Patrick Janssen
National University of Singapore, Architecure, Faculty Member
- Architecure, Parametric Design, Shape Grammars, Computer Aided Architectural Design, Formal grammars, Generative Architectural Design, and 7 moreGenetic Algorithm in Optimization, Urban Planning, Urban Design, Architecture, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Urban Geography, and Urban Morphologyedit
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新建筑 New Architecture2021216-23Chin
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Jurong Vision 2050: Re-inventing the Industrial City55-62Singapor
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In practice, most planners do not make significant use of planning support systems. Although extensive research has been conducted, the focus tends to be on supporting individual tasks, and the outcomes are often the development of new... more
In practice, most planners do not make significant use of planning support systems. Although extensive research has been conducted, the focus tends to be on supporting individual tasks, and the outcomes are often the development of new stand-alone tools that are difficult to integrate into existing workflows. The knowledge contribution in this article focuses on developing a novel spatial decision support framework focusing on the workflows and tool-chains that span across different teams with varying skill sets and objectives, within an organisation. In the proposed framework, the core decision-making process uses a set of decision parameters that are combined using a weighted decision tree. The framework is evaluated by developing and testing a workflow and GIS tool-chain for a real-world case study of land suitability and mixed-use potentiality analysis.
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This paper focuses on the use of using appropriate parametric modelling approaches for computational design optimization in architecture. In many cases, architects do not apply appropriate parametric modelling approaches to describe their... more
This paper focuses on the use of using appropriate parametric modelling approaches for computational design optimization in architecture. In many cases, architects do not apply appropriate parametric modelling approaches to describe their design concepts, and as a result, the design search space defined by the parametric model can be problematic. This can further make it difficult for the computational optimization process to produce optimized designs. As a result, the design search space needs to be reshaped in order to allow the computational design optimization process to fully exploit the potential of the design concept on improving the design quality. In this paper, we identify two common types of inappropriate modelling approaches. The first one is related to the design search space that lacks proper constraints, and the second is related to the design search space fixed by the conventional design knowledge. Two case studies are presented to exemplify these two types of inappr...
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Flexible information exchange is critical to successful design-analysis integration, but current top-down, standards-based and model-oriented strategies impose restrictions that contradict this flexibility. In this article we present a... more
Flexible information exchange is critical to successful design-analysis integration, but current top-down, standards-based and model-oriented strategies impose restrictions that contradict this flexibility. In this article we present a bottom-up, user-controlled and process-oriented approach to linking design and analysis applications that is more responsive to the varied needs of designers and design teams. Drawing on research into scientific workflows, we present a framework for integration that capitalises on advances in cloud computing to connect discrete tools via flexible and distributed process networks. We then discuss how a shared mapping process that is flexible and user friendly supports non-programmers in creating these custom connections. Adopting a services-oriented system architecture, we propose a web-based platform that enables data, semantics and models to be shared on the fly. We then discuss potential challenges and opportunities for its development as a flexible...
Research Interests: Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Architecture, Numerical Analysis, Integrated Cad/CAE Systems, and 12 moreComputational Mathematics, Simulation, CAD, CAE, Interoperability, Dynamic Systems and Control, Information Technology and System Integration, Design Processes, Optimization Technology, Architectural Computing, System Modeling and Simulation, and Integration Technology of Automation Systems
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This paper describes a comprehensive framework for generative evolutionary design. The key problem that is identified is generating alternative designs that vary in a controlled manner. Within the proposed framework, the design process is... more
This paper describes a comprehensive framework for generative evolutionary design. The key problem that is identified is generating alternative designs that vary in a controlled manner. Within the proposed framework, the design process is split into two phases: in the first phase, the design team develops and encodes the essential and identifiable character of the designs to be generated and evolved; in the second phase, the design team uses an evolutionary system to generate and evolve designs that incorporate this character. This approach allows design variability to be carefully controlled. In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed framework, a generative process capable of generating controlled variability is implemented and demonstrated.
