The Eudaimonia Castle - Building in Rhino
Welcome to my first post for CAD and Digital Fabrication!
I've been listening to Cal Newport's book, Deep Work, intermittently for the past few months as I felt it would help me prepare for the increased workload that would hit me in September. It turns out, I started listening to part two at the perfect time. 
Cal begins this section by explaining the Eudaimonia Machine, a theoretical place specifically designed to facilitate a state of maximum human potential. One such place was designed by architecture professor David Dewane and described in the book. So, naturally, I thought I could have some fun with this castle and turn it into the ideal place for working deeply.
I began by researching castles and looking for inspiration while trying to consider the sort of forms I learned how to build in Rhino during class.
I was inspired by the use of a site with cliffs - isolated yet prominent, and the simple, striking geometry of islamic architecture. From here, I began with sketch:
It took a few tries to get the landscape away from being a gentle rolling hill.
With the landscape complete, I jumped in and began building my Eudaimonia Castle. The concept was to use 5 pentagrams as the base, one to represent each area of Dewane's Eudaimonia Machine (The Gallery, The Salon, The Library, The Office, and The Deep Work Chamber), then refine from there. I used layers to keep organized as I find they keep me organized and make for a more efficient workflow.
The tools I relied on most included extrude, gumball, duplicate, boolean difference, and boolean union. I tried to use loft because it was so exciting in class but I was unhappy with how what I produced with that tool as I felt it the pointy forms were not cohesive with my base and design-approach.
A major issue I ran into was alignment. I could not effectively align objects in reference to one another. It would be great to learn how to do that, and even distribute objects evenly. Alignment was the cause of my failure to create a walkway for the lower, inclined 'bridge'. My attempts repeatedly created walkways without any ground. When I realized I could duplicate the upper bridge and tilt it to create the lower walkway, it was too late - I had already united my shapes together. That is a big lesson - wait until the end to unite shapes or keep copies.
The other things I struggled with included assigning objects to layers - there has to be a shortcut for this, and using loft to make shapes that aren't so pointy. When I attempted to scaled create twists with loft, the mis-aligned centres always made the column or resulting shape appear tilted. But, I suppose that is another align issue that would get solved when I learn how to align objects.
Onto my successes! I am happy with the upper walkway/bridge. I've included detail shots below. Getting into the detail really amplifies the work from abstract concept to something more concrete. I think the topography also helped me make something that feels real even though it remains to be refined.
Overall I had fun and I was happy that I found a concept that supported the creation of this castle. I made a place that is detached, inspiring, and layered - a place that is approaching the ideal environment to produce what Cal describes as deep work. It would be interesting to refine this project a bit more, but I think I need to go back to my sketchbook to create a more concrete approach before jumping back in.
This castle will be considered my first iteration of my approach to the Eudaimonia space I seek to create. I'm glad I've started!
- SP
I was inspired by the use of a site with cliffs - isolated yet prominent, and the simple, striking geometry of islamic architecture. From here, I began with sketch:
Next, I decided to begin with building a topography (using this tutorial) to situate my castle. I used the curve tool to create the lines, gumball to move them in the y-direction, and the patch command to create a landscape.
With the landscape complete, I jumped in and began building my Eudaimonia Castle. The concept was to use 5 pentagrams as the base, one to represent each area of Dewane's Eudaimonia Machine (The Gallery, The Salon, The Library, The Office, and The Deep Work Chamber), then refine from there. I used layers to keep organized as I find they keep me organized and make for a more efficient workflow.
The tools I relied on most included extrude, gumball, duplicate, boolean difference, and boolean union. I tried to use loft because it was so exciting in class but I was unhappy with how what I produced with that tool as I felt it the pointy forms were not cohesive with my base and design-approach.
A major issue I ran into was alignment. I could not effectively align objects in reference to one another. It would be great to learn how to do that, and even distribute objects evenly. Alignment was the cause of my failure to create a walkway for the lower, inclined 'bridge'. My attempts repeatedly created walkways without any ground. When I realized I could duplicate the upper bridge and tilt it to create the lower walkway, it was too late - I had already united my shapes together. That is a big lesson - wait until the end to unite shapes or keep copies.
The other things I struggled with included assigning objects to layers - there has to be a shortcut for this, and using loft to make shapes that aren't so pointy. When I attempted to scaled create twists with loft, the mis-aligned centres always made the column or resulting shape appear tilted. But, I suppose that is another align issue that would get solved when I learn how to align objects.
Onto my successes! I am happy with the upper walkway/bridge. I've included detail shots below. Getting into the detail really amplifies the work from abstract concept to something more concrete. I think the topography also helped me make something that feels real even though it remains to be refined.
Overall I had fun and I was happy that I found a concept that supported the creation of this castle. I made a place that is detached, inspiring, and layered - a place that is approaching the ideal environment to produce what Cal describes as deep work. It would be interesting to refine this project a bit more, but I think I need to go back to my sketchbook to create a more concrete approach before jumping back in.
This castle will be considered my first iteration of my approach to the Eudaimonia space I seek to create. I'm glad I've started!
- SP
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