Scripts for polygon geometry - FAR and envelope

Parametric Zoning Envelope Columbia GSAPP
Tutorial 1 Polygonal Modeling + Scripting

Topics: FAR, envelope, constraints and variables, scripting polygon geometry

Scripts to load: zone.rb, parametric.rb, shapes.rb

Make a box from the Shapes function under Draw (Draw -> Shapes -> Box) with dimensions

Width 50’ Depth 50’ Height 10’



Now make an identical-looking object as a 4 sided prism (Draw -> Shapes -> Prism) with Radius 35’ and Height 10’

Move the Box so that it is 30 feet or so apart from the Prism (not overlapping)

Copy both twice (Select both objects, hold Control key with the Move tool and hit “x 2” when moving) placing copies about 100 feet from originals



Explode each of the 4 copies AFTER copying






Do NOT explode originals

Manipulate the first pair of copies
- move the top face up and down
- selecting a corner vertex and move it (see image below)
- select a perimeter line along the top face and move it (or try to)
- selecting one side face and moving it




Note how the two objects in your model respond differently to each manipulation

From the next pair of exploded copies (non-distorted copies) select just the top face and copy-move up about 10’ to create 8 more planes (“x 8”)




Now you have two 9-storey “buildings”

With the Rectangle Tool click on the top left and bottom right corners to make a façade plane for each building

Repeat this on an adjacent side

Copy-Move both “buildings” and place the copies about 100 feet to the right of the originals. (Note: Your final screen will look a little different than mine, since I didn’t do this.)




Select a rectangle from the façade. Note that now the faces are divided up between each “floor.”

Based on what you noticed with the initial Box and Prism, how do you think the two “buildings” will respond differently to manipulations of “façade” planes?



Move planes in the façade
What’s the difference in response?
What are the variables and constraints in each “building”?
Describe a situation in which the Box methodology of construction would be more efficient than Prism, and vice versa.


What do you think will happen when you rotate the façade in each “building”? Try it

**** Post your SketchUp file to CourseWorks in SharedFiles *****

Extra credit:

What would be the exact dimension of the 4-sided Prism “Radius” to make it equivalent to the 50 by 50 Box?

Super Extra Credit:

What in the scripting of Prism and Box functions makes the two Shapes respond differently after the group is exploded? How would you script a “Box” Shape (ie with height, width and length) that would act like the 4-sided Prism? i.e. Could this behavior only work for square-faced cuboids?