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Bidirectional Design

This module focuses on bi-directional properties in design representations. In a bi-directional system, differing representations of the same design can influence one another equally. This might seem trivial but in many modeling environments this simple property does not exist. The problem of linking different representations in this way is both a conceptual and a technical problem. One simple example of a bi-directional model is graphic statics. In graphic statics the design form is linked through geometric constraints to its force polygon. Any change in the design form affects the force distribution and vice-versa. This is an investigation of bi-directional links spanning multiple domains; each of which uses specific representational devices. This model supports an iterative and explorative approach to design through digital representations. It demonstrates the value of bi-directional links and challenges students to analyze dependencies in design relationships.

Design Machines

This module engages the design of "things that design" and explores the relationship between designers (or design mechanisms) and designs. Design is often discussed as a multi-faceted process. As such, design tools have often been developed to address isolated issues in design (e.g. analysis, generation, fabrication, evaluation). All of these systems segment the design process into isolated parts and consign coherent design integration to the intuitive devices of human designers. While this is often desirable, it is also worthwhile to explore completely autonomous design systems which perceive and act independently of human intervention. In this class of systems, the intuitive gaps must be explicitly filled and the integration of related issues must be explicitly resolved. Students will be provoked to remove themselves from direct design and focus on stating direct connections between perception and design outcome. Students will be shown how to develop simple autonomous design machines. These machines will attempt to mimic the behaviors of living creatures which build nests, hives, and mounds in complex physical environments.

Evolutionary Design

Evolutionary design in this context refers to the exploration of design possibilities using the biological metaphors of genotype, phenotype, mutation, and fitness function. This model allows architects to search a large population of design variants (defined using common parameters) through the filter of an explicitly defined fitness function. Evolutionary design addresses the challenge of evaluating designs in an automated fashion and the question of objective measurement. This case study is looking at the idea of evolutionary computation through the paradigm of the genetic algorithms. Genetic Algorithms provide a framework of procedural thinking that is unlike most traditional approaches.

Metric-based Design

The judgment of design as "good" or "bad" is a subjective evaluation. Architectural education offers little in terms of objective metrics for use in the design process. Research in the area of building technology and environmental studies does provide us with limited means of evaluation (not for the quality of designs but for their performance within a context). Design models that incorporate evaluation criteria can aid designers in the decision-making process. A computational approach can balance complex evaluation procedures with an intuitive exploration of design possibilities. This module will explore existing examples of metric-based modeling environments and look for ways to incorporate generative design strategies. (example: students might use design metrics to manage considerations about light and sound in a design project.)

Sketching by Computation

In this module students will be taught to generate design studies through algorithms. Algorithms are treated as an expressive medium. Various programming and scripting languages can be used to implement algorithms for design. These languages allow an unambiguous, sharable representation of design intentions. Algorithmic representations allow for unique collaborative design experiences which take advantage of their modular and parametric structure. Design sketching by computation is also a means of generating and managing the design data necessary to describe complex forms. As such, this processes can be complementary to the use of numerically controlled machines which enable the physical production of intricate, non-repeating forms.

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