Can an algorithm solve a century-old problem with an infinite number of architectural solutions?
As architects, we’re typically faced with an endless number of possible solutions to the problem we’re trying to solve. There’s rarely a textbook solution available. Instead, it’s a game of trade-offs between design, client brief, regulations, budget, sustainability impact — the list goes on. There is a limit to the number of iterations a single human can come up with during a limited amount of time.
Let’s zoom in on one challenge — creating the optimal building plan. This is a suitable problem to dig into using generative design since it’s well-defined and mostly about optimization, rather than architectural expression. It’s also a problem that affects a large part of a project. An optimized building plan and optimized placement of stairwells can add more apartments to a project. Better yet, it has the potential to drastically reduce the CO2 emissions per inhabitant since it’s often the cores and load-bearing walls that have the highest impact on embodied carbon. Simply put, a great apartment mix can house more inhabitants while using less material. But it is a hard puzzle that architects spend days, weeks, and sometimes even months to solve by moving apartments around, trying different stairwell positions, and making sure all apartments have enough contact with the facade. As any architect will know, there are an infinite number of solutions available — and it’s not always obvious which one is the most optimal.
Think of it as a deck of cards. There are so many possible permutations (8x10^⁶⁷) that the chance of you picking up a deck that’s sorted in a way that any deck has ever been sorted before, or ever will in the future, is almost zero. This puts things into perspective when trying to find the ultimate design for a project that might consist of hundreds of units. It’s a daunting task, and the only help we’ve had at our disposal is our intuition and experience. But this doesn’t need to be the case. We’ve seen massive leaps in technology and computational design recently. Combined with the experience and intuition of professional architects, we’re able to solve century-old challenges through new technology — while ensuring that the architect remains in charge.
Introducing Generate Building Plan 1.0 — an entirely new way to find the optimal apartment distribution
We’re now taking the next step on our journey to help more architects benefit from generative design when solving everyday pains. We recently launched the Generate Building Plan 1.0, an entirely new way to identify the most optimal building plan based on the architect’s criteria. By using smart algorithms, Finch generates different design options that follow the design parameters and constraints set by the user. This enables Finch to generate numerous diverse design solutions for a problem with multiple variables, increasing the odds of finding the best one for your specific requirements. Besides the specified apartment mix, the user can also specify desired dimensions on stairs, elevators, and corridors and choose how to rank the results on different metrics such as NIA ratio, material usage, apartment shape, and more.
As an architect myself, I know how crucial it is that the tools we use allow us flexibility and design freedom. That’s why we’ve built all of our generative tools so that they work well with our manual editing tools, making sure the final design is yours. And, as always, everything that is created in Finch docs directly into your favorite software, like Rhino, Grasshopper, and Revit, with the Finch plugins.
The algorithms run in the cloud to take advantage of today’s immense computing power. This enables the algorithm to evaluate multiple solutions in parallel, making it possible to explore millions of unique solutions. This is a big leap forward from today’s software which relies on the user to provide powerful and often expensive hardware.
We’re very excited about the Generate Building Plan 1.0 and the potential it has for the future of the AEC industry. We’re convinced that the combination of new, powerful technology and know-how from architects will lead to more informed decisions and better solutions for projects, cities, and our planet.
We’re currently rolling out Generate Building Plan 1.0 to selected partners. If you’re interested, sign up to our waiting list here.
/Jesper Wallgren , Co-founder and CPO
