Meta-parametric design

Parametric modelling software often maintains an explicit history of design development in the form of a graph. However, as the graph increases in complexity it quickly becomes inflexible and unsuitable for exploring a wide design space. By contrast, implicit low-level rule systems can offer wide design exploration due to their lack of structure, but often act as black boxes to human observers with only initial conditions and final designs cognisable. In response to these two extremes, the authors propose a new approach called Meta-Parametric Design, combining graph-based parametric modelling with genetic programming. The advantages of this approach are demonstrated using two real case-study projects that widen design exploration whilst maintaining the benefits of a graph representation

The development and application of an optimization tool in industrial design

AbstractDesigners are identified, in industry 4.0, as the professional figures that have to design well performing new object. In order to do this, it is necessary to take into account a series of properties called design objectives. Often the structural problem of new design is underestimated or even not considered. This can be a real problem because this objective is in competitive and in contrast with other design objectives. So, this can bring to substantial change in a design in the final phase and sometimes to the complete change. In this paper is presented an optimization workflow that adopt a Multi Objective Optimization engine so called "Octopus" and Karamba3D, that is a Finite Elements (FE) plug-in, typically used in structural simulations, these extensions run in a software: Grassopper3D, that is a parametric design tool. The workflow allows designers to explore a large range of solutions and at the same time permits to filter and sort the optimized models in order to analyze the tradeoff of the resultant solution space, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In such way designers can obtain easily a lot of information of the generate design and identify potential solution for immediate use or for further optimization. In this paper is analyzed a design problem of an ergonomic chair in order to provide the efficiency of the workflow. The design criteria and the structural problem for this type of design object are identified as the main optimization objectives in order to iteratively improve the design solutions

The Generator 2.0

It has been over 30 years since the original conception of the ‘Generator’ by Cedric Price. A project that in his own words was “little to do with problem solving, rather creating the desirable conditions and opportunities hitherto thought impossible” (Price 1984). The building aimed to develop a dialogue with its users, by acting as a living working prototype continually reconfiguring in a dynamic conversation, in complete contrast to architecture as monument. TheGenerator was to be a truly complex adaptive machine, with local system rules and initial condition established but with no fixed global goals and requirements over time.This paper postulates that the ideas behind the generator as a ‘thinking’ adaptive building are important and worth investigating and progressing. To begin, we introduce the original design and then go on to highlight the conceptual divide between the desired system and its actual real capability. From this study, two particular areas of development for a ‘Generator 2.0’ project are identified: distributed learning and temporal responsiveness

Smart processes for smart buildings : ‘sustainable processes’, ‘recyclable processes’ and ‘building seeds’ in parametric design

The rapid evolution of digital technologies and the resulting emergence of novel design methodologies are coinciding with climate change, population growth and increased pressure on global resources. This concurrence evokes opportunities to harness the new design methods to develop smart design solutions and processes that respond effectively to sustainability requirements. Meanwhile, parametric design is emerging as an ideal design methodology to support sustainably in design, whereby the associative parameters in parametric design systems enable automation and synchronicity in generating design forms and evaluating these forms against their environmental performance. This research explores the multifaceted way in which parametric design supports sustainability, and how this can lead to a more holistic understanding of sustainability by shifting the focus from sustainable buildings to sustainable processes. In addition, the work shows how the reusability of parametric definitions in parametric design applications can enable designers to recycle the design process, where a parametric definition acts as a building seed that can be ’planted’ in different projects to automatically generate different forms. This may enable practitioners from all over the world to collectively develop a ‘seed library’ that has the potential for architects to empower, automate and enhance the environmental values of their processes. To achieve this, the main changes and shifts in computational design are reviewed, together with the impact of parametric design and its related applications on the architectural design process. In addition, a case study is conducted to explore how parametric design can significantly accelerate processes in real practice, and how the overlooked potential of reusing parametric definitions can make distinctive results in real architectural projects. Finally, the efficiency of the seed library is discussed as opposed to the apparent issues such as validity of seeds, motivation for sharing, and copyright