OpenStreetMap for Rhino

Using rhino.python, a script has been written, that imports a static map from OpenStreetMap as background bitmap to Rhino, based on an address and zoom level entered by the user. In a first step, the geographical location of the address is identified using the Nominatim API. The location coordinates are used as input parameter for the MapOf service. Finally, the map image obtained from the web service is placed as background bitmap, in the right scale according to the zoom level.


Additionally, an appropriate EarthAnchorPoint is set based on the geographical location and scale. This allows for the export of geometry in relation to the imported static map to Google Earth using the KML format. The units of the Rhino file are automatically changed to meters, in order to obtain the right scale of the map.


Download the script here.

Computation for Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism

An upcoming symposium at ETH, Zurich: "The aim of this first symposium on computation for sustainable architecture and urbanism is to discuss information-based approaches that augment design processes and descisions towards sustainable buildings and cities." (SUAT)

Attila Csörgő

Last weekend, I saw the great exhibition "Archimedean Point" by the Hungarian artist Attila Csörgö in the Kunsthalle Hamburg: "Csörgõ’s work explores the margin between art and science. The artist conducts thorough experiments with precise machines of his own design and optical apparatuses that reinforce his likewise epistemological and playful, humorous approach. His interests lie in optical illusions, metamorphoses of space into surface as well as hypnotic plays of light that touch upon mechanical movements and other inventions, where he combines imagination and a curiosity for various physical and mathematical phenomena." For a describtion of the work by the artist himself, view the interview (Part 1 and Part 2).


Dodecaherdon=Icosaherdon (1999) is a kinetic construction, based on geometric correspondances between platonic solids. The dodecaherdon is transformed into the icosaherdon and reverse.




Möbius Space (2006-2010) an endless panorama photograph on a möbius strip, taken by a special camera.


Spherical Vortex (1999) is the path of a flashlight bulb made by connecting three seperate whirling movements of different velocity.

RhinoVAULT - Shell Design for Rhino

RhinoVAULT is a plug-in for Rhino, being developed at the BLOCK Research Group by Matthias Rippmann, myself and Philippe Block, that allows for the intuitive design of compression-only shapes, offering a maximum control of the geometry. This software is written particularly for shaping unreinforced masonry vaults, but can also be used for designing efficient freeform shells. Based on the Thrust Network Approach (TNA), which uses a force network as discretization of the shape, it is possible to internally redistribute forces within the network using force diagrams.




A first application of the tool is a prototype of a freeform Catalan thin-tile vault erected at the ETH Campus, Zurich, Switzerland. It was planned and build by Lara Davis, and designed by Matthias Rippmann.

Pictures (c) by BLOCK Research Group

Möbius Loop-Pasta

Thanks to Steve Kass, Möbius strips are not only feeding the mind. (via Nerdcore)

Lecture at ESA

Philipp Eversmann and Paul Ehret kindly invited me to give a lecture at the Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture, Paris, on April 30, as part of the seminar In Silico Design. Recent research from the BLOCK Research Group and the Chair of Structural Design, both ETH Zurich, will be presented.

"What do you want, brick?"

To express is to drive.

And when you want to give something presence,

you have to consult nature.

And there is where Design comes in.

And if you think of Brick, for instance,

and you say to Brick,

"What do you want Brick?"

And Brick says to you

"I like an Arch."

And if you say to Brick

"Look, arches are expensive,

and I can use a concrete lentil over you.

What do you think of that?"

"Brick?"

Brick says:

"... I like an Arch"

Louis Kahn

from John Lobell: Between Silence and Light, p. 59.