B4: Group B - Dianna Vogel

I am working on a Revit project with Alex Palma and Danielle Beynon. Using Revit we plan to model the architectural, structural, and MEP systems of the Farnsworth House, and have them completely linked to each other. The Farnsworth House is located in Plano, Illinois and is currently owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. [1] It was originally built in 1951 by Mies Van der Rohe for Dr. Edith Farnsworth as a weekend retreat. Mies Van der Rohe strived for integration with nature, seen by the prominence of glass throughout the building (as seen in Figure 1). This structure was chosen by our group because it is the same house we are analyzing in our structural design class. Thus, we have all the structural and architectural documentation necessary to recreate an accurate model. It was chosen for our structural design class due to the beautiful minimalistic design.

Figure 1. Farnsworth House

Creating a model in Revit is, at its core, intelligent building design. Part of Professor Mitchell's definition for an intelligent building is ""Intelligence" requires the use of adaptive computer technology". [2] This leads right into the use of BIM, and more specifically Revit, to model a building. Revit becomes more adaptive each year with new abilities to customize the structure depending on the needs of the company or the specific project. This can be done by creating new families that may directly match what is trying to be created, compared to what Revit already offers. This allows companies to create their 3D model with unique structural, architectural, or interior components. Currently, my group members and I are trying to determine what families would be important to create for the Farnsworth house. One of the key components that Revit does not supply are the brackets that connect from the columns to the panes of glass (as seen in Figure 2). [3] These connections are too crucial to be left out of the model, thus it is beneficial that Revit can be customized to provide what we need.

Figure 2. Column Detail

There will be many challenges to face during our project. A main component is the incorporation of the three types of models (architectural, structural, and MEP) into one functioning system, with no clashes. Personally, I have seen the process done before during my co-op, but was only involved enough to learn how complicated the process can become. Furthermore, no one in our group has a background, or concentration, in MEP. Thus, it will be a very strong learning process to understand all the different components, how they interconnect, and how to model them in Revit. Finally, Professor Mitchell asked in class if we were planning on performing an energy analysis on the Farnsworth house. I have never done this before, so it would be very interesting, but I believe it will only be accomplished if we are successful with implementing the MEP model in a timely manner. I look forward to our project and increasing the depth of my Revit knowledge.

Citations

[1] http://farnsworthhouse.org/

[2] http://ae510ay2013-2.postach.io/post/intelligent-building-professor-mitchells-definition

[3] http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/il0990.sheet.00001a/

Comments
http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/as-i-haveprogressed-through-my.html?showComment=1454177551352#c6505760332188799298

Comment to James,

I really enjoy the outlook you have on your project. It is important to understand the concepts we use every day in our work. I am taking the same approach with my group’s project. I hope to understand the underlying concept behind using Revit to incorporate different types of models into one functioning unit. I look forward to hearing about what you and Bryan learn in your quest into sensors. This is an important concept for many of the environmental reasons you hit on. The pollution in certain areas of the world is getting to the point that sensors will need to become more advanced in order to detect and react the environment around them. The challenges you mentioned do include a lot of new concepts to learn, but they sound very interesting and will be useful down the road.

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b4-group-b-cummings.html

Comment to Bryan,

It is good to see that you and James have a stage process on how you are going to approach your project. It is important to perform a sensitivity analysis on the Matlab model when it is being created. Furthermore, all the uncertain parameters need to be established before the model is created, otherwise it may be unclear what the model is reacting to. The programming for the creation of an accurate model will not be simple and it is going to be very interesting how you tackle this task.