Adaptive everything

We <3 the Geometry Gym Plugins for Grasshopper Grasshopper-designed roof of the Al Menna Sports Complex in Iraq. The smart structural interpreter (ssi) tools for Grasshopper changed the way that we engineers look at modeling. We first tested the ssi plugin in 2010, when we were searching for the fastest possible way to design a stadium roof structure with SAP. Our challenge was to submit a detailed set of drawings for a competition proposal for the fabric roof system of the Al Menaa Sports Complex in Iraq. We spent three days at the offices of 360 Architects , sitting together to generate a parametric model of the roof that would allow us to study different design scenarios, both from an architectural and structural perspective. On day four, we used the ssiSAP interpreter to assign structural material properties to our wireframe geometry, and then to ‘bake’ this into SAP to run analyses. The analysis in SAP is set up relatively quickly for a project such as this – the bulk o...

Since the rise of building information modeling, engineers have been working on projects in a growing number of software programs that are designed to facilitate ever more specialized tasks. Platforms such as Revit, Grasshopper, Tekla, Ram Structural Systems, ETABS, and SAP 2000 have given the field increased capabilities and efficiencies in all stages of the project engineering process, whether it be defining geometry, analyzing loads, documentation or fabrication. However, when multiple team members, often in geographically distant locations, are working on a single project across multiple platforms there can be breakdowns in coordination and communication. Work can accidentally be done on out-of-date models. Simultaneous and contrasting changes can be made unbeknownst to the team until it’s too late. And then there is simply the hassle of going back and forth between platforms to ensure that the models are consistent with one another. It was to solve these inefficiencies in comm...