Module 1 Workshop

Agenda

• Assignment Brief (10 min)
• Exercise 1: Drawing a Concept Diagram (20 min)
• Exercise 2: Building it in Grasshopper (20 min)

Assignment Brief (10 min)

As a class, lets review the Module 1 — Population assignment brief together.

Module 1 — Population

Drawing a Concept Diagram (20 min)

• Navigate to the workshop Miro Board to start a first attempt at creating your concept diagram. Feel free to work with pen and paper if preferred.
• Start with the starting point of your diagram — your population of interest, represented as a prominent box (Ex. “Resident Population of Downtown Brooklyn”).
• Next, draw boxes or circle that represent elements that are in relation to this population, or information that help define the population.
• Use arrows to connect the boxes to illustrate the relationships between elements. These arrows describe the flow of information/resources, or casual (cause-and-effect) relationships between elements.
• Finally, if applicable, add annotation to the arrows and try to explain the process of information flow between elements. These process can describe actions, mathematical functions, or simple +/- signs representing the transection of resource.

Bonus: Read Conceptual Diagrams — Tools for Science Communication

Sign up | Miro | Online Whiteboard for Visual Collaboration

Building it in Grasshopper (20 min)

Starting a Grasshopper Definition

• Next, we will try to build parts of the concept diagram that we just drew in Grasshopper.
• Recall that in the last step of the previous exercise we defined processes of informational flow between our boxes. Start with just one process (two boxes and one arrow) of the diagram. Identify the input, operation, and output of this portion of your diagram.

Define Input/ Output

• Start with the input. Is it Numeric? Logical? or Geometric? Try to place the respective input/container component onto the canvas. Label the container with the text of the box that it represents in the diagram.
• Move onto the output. Is it Numeric? Logical? or Geometric? Place the appropriate panel/container component onto the canvas and label it with the text of the box that it represents. (Depending on the process of your concept, the input and output may not be the same type!)

Define Operation

• Now, let’s try to find the appropriate operation component to complete the full process! Again, consider the type of operation required to transform your input into output — is it numeric? (add, subtract, multiply, divide) Logical? (gate, filter, cull) or Geometric? (extrude, move, split, analysis).
• Double-click on the canvas to open up the search bar. Try searching for possible components with key words that describe your desired operation. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Bring out as many components as you’d like to learn more about them and compare.
• Hover over each input port of the component to read the input description. Connect your inputs and outputs to the operation’s respective input/output ports. Supply more inputs as necessary.

Review Results

• At this point, the operation should either turn grey (it worked), orange (a minor issue has happened), or red (a major error occurred). If the component appears orange or red, a small error message box will appear on the top-right of the component. Click on it to access hints about why the component failed to run.
• Sometimes, even though the operation was successful (turning grey), the outputs may not return the desired result that you’re looking for. Place a panel onto the canvas and connect the output from the output container to read the output data. (you can also hover over the output port for a quick preview) Is this the result that you expected?
• If your output is geometric, you should also see a preview of the geometry in a ghosted red color. Grasshopper outputs are dynamic geometry and not accessible via Rhino since its temporary (that’s why its considered a preview). You can modify preview settings globally by accessing the display settings tool box in the Grasshopper window, or individually by right-clicking on components.
• If you’ve achieved your desired result, then congratulations! You have created a Grasshopper definition that computes a process of the larger concept model!
• At this point, you can choose to experiment by manipulating the input values, or move onto creating other parts of your concept diagram.

This concludes the workshop! Hopefully, you’ve learned about both technical and conceptual aspect of computational design with Grasshopper.

Please note: your assignment does not include a Grasshopper deliverable. Instead, focus on developing a robust & compelling conceptual model diagram. Using this diagram as a blue print, you will continue to build on top of your conceptual model, while gradually translating it into a data model (and eventually a simulation model) as we dive deeper into Grasshopper.

Please return to Tutorial 2 — Grasshopper to complete the tutorial.

Tutorial 2 — Grasshopper Intro