"By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired."
-Franz Kafka
"The building is covered with a large dome, a form common to all civilizations. This one is made of a web of different patterns interlaced into a translucent ceiling which lets a diffuse, magical light come through in the best tradition of great Arabian architecture."
Then the purpose of the dome is then to first let in diffused light which follows Arabian architecture. In order to achieve this, Jean Nouvel created layers of fractal ceiling with the same geometry (except in different scales) and overlaid them to create interesting patterns opening up small spaces through which diffused light can enter.
In this exercise, I attempted to recreate these patterns efficiently through Rhino and Grasshopper.
Process:
The process of creating the dome started from a line. The line is divided into 10 segments, which are turned into Springs. Kagaroo Physics Engine is then applied to the lines. The result is a catenary curve which would be used to create the dome shape. The urinary force applied in the Z axis can be adjusted to control the steepness of the dome.
Three catenary curves can be then lofted to create the dome shape. This is the most basic shape of the dome, without the perforations or geometries.
The lofted surface is then divided into multiple faces to which the geometry would be attached to. It should be noted that the number of divisions in the U and V direction should be the same in order to make a bi-symmetric dome. This number also controls the number of geometries that would be attached to the dome.
I created a two-dimensional shape in AutoCAD and extruded in Rhino. The three-dimensional geometry is then defined into its boundaries in order for it to be morphed onto the dome.
Once the dome and the geometry is prepared, the geometry is then morphed on to the surface.
Since the final shape I'm aiming for is a circular dome, the edges need to be trimmed. This is done by creating a cylinder with a diameter equal to the width and the length of the dome. This cylinder is then subtracted from the dome.
The result. It should be noted that this dome has 20x20 geometries attached to it.
Going back to step 3, the U&V count on the divide battery can be adjusted to recreate the dome with varying density. I created 10x10, 15x15, and 20x20 surfaces, to which the geometry was attached onto, then trimmed.
The resulting domes were overlaid, then individually rotated to create the final dome.
The next step is to create the trusses that support the dome structure. There are several ways of doing this. I decided to experiment with fractal patterns using the Radial Grid battery. This battery allows one to make intricate patterns by laying out a simple geometry repeatedly in a radial pattern. (Similar to Polar Array command in AutoCAD)
The geometry is simply extruded to give volume.
Next, the geometry is trimmed using Solid Difference to give it the shape of the dome.
The result is a group of surfaces in a fractal pattern.
Once all the components are baked, overlay them to complete the dome. In above rendering I cut away some of the layers to reveal the different layers. Simply rotating certain layers also result in various patterns of different complexity. Curvature Analysis:
