Abstract
Through growing built forms via pre-programmed rules and parameters, the idea of generative design is formed in this modern architecture, in which designers create form alternatives by adjusting input parameters. On the other hand, the emergence of computational platforms asks architects to put more attention to the liveability and sustainability issues of the built environment. While ex post evaluating design alternatives is feasible, it costs much time, crowds out valuable memory, and makes it hard for designers to arrive at optimality. By treating functions as observed variables, this study follows the “inverse problem” philosophy and proposes a novel inverse generative design workflow by finding the latent form variants that lead to these functions. It contains three steps: the first “Generation” randomly generates variants satisfying certain demands; the second “Selection” identifies a temporarily optimal layout given criteria; and the third “Augmentation” finds the major characteristics of this layout and uses it as new knowledge to augment the generator in the first step. This process will continue iteratively until one satisfying layout is found. With an urban renewal case study of To Kwa Wan, Hong Kong, this workflow demonstrates strong practicality by cooling the ambient outdoor environment by 0.10 °C and increasing 1.01% more sky views to the pedestrian.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ritchie, H., Roser, M.: Urbanization. Our World in Data (2018)
Long, C.M., Suh, H.H., Catalano, P.J., Koutrakis, P.: Using time-and size-resolved particulate data to quantify indoor penetration and deposition behavior. Environ. Sci. Technol. 35(10), 2089–2099 (2001)
Monedero, J.: Parametric design: a review and some experiences. Autom. Constr. 9(4), 369–377 (2000)
Jabi, W.: Parametric Design for Architecture. Hachette, UK (2013)
Krish, S.: A practical generative design method. Comput. Aided Des. 43(1), 88–100 (2011)
Singh, V., Gu, N.: Towards an integrated generative design framework. Des. Stud. 33(2), 185–207 (2012)
Khan, S., Awan, M.J.: A generative design technique for exploring shape variations. Adv. Eng. Inform. 38, 712–724 (2018)
De Dear, R.: Thermal comfort in practice. Indoor Air 14(7), 32–39 (2004)
Chen, L., Ng, E.: Outdoor thermal comfort and outdoor activities: a review of research in the past decade. Cities 29(2), 118–125 (2012)
Baker, N., Steemers, K.: Daylight Design of Buildings: A Handbook for Architects and Engineers. Routledge, London (2014)
Ne’Eman, E., Hopkinson, R.G.: Critical minimum acceptable window size: a study of window design and provision of a view. Light. Res. Technol. 2(1), 17–27 (1970)
Asadi, S., Amiri, S.S., Mottahedi, M.: On the development of multi-linear regression analysis to assess energy consumption in the early stages of building design. Energy Build. 85, 246–255 (2014)
Cang, Y., Luo, Z., Yang, L., Han, B.: A new method for calculating the embodied carbon emissions from buildings in schematic design: Taking “building element” as basic unit. Build. Environ. 185, 107306 (2020)
Laovisutthichai, V., Lu, W., Bao, Z.: Design for construction waste minimization: guidelines and practice. Archit. Eng. Design Manage. 18(3), 279–298 (2022)
Tarantola, A.: Inverse Problem Theory and Methods for Model Parameter Estimation. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2005)
Davis, D.: A History of Parametric (2013). https://www.danieldavis.com/a-history-of-parametric/
Rian, I.M., Sassone, M.: Tree-inspired dendriforms and fractal-like branching structures in architecture: a brief historical overview. Front. Archit. Res. 3(3), 298–323 (2014)
Hosey, H.: Skins and Bones (2005). https://lancehosey.com/skin-and-bones-2005
Tarantola, A.: Popper, bayes and the inverse problem. Nat. Phys. 2, 492–494 (2006)
Davis, D. (2020). Generative Design is Doomed to Fail. https://www.danieldavis.com/generative-design-doomed-to-fail/
Collins, P.: Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture, 1750–1950. McGill-Queen’s Press-MQUP (1998)
Sullivan, L.H.: The tall office building artistically considered. Lippincott’s Magazine, pp. 404–409 (1896)
Wright, F.L.: The Future of Architecture. New American Library. Horizon Press (1953)
Web Gallery of Art. Guaranty Building (2022). https://www.wga.hu/html_m/s/sullivan/5guarant.html
Urbana Design. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright (2021). https://www.urbana-design.com/2021/11/04/solomon-r-guggenheim-museum-by-frank-lloyd-wright/
Chen, J.: Neighbourhood Guide: A Sense of Community in To Kwa Wan (2018). https://zolimacitymag.com/neighbourhood-guide-a-sense-of-community-in-to-kwa-wan/
Huang, J., Hao, T., Hou, S.S., Jones, P.: Simulation-Informed Urban Design: Improving Urban Microclimate in Real-World Practice in a High Density City. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, vol. 329, no. 1, p. 012047 (2019)
Urban Renewal Authority. To Kwa Wan Road/Wing Kwong Street Development Scheme (KC-016) (2021). https://www.ura.org.hk/en/project/redevelopment/to-kwa-wan-road-wing-kwong-street-development-scheme-kc-016
Lands Department. Accountable and Non-accountable Gross Floor Area (GFA) under Lease. Practice Notes, Issue No. 4/2014 (2014). https://www.landsd.gov.hk/doc/en/practice-note/lpn/2014_