AIANY Tech Committee Talk : Parametric Design Patterns in Project Vasari

When: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM TUESDAY, MARCH 13

Location:
Center for Architecture, Tafel Hall (Lower Level).
536 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY

PLEASE NOTE: Space is limited. Please click HERE to reserve your seat(s).
Admission: FREE; AIA CES Learning Units: 1.5

Speakers:
Matt Jezyk and Zach Kron, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Revit is generally thought of as a documentation tool, a medium for expressing a completed design prior to construction. At its core, however, lies a parametric change engine - a relational database with a 3d user interface. In his book, Elements of Parametric Design, Robert Woodbury explores what it means to design in a medium that is highly iterative. Parametric ‘thinking’ underscores an old methodology of designing, which computers now simply enable and augment. In typical CAD (and BIM) packages, it has become relatively easy to create lots of geometry, but very difficult to iteratively change that geometry. This shifting and changing of data structures - as a response to design intentions and performance requirements - makes for the next generation of great design tools and is the backbone of advanced parametric design.

This presentation will explore methods for creating advanced parametric design relationships that leverage traditional architectural design training with environmental (or ‘performative’) feedback. Geometric relationships are transformed into parametric building ‘representations’ without the need for complex coding or graphical algorithm editors. As an experiment, the speakers have created a new, free, technology preview called Project Vasari that allows for direct access to this parametric core and related modeling tools. In order to assess their new application, they have implemented 14 of the Design Patterns mentioned by Woodbury, all of which can be achieved without any computer programming or scripting skills. Their presentation will look at the results.

Speakers
Matt Jezyk is an Autodesk Senior Product Manager for AEC Conceptual Design Products. He has been in the Architecture and Engineering industry for 16 years and has spent the past 12 years developing Autodesk Revit. As one of the original architects hired by Revit Technology Corporation, Matt helped build what are now called Revit Architecture and Revit Structure. He is experienced in building both parametric and geometric modeling tools on the Revit platform but more recently has focused on emerging markets and technology. His latest development teams have produced new parametric modeling tools directly integrating energy analysis features. One such tool, Project Vasari, is available for preview on the website, Autodesk Labs.

Zach Kron is an architectural designer and a quality assurance analyst for Autodesk. For the last five years, he has worked closely with Autodesk Revit Architecture product designers and developers creating and testing rendering, modeling, and analysis tools. In addition to internal teaching and curriculum development at Autodesk, Zach has helped create and run workshops at MIT and ACADIA, and maintains a personal blog on his work. Before joining Autodesk, he served as a designer in several Boston-area architectural offices, working on projects ranging from furniture to bridges. Zach has more than fifteen years of professional experience in virtual form making and visualization.

For more information on the work of Matt Jezyk and Zach Kron, you may visit:

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/vasari/
http://buildz.blogspot.com/2010/12/parametric-design-patterns.html