Welcome to 2018 everyone!

Like most people at the beginning of a new year, you may have a few resolutions up your sleeve. A new year is the perfect time to kick start new habits and learn new things! Starting with this post, I will be using the Spacesmith blog as a platform and, more importantly, a motivation to learn more about technology within the architecture and design industry. In particular, I want to explore the potential uses of the Revit plug-in, Dynamo.

What is dynamo?

Dynamo is an open source visual programming tool for designers that can stand alone or be used as a plugin for other software programs like Revit or Maya. To put it simply, Dynamo allows designers to visually script behavior by inputting information, processing that information through user defined rules and logic to produce an output.

Now full disclosure, I have used visual programming before in school, specifically using the Grasshopper plugin for Rhinoceros. Grasshopper was a very useful tool because it allowed me to rapidly visualize design iterations.

By adding just a few rules and parameters, I was able to create new forms quickly and make the design decision process clearer.

Similar to Grasshopper, Dynamo allows for the freedom to manipulate your project in many ways. Specifically, I want to learn how to utilize Dynamo as a way to streamline tedious processes, visualize my design in new ways, and solve problems using data.

The following are examples of useful applications of Dynamo.