Standard evolutionary algorithms have limited use in practical architectural design tasks. This may be due to the poor search efficiency and the lack of diversity of the result. In order to overcome these weaknesses, this paper proposes a... more
Standard evolutionary algorithms have limited use in practical architectural design tasks. This may be due to the poor search efficiency and the lack of diversity of the result. In order to overcome these weaknesses, this paper proposes a hybrid evolutionary algorithm combining an island model approach (parallel distributed technique) and a steady-state replacement strategy for maintaining a rich design diversity of the result while speeding up the search process. Through a demonstration, it is shown that the hybrid algorithm can effectively improve both design diversity and search efficiency.
Evolutionary developmental design (Evo-Devo-Design) is a design method that combines complex developmental techniques with an evolutionary optimisation techniques. In order to use such methods, the problem specific developmental and... more
Evolutionary developmental design (Evo-Devo-Design) is a design method that combines complex developmental techniques with an evolutionary optimisation techniques. In order to use such methods, the problem specific developmental and evaluation procedures typically need to be define using some kind of textual programming language. This paper reports on an alternative approach, in which designers can use Visual Dataflow Modelling (VDM) instead of textual programming. This research described how Evo-Devo-Design problems can defined using the VDM approach, and how they can subsequently be run using a Distributed Execution Environment (called Dexen) on multiple computers in parallel. A case study is presented, where the Evo-Devo-Design method is used to evolve designs for a house, optimised for daylight, energy consumption, and privacy.
Generative design tools can accelerate the optioneering process by allowing designers to quickly generate large numbers of design variants, thereby enabling a wider and more thorough exploration to be conducted. This paper focuses on... more
Generative design tools can accelerate the optioneering process by allowing designers to quickly generate large numbers of design variants, thereby enabling a wider and more thorough exploration to be conducted. This paper focuses on procedures for generating inner city street networks and city block massing studies for sites within existing urban areas. A novel procedure is proposed that is capable of subdividing complex non-orthogonal sites into similarly sized well-formed plots and subsequently further subdividing these plots into sizes appropriate for selected city block typologies. The application of the procedure is demonstrated on a site in Singapore.
The use of parametric design optimization should not be merely a solution for design challenges, rather, a medium of reflection. The research explores how to conceive feasible design schemas and formulate appropriate parametric models... more
The use of parametric design optimization should not be merely a solution for design challenges, rather, a medium of reflection. The research explores how to conceive feasible design schemas and formulate appropriate parametric models capable of fully exploiting potential performance improvements through an iteratively reflective design synthesis with parametric design optimization. Taking a courtyard design as a case study, the paper describes three alternative parametric models for natural lighting optimization. A comparative analysis of the populations is presented, showing that the alternative parametric modelling approaches have a progressive positive impact on the quality of design performance.
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This paper describes a generative evolutionary design system that aims to fulfil two key requirements: customisability and scalability. Customisability is required in order to allow the design team to incorporate personalised and... more
This paper describes a generative evolutionary design system that aims to fulfil two key requirements: customisability and scalability. Customisability is required in order to allow the design team to incorporate personalised and idiosyncratic rules and representations. Scalability is required in order to allow large complex designs to be generated and evolved without performance being adversely affected. In order to fulfil these requirements, a computational architecture has been developed that differs significantly from existing evolutionary systems. In order to verify the feasibility of the this architecture, the generative process capable of creating three-dimensional building models has been implemented and demonstrated.
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Existing performance-based design exploration methods typically suffer from a lack of real-time feedback and a lack of actionable feedback. This paper proposes a hybrid design exploration method that overcomes these issues by combining... more
Existing performance-based design exploration methods typically suffer from a lack of real-time feedback and a lack of actionable feedback. This paper proposes a hybrid design exploration method that overcomes these issues by combining parametric modelling, surrogate modelling, and evolutionary algorithms. The proposed method is structured as a mixed-initiative approach, in which parametric modelling is the key to creating a synergistic relationship between the architect and the computational system. Surrogate-based techniques will address the issue of real-time feedback, the evolutionary exploration techniques will address the issue of actionable feedback. As a first stage in developing the PEX method, this paper reports on two experiments conducted to identify an appropriate surrogate modelling technique that is efficient and robust.
