Generative Design and Evolution
“Generative design is a departure from the way that we have traditionally done design”
Jeff Kowalski — Senior Vice President Autodesk
Generative Design is a complex computational approach that embraces aspects of nature’s own approach to design. First used in the early 1990s to create simple artworks and animations, today Generative Design is on the rise also thanks to the improved processing power of computers and availability of cloud computing. Most of what nature is able to accomplish in millennia through the processes of evolution can nowadays be extrapolated, replicated, implemented and applied, in significantly shorter spans of time, to design (in its broadest definition). With a goal in mind, designers input a series of parameters and thanks to its computational power “the computer generates not only the shape, but many, many, many options” the designs are then tested under different conditions (stress, resistance, endurance, aerodynamics etc.) in order to assess their viability and functionalities .
How does Evolution influence Generative Design?
In order to fully understand the potential and scope of generative design we must first understand how evolution works.
Charles Darwin divided his Theory of Natural Selection into 5 principles that better explain how evolution happens in nature. These classifications help us understand why “fit” organisms survive and whether evolutionary variances help the species or not.
The first two principles: “organisms produce more offspring than the number that will actually survive” and “every organism must struggle to survive” contribute to the rise of the fittest and are strongly tied to each other. Broader numbers of offspring directly translate to better chances at survival, while the struggle makes it so that only the strongest and more apt specimens will have the chance to pass on their genetic material.
“Variation” is the third element, If organisms were all the same in fact, none would be better suited than any other, and selection could not occur. “Certain variations allow members of a species to survive and reproduce better than others” and finally “Organisms that survive and reproduce pass their traits to their offspring, and the traits gradually appear in more of the population.”
We can easily take Darwin’s work and apply the same principles to the process of designing something and how Generative Design aids us.
“Broad numbers” — Whether designing wings for a new type of jet plane a piece of jewellery or a prosthetic arm, it’s always better to think outside the box and produce a good number of hypothetical designs, not all of them will “survive” but it is highly likely that the ones that do will include the best characteristics of the ones that didn’t. This is one of the fields where Generative Design outshines traditional methods as it can create a literally endless number of options.
“Struggle” — Computers allow us to create endless scenarios in which to test our designs, thus creating simulations of how they would behave in real life and whether or not they would “survive”. The struggle to improve is improvement in itself.
“The current transition from Computer Aided Design (CAD) to Computational Design (…) represents a profound shift in design thinking and methods. Representation is being replaced by simulation, and the crafting of objects is moving towards the generation of integrated systems through designer-authored computational processes.
Computational Design Thinking — Achim Menges and Sean Ahlquist
“Variation” — different iterations of the same design are also necessary to understand whether a specific combination of design/form/material etc is the fittest. This aspect can be easily accomplished through Generative Design with a simple parameter variation.
“Reproducibility” Unique pieces pertain mostly to the world of art, a successful design must meet the criteria of reproducibility .The best designs are the ones that get reproduced more often and for longer periods of time.
“Inheritance” Whether a design will become a new standard in its industry of reference or end up being surpassed within one generation, the best traits and characteristics will become part of that industry’s “genome” and will represent themselves in future iterations.
The power of Generative Design
The evolutionary approach to design is impressive in its own right but the real potential manifests itself when combined to the computational aspect of generative design. With enough time and instruments one could potentially apply its core principles and arrive to positive results, but it’s the possibility to replicate and reproduce these processes infinite numbers of times that is truly fascinating. Time-consuming operations of trial and error, common to all the fields of design, can be achieved in a fraction of the time under the right circumstances.
If we imagine generative design as a catalyst and accelerator of the evolution of design the possibilities are truly endless.
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Bibliography
“On the Origin of Species” 1859 Charles Darwin
“Evolution-Inspired Exploratory Design Tools” Institute for Computational Design and Construction (Prof. Menges)
“Computational Design Thinking” by Achim Menges, Sean Ahlquist
