After several months of blood, sweat and tears, we are very happy to share with you a free download of our CAD Standards, the Electronic File Naming Convention and the Project Folder Organisation we will be using at HDA, with immediate effect.

We are a hybrid team of architects, designers and engineers. Even though we strongly believe in this interdisciplinary approach, we understand that it presents difficulties in achieving coherence and clarity in our management systems. The files we are sharing today with our readers are the first outcome of a thorough review and coordination process intended to make our different design tools and activities more coherent.

As noted elsewhere on this blog, at HDA we believe in an open culture, that sharing content can be useful, productive and not anti-economic, and therefore offer these free to download in the hope that they may be useful to others.
As noted earlier, HDA is a French company. Therefore the naming of folders, files, CAD layers, etc. were prepared originally in French. The document text however, was prepared in English (due to that being the author’s native language). For these downloads, all document text, file names, folder names, layer names and abbreviations have been put into English.

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Document 1/3 | HDA – CAD Standard
VIEW or DOWNLOAD CAD Standard (741)

Document 2/3 | HDA – Electronic File Naming Convention
VIEW or DOWNLOAD HDA - Electronic File Naming Convention (425)

Document 3/3 | HDA – Project Folder Organisation
VIEW or DOWNLOAD Project Folder Organisation (435)

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It is hoped that soon we will produce a full set of documents in French also. Each document is designed to be printed out A4 portrait, double-sided (duplex).

Here is a text by Phil Barrett, who has been mainly involved in this process and who produced these documents for HDA

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CAD Standard

The management of CAD standards is an area that is commonly neglected as small companies expand and grow.
This is due in part to it being an area of work that is not directly ‘chargeable’ (with companies preferring to concentrate their resources on fee-paying project work), and partly due to its importance and effect on company efficiency not being fully understood by those not directly involved in it.

Like many architectural/engineering/design companies HDA had a basic CAD standard in place at the company’s inception. As the company grew this standard was updated intermittently in line with the progressive releases of existing design software programs (primarily AutoCAD), the introduction of new software (particularly for HDA the introduction of Rhinoceros), and the natural rotation of company personnel.

Just as with the evolution of design as a whole, there arrives a point at which it is no longer viable to further revise and ‘patch up’ an outdated model. The introduction of a new CAD standard can be a disruptive and time-consuming process, but the risk for companies is that the longer they continue with an inefficient system, the more disruptive, time consuming, and ultimately costly it becomes to replace it when they later have more staff and project work attached to it.

With the securing of several new projects, and the consequent arrival of new personnel to HDA, the decision was taken earlier this year to conduct a review of our existing system, and to design from scratch a system to properly suit our current (and expected future) requirements.

It was accepted from the outset that there is no one perfect system that will suit all companies and all projects, and that there is no single, globally accepted standard. HDA is particular too in the sense that it is a French company, with a mixture of French, Italian and British/Irish staff, and working on projects worldwide in French, Italian and English. As part of the research undertaken for the design of our new standard, a variety of existing standards have been consulted, including ISO 13567, BS 1192, AIA, Uniclass and AEC (UK), and whilst we have incorporated ideas into our standard where applicable to aid the compatibility of standards as a whole, trying to fully implement any one of these standards wholesale would be impractical, and largely unworkable. HDA CAD files are worked on by architects, designers, drafters and engineers, and it is accepted that most architects, engineers and designers do not have the same skills as experienced drafters. Therefore our standard has been designed to be as minimal as possible in certain areas, to make it more accessible to less experienced users and to lessen the scope for errors and differences in presentation styles.

As noted earlier, HDA primarily uses AutoCAD and Rhino software at present. Our previous CAD standard was designed exclusively for AutoCAD, therefore when Rhino was introduced there was no particular standard to be adhered to. This resulted in a variety of organizational styles arising, and a lack of uniformity and coherence in our project files. While still focusing primarily on the preparation and presentation of drawings in AutoCAD, much of this standard is designed to be applied to both AutoCAD and Rhino (and possibly other design software programs which may be used), with the aim of increasing compatibility between the two.

