NBBJ

Caddisfly Add-on for Grasshopper Main Poster

Ardaena: Network of Professionals

Serving as the centerpiece amenity of Amazon’s new urban campus is a four-story, 65,000-square-foot, glass-enclosed “urban forest,” located on Block 19. Standing variably at 85 to 95 feet tall, the three interconnected domes feature a steel frame with Catalan-inspired geometric patterns, made to resemble sprouting, intertwined vines. The concept for the spheres relies on the well-documented effects of natural light, plant life, movement and visual stimulation on employee productivity, sleep and wellbeing. Data was employed for every step of the Spheres’ design process, from the shapes of the structure, to the delicate combination of natural and indoor lighting, to humidity and temperature controls for people and plant life, to the workplace strategy design. 

The plants in the spheres are unique species from around the world. Many of them require more daylight than is achievable in an all glass building in Seattle, so supplemental lighting was required. The NBBJ team worked with horticultural experts to understand the calculations to determine usable light from the sun and a variety of different fixtures. A custom daylighting tool was created in grasshopper to simplify the lighting calculation to allow the lighting designers to test the impact of adding or removing lights in real time. This enabled our designers to quickly craft a custom solution that provided the right amount of light in each of the planting areas with the least amount of fixtures.

Parametric tools were also created to optimize the Spheres’ structures, which resulted in a highly efficient manufacturing and construction process. The steel fabricator said significant money could be saved if the sweeping free form curved steel could be rationalized into 3 distinct radii. The engineer said that the steel would lose too much strength if the steel curved tighter than an 8' radius. The team used Galapagos in Grasshopper to iteratively divided each curve into three tangent arcs and measured their deviation from the original curves until the optimal division points were located.
A custom Grasshopper tool was also developed to rationalize the glass and steel geometry into to fabricatable pieces. Our subcontractor told us that we could reduce the cost of the glazing system if we standardized the glazing pieces within specific extents. The custom tool dimensioned the glass pieces that would not fit on the standard sheet. It also allowed the designers to push points in 2d while projecting the glass shapes back into the 3d which made the modification process much faster. Creating the tool, and modifying the glazing scheme took only 3 hours.

Amazon in the Regrade, Spheres

Grasshopper is a visual programming language and environment that pairs with Rhino 3D, a software program also developed by Robert McNeel & Associates. Grasshopper allows users to build algorithms by dragging and connecting components on a digital canvas. From parametric modeling and fabrication, lighting performance analysis, to building energy consumption, Grasshopper provides an intuitive way to explore design without requiring programming experience.

Grasshopper

Rhinoceros 3D is a 3D computer graphics and computer-aided design application software developed by the American company Robert McNeel & Associates. Utilizing NURBS mathematical modeling to produce precise representations of free-form, curving surfaces, Rhino is used in industries such as architecture, industrial design, automotive design, product design, and multimedia and graphic design.

Rhino 3D

<p data-start="190" data-end="758">Revit is a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software developed by Autodesk, widely used across architecture, engineering, and construction disciplines. It allows users to design, model, and document buildings and infrastructure in a single, coordinated environment. In Revit, every element in a project is part of an interconnected database. Changes made to one view&mdash;such as a plan, elevation, or section&mdash;are automatically reflected in all other views of the model. This parametric relationship ensures consistency and reduces the risk of errors in documentation.</p>
<h2 data-start="760" data-end="782">Core Capabilities</h2>
<p data-start="784" data-end="1234">Revit supports both 2D drafting and 3D modeling, but its primary strength lies in its data-rich modeling environment. Each object in Revit is not just geometry; it carries information about its physical properties, materials, and relationships to other components. Revit includes tools for architectural design, structural engineering, and MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) systems, enabling multiple disciplines to work within the same model.</p>
<p data-start="1236" data-end="1641">The software also allows for the creation of schedules, material takeoffs, and detailed construction documentation directly from the model. Because Revit stores all information in one file, edits are reflected across all drawings, schedules, and sheets automatically. This feature is particularly valuable for coordinating complex projects where multiple people and teams are contributing to the design.</p>
<h2 data-start="1643" data-end="1674">Collaboration and Workflow</h2>
<p data-start="1676" data-end="2024">Revit is designed to support collaboration in various forms. Worksharing enables multiple team members to work on a single project file simultaneously, with a central model managing updates. For distributed teams, Revit can integrate with cloud-based platforms like Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro, allowing real-time collaboration across locations.</p>
<p data-start="2026" data-end="2471">Revit also facilitates interoperability with other software used in the AEC industry. It supports import and export in multiple formats, including DWG, IFC, and DGN, and can connect with analysis tools for energy performance, structural analysis, and daylight simulations. Its API (Application Programming Interface) allows for customization and automation through tools like Dynamo, enabling advanced workflows and repetitive task automation.</p>
<h2 data-start="2473" data-end="2500">Practical Applications</h2>
<p data-start="2502" data-end="2889">In architecture, Revit is used for conceptual design, detailed design development, and construction documentation. Engineers use Revit for structural analysis and to coordinate MEP systems with architectural and structural elements. Contractors and project managers use Revit models for quantity takeoffs, construction sequencing, and clash detection, ensuring fewer conflicts on site.</p>
<p data-start="2891" data-end="3071">Revit is also applied in facility management, as the detailed model can serve as a digital twin of the completed building, providing valuable data for operations and maintenance.</p>
<h2 data-start="3073" data-end="3085">Summary</h2>
<p data-start="3087" data-end="3554">Revit provides a unified environment where design, documentation, and analysis coexist in one coordinated model. Its parametric nature, data integration, and multi-disciplinary capabilities have made it a standard in the AEC industry. Whether used for designing a single-family home or a large-scale infrastructure project, Revit enables teams to work more precisely, maintain consistency across outputs, and manage complex building information in an organized way.</p>

Revit

Ladybug Tools is a collection of free computer applications that support environmental design and education. Of all the available environmental design software packages, Ladybug Tools is among the most comprehensive, connecting 3D Computer-Aided Design (CAD) interfaces to a host of validated simulation engines.

Ladybug

This project was presented to Ardaena in 2018 by Vikonen Company from Turkey to create an alternative to the process of designing, optimizing and producing manufacturing parts for this project.

Proposal for an alternative design

Caddisfly is a series of tools for Complex Structures and Free Forms Detail Designing. The main idea has been based upon having the process from Conceptual Design, Analyze to Construction on Free Form Structures Automatically by less than 7 clicks. It is being developed by Python and C# both for a better flexibility up and running for different components.

The model and grid and nodes and profiles

Caddisfly: producing Space Structures Nodes & Bars in 3D formatted, for CNC Fabrication.

Caddisfly

Kangaroo can generate structures in static equilibrium in a simple and intuitive way using dynamic relaxation. Once we have this equilibrium structure we can rearrange the force vectors to form such a reciprocal diagram. 

KANGAROO

Karamba3D is a parametric structural engineering tool which provides accurate analysis of spatial trusses, frames and shells.

Ladybug

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Case Studies (2)

Amazon in the Regrade, Spheres

Proposal for an alternative design

Companies / Customers (2)

NBBJ

Ardaena: Network of Professionals

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