Autodesk 256B1-05A761-1301 - AutoCAD Revit Structure Suite 2010, User Manual, Page: 632 / 1638

■ Abstractly represent phases of a project.
■ Study zoning compliance, both visually and numerically, by relating a proposed building mass to the zoning envelope
and floor area ratio.
■ Assemble various complex masses from a library of predefined mass families.
■ Generate floors, roofs, curtain systems, and walls from mass instances with control over element category, type, and
parameter values. Fully control regeneration of these elements when the mass changes.
Related topic
■ Conceptual Design Environment on page 527
Massing Studies Terminology
Description Term
The process of visualizing, studying, and resolving building forms using mass instances. Massing
A family of shapes, belonging to the mass category. An in-place mass is saved with the project;
it is not a separate file. Mass Family
An instance of a loaded mass family or an in-place mass. Mass Instance or Mass
A type of family editor that creates conceptual designs using in-place and loadable family
mass elements. See
Conceptual Design Environment on page 527.
Conceptual Design Environ-
ment
The overall form of each mass family or in-place mass. Mass Form
A study of one or more building forms made from one or more mass instances. Massing Study
A surface on a mass instance that can be used to create a building element, such as a wall
or roof. Mass Face
A horizontal slice through a mass at a defined level. Mass floors provide geometric information
about the dimensions of the mass above the slice, up to the next slice or the top of the mass. Mass Floor
Walls, roofs, floors, and curtain systems that can be created from mass faces. Building Elements
A legally defined volume within which a building must be contained. Zoning envelopes can
be modeled as a mass. Zoning Envelope
Massing Studies and Building Maker
Building Maker is a set of tools that draws a closer association between massing studies and building elements.
It takes any overall building form described conceptually and maps it to real-world building elements (such
as roofs, curtain walls, floors, and walls). Building Maker allows for a cumulative understanding of the
relationship between expressive and built form as the design develops.
You can use Building Maker tools to create building elements from masses. See Creating Building Elements
from Mass Instances on page 615.
590 | Chapter 12 Massing Studies