The optimisation of semi-transparent building integrated photovoltaic facades can be challenging when finding an overall balanced performance between conflicting performance criteria. This paper proposes a design optimisation method that... more
The optimisation of semi-transparent building integrated photovoltaic facades can be challenging when finding an overall balanced performance between conflicting performance criteria. This paper proposes a design optimisation method that maximises overall energy savings generated by these types of facades by simulating the combined impact of electricity generation, cooling load, and daylight autonomy. A proof-of-concept demonstration of the proposed method is presented for a typical office facade.
Evolutionary designis an approach that evolves populations of design variants through the iterative application of a set of computational procedures. For architecture and urban design, the developmental procedure typically needs to be... more
Evolutionary designis an approach that evolves populations of design variants through the iterative application of a set of computational procedures. For architecture and urban design, the developmental procedure typically needs to be capable of generating bounded variability, whereby design variants are both highly variable and highly constrained. This paper proposes a template for creating such developmental procedures. The template uses decision chain encoding techniques in order to generate a sparse skeleton model, and then uses standard parametric modelling techniques in order to generate a detailed form model. A demonstration is presented where the template is used to create a developmental procedure for generating design variants for a large residential project.
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In urban design, researchers have developed techniques to automate both the generation and evaluation of urban street patterns. In most cases, these approaches are investigated in isolation from one another. Recently, a number of... more
In urban design, researchers have developed techniques to automate both the generation and evaluation of urban street patterns. In most cases, these approaches are investigated in isolation from one another. Recently, a number of researchers have attempted to couple these approaches, in order to enable larger numbers of street patterns to be generated and evaluated in an iterative loop. However, to date, the possibility of fully automating the generative-evaluative loop using optimisation algorithms has not been explored. This research proposes an explorative design method in which urban street patterns can be optimised for multiple conflicting performance criteria. The optimisation process uses evolutionary algorithms to evolve populations of design variants by iteratively applying three key procedures: development, evaluation, and feedback. For development, a generative technique is proposed for constructing street patterns. For evaluation, various performance measures are used, i...
The paper presents the Möbius Geospatial Modeller, a web-based visual programming tool developed by the authors for creating interactive 3D geospatial datasets. As an evaluation of the modeller, the results of a five-day workshop are... more
The paper presents the Möbius Geospatial Modeller, a web-based visual programming tool developed by the authors for creating interactive 3D geospatial datasets. As an evaluation of the modeller, the results of a five-day workshop are presented. The paper ends with a discussion, proposing the creation of customised visual programming environments that provide users with the ability to create their own customised high-level domain-specific functions, as opposed to trying to creating hundreds of functions to cater for all possible used case.
Visual programming languages enable users to create computer programs by manipulating graphical elements rather than by entering text. The difference between textual languages and visual languages is that most textual languages use a... more
Visual programming languages enable users to create computer programs by manipulating graphical elements rather than by entering text. The difference between textual languages and visual languages is that most textual languages use a procedural programming model, while most visual languages use a dataflow programming model. When visual programming is applied to design, it results in a new modelling approach that we refer to 'visual dataflow modelling' (VDM). Recently, VDM has becoming increasingly popular within the design community, as it can accelerate the iterative design process, thereby allowing larger numbers of design possibilities to be explored. Furthermore, it is now also becoming an important tool in performance-based design approaches, since it may potentially enable the closing of the loop between design development and design evaluation. A number of CAD systems now provide VDM interfaces, allowing designers to define form generating procedures without having to...
