DUAL SOURCE MAPPING

 Top corner of sheet two. This is starting to look quite useful. I don’t remember ever going to Hungerford, but definitely worth a visit. They still have a “common” from medieval times.

There were several country estates in 1900, different sizes, some with hunting forests attached. Memories of a very different world. Lord of the manor, farming villages, the railway has arrived like a whirlwind. Change is coming.

Hungerford lies at the junction of the River Kennet and it’s tributary the Dun. Ultimately this water all flows East through Reading then on to the Thames and London. The roads and the railway follow the same route in parallel.

 

 

Due West lies Bath, with Bristol beyond. Branch slightly South and you are heading to Somerset, Devon, Cornwall. I know all this stuff, but it’s been coming to life more vividly as I work on the map in Revit.

It’s taken a lot longer than expected, I mean really a lot, lot longer. That’s OK, just as long as I keep learning along the way. But before too long I must get back to the business of building massing models of typical churches.

 

Extracts from my two main mapping sources for Hungerford. Open Street Map shown above with its 1km grid. I have captured every second grid in my Revit model, so squares of 2km x 2km. The National Library of Scotland map below based on Ordinance Survey maps for 1888-1913 which I am coding as OS 1900.  

I took screenshots from both sources. For the OS 1900 map, you can see the sheet edges where it has been pieced together. Maybe there is a way to switch on a grid that matches the other source, but I didn’t see it.  I tweaked the tint of each jpg with the default Windows image viewer/editor to give alternating squares of pink and green.  Some mistakes along the way, but I was able to line the sheets up fairly well (a lot of them)  Sadly there seems to be a cumulative error when you trace over this compared to the OSM map with its more convincing  and consistent 1km squares

So I have separate views in Revit for these two sources, using OSM as primary and doing some ad hoc adjustments to the pink and green  OS 1900 images as the work proceeds.  Many of the country estates have gone bankrupt by now or handed over to National Trust and shrunk in size perhaps. I’m showing what was there in 1900.  Now this is a labour of love, but it is heavy going so I have to make a judgement in terms of accuracy.  The boundaries of diocese, deanery and benefice are highly abstracted. That was my starting point.

 

 

I am now showing roads and rivers with much more concern for the detailed twists and turns than I ever imagined. (I didn’t really have a plan for showing them at all at first)  I was forced into this as a way to crosscheck the alignment of my two sources on their separate sheets.  The model lines, (roads, rivers, rail) generic model map pins (churches) and the Revit floors / property boundaries (benefices, deaneries etc) are common to all views.  The snapshots of the maps are jpegs and view specific.

So I toggle between the two views, toiling away each day but gaining enormous insights into my chosen place of retirement.  A rectangle from Hungerford to Reading and descending to the South coast. Southampton to Chichester.  There is a pale grey filled region with transparency applied to fade the jpegs down so I can see more clearly. Not a Masking Region because that would also fade the 3d elements, a subtle distinction between those two kinds of region in Revit.

 

GRIDLOCK GROK

 

My boss once told me he’s not a big fan of grids. I get it. Creativity doesn’t come in boxes. But as a Revit user, the sooner you can get a grid going the better. The way Revit introduced 3d grids and levels 25 years ago... it was just so cool.

And yet, the Hampshire Churches map I’ve been working on for two years didn’t have a grid until last week. To be fair, it’s a map. Essentially 2d. Grids are at their most useful for multi-storey projects.

 

It happened by accident. I was playing with Grok (as you do) and it sent me to Open Street Map. Google Maps has been great for pointing me to photos of the individual churches. But OSM has better maps, and they have grids.

So I’m using OSM for today and a Scottish Libraries website for 1900. Alignment is tricky because the 1900 maps don’t have the grid. But I’m getting there.

MAP PINS & MORE

 

It's well known that BIM workflows require more effort "up front" with a significant payback later on one once you have enough geometry and data in the model to support the improved analysis and collaboration potential. (compared to say 2D CAD)  My work on Hampshire Churches, while quite different from most commercial BIM use cases, still conforms to this expectation.

I think we are getting into the payback zone now.

This is a slightly technical post. Apologies to my non-Revit friends, but maybe you will catch the drift.  The churches in my model are represented by "map pins". These are rather flat because it's a big study area and most of the views are 2d plans. I have three concentric circles, each visible at one scale only (coarse, medium & fine) This is just to keep the size of the dots appropriate to the study view as we zoom in to smaller areas.

Now Revit only has those three levels by default, which can be set for each view. To get even smaller circles (now looking more like a map pin because the diameter is reducing and the height increasing) I make use of subcategories. So the three big circles are in one subcategory (LOD coarse to fine) and the smaller cylinder is in another (LOD superfine) I'm adding the superfine capability today in anticipation of more close-up plans of towns (for example)

 

This is another feature of BIM.  The model and the strategy evolve together as you figure things out. Pretty much like architectural design really.

The other thing that I've been doing recently is to zoom in on Google maps and find bus stops. You can select these and get data on the routes. Snapshots saved to the relevant church folder will help me to quickly plan a day of exploring whenever I am in UK.  Not all churches are reachable by bus of course, even by train + bus, but I'm not going to reach all 400+ churches anyway. Maybe if I live into my 90s ... And I can lean on friends and relatives from time and time to drive to the more remote but interesting ones.

The map of Silchester is there because I'm considering make families to represent larger features like this. Historic town centres for example. This one is Roman, but medieval and even Victorian layouts could be useful for some towns. Stay tuned.

 

More of a personal post this time. I'm at American Hospital Dubai for my monthly oncology appointment. Just the bone strengthening injection and blood test this time around.