Document 1/3 | HDA – CAD Standard
DOWNLOAD CAD Standard (741)
VIEW on SCRIBD

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File Naming Convention and Project Folder Organisation

In addition to a new CAD standard, HDA has also produced two further standards documents.
The design of a file naming convention, and the re-design our existing project folder structure both arose from the questions posed by the design of our new CAD standard. In order to implement an effective CAD standard, it was necessary to have a more logical and effective folder structure in which to put the CAD files, and likewise a systematic and logical file naming convention to enable them to be located and identified.

Document 2/3 | HDA – Electronic File Naming Convention
DOWNLOAD HDA - Electronic File Naming Convention (425)
VIEW on SCRIBD

Document 3/3 | HDA – Project Folder Organisation
DOWNLOAD Project Folder Organisation (435)
VIEW on SCRIBD

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Thanks

Thanks to Craig Miller, Alex Jones and the London CAD team at Heatherwick Studio for their assistance with the issues of compatibility between AutoCAD and Rhino, your input was much appreciated.
Thanks to Ecosistema Urbano for sending us their standard for reference, and to all the people and companies who have published their standards online which have aided us during our research.
Thanks also to the number of online CAD forums that we have searched through for answers (CADTutor.net, CADforum.cz, CADForums.net, themadcadder.blogs.com, 3Dcadforums.com, CADDManager.com, autocadeverything.com).

Comme nous avions déjà annoncé en Mai, et comme il est annoncé sur le site de Rhinoceros,  HDA démarre une nouvelle activité en collaboration avec Rhinoforyou, et organise des formations Grasshopper intégrant un Atelier pratique d’Architecture Parametrique.
Un de ces cours de formation est prévu à Paris du 20 au 22 septembre. Nous souhaitons proposer les 3 formules suivantes en fonction des besoins des stagiaires:

- 3 jours ( Initiation+Atelier ) : du lundi 20 septembre au mercredi 22 septembre
- 2 jours ( Initiation ) : lundi 20 et mardi 21 septembre
- 1 jour ( Atelier ) : mercredi 22 septembre

Les 2 premières journées sont consacrées aux « fondamentaux » de Grasshopper avec en préambule une introduction au design et à l’architecture paramétrique et leurs impacts dans la conception, la création et la construction. La troisième journée sous forme d’atelier est dédiée à l’étude de cas concrets proposés par les stagiaires, qui, quelques jours avant la formation, pourront envoyer leurs projets par mail à info@rhinoforyou.com.

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Pour voir le programme ou pour plus d’information, consulter le PDF ci-dessous où téléchargez Formation Grasshopper Septembre 2010 | HDA + Rhinoforyou (357)

Just a quick post to share the official press-kit of the recently opened Railway footbridge in La Roche-sur-Yon, with some photos by © Christian Richters/VIEW.

Juste un petit post rapide pour partager le dossier de presse officiel de la passerelle de La Roche-sur-Yon recentement inaugurée. Les photos sont de © Christian Richters/VIEW.

You can find the photos below on our FLICKR page, downloadable and in creative commons.

For more info and comments, you can also read the article on Dezeen.

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CREDITS

TEAM: The complexity of the project required the expertise of in international team. Team leaders included Bernard Tschumi and Hugh Dutton, associated architect Veronique Descharrières within BTuA, and Pierluigi Bucci and Pierre Chassagne, engineers at HDA.  Jean-Marie Garnier of the SNCF managed the project for the client and coordinated implementation.

LA ROCHE-SUR-YON FOOTBRIDGE
La Roche-sur-Yon, France

ARCHITECTS:
Bernard Tschumi and Hugh Dutton

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN:
Bernard Tschumi Architects (BTA), joint representative, including general design and preliminary urban studies.

