The Logic of View Analysis in Grasshopper

Hudson Yards as an Example

Known as the most expensive real-estate development in US history, Hudson Yards has become one of the must-go destinations since its opening to the public in 2019. It is estimated that Hudson Yards contains approximately 125,000 people daily in this 28-acre neighborhood, half of which is public open space.

The Turn on the Highline before the Vessel Appeared (the cylindrical object behind in this image)

The vessel appeared behind the modern-style buildings at the end of my first trip to the Highline as something unknown but incredible. The first word that hit my mind was “Luxury.” It would be a luxurious experience to live in a condo with a view of the Vessel through its fall-to-ground windows.

A pic from inside 20 Hudson Yards

My research site is basically the L-shaped open space outside the buildings. I deconstructed my objects into panels: first the site, then the buildings around with the panels and analysis points. These points are assumed both observation spots and target-view spots. All visualization below is selected from Grasshopper’s random picks, which best illustrate the model.

The logic of view analysis is to draw lines between observation spots and the targets(a line between 2 spots, basically) and then make the program judge whether any obstructions cut the lines.

Solid blue means better visibility of the spots in the site, while transparent pink implies the opposite.

Each spot is labeled by how many rays they emit can hit the target before being hit by the obstruction(buildings). The same thing was done both to the buildings and the site. The colors can help with site design in defining visual focuses.

Have the Site Colored Based on ‘Views Counts’ from Buildings

A not-new conclusion from the visualization: the spots with the best views(the red panels in the image above) are usually traffic intersections. Designers can think dialectically about how to deal with the contradiction between traffic and entertainment.

Data Sources

To construct the Twin City model, I acquired .osm data from OpenStreetMap and MapPLUTO from NYC Planning’s Open Data portal.

• MapPLUTO — Shoreline Clipped (FGDB). NYC Department of City Planning. Last updated on Sep 31, 2021. https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/data-maps/open-data/dwn-pluto-mappluto.page
• OSM file around Hudson Yards. OpenStreetMap. Acquired on Feb 26, 2022. https://www.openstreetmap.org/

File Link

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rspem2hMDpmZdCgmZbMwj-mRPAJb1LHh?usp=sharing