EVOLVING MORPHOLOGIES

INTERACTING WITH EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS

ONLINE, Jul29 - Aug03, 2021

Introduction

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 huge 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.

 METHODOLOGY

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 to reflect 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.

//  Daily schedule

11am -4pm Everyday

 // Software & skills:

Intermediate modeling skill in Rhino, and intermediate to advanced level in Grasshopper are required. Participants should bring their own laptop with pre-installed software (software download links will be given after subscription).

// Tutors:

Zayad Motlib - U-NAT 

Heba Eiz - U-NAT 

 // Venue:

Online

// Calendar & Timetable:

// Subscription fees:

FREE for all.

// registration:

Please follow digitalFutures guidelines

// Organized by:

This workshop is organized in collaboration with DigitalFutures

https://www.digitalfutures.world/workshops/41.html

 // Pre-requisite skills: 

Intermediate - Advanced Level in Rhino and Grasshopper