Switching from parallel rulers, T-squares, stencils, erasers and other analog drawing implements to CAD reformed architecture. Drawing and managing drawing sets, making corrections, iterations or visualizing different options no longer required the tedious tasks of drawing or re-drawing. Still, CAD was basically a cleaner, neater and normalized ruler and pencil.
As software develops and its streamlined use increases by all construction project stakeholders, the evolution from CAD to BIM is becoming just as, if not more, disruptive as swapping a pencil and eraser for a mouse or tablet. Information technology has become a major tool in all aspects of building from design to construction and even to the operation of buildings. Digital design, visualization and virtual construction are rationalizing communication and management.
Generative design software revolutionizes planning even further, using artificial intelligence informed by variable data sets to outline the functional, physical and performative criteria of buildings or objects. Design solutions based on generative design are tweaked according to ergonomics or any other design benchmark including historical design precedents or other more conventional narratives. The parameters are tuned to “soft spots” which efficiently address a synthetic and wholistic union-set from each variable. Akin to mixing a recipe’s ingredients to find the best arrangement, an infinite number of iterations could be visualized. This continuous iteration would be unfeasible in an analog model, as each model would require important and precise work even to attain one integrated solution.
Also referred to as topology optimization, generative design software references the idea of topological development where properties and parameters are interrelated by moving, changing or stretching geometries to achieve an idealized shape and structure. The Rhino 3d plug-in known as Grasshopper is an example in architectural design. Solidworks, Catia, Autodesk Inventor and others are also integrating these capabilities. The design outcome is derived from mathematical variables which organize the design into instantly varying shapes and compositions. These models can then seamlessly be translated into 3d printed-models whose analog testing and adjustments can then be reintegrated into the design process as parameters for further iterations. Generative design accords design schemes a type of tractability throughout their design and production fine-tuning requirements in real-time.
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| screen shot from Design Explorer software |
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