One example is Andrew Marsh’s Ecotectsoftware, the industry standard in parametric environmental analysis which is relatively easy to use, inexpensive, and provides rich visual graphics. After collaboration with Bentley, it is now compatible for use with GenerativeComponents. Marsh, an architect and professor, says it shouldn’t be that you stop designing and start analyzing.
Using parametric software and Ecotect, Judit Kimpian at Aedas has returned from Dubai with an enthusiastic client and a more environmentally friendly brief. She showed the client her digital model that can quickly generate options for the environmental and financial impact of different tower heights on a possible development site. She input data, such as the cost of the concrete and steel and the potential impact on the rest of the area including the amount of additional residential car parking and transport infrastructure required as the building gets higher. Kimpian has a flexible, parametric 3D model that can handle complex geometry. She can then adjust the model to the client’s needs and export graphics or 3D print files that illustrate the various options for comparison.
Marsh stresses that it is early studies like this that make all the difference. The easiest savings to the environment happen at early stages, and much of it relies on getting three simple things right: site location, shape, and orientation. In terms of intelligent design he says: “It’s not just low-hanging fruit, it’s on the ground – we just need to forage.”
At the other end of the digital spectrum, Patrick Schumacher, author, lecturer, and partner at Zaha Hadid Architects in London, presented the new, curvy Chanel Mobile Art Container, an example of how new technologies function as both a tool and an aesthetic. A parametric 3D model was used to get the seductive shell shape just right and also to generate the drawings for construction. There was no focus here on performance, environment, or cost. The sleek pavilion, which looks a bit like a flying handbag – recently landed in Hong Kong and fashionistas and archi-tourists are lined up around the block.
In light of all of this, Steele worries about the future of architecture in respect to explorations in architectural form. Parametric design is allowing architecture a chance to catch up to the new advances in technology and communications. But with so many options, is architecture headed towards a crisis of formal exhaustion? Was building simpler in the past, with fewer options? At the Architectural Association, which overthrew a standard curriculum 30 years ago, Steele thinks future architects need to understand generative design principles and master new technologies – it’s not all as simple as perhaps it used to be: “The forces today are not just gravity, but computer systems.”
Terri Petersis a writer and designer based in London. She writes about art and architecture for magazines such as Frame, Azure, Mark, Clear, and The Architect’s Journal.
سلام من اين نرم افزار يه جايي ديدم ،سرچ مي كردم كه با مطالب كامل تري بذارم اينجا برا اطلاع دوستان كه مارال عزيزم قبلا زحمتشو كشيده بود منم يه سري توضيحات اضافه مي ذارم در موردش ...
رو عكسها دقت كنيد تغييرات رو نشون مي دن
اكوتكت نرم افزاری تخصصی برای مهندسان عمران و آرشتیکت جهت طراحی 3 بعدی و آنالیز کردن محاسبات پروژه های ساختمانیه...
ECOTECT
Complete environmental design tool which couples an intuitive 3D modelling interface with extensive solar, thermal, lighting, acoustic and cost analysis functions. ECOTECT is one of the few tools in which performance analysis is simple, accurate and most importantly, visually responsive. ECOTECT is driven by the concept that environmental design principles are most effectively addressed during the conceptual stages of design. The software responds to this by providing essential visual and analytical feedback from even the simplest sketch model, progressively guiding the design process as more detailed information becomes available. The model is completely scalable, handling simple shading models to full-scale cityscapes. Its extensive export facilities also make final design validation much simpler by interfacing with Radiance, EnergyPlus and many other focused analysis tools. Screen Shots
Keywords
environmental design, environmental analysis, conceptual design, validation; solar control, overshadowing, thermal design and analysis, heating and cooling loads, prevailing winds, natural and artificial lighting, life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, scheduling, geometric and statistical acoustic analysis
Validation/Testing
N/A
Expertise Required
CAD and environmental design experience useful but not essential. ECOTECT is good at teaching the novice environmental designer many of the important concepts necessary for efficient building design. Extensive help file and tutorials provided.
Users
Over 2000 individual licenses world wide, taught at approximately 60 universities mainly in Australia, UK and USA.
Audience
Architects, engineers, environmental consultants, building designers, and some owner builders and enthusiasts.
Input
Intuitive 3D CAD interface allows validation of the simplest sketch design to highly complex 3D models. Can also import 3DS and DXF files.
Output
ECOTECT's own analysis functions use a wide range of informative graphing methods which can be saved as Metafiles, Bitmaps or animations. Tables of data can also be easily output. For more specific analysis or validation you can export to; RADIANCE, POV Ray, VRML, AutoCAD DXF, EnergyPlus, AIOLOS, HTB2, CheNATH, ESP-r, ASCII Mod files, and XML.
Computer Platform
Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 & XP (Can also run on Mac OS under Virtual PC)
Programming Language
C++
Strengths
Allows the user to "play" with design ideas at the conceptual stages, providing essential analysis feedback from even the simplest sketch model. ECOTECT progressively guides the user as more detailed design information becomes available. See more ECOTECT features here.
Weaknesses
As the program can perform many different types of analysis, the user needs to be aware of the different modelling and data requirements before diving in and modelling/importing geometry. For example; for thermal analysis, weather data and modelling geometry in an appropriate manner is important; and appropriate/comprehensive material data is required for almost all other types of analysis. The ECOTECT Help File attempts to guide/educate users about this and when/how it is important. Like any analysis program
it's a matter of, "garbage in, garbage out...".