computational design (CD)

Many computer-aided design studies are relevant only insofar as they present more fashionable and faster ways of doing what designers already do. And since what designers already do does not seem to work, we will get inbred methods of work that will make bad architecture, unresponsive architecture, even more prolific.

Computational design is the application of computational strategies to the design process. While designers traditionally rely on intuition and experience to solve design problems, computational design aims to enhance that process by encoding design decisions using a computer language. The goal isn't to document the final result necessarily, but rather the steps required to create that result

the work of a computational designer means taking a problem and using software to generate solutions to automate aspects of the creation process

Algorithms are nothing more than an opportunity to create an architecture that respires

The idea becomes a machine that makes the art

Of the many potentialities afforded by the computer, one of the most significant is its capacity to operate as a search engine. If, then, we think through the logic of the search in the context of ‘design’, what such an approach suggests is that if all possible solutions already exist, it is simply a question of defining a set of constraints and conducting a search, and then selecting one of the many outcomes. The potential implications of this are far reaching. Not only does it challenge the traditional notion of the ‘genius’ of the architect/designer and the originality of the work of art, but it also suggests that if there is still any creativity in the ‘design’ process, it should lie, firstly, in defining the constraints that generate the range of possible solutions to a problem, and, secondly, in developing an effective method of filtering or evaluating them