Parametric Design

Aant van der Zee

 Rhino + Grasshopper

• Grasshopper ≠ programming
• Grasshopper = visual programming

• Grasshopper = Is about manipulating data and lists

• There is not a single way to the outcome

• Data flows from left to right

• What is done in Grasshopper stays in Grasshopper

unless you bake it into Rhino
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 • Default

• Display/Draw Icons

• Display/Draw Full Names

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 Fancy Wires = on

Input: no;
Output: no

Input: 1 curve;
Output: 1 list of points

Input: 1 list of curves:

Output: multiple lists of
points

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 Fancy Wires = off

Input: no;
Output: no

Input: 1 curve;
Output: 1 list of points

Input: 1 list of curves:

Output: multiple lists of
points

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 Assignment 1

• Construct at least 4 different columns (cylinders)

with Grasshopper each with a different approach and
different script. Explain each of the scripts how it
"works", insert in the report pictures of the
grasshopper scripts. The pictures must be readable.

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 6 basic column types

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 This Week

• Lists \ Data-structure and how to use them

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 Graft & Flatten

Imagine you divide 5 curves into 10 segments each.

And you select the index with index 1. The data
structure will be composed of:
• Default: 5 lists with 10 items (points) each.
• Flatten: a single list containing 50 items.
• Graft: 50 lists of one item each.

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 Data Tree I

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 Data Tree II

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 Data Tree III

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 Data Tree IV

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 • Grasshopper by example

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 • Questions

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 Assignment

• Study the grasshopper programme carefully:

• The ribbon is spiraling one direction, try to find how you can
make the ribbon spiral the other direction;
• Make a new model in which the ribbons spiral both
directions;
• Make a list of all the points where the ribbons cross each
other;
• Make a list of the length of all ribbons;
• Try to make a paper model of the torus (use the information
you gained out of the grasshopper model as there is the
length of the ribbon and the location of the nodes);
• Take photos of each step in the making process;
• Write a small report of the process;
• Upload the grasshopper model and the report.
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 Next course

• Grasshopper by example II

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