Author: skouril

I approached this privacy screen project with a few key ideas in mind. My first goal was to use Kangaroo to create a swirling, growing effect—as if the screen were forming organically in its space. Additionally, I wanted to experiment with transparency and shape manipulation, allowing the privacy features of the screen to change parametrically. This adaptability would let the screen reveal or conceal more of what lies behind it, depending on its use.

However, combining all these elements into a single model proved too computationally heavy to integrate into ShapeDiver. To address this, I broke the project into separate components. The first phase focused on the growth effect and the initial creation of the screen’s shape. This process is captured in a GIF and the series of 100 photos, showcasing the evolution of the form. The one at the top is my personal favorite but I included a few other variation as I played a with the settings and initial shape that it build from.

To try and get this geometry into ShapeDiver I selected my favorite configuration from the simulation results. This version retains the essence of the dynamic growth while allowing other aspects like transparency and shape to be altered in real time. I had an incredibly hard time getting this geometry into ShapeDiver, I exhausted all options that I could think of, simplifying the model, embedding geometry, reducing the number of sliders… nothing worked. I consistently got an error that there was no geometry to be shown even when imputing a model as simple as what is shown below. So, for now, I have everything shown in rhino but hopefully I can figure out what was wrong with ShapeDiver.

I utilized an attractor point to dynamically adjust the radius of the piping as it weaves through the model. This approach could be particularly useful in a privacy screen, allowing for controlled visibility by modifying the points where one can see through while still maintaining a sense of privacy.

I also aimed to design a form that could transition between open and closed states, transforming from a flat wall into a fully enclosed circular partition.

The movement of this geometry is entirely dependent on a spline curve that runs through the center of the piece. The geometry is generated by dividing the curve into a variable number of segments and extruding normal lines from the curve. As the curve moves so do the regions the lines create. In the first GIF, the spline is divided into 20 points.

This gif shows a version of the same methodology but with 50 subdivisions of the spline curve.

Problems with the mesh geometry prevented me from applying a texture directly in Grasshopper. To work around this, I baked 10 individual frames and assigned a texture to them, achieving a more three-dimensional effect.

Several issues came up when importing the original script into ShapeDiver. I was using a plugin that wasn’t supported, the geometry was too complex and heavy to embed in the script, and the mesh geometry was too distorted for ShapeDiver to display.

I had to create a simplified script using the same logic of dividing the curve to create spaces in between, but this time using NURBS modeling and fewer lines. However, the plugin I used still wasn’t supported by ShapeDiver, so I had to embed a few preset options and create a toggle to switch between them. This approach allowed me to apply materials to the object while offering a limited variety of configurations to toggle through in ShapeDiver

Hi! My name is Skylar, I am in my third and last year of the Masters of Architecture program. I am super excited to model some cool stuff using grasshopper this semester!