There computer systems have been struggling to recover from a cyber attack for about a month now. Hats off to the staff for continuing to deliver excellent service under very difficult circumstances. The main hospital is quite close to the where the GAJ offices were 21 years ago when I first came here from Zimbabwe. Such a pleasant environment with palm trees, water features and shady courtyards.

I stopped of at the Plaza Cafe franchise inside the hospital for mushroom bruschetta and a latte. Would never have thought I would be doing that in those early years. Firstly, at 53 years old I had never been treated inside a hospital. Secondly, as an economic refugee from Zimbabwe I was watching every Dirham of spending. Everything went towards a university education for my children.

 

 

But now I am winding down and preparing to retire in UK. Learning how best to manage my health issues. Should have looked after my body more carefully, but I think I'm on a good path now. Touch wood.

Still emptying my bookshelves with a view to eventually selling my Dubai flat. So many things still to do but just taking one step at a time and trying to "enjoy the moment" as far as possible.

 

 

 

SOUTHAMPTON SLUGS

 I've been quiet since I got back from UK. A combination of factors. Disrupted sleep patterns, some routine medical stuff, and I'm kind of bogged down on the Hampshire Churches project.

Well not exactly bogged down, but definitely facing a long hard slog. It's easy enough to collect 20% of the data and set up sheets that look quite impressive. Collecting the rest, chasing down errors and conflicts, then tidying everything up... That takes much more time and the effect on the sheets seems minimal compared to the extra effort.

So I've just been putting in a few hours each day, as energy permits, thinking about a post from time to time, but in the end deciding to just buckle down to the routine effort. Gathering data on 400+ churches, a few at a time. Gradually filling out the map and the schedules.

Am I past half way? I certainly hope so because the mapping stage is just the beginning. I need to select at least 10% of the data set and do some modeling. Did I bite off too much? I don't think so. At least I have no regrets. This is a terrific way to learn.

 

 

Southampton. I can't remember whether I ever visited as a child. Looking forward to two or three day-trips down there by train and bus probably. Explore a few churches, get a feel for the place. That will be over the next year or so, hopefully.

I have two main sheets to define my area of study. For the most part there is space to tag the "pin" that marks the position of each church along with an image. But in a dense urban area like Southampton the churches are too close together, so I'm setting up third sheet for these.

The map begins as a highly abstracted set of shapes, a bit like the underground map for London. As the work proceeds I am adding more detail wherever it seems important to give context to the church locations. Step by step. Learning as I go. History and geography. Fascinating stories.  Sharing this work with a small audience keeps me motivated, provides essential feedback and opens up the possibility of others building on my efforts in the future.

 

 

These pics are from before I went to UK. Exercises in curtain-paneling-by-pattern that I upgraded and uploaded to ACC. I called this “the slug” and it was inspired by Zach Kron. If you divide a torus with rectangular panels, each ring around the donut contains identical components. You can then slice that torus in a way that makes it look more “nurbsy” than it really is. There will be a bunch of on-offs at the cuts of course but still a substantial amount of repetition, giving a nod towards affordability.

 

Of course I then went ahead and introduced pyramids of different heights, once again reducing the repetition factor. I was exploring Revit schedule to Excel workflows in those days to automate the randomizing. You can control it so there are only 3 or 4 different heights. Anyway, that was a brief interlude in my overall history and I haven’t done this kind of thing for a long time. I’m sure the younger guys are using a completely different approach to achieve these whacky concepts now.

 

My hope is that by packaging up 15 years of blog explorations into the cloud, Daniel and perhaps a few other close friends, can help me to pass this work on to future generations. I know that a few students have been inspired by my blog over the years, so it would be nice to keep that going. Not necessarily the most amazing work Revit/BIM work out there, but I think I have followed an unusual path. What did Frank say?

"I did it my way."

 

 

 

 

BONDING FOR HEALTH

 This is a section of brickwork from the village of Buckler's Hard. Soft red bricks laid in Flemish Bond result in a very warm and attractive wall surface.

As a former bricklayer (of sorts) my eye immediately scans a wall like this looking for anomalies. It's pretty much a subconscious process by now, with conscious reflection on whatever I find.

 

 

The blue cross marks a typical example. The bond has been lost resulting in a space too big for a header where the two bricklayers working from either end meet up. You could remove part of that course and redo it with slightly larger joints, but the solution used here is to substitute small three-quarter bricks for the expected header.

You could see this as a mistake or you could embrace it as part of the informal "hand-made" look of a rustic cottage. Take your pick. 🤔

 

Two brick pier in English Bond, that classic of strength and stability. It just happens to have a quiet beauty also in the rhythm of headers and queen closers alternating wlth the simplicity of two stretchers. And it's actually the same course rotated by 90 degrees every time.

Add to this the gorgeous curves of a well proportioned stone capping. There's just a hint of the baroque about this one, to my eye at least. And how about the gate? Cast finials, forged scrolls, nice and chunky.

I'm sure there is modern work that matches this in its blend of form, function and materials: but remember this is just a run-of-the-mill Board School in a back street of what was then a small market town. Judge an architectural style by it's humblest examples.

The many flavours of classicism score quite highly by that measure. That's my view.

 

 

Second session with my Slovenian physiotherapist today, training my sense of balance. It also involves strengthening my legs and core. Everything is connected right? Never really a single issue or cause with a silver bullet solution.

I have been aware of balance issues for two or three years now, especially since I started on the hormone therapy. Maybe it's one of the side effects of ultra-low testosterone. But if it sends the cancer to sleep that's OK with me.

Hopefully this is the last of the therapies I need to learn to keep my issues in check moving into retirement (fascitis, lower back pain, balance) Maybe not, but it's a good start. The Arabic coffee and dates are complimentary, served up by a guy in local dress at the entrance to outpatients.

The brown paper bag has two healthy salads from the coffee shop. Just another visit to American Hospital Dubai, my home from home.