestedsizeandrankingpoints,thatbasedon thechosenperiodrepresentthenumberofhoursinwhichameshcell receivessolarlight.Theinputgeometrycanbedividedintotwogroups: _geometry -theanalysedgeometry context_ -other elementsthatmay castshadows,but arenotbeing analysed Forthepurpose oftheShadow Blockstool,the componentwasplaced twice inthecodewiththefollowingdata: _geometry inbothcasescontainsallthe buildingsandtheterrain,while context_ inthesecond,„changed“,state, includedadditionallythenewlygeneratedvolumes. The assessment of the change in the solar conditions in this state includes the proportionofthenumberofall„sunpoints“(pointsofanalysismultipliedby thechosennumberofhours)tothenumberof„sunhours“(thepointsthatin theanalysisreceivelight)andthedifferencebetweenthoseproportions betweenthetwostatesofthegeometry.
Theaddedvolumesshouldaccommodateexactlythenumberofpeoplethe userwanted,oranumberasclosetoitaspossible.Variousevolutionary optimizationpluginsforGrasshopperweretried,andeventuallythebuilt-in pluginGalapagos(single-objectiveevolutionarysolver)andOctopus(multiobjectivesearchandoptimizationplugin)havebeenchosenforfurther developmentofthetool.
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Thereweretwoobjectivesspecified:onerelatedtothesunhoursandthe secondregardingthenumberofpeople.Thelattergoalwastoachievethe smallestpossibledifferencebetweenthegeneratednumberofpeople (generatedfloorareadividedbythedesiredfloorareaperperson)andthe numbertypedinbytheuser.Inthefirstversionsoftheplugin,cuboidal volumesweregenerated,andthendividedbythesetgrossheightofafloor toobtainthefloorarea.
Withtheuseofthesingle-objectiveoptimizationpluginGalapagos,twoor moreobjectivescanbealsoachievedbyreducingthemtoonenumberthat canbeasumofthosevaluesmultipliedbytheirweight.Thisapproachhas beenlaterselectedasthefastestonetousewiththedesignedtool.
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Inthefurtherdevelopmentoftheplugin,abigimprovementtothecodehas beenintroduced bythe decisionto changethe volume-generationmethod. In thegeneticalgorithm,the"genes"wereoriginallythemetersofheightadded to the particular buildings. After changing them to the number of added floors, definedasanumberrangingfrom0to2,novolumewasbeingwastedby integerdivisionsandthecalculationscouldbesimplified.
Thenextstepinthe designprocesswastointroduce thetooltoabigger size oftheplot.ThegoaloftheShadowBlockstoolistobeusefulforvarious modelsofdifferentsizesandcreatedinvariousways.Itwasimportantthat thetoolcanalwaysrecognizetheroofofeachbuilding,nomatterhowmany facesthegeometrywillhave.Itcouldbeachievedbypickingsuchafacein thegeometry,whosemiddlepointhasthebiggestvalueoftheZcomponent in3Dspace[X,Y,Z].
Thegeometry(buildings,groundetc)couldbesimplyinsertedintothetool withtheuseofthe GeometryPipeline component.Theuseroftheplugin wouldonlyneedtoassignthemodelgeometrytothecorrespondinglayers: „Buildings“and„Terrain“.LateralsoanadditionalcomponentforSpecial Buildingswereaddedtoaccommodateallthebuildingsthatshouldbe displayed,butexcludedfromthecalculations,likechurches,stalls, monuments,urbansculpturesetc.
ThenumberofgenescouldbeeasilyupdatedwiththeHeteropteraplugin component„Poolcontroller“,thatcanchangethenumberofgenesforthe givenvaluethatinthiscasewasthe„ListLength“oftheanalysedbuildings.