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In order to support exploration in the early stages of the design process, researchers have proposed the use of population-based multi-objective optimisation algorithms. This paper focuses on analysing the resulting population of design... more
In order to support exploration in the early stages of the design process, researchers have proposed the use of population-based multi-objective optimisation algorithms. This paper focuses on analysing the resulting population of design variants in order to gain insights into the relationship between architectural features and design performance. The proposed analysis method uses a combination of k-means clustering and Archetypal Analysis in order to partition the population of design variants into clusters and then to extract exemplars for each cluster. The results of the analysis are then visualised as a set of charts and as design models. A demonstration of the method is presented that explores how self-shading geometry, envelope materials, and window area affect the overall performance of a simplified building type. The demonstration shows that although it is possible to derive general knowledge linking architectural features to design performance, the process is still not strai...
In evolutionary design algorithms, the evolutionary procedures have a major impact on the quality of the genotype-fitness mapping, which in turn impacts the performance of the algorithm. Two key issues affecting the quality of a mapping... more
In evolutionary design algorithms, the evolutionary procedures have a major impact on the quality of the genotype-fitness mapping, which in turn impacts the performance of the algorithm. Two key issues affecting the quality of a mapping are the size of the genotype space and the locality of the mapping. In order to systematically investigate the role that genotype space and locality have on evolutionary performance, a set of experiments are conducted using benchmark test cases consisting of simple LEGO structures. Three different developmental procedures are implemented and tested. The results confirm that locality is critical in achieving good performance and in some cases may have a greater impact than genotype length.
This paper describes a framework for evolutionary design system that attempts to overcome two key limitations with existing systems. First, the proposed system explicitly separates the core evolutionary process from the design specific... more
This paper describes a framework for evolutionary design system that attempts to overcome two key limitations with existing systems. First, the proposed system explicitly separates the core evolutionary process from the design specific rules and data structures. This allows the rules and data structures to be manipulated so as to reflect the idiosyncratic design approach of the design team. The second limitation to be overcome centres on the integration of existing simulation and analysis programs within the proposed system. These programs tend to be computationally very expensive, and may run on different operating systems. The option of creating a monolithic system is therefore not viable; instead a networked approach is taken.
Performance-based design approaches typically use iterative simulation as a way of exploring design variants. For such approaches, the speed of execution of the simulations is critical to enabling a fluid and interactive design process.... more
Performance-based design approaches typically use iterative simulation as a way of exploring design variants. For such approaches, the speed of execution of the simulations is critical to enabling a fluid and interactive design process. This research proposes an iterative simulation design method where simulations are configured to run in two modes: in fast mode, simulations produce less accurate results but due to their speed can be applied successfully within an iterative refinement process; in slow mode, the simulations produce more accurate results that can be used to verify the performance improvements achieved using the iterative refinement process. A case study is presented where the proposed method is used to explore performance improvements related to levels of incident illuminance and incident irradiance on windows.
Evolutionary design is an approach that evolves populations of design variants through the iterative application of a set of computational procedures. This paper proposes a template and set of techniques for creating the development and... more
Evolutionary design is an approach that evolves populations of design variants through the iterative application of a set of computational procedures. This paper proposes a template and set of techniques for creating the development and evaluation procedures. The template defines a clear structure for the procedures, while the techniques provide specific strategies for generating models and handling constraints. A demonstration is presented where the template is used to create development and evaluation procedures for a large complex residential housing project.
Parametric modelling is a term widely used to describe a range of modelling approaches. This paper proposes a taxonomy that distinguishes types of parametric modelling in the way they support iteration. A generalized parametric model is... more
Parametric modelling is a term widely used to describe a range of modelling approaches. This paper proposes a taxonomy that distinguishes types of parametric modelling in the way they support iteration. A generalized parametric model is described and used as an analytical device to investigate how different parametric modelling methods provide for iteration over list structures.
