A “design process” includes many steps needed to design and construct a built environment. This includes everything from initial data-mining and schematic design all the way through to construction and post-occupancy evaluation. As built environments become more complex, building performance demands increase, and work schedules compress, project teams need to be more effective and efficient at every stage of this process.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an incredibly vague concept, describing a long lineage of technologies that seek to mimic human intellectual work. The term applies to everything from the Turing Machine to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). For the purposes of this essay, we will discuss Generative Artificial Intelligence, or GenAI, at its current state of development.... Read more »
This article is a survey of the potential applications of machine learning (colloquially referred to as artificial intelligence / AI) in automating visual analysis tasks for architectural design. AI offers a wide array of tools with potential applications for architecture. In particular, image analysis tools have made enormous strides in recent years, with software capable... Read more »
Climate change projections indicate an imminent surge in both the frequency and severity of natural disasters. The United States especially has experienced a 154% increase in the occurrence and cost of disasters.1 The Pacific Northwest faces an impending catastrophe with the anticipated Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake, poised to affect 7 million people across 140,000 square... Read more »
This article investigates the use of AI-generated images into architectural design. The research aims to assess the potential benefits, challenges, and perceptions of AI tools in architectural practice, focusing on their application during the initial design phases. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study comprised an initial survey, a hands-on workshop with the architects of Perkins&Will’s... Read more »
This Innovation Incubator “Design Object Morphologies” examines model building within Perkins&Will Architects. The first part of this research explored model building knowledge bases across our studios to understand how we fabricate models, what they look like, the resources they require, how we pay for them and why out clients love to see them. The second... Read more »
Considering the increasing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Architecture and Urban Design, in this Innovation Incubator we explore how AI can be leveraged to provide environmental analysis and trained to assist Perkins&Will in creating sustainable urban design proposals. Specifically, we propose to create an AI model to automate and speed up initial environmental analysis... Read more »
Researchers in the Process Lab have developed the Design Optimization Toolset (DOTS), a user-friendly, freely accessible generative design plugin for Rhino Grasshopper. DOTs allows designers to interactively develop design alternatives that reconcile project-specific constraints with the geometric complexity of architectural forms. Perkins&Will designers have applied DOTs in space planning, site parcellation, massing, and urban design... Read more »
Moisture performance in building assemblies affects building indoor air quality and integrity. Building on Perkins&Will’s implementation of WUFI for hygrothermal analysis, we propose a parametric workflow and extension of WUFI that allows architects to explore different wall assembly permutations specific to their project and check for potential moisture and mold issues. The back-end process of... Read more »
Passive House design requires users to create a complete building model to determine the energy performance of both the whole building and its individual elements. It makes traditional PHPP modeling a dilemma at the initial design stage when design decision making through optimization is necessary, without feeding too much design details. This research explores an... Read more »
The construction of zero energy buildings has been an impactful response to global warming and energy crises. Despite numerous approaches to model net-zero-energy buildings, it is still a challenge for building designers to evaluate the possibility of achieving this goal during the architectural design phases. This article, therefore, aims to offer a systematic framework for... Read more »
In our endeavour to build equitable, inclusive and resilient communities, collaboration and collective ownership of design is key. Phygital-UP is a co-design environment that supports equitable, inclusive, effective, and dynamic stakeholder engagement in both physical and virtual environments. Phygital-UP offers both the design team and the stakeholders the ability to work together in a synergistic... Read more »
