Shanghai Tower Script

When writing the script for the Shanghai Tower, we need to take into account the variety of variables that makeup the parametric inputs for the model.  Firstly, there is the radius of the base circle.  This serves as the base for the tower and the base size that the tower layers are scaled from and is inputted into the script as a number slider.  The next variable we need is the overall height of the tower.  This controls the maximum height of the layers created by the script and like the base of the tower, this variable is a number slider. Third is the number of layers in the tower.  This variable determines how the height of the tower will be divided and just like the first two, is a slider.  Lastly, the layers are scaled off of the base number to create an even sloping towards the top of the tower and because the variables are linked, the tower will always remain proportional to itself.

The outer skin is created with a different set of variables than the core of the tower is.  The skin begins with a curve input from Rhino that defines the profile of the tower.  This variable is different from all the others in the script because it is not directly created within grasshopper.  This curve is then scaled and moved to the top of the tower using the previous variables.  Finally the last variable is the rotation factor for the smaller top curve.  This variable controls the twist in the tower after the two curves are lofted.

This group of variables and their interconnectivity is what allows grasshopper to be such a useful and powerful tool for creating multiple iterations for design.