Thecityscale
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areahas beenchosen becauseof theavailability ofthe heightinformationintheOSMsourcefile. SolaranalysisofthegivenmodelwithLadybug. Verticaldensificationwithaddedfloors. Solaranalysisofthenewurbansituation. Comparisonofthetwoanalyses.
various pluginsthatservethispurpose.Themodelpresentedabovehasbeen
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Thecity modelscan beobtained fromOpenStreetMap withthe useof gatheredwith theuse ofthe Elkplugin andrepresents asmall theNew Yorkouter region.This
partof
WithfurtherdevelopmentoftheShadowBlockstool,otherdesignquestions appeared.Asnotonlytheground,butalsootherbuildingsshouldbe evaluatedbythetool,whichapproachtothebuildings’roofswouldbe correct:shouldtheybealsoincludedinthesolaranalysis,orshoulditbe assumed, that there is no need for light from above, and they can be skipped? Inthefirstscenario,theintroductionofnewfloorswouldsimultaneously cause a reduction of sun hours for the whole analysed period for the entire top faceofthebuilding.Itcouldinfluencethealgorithminsuchaway,thatit wouldprefertoaddmultiplefloorstoonebuildinginsteadofdividingthe volumebyafewotherones.Themostimportantforthedaylightanalysis, though,arethe buildingwallsand theground.The introductionofmore floors toonebuildingcouldcausesignificantreductionsofsunhoursthere.Atthe end,thedecisionwasmadetolettheuserdecideiftheroofsshouldbealso consideredinthecalculation.Thereasonforsuchchoicewastoupholdthe ideaofmakingtheShadowBlockstoolasuniversalaspossibleandalso applicabletocities,whereroofwindowsplayacrucialroleininteriorlighting. Anotherimprovementwasthepossibilitytodisplayamodelthathighlights theareasthatwillbeaffectedthemostwiththechange.Variouswaysto achievethatweretested,andasuccessfulonewasfoundinaLadybug component"Heatmap".Themeshgeneratedby"DirectSunHours" componentofLadybugappearedtobedifficulttoanalyseorinfluencewith built-inGrasshopper components,while theHeatmap coulduse itas aninput _mesh parameter.Theinput _values werethenthesolutionsofasubtraction operationbetweentwo"DirectSunHours"values(solaranalysesofthe existingandchangesconditionsontheplot).
Minorbutimportantadjustmentshavebeenintroducedtothecodeonthis stage,includingthenormalizationofthenumbersrepresentingoptimization objectives,ormakingsuretheSunpathwillalwaysbelocatedinthemiddle ofthemodel,withtheuseofHeteroptera’s"Center"component.
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Anotherimportantaspectistheclimatefile.Thecomponent „DownloadEPW“,thoughdisabled,remainedinthecode.Withtheuseof MetaHopper’s"RelativePath"component,thefilepathcouldbemade relative-whichmakesiteasiertotransportfilesbetweendevices.
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Thebiggestmodel,whichhasbeenanalysed,hadbeencreatedwiththe Gismoplugin.Thepluginallowsforimportingspecificelementsfrom OpenStreetMap,butalsoforcreatingatopographywiththeuseofthe MapWinGISapplicationandOpenTopographydata.Gismocanadditionally adaptbuildingsandotherelementstothedownloadedterrain.Considering thatthecreationofthecitymodelisnotthetopicofthetool,theGismo's componentshavenotbeenincludedinthecode.Theusershoulddecideon thewayofobtainingthecitymodelandthenmovetheparticularelementsto thecorrespondinglayers:Buildings,SpecialBuildingsandTerrain.
Suchabigplot,though,appearedtobeverycomputational-time-consuming andrequired furtherimprovements inthe code.It hasbeen thendecided, that theworkflowwiththeShadowBlockshastobedividedintotwosteps.The firststepwouldincludetheverticaldensificationonly.Solvingonlythe problemofneededspacetoaccommodateaparticularnumberofpeople, canbefast,evenforlargerplotsandbiggerinputnumbers.Thegoalinthis caseistoachieveanumberinthedesiredrange,forexample5000people, startingfrom0orstartingfromrandomizedgenepoolvalues.
Bytypingthedesirednumberofpeople,theusershouldknowwhat maximumnumber ispossible. Withthe useof MetaHopper’scomponent „Set SliderProperties“it waspossibleto setacustom rangeforthe slider,thatwill beadaptedtothesizeofthemodelandthenumberofevaluatedbuildings. Thispartofcodeassumesthateverybuildingreceivestwoadditionalfloors anddividesthereceivedareasbytherequiredareaperperson.Thisvalueis theslider’snewmaximum,withthe0astheminimum.