ARCHITECTURAL AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN:
Hugh Dutton Associates (HDA)

BTA DESIGN TEAM:
Schematic Design, Design Development:  Francoise Akinosho, Ben Edelberg, Kim Starr.  Construction Documents / Site Supervision : Véronique Descharrières, Vincent Prunier, Rémy Cointet, Alice Dufourmontelle

HDA DESIGN TEAM:
Pierluigi Bucci, Pierre Chassagne, Francesco Cingolani, Maria Angela Corsi, Pietro Demontis, Gaëtan Kolher, Cathy Shortle, Romain Stieltjes, Carla Zaccheddu

CLIENT:
City of La Roche-sur-Yon

PROJECT TEAM:
SNCF  – Engineering Department, Jean-Marie Garnier

CONTRACTOR:
Renaudat Centre Constructions

PHOTOGRAPHY:
© Christian Richters/VIEW

- press kit here -

As we have already announced in Italian just befor Christmas, our proposal won the “pylons of the future” international competition for italian energy supplier Terna.
Hugh Dutton explains his intent as it follows:

‘Our own design response is based on changing the current ‘industrial soldier’ image of today’s pylons. Primarily by an elegant shape whose form is inspired by nature instead of galvanized trellises. And secondly by what I called “dancing with nature” where the pylons lean and swerve in response to the topography. They find a structural equilibrium by leaning into the curve of the electric cables as they follow the constraints of the landscape.’

Symbolically this represents a very important project for HDA, as it expresses our deep conviction that new technologies, both in the design phase and in the construction phase, represent a powerful tool to optimally individualize architectures. This thereby avoids the banality of modernism standardization, whilst limiting material wastage, in a similar process to nature’s own selectivity and optimization.

In the design phase, parametric processes are used for design calculations and form determination, the simple profile can be easily adapted to the specific constraints it has to respond to. Further, non linear analysis optimizes the calculation method, taking advantage of the elasticity  from prestress forces. In the construction phase, the pylons are fabricated from flat steel plate cut to individual shapes using contemporary numerically controlled tools. Each individual shape is automatically transferred to the cutting tool one by one from a computer. The flat sheet cut-out shapes are assembled together onto simple jigs and welded using automatic continuous welding machines.  Steel is itself a renewable material, that can be melted down and reformed for new uses.

These technologies are the same that HDA have already successfully used for the arch – photos below – of the Turin Olympic Footbridge, realized in 2006. In fact, «Pylons of the future» represents a refinement of the same design and construction process in which HDA profoundly believes, where architecture, technical constraint and technology are integrally combined.

You can find below a video presentation of the selected project, including proposals from Frigerio Design and Giugaro Architettura (respectively 2nd and 3rd price). The video has been kindly provided by Terna.

- please find below our press kit or download it here -

CREDITS

Client: Terna SpA

Design team : HDA – HUGH DUTTON ASSOCIES, GIORGIO ROSENTAL (team leader), GOZZO IMPIANTI, CEGELEC Solutions & Services

HDA design team: Hugh Dutton, Pierluici Bucci, Pierre Chassagne, Francesco Cingolani, Maria Angela Corsi, Gaetan Kolher, Carla Zaccheddu

/ Press Release Downlodable here // Comunicato Stampa in PDF /

Finalmente possiamo dirvelo. La settimana scorsa, il 16 dicembre, ci trovavamo con HDA a Roma, in occasione della cerimonia di premiazione del concorso Terna per l’ideazione di una nuova tipologia di piloni elettrici destinati alla realizzazione sul territorio italiano.
Come annunciato oggi dal quotidiano La Repubblica, il progetto di Hugh Dutton (HDA) ha vinto il primo premio e vorremo condividere con voi il nostro progetto, proposto nell’ambito del raggruppamento GIORGIO ROSENTAL (capogruppo), HDA Hugh Dutton Associés, Gozzo Impianti e CEGELEC Solutions & Services.

La nostra proposta consiste in un pilone in tensegrity che, grazie all’utilizzo delle tecnologie della lamiera saldata e il taglio a controllo numerico, adatta la propria forma e l’inclinazione ai movimenti del terreno e “danza con il paesaggio”. Questa proposizione, applicata a un “oggetto” fin da sempre percepito come appoggiato sul territorio in maniera astratta e insensibile, rappresenta una sfida radicale che coinvolge non solo l’architettura e la sua implicazione ecologica, ma anche altri campi come l’innovazione tecnologica e culturale.

