· L e s l e y · M c C o y · A r c h 6 5 3 · : Lesley McCoy - Arch 653

1. Description

I chose to model the Kolumba Art Museum in Cologne, Germany. This building was renovated recently, Peter Zumthor designed the renovations.

The facade of the Kolumba Art Museum incorporates a pattern of bricks and voids. The pattern appears to be irregular at first look, but after I studied it for awhile, I found a repeated pattern.

Figure 1 shows the overall pattern of bricks and voids for some of the exterior walls of the Kolumba Museum. The semi random pattern of voids allows light to come into the building in interesting ways.

Figure 1

Figure 2 highlights (with a pink box) the 9 pieces that make up the part of the wall that repeats.

Figure 2

Figure 3 shows a close up diagram of the bricks and voids that are repeated.

Figure 3

The following equations represent the sizes of each brick piece and each void piece in the pattern. For this building, t (the height) remains constant. I labeled another variable k, and in the instance of this building, k = t. However, to change the spacing of the bricks and voids, the equations for k could change by a scale factor. I made a parametric family that contained brick 2, brick 3, brick 5, brick 7, and brick 9. Each brick has a height, width, and depth parameter. Voids 4, 6, and 8 were also given parameters between the bricks.

t = 2” k = t

Void 1 Height = t

Void 1 Width = 2k

Brick 2 Height = t

Brick 2 Width = k

Brick 3 Height = t

Brick 3 Width = 6k

Void 4 Height = t

Void 4 Width = 2k

Brick 5 Height = t

Brick 5 Width = 6k

Void 6 Height = t

Void 6 Width = k

Brick 7 Height = t

Brick 7 Width = k

Void 8 Height = t

Void 8 Width = k

Brick 9 Height = t

Brick 9 Width = 6k

I created a divided surface within my mass model in the space where this pattern would be contained. The divided surface was made of horizontal lines spaced 2 inches apart, the height of the bricks. I then denoted with model lines on the first 8 rows where each brick family pattern would start. After reloading the mass model into the project, I loaded the brick family into the project as well and began arraying it across, starting each row in the appropriate spot.

Figure 4 shows the repeated pattern shifted over a different amount on each following row.

Figure 4

Since the pattern repeats vertically every 8 rows, I made 8 rows and then arrayed them down to the bottom of the opening.

Figure 5 shows how the pattern repeats vertically every 8 rows down. The red section is the same as the yellow and blue sections.

Figure 5

I believe this process would have been easier if there were more options within the divide surface tool. When I tried to create a divided surface on the rest of the building to correspond to the bricks on the facade, the tool would not allow me to make horizontal lines spaced at 2 inches apart. The smallest distance between the horizontal lines that it allowed me to create was about 5 inches. To make the appearance that the bricks lined up on the facade between the solid areas of the building and the places with the brick void pattern, I created a texture using an image of the bricks on the building. I scaled the image in Photoshop and then loaded it as a material and applied it to the surface.

2. Rendering 1