We present a workflow to automatically generate semantic 3D city models from conceptual massing models. In the workflow, the massing design is exported as a Collada file. The auto-conversion method, implemented as a Python library,... more
We present a workflow to automatically generate semantic 3D city models from conceptual massing models. In the workflow, the massing design is exported as a Collada file. The auto-conversion method, implemented as a Python library, identifies city objects by analysing the relationships between the geometries in the Collada file. For example, if the analysis shows that a closed poly surface satisfies certain geometrical relationships, it is automatically converted to a building. The advantage of this workflow is that no extra modelling effort is required, provided the designers are consistent in the geometrical relationships while modelling their massing design. We will demonstrate the feasibility of the workflow using three examples of increasing complexity. With the success of the demonstrations, we envision the utoconversion of massing models into semantic models will facilitate the sharing of city models between domain-specific experts and enhance communications in the urban desi...
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We present an auto-parameterisation tool, implemented in Python, that takes in a semantic model, in CityGML format, and outputs a parametric model. The parametric model is then used for design optimisation of solar availability and urban... more
We present an auto-parameterisation tool, implemented in Python, that takes in a semantic model, in CityGML format, and outputs a parametric model. The parametric model is then used for design optimisation of solar availability and urban ventilation potential. We demonstrate the tool by parameterising a CityGML model regarding building height, orientation and position and then integrate the parametric model into an optimisation process. For example, the tool parameterises the orientation of a design by assigning each building an orientation parameter. The parameter takes in a normalised value from an optimisation algorithm, maps the normalised value to a rotation value and rotates the buildings. The solar and ventilation performances of the rotated design is then evaluated. Based on the evaluation results, the optimisation algorithm then searches through the parameter values to achieve the optimal performances. The demonstrations show that the tool eliminates the need to set up a pa...
This paper focuses on using evolutionary algorithms during conceptual stages of design process for multi-criteria optimisation of building envelopes. An experiment is carried out in optimising a panelled building envelope. The design... more
This paper focuses on using evolutionary algorithms during conceptual stages of design process for multi-criteria optimisation of building envelopes. An experiment is carried out in optimising a panelled building envelope. The design scenario for the experiment is based on the scenario described in shea et al. (2006) for the building envelope of the Media Centre Building in Paris. However, in their research, the optimisation process only allowed panel configuration to be optimised. In this paper, the task is to approach the optimisation of the envelope of the same building, assuming it to be in the early phases of the design process. The space of possible solutions is therefore assumed to be much wider, and as a result both external building form and internal layout of functional activities are allowed to vary. The performance intent of the experiment remains the same as that of shea et al. (2006), which was to maximise daylight and minimise afternoon direct sun hours in the buildin...
Existing urban planning and design systems and workflows do not effectively support a fast iterative design process capable of generating and evaluating large-scale urban models. One of the key issues is the lack of flexibility in... more
Existing urban planning and design systems and workflows do not effectively support a fast iterative design process capable of generating and evaluating large-scale urban models. One of the key issues is the lack of flexibility in workflows to support iterative design generation and performance analyses, and easily integrate into design and planning processes. We present and demonstrate a parametric modelling system, Möbius, that can easily be linked to Geographic Information Systems for creating modular workflows, provides a novel approach for visual programming that integrates associative and imperative programming styles, uses a rich topological data structure that allows custom data attributes to be added to geometric entities at any topological level, and is fully web-based. The demonstration consists of five main stages that alternate between QGIS and Möbius, generating and analysing an urban model reflecting on site conditions and using a library of parametric urban typologie...
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The most apparent relationship between urban space and high density is that once density increases space becomes a precious commodity, highly contested and charged with multi-faceted tensions and negotiations occurring between its diverse... more
The most apparent relationship between urban space and high density is that once density increases space becomes a precious commodity, highly contested and charged with multi-faceted tensions and negotiations occurring between its diverse users and agencies. With the rapid transformations and increased spatial, programmatic and human densification, intensification and hybridization of contemporary urban environments globally, a paradigm of designing more environmentally and socially sustainable environments became an imperative.