Torneremo a parlare di questi temi in seguito; per il momento, se volete saperne di più potete scaricare il comunicato stampa, dal quale abbiamo estratto alcuni brani del testo di presentazione di Hugh Dutton:

“Voler ideare un pilone elettrico in armonia con la natura potrebbe addirittura sembrare una contraddizione. I piloni tradizionali sono il simbolo stesso dell’intervento insensibile dell’uomo sul paesaggio.
Questi soldati industriali in marcia attraverso il paesaggio, gabbie di tralicci in acciaio galvanizzato, sono strutture certamente ottimizzate ed efficaci ma senza poesia.” [...]

“Concedere l’opportunità di riflettere su un rapporto nuovo di questi piloni con la natura ci appare allora come un segno di apertura e sensibilità.
L’epoca che stiamo vivendo è caratterizzata da interrogazioni profonde sul divenire del nostro pianeta; la questione ecologica è al centro delle preoccupazioni dell’uomo contemporaneo.
Il futuro sarà fortemente condizionato dalla risoluzione di tali quesiti.
In questo senso, la nostra sfida è che i nuovi piloni diventino un elemento integrato nel paesaggio, nonché un simbolo contemporaneo di una relazione con la natura che superi il contrasto per tendere alla simbiosi.” [...]

“La natura, scegliendo le forme delle foglie o delle piante, non è guidata da un’estetica puramente intellettuale. Piuttosto, la forma è la configurazione spaziale che definisce in modo inevitabile il rapporto di ogni oggetto con le forze della natura che lo circondano (vento, luce, temperatura e molte altre). I nuovi piloni si piegano per rispondere meglio alle forze che li sollecitano e, allo stesso modo, la loro sagoma é concepita per rispondere nel modo ottimale alla luce solare che li investe. Essendo la luce ciò che rende percettibili gli oggetti e che ne conferisce la loro qualità visiva, è evidente che questo aspetto sia di primaria importanza. In questo senso, i profili triangolari dei piloni fanno in modo che, da qualsiasi punto di vista, una sola faccia sarà visibile, evitando contrasti ombra/luce e massimizzando la luminosità dell’oggetto architettonico, che apparirà bianco e slanciato.” [...]

“…possono inclinarsi per esprimere le forze variabili che sono loro applicate, come un uomo che si sbilancia contro il vento forte per cercare l’equilibrio. Allo stesso modo, i piloni dialogano con la geografia del terreno e le linee di forza che ne risultano. Piuttosto che dominare il paesaggio come soldati insensibili, esprimono l’idea che la natura è la più forte in questo rapporto.
Abitualmente si considerano i supporti per l’elettricità’ come elementi standardizzati tutti uguali che possono essere installati in qualsiasi luogo indistintamente.
Al contrario un pilone elettrico ha una sua unicità che dipende da molteplici fattori: la posizione che occupa nel paesaggio, i carichi dovuti a condizioni atmosferiche differenti, le inclinazioni e la tipologia dei suoli sempre differenti” [...]

Tutte le immagini e i testi qui sopra sono state realizzate da HDA e usano la licenza Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Concludiamo ricordanco che, in passato, si era già parlato di questo concorso quando Norman Foster aveva vinto con la proposta qui sotto (foto www.terna.it)

/ Press Release Downlodable here // Comunicato Stampa in PDF /

Complexitys blog was conceived amid much brainstorming and deliberation, and with much enthusiasm, but with little idea of exactly which direction it would proceed in. Little more than two months after its birth and we’ve been surprised and encouraged to see the first important result of our devotion to, and investment in, an open online communication of architecture.
As Domenico Di Siena from Ecosistema Urbano Office explained in our “web for architects” training in Paris, “an architecture office’s blog is not a portfolio or a place to talk about themselves, but rather an incredibly powerful tool to create a community around the office’s activities and interests”.
Two months into the project and several blogs worldwide have begun talking about complexitys, so these words are now becoming reality.