Fortwostepsinthealgorithm,twoevolutionarysolverswereincluded.The firstonedeals withthevertical densificationandcan berunindependently on thesolaranalysis.Theusercanrunitdirectlyaftertypinginthenumberof inhabitants.Forthispurpose,theGalapagos’SimulatedAnnealingSolver appearedto bethe fastestoptimization methodfor thetested models.It adds floorstothebuilding,tillthecalculatednumberofinhabitantsisintherange ofthe desiredone. Thisstep canbe skippedfor verysmall plots,because the secondpartalsoconsidersthenumber ofpeople.Forbiggerplots,though, it cansaveasignificantamountofcomputingtime.
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The„input“partofthetool. TheGalapagos’SimulatedAnnealing Solver.
Optimization
The„outcome“partofthetool.
Whenoptimizingthemodelusingalsothedaylightobjective,theusercan decideontheimportanceofthegoals.Thoseweightscanbesetwiththe slidersmarkedwith bluecolourin thecode.With thisapproach,it becameno longernecessarytouseamulti-objectiveoptimizationsolver.
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Whenthedesirednumberofinhabitantshasbeenachieved,thesecond optimizationalgorithmcanbeusedtofurtheroptimizetheoutcome.This step,however, canrequire extensiveamounts ofcomputation time,especially incaseoflargermodelsandwhenchoosinglongertimeperiodsofanalysis.
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With the use of Gismo plugin, a sophisticated model of a city can be obtained.
Theplugincanadditionallyimportthetopographyandadjustthemodelsof thebuildingstoit.Manyoftheimportantobjects,nonetheless,required flippingthefacesofthebuilding'sBREPsinordertomakethesolaranalysis byLadybugpossible.Gismoenablesgroupingthebuildingsbyafunction category,whichcouldbealsoapromisingoptioninthefurtherdevelopment oftheShadowBlockstool.Unfortunately,suchdataisavailableforonlya smallfractionofbuildings,thereforethisideahadtoberejectedinthe process.
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31 Beforeopening theShadow Blockstool, theuser shouldinstall Rhinoand the followingpluginsforGrasshopper:Ladybug,HeteropteraandMetaHopper. FortheShadowBlockstooltobeoperative,theusershouldbeableto navigatethroughthecodeandlocatetheparticularelements.Tomakethis processeasierandclearer,thecodeelementshavebeengroupedand markedwithcolours(seethenextpage): •Green-commentshelpingtheusertounderstandthetoolandthe workflow •Orange-userinput •Purple-variouscodecomponents •Turquoise-tooloutputandsolverresults •Pink-theVisibilityPanel Becauseofacomplicatedprocessofobtainingacitymodelwithpluginslike GismoorElk,the componentsofthoseplugins havebeennotincluded inthe codeofShadowBlockstool.Anotherreasonisthattheusermaywantto workwithamodelalreadycreatedinanotherapplicationandimportedto Rhino.TheShadowBlocksshouldgenerallyacceptsuchmodels,provided theobjectswillbeputincorrectlayers. Changingtheclimatedata,ontheotherhand,iscomparativelyeasyand requiresonlytwo componentsbelongingto theLadybugplugin, whichhasto bealreadyinstalled.AfterenablingtheLadybug’s„DownloadEPW“ component,andswitchingthe„BooleanToggle“to true,aworldmapwillbe displayedintheuser'sdefaultinternetbrowser,withdownloadlinkstothe climatedataforvariousplaces.AfterdownloadingtheEPWfile,the „ImportEPW“pathhastobechangedcorrespondingly. „Userinterface“
32 TheGrasshoppercode.
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Ithasbeenalsonoticed,thatiftheuserchosestohavethemodelrendered, Rhinowillstilldisplaythehiddenobjects ofCustomPreview.Inthiscase,the second,smallercontrolgrouphasbeencreated,thatcontroliftheelements aretotallydisabled.Asthereisnoneedtouseitforonly„ShadedPreview“ mode,andtheyrequirecalculationsbythesoftware,ithasbeendecidedto separatethosepanelsfromthepreviouslydescribedvisibilityoptions.