This paper describes the process of designing and optimising low exergy architectural design in the tropical climate. The low exergy strategy used includes the separation of sensible and latent cooling and the use of Building Integrated... more
This paper describes the process of designing and optimising low exergy architectural design in the tropical climate. The low exergy strategy used includes the separation of sensible and latent cooling and the use of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) for the generation of electricity. Low exergy emission cooling systems such as radiant cooling panels and decentralised ventilation units are used. The radiant panels are responsible for the sensible heat gain, while the latent heat gain is handled by the decentralised ventilation units. The use of radiant panels has its limitation; if the sensible heat gain exceeds a certain limit the use of radiant panels might not be feasible. Thus, a certain quality of building envelope is required. These constraints amount to an architectural design issue where dependencies and interaction between the envelope design and building systems are considered. The paper proposes an iterative design process that involves the use of parametric modeli...
A design method is proposed that uses evolutionary software in order to evolve alternative design possibilities. This paper describes the overall design procedure specified by the proposed method. This description will focus on one of the... more
A design method is proposed that uses evolutionary software in order to evolve alternative design possibilities. This paper describes the overall design procedure specified by the proposed method. This description will focus on one of the key advantages of this method: the ability to create designs that are well adapted to the environment. Alternative designs are generated and evolved based on the predicted performance of each design. In order to assess this performance, each design is placed within a virtual environment and then its behavior within this environment is analyzed and simulated. Unlike human designers, the evolutionary software can assess the complex and long-term ramifications for large numbers of alternative designs.
This study explores the relationship between density, built form typologies and their respective environmental quality in terms of Sky View Factor (SVF) distribution on both the facade and ground levels by examining representative... more
This study explores the relationship between density, built form typologies and their respective environmental quality in terms of Sky View Factor (SVF) distribution on both the facade and ground levels by examining representative residential precincts and urban street blocks. The findings demonstrate that the performances in terms of facade and ground level SVF distribution vary across cases under study. The differences in the variations of their SVF performances as a result of the increase of density suggest that alternative urban block typologies can be explored, when targeting at higher density development, that provide different spatial configurations and an equally good or better SVF performance than that of some of the existing urban block and precinct typologies.
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Computational embryogenies are a special kind of genotype to phenotype mapping process widely used in explorative evolutionary systems as they provide the mechanism for generating more complex solutions. This paper focuses on how... more
Computational embryogenies are a special kind of genotype to phenotype mapping process widely used in explorative evolutionary systems as they provide the mechanism for generating more complex solutions. This paper focuses on how designers explore embryogenies for specific design scenarios through an adaptive-iterative process. The process is demonstrated for a complex project to generate a prototypical urban farm in Singapore. It is shown that by employing an adaptive-iterative process, the embryogeny can be made progressively more complex and less abstract, thereby allowing the exploration to be guided by the designer.
This paper investigates the state-of-the-art with respect to simulation-based planning support systems in order to draw a set of requirements and best practices for an urban planning and design framework that enables multiple stakeholders... more
This paper investigates the state-of-the-art with respect to simulation-based planning support systems in order to draw a set of requirements and best practices for an urban planning and design framework that enables multiple stakeholders with differing perspectives to systematically explore design options, leveraging the latest analysis and simulation techniques. From these requirements and best practices, the foundations and structure of such an urban planning and design framework are developed. A number of technological and methodological challenges are identified for future investigation.
Daylight potential for interior spaces has been one of the primary concerns of building performance simulation and various performance indicators have been proposed for interior daylighting quality evaluation. However, interior daylight... more
Daylight potential for interior spaces has been one of the primary concerns of building performance simulation and various performance indicators have been proposed for interior daylighting quality evaluation. However, interior daylight simulation on urban scale is time consuming and might be affected by a variety of factors. There is the need for measurement on urban scale that can provide relatively efficient and precise estimation of interior daylight potential. A daylight performance indicator for urban analysis was proposed: facade Vertical Daylight Factor per unit floor area, which is calculated as area- weighted total facade Vertical Daylight Factor divided by total floor area. Numerical simulation was conducted across 20 generic forms and 4 different density scenarios. The results showed a strong and positive correlation between the proposed indicator and the reference indicator of interior daylight potential, i.e. area-weighted average horizontal Daylight Factor at work pla...