We would like to thank these blogs personally, as they encourage us to keep working on ours:

DIGITAG& – Italian-based blog with an international reach, which aims to tag contents about digital architecture.

RHINO OFFICIAL BLOGS (French, English and other languages available) – a special thankyou to McNeel’s staff for their constant support for complex geometry and modeling issues, such as the Unrolling Double Curved Surfaces (and by the way, thanks too to Lowell Walmsley for his DevSrf Rhino Tool support).

RHINO CON Ñ – a Chilian blog which describes us as practicing an #openculture (thanks for that).

ArchDaily – a very important architecture blog talks about our last footbridge in La Roche sur Yon in France.

Furthermore, this blog and our twitter (mainly thanks to #gh3D and #rhinoscript ashtags) have enabled us to come into contact with many people who share our interests, such as Pier Paolo Presta and his blog, Rodrigo and his DesignPlayGrounds and the blog UN DIDI, with the wonderful Massive Unroll tool (which we used to produce the image shown above, available in a free wallpaper format here).

So many thanks to all of those who follow us. We would gladly welcome comments and/or suggestions on how to further develop our blog, and we will continue to give regular updates and continue to evolve.
We will soon be introducing an Engineering category, run mainly by HDA‘s engineers, for those interested in more technical and scientific content relating to architecture and complex geometry.

We are happy to post our first entry of our new DOWNLOADS category.
Like a small but growing number of other architecture offices (such as Ecosistema Urbano and Arquitextonica), we believe that sharing content can be useful, productive and not anti-economic.
In other words, we believe in an Open Culture.

That’s why on this post we want to share with you in a free download format, a rhinoscript code (see video above) that we developed for a skylight design in China, which can help with understanding the concept of double and single curvature geometry.
If you are new to rhinoscript, it may help you to have a look at THEVERYMANY, where you will get a better idea of what can be achieved within this format.

This code was written to achieve a free-form skylight design with a glass roof,  a cable truss and 100 shading blades. The script was necessary due to the time it would have taken in drawing the elements one by one.
If you are architect and used to working with complex geometries and surfaces, you are probably aware of the difficulties and intricacies of double curved surfaces. In many of our projects at HDA we have to deal with these issues on a regular basis.

The basic premise is that you have a free-form surface and it has to be built. A free-form surface (with double curvature) is difficult to build because the surface is not developable; you can’t unfold or unroll it, so you can’t build it from a folded flat panel (i.e. glass or ruled metal panels). In architectural practice it’s always preferable to transform double curved surfaces into single curved or flat surfaces (this last case is especially suitable if you are using glass, which is very expensive to deform).

In the slideshows below you’ll find for your reference two of the project where we had to solve problems related to double curved surfaces.

The first slideshow is the Paris Philarmonic Hall (with Arch. Jean Nouvel) and the second is the Publicis Drugstore, situated on the Champs Elysees in Paris, where all the glass panels are single curved, and therefore give the impression of free-form geometry.

You can download here our free package containing two simplified rhinoscript files, one for generating single curved panels (A) and the other for generating flat panels (B), and a rhino file that can be used as a base to test and play with the script. In the rhino file you’ll find a few base geometries which can then be used as a start point to run the script, and a set of layers that will help you to manage the large quantity of geometry generated by the script.

As shown in the video, the script will ask you to chose a set of lines to use as the base of the geometry (they just have to be mono-oriented as in the image above), the starting height, and (only for script B) the number of flat panels you want (12 by default). There are possibly (probably!) some bugs within the script that I didn’t notice, and admittedly the code is quite poorly annotated, but I hope you will be kind enough to ask us if you have any problems, we’d be happy to help and to develop the tool together with you. We would also appreciate any comments about the idea of publishing things such as this, as we are continually looking to understand the best way to do it in order to build a constructive platform for debate.
The following images show the geometries resulting from running the script in the Rhino file in the downloadable package.
Please also remember that you need Monkey to run rhinoscript files. You can download it for free here.

Download rhinoscript package : http://complexitys.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/HDA_2009-10-14_rhinoscript.rar

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.