Because the Bird’s Nest utilizes Armatures in structural system that appears random, I knew the combination of several techniques would be necessary to recreate the aesthetic.  My strategy was to first develop a parametric mass family, then to strand the armature along the UV points of my conceptual mass.

Referencing the conceptual mass tutorial given in the assignment brief on the Beijing Olympic Stadium, I began to build a parametric conceptual mass.  To do so I used a solid oval-cylinder and subtracted two voids.  I used the oval on the model space’s origin as a constant to link all other parameters.  Other parameters may be 2/3 in comparison or a controlled distance away.  I found using an oval to be advantageous over a circle as the driving geometry because it gave me more (two total) control points.

To produce the strands, I took note of a YouTube tutorial covering, the Parametric Helix by adaptive components.  To adapt this process to my project, I began by converted my conceptual mass’ surface to UV points.  To which I adjusted the number of nodes to a desired ration (2:20) and left only the nodes visible.  I then opened a new generic adaptive family file to create the strands themselves.  I wanted strong directionality and ease of modeling so I created a three point spline as my base geometry.  Next I made the points adaptive, and added a large rectangular section to the curve to sweep.  This completed my strand component.

Loading this strand into my mass file and stringing it along the UV points I derived earlier allowed me to begin stranding my “bird’s nest.”  When I achieved a level of density in my model began to give the desired affect, I moved forward the project level.  With my mass and façade in the Project file I was ready to begin modeling the interior field and stands, as well as the surrounding site.  These final steps were given less emphasis and were complete in a relatively strait forward manor.