RCB

Case Study

Astana National Library

Original project: BIG architects

Programming Language: Julia
Algorithmic Design Tool: Khepri

Following up on one of the projects previously developed in the Racket programming language, we converted the script to the Julia language in or der to use the Khepri algorithmic design tool. This tool connects to Unity, a game engine with high visual quality and high performance that allowed us to take our previously defined algorithmic render path a step further.

The six films presented above showcase the essential and most fascinating aspects and features of the Astana model. Naturally, since the description of the model is parametric, we also programmed the camera paths with enough flexibility to accompany the buildings possible mutations. Hence, if the building’s parameters are changed, the defined paths will adjust accordingly, and new image sequences can be produced with no further alterations to the program. The image bellow shows three possible outcomes for the buildings shape. Given a camera that runs along the building’s façade, following the Moebius strip’s twisting, the camera’s path automatically changes in accordance with the buildings shape.

Using ARCHICAD’s render engine to produce the film sequences shown above, we could only visualize the render result after these images where produced, which was a long and tiresome process. Unity, on the other hand, computes all rendering detail in real time, which means users can navigate the model with real-time rendered textures, lights, and shadow detail, with no delay whatsoever.

Fianlly, Unity allows us to integrate current state-of-the-art methods of visualization such as Virtual Reality (VR), thus, bringing a new level of interactiveness and immersive experiences to architectural projects. Hence, we could easily couple our workflow with VR technologies, allowing us to wander through the model in a more immersive environment. The image bellow illustrates this integration, which constitutes an advantage towards clients’ satisfaction.

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