Duringtheplugin’sdevelopment,ithasbeennoticed,thatasignificant amountoftimeisneedlesslyspentonlocatingparticularcomponentsthe visibilityofwhichshouldbeturnedonorofftoachieveadesiredmodel’s preview.Becauseofthat,withtheuseofMetaHopper’s"Hide/ShowObject Preview",those elementshas beencollected inone placein onecorner ofthe code,tobeeasilyavailablealsofortheuser.
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TheVisibilityPaneltocontrol,whichcomponentsshould bevisible(shadedview)orenabled(renderedview).
The„textsonmodel“groupcontainstwoelements:1)thenumberofpeople, thatrepresentsthenumbersontopofbuildingsand2)thedescriptionof results,whichisatextlocatedbelowthemodelinthetopview,that summarizestheoutcomeinformation.
Theoutcomedescriptionbelowthetop viewofthemodel.
Picturesontheleftrepresent separateelementsthatcanbe displayedornot.Above,the differencebetweenshadedand renderedviewispresented.Forthe renderedview,thepurplepartofthe visibilitypanelhastobeused.
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Asithasbeenmentioned,theusershouldbeabletocontroltheShadow Blockstoolinordertoachievetheirowngoals.Themainfunctionalityofthe toolcanvisualize,howacitywouldchange,ifacertainnumberofpeople shouldmovetoadditionalfloorsaddedontopsofexistingbuildings.It considersonlythesolaranalyses,whileneglectsmostoftheotherimportant aspectsofverticaldensification,suchasfiresafetyregulations,structural capabilityofbuildings,possibilityofsuchextensionconsideringvertical communicationinthebuildings.Becauseofthis,thetoolcanberatherused toplay withthe urbantissue, thanto servein actualdecision-making process.
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Ifthetool couldbeexpanded, themostessential aspectwouldit betolet the userinfluencehowparticularbuildingswillbeassessed.Alreadyduringfirst designconsiderationsithasbeenstated,thatmanybuildingsrequireless daylightandcanbepronetooverheating.Thiscanbethecaseofoffice buildingswithglassfacades,butalsootherfunctions,thatbecauseofglobal warmingmayneedlesssolargainsinthefuture.Ontheotherhand,many buildingsshouldnotreceiveanyadditionalfloors,becauseoftheirlocation andtheurbanformofthesurroundings.Suchadditionalinformationabout buildingscouldbeprovidedintheformofaconnectedspreadsheetorby placingthegeometryinspeciallydefinedlayers.Inmanycases,even particularwallsofthesamebuildingscouldbeassesseddifferently. Thetoolcouldalsoevaluatethesunhoursdifferentlyforsummerandwinter, whereinonecasesolargainscanhelpreduceheatingcosts,whileinthe otherincreasethecoolingcosts.
Themajor andmost importantissue withthe toolis veryslow optimization.At thebeginningofthedesignprocess,thevisioninvolvedrunningthegenetic algorithmfortheentirecityandconsideringthewholeyearastheanalysis period.Aftermultipletestsonmedium-sizedmodelsithastobeaccepted, thatsuchanalysiswiththecurrentcodewouldnotbepossibleonaregular homecomputer.Becauseofthat,itwouldbepractical,todiscoverwhich elementsslowdowntheprocessandhowtoimproveit.
Outlook
CreationoftheShadowBlocksplugintookonesemesterandwasdoneby oneperson.Because ofthat,the functionalityofthe toolisvery limited.There are,however,numerousaspectsthatcouldbeimprovedifthedevelopment ofthetoolcouldcontinue.
38 Sources 1.Haupt,R.L.,&Haupt,S.E.(2004).Practicalgeneticalgorithms.JohnWiley&Sons. 2.Yu,X.,&Gen, M.(2010).Introductiontoevolutionary algorithms.SpringerScience&Business Media. 3.EvolutionaryDesignMethods.(2018)Bauhaus-UniversitätWeimar.[online]https://otp.uni-weimar.de/ courses/evolutionary-design-methods-edm-open-2/
39 Contact AgataDalach StudentID:03737988