This paper describes the use of property graphs for mapping data between AEC software tools, which are not linked by common data formats and/or other interoperability measures. The intention of introducing this in practice, education and... more
This paper describes the use of property graphs for mapping data between AEC software tools, which are not linked by common data formats and/or other interoperability measures. The intention of introducing this in practice, education and research is to facilitate the use of diverse, non-integrated design and analysis applications by a variety of users who need to create customised digital workflows, including those who are not expert programmers. Data model types are examined by way of supporting the choice of directed, attributed, multi-relational graphs for such data transformation tasks. A brief exemplar design scenario is also presented to illustrate the concepts and methods proposed, and conclusions are drawn regarding the feasibility of this approach and directions for further research.
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Form-Based Codes are legal regulations adopted by local government that allow specific urban forms to be achieved. Such codes have a significant impact on the performative potential of the urban environment. This paper explores the... more
Form-Based Codes are legal regulations adopted by local government that allow specific urban forms to be achieved. Such codes have a significant impact on the performative potential of the urban environment. This paper explores the possibility of using a neuroevolution algorithm to elucidate the complex relationship between Form-based Codes and their performative potential. More specifically, Compositional Pattern Producing Networks (CPPN) are used to generate parameter fields, which then drive the generation of varied urban models. For evolving the CPPN networks, a neuroevolution algorithm is used, called Neuroevolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT). In order to test the feasibility of the proposed approach, an abstract experiment is described in which a population of urban models are evolved, optimising a set of performance criteria related to the vista and location of the residential units.
This paper proposes a digitally enhanced type of performance driven design method. In order to demonstrate this method, a design environment is presented that links the SideFx Houdini modelling and animation program to the Radiance and... more
This paper proposes a digitally enhanced type of performance driven design method. In order to demonstrate this method, a design environment is presented that links the SideFx Houdini modelling and animation program to the Radiance and EnergyPlus simulation programs. This environment allows designers to explore large numbers of design variants using a partially automated iterative process of design development, design evaluation, and design feedback.
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Significant research has been undertaken focusing on the application of evolutionary algorithms for design exploration at conceptual design stages. However, standard evolutionary algorithms are typically not well-suited to supporting such... more
Significant research has been undertaken focusing on the application of evolutionary algorithms for design exploration at conceptual design stages. However, standard evolutionary algorithms are typically not well-suited to supporting such optimization-based design exploration due to the lack of design diversity in the optimization result and the poor search efficiency in discovering high-performing design solutions. In order to address the two weaknesses, this paper proposes a hybrid evolutionary algorithm, called steady-stage island evolutionary algorithm (SSIEA). The implementation of SSIEA integrates an island model approach and a steady-state replacement strategy with an evolutionary algorithm. The combination aims to produce optimization results with rich design diversity while achieving significant fitness progress in a reasonable amount of time. Moreover, the use of the island model approach allows for an implicit clustering of the design population during the optimization pr...
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For sustainable building design, performance-based optimization incorporating parametric modelling and evolutionary optimization can allow architects to leverage building massing design to improve energy performance. However, two key... more
For sustainable building design, performance-based optimization incorporating parametric modelling and evolutionary optimization can allow architects to leverage building massing design to improve energy performance. However, two key challenges make such applications of performance-based optimization difficult in practice. First, due to the parametric modelling approaches, the topological variability in the building massing variants is often very limited. This, in turn, limits the scope for the optimization process to discover high-performing solutions. Second, for architects, the process of creating parametric models capable of generating the necessary topological variability is complex and time-consuming, thereby significantly disrupting the design processes. To address these two challenges, this paper presents a parametric massing algorithm based on the subtractive form generation principle. The algorithm can generate diverse building massings with significant topological variabi...