Computational Design | Online Workshop | English | Europe-Mideast-Africa
Description:
The workshop will explore Interactivity in Genetic Algorithms as an exploratory and an optimisation process and apply the developed method to design high-rise morphologies in a selected urban context.
Genetic algorithms are based on simulated biological evolution as a problem-solving machine. They are well known for solving multi-objective optimisation problems. Additionally, they have also been adopted by other creative domains such as art, music, fashion, industrial design and architecture. They are of particular interest to architects as they operate on producing population of design solutions, rather than just a single design. They offer variational solutions related to the formulation of the design problem by each designer. As architectural design is inherently multi-objective that involves negotiation of number of often conflicting quantitative and qualitative objectives, architect’s intervention in the evolutionary loop became essential to guide such complexity beyond the mere optimisation and towards incorporating the designer’s subjective judgement.
On the technical level, the workshop will introduce participants to the working principles of engaging with GAs to solve multi-objective optimisation problems first, then moving into a more advanced level of interacting with the algorithm to guide the evolution based on participant's intuition or preference. The learned design process will be applied in the generation of multi-story morphologies on a selected site. Participants will learn how to formulate the design problem as input data to the algorithm, and how to interact with the algorithm to guide the generation and selection process. The outcome of the design exercise will incorporate quantitative performance-based objectives, along with qualitative intuitive ones. The proposed process is an attempt to create a dialogue between human intuition and the genetic algorithms that may enable a varied and richer space of viable design solutions.
Key Words:
Genetic Algorithms,Evolutionary Algorithms,human-Algorithm Interaction,Optimisation
Required Skills:
Rhino / Grasshopper-Medium level
Required Software:
Rhino / Grasshopper- Plug ins will be advised later
Required Hardware:
PC with Windows System OR Mac with a Bootcamp
Maximum number of participating students:
18
Genetic algorithms are based on simulated biological evolution as a problem-solving machine. They are well known for solving multi-objective optimisation problems. Additionally, they have also been adopted by other creative domains such as art, music, fashion, industrial design and architecture. They are of particular interest to architects as they operate on producing population of design solutions, rather than just a single design. They offer variational solutions related to the formulation of the design problem by each designer. As architectural design is inherently multi-objective that involves negotiation of number of often conflicting quantitative and qualitative objectives, architect’s intervention in the evolutionary loop became essential to guide such complexity beyond the mere optimisation and towards incorporating the designer’s subjective judgement.
On the technical level, the workshop will introduce participants to the working principles of engaging with GAs to solve multi-objective optimisation problems first, then moving into a more advanced level of interacting with the algorithm to guide the evolution based on participant's intuition or preference. The learned design process will be applied in the generation of multi-story morphologies on a selected site. Participants will learn how to formulate the design problem as input data to the algorithm, and how to interact with the algorithm to guide the generation and selection process. The outcome of the design exercise will incorporate quantitative performance-based objectives, along with qualitative intuitive ones. The proposed process is an attempt to create a dialogue between human intuition and the genetic algorithms that may enable a varied and richer space of viable design solutions.
Schedule:
Jun 29 - Jul 3
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Day 1 / Jun 29
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Day 2 / Jun 30
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Day 3 / Jul 1
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Day 4 / Jul 2
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Day 5 / Jul 3
Instructors:
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Zayad Motlib XJTLU,Associate ProfessorZayad is an interdisciplinary architect, designer, and a researcher on human-algorithm interaction in information-based design processes. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the department of architecture and design at XJTLU-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China. In 2014, he founded AmorphouStudio – an award-winning visionary architecture and design studio based in Dubai and Sydney; and U-NAT (United Network for Art, Architecture and Technology) - a research-based collaborative network exploring design possibilities at the intersection of nature, design, and technology. During his professional career, Zayad held leading design positions in internationally renowned practices in New Zealand, Australia, and the Middle East such as Woods Bagot and Lava on a variety of award-winning projects. Parallel to his professional practice, he has taught digital design studios at Auckland University, Sydney University, and UNSW; and served as a guest critic at several universities in Sydney, New Zealand, and across the UAE. His current research focuses on establishing a dialogue between human and the algorithm through an interactive human-algorithm design process which relies on human designers interacting with the algorithmic processes to enable the capture of the quantitative and qualitative design objectives. -
Heba Eiz UCL,Student/Post Graduate teaching assistantHeba is an architect and a computational designer working on data-based design and fabrication systems. She graduated from the University of Sharjah, UAE, in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering. After graduation, she joined a consultancy office in Abu Dhabi where she worked for three years on a number of architectural and urban projects in Abu Dhabi and Iraq. Next to her professional work, she became an active member of U-NAT organisation (United Network for Art, Architecture, and Technology) where she collaborated on developing a number of explorative computational design projects. Currently, she is pursuing her Master's degree in Architectural Computation at Bartlett School of Architecture in University College London where she is also working as a post-graduate teaching assistant.