Modeling a Helix in Revit

It all starts with a helix…. I find that helixes are the most beautiful of all geometries, and it’s amazing how nature throws them at us time and time again; in the form of our DNA structure, the shape of a galaxy or even in the tendrils of a creeper plant. I absolutely love the unexpected ways one might come across helixes in architecture, from the ramp of the FLW’s Guggenheim, to the threads of a screw! Back in 2003-04, I used the helix in a column for a small residential building: I was fresh out of school, idealistic, and willing to push boundaries; the client was generous and open to exploration; it was a good combination. The resultant was a beautiful, rustic, helical brick column that became the defining point of the building. (as shown in the pic above and below)

Lately, I explored whether Revit could model helixes effectively, and the answer is, it can…but in pieces. What is surprising is that it’s much easier to model a helix in CAD, they even have a command for it! (and they say, BIM is supposed to make our life easier!)
For creating the helix shown, I created a “swept blend” solid in a generic model based family file. I sketched a semicircle as its path, and circles of the same radius as its profiles; the trick is to offset the second profile a certain distance from the path;the distance would depend upon how high/deep you would like to your helix strand to go.(This step is easy when you know how,and annoying and frustrating when you don’t)

Create one helix half at a time, and when both are done, simply copy paste in elevation view.
Voila!You have the helix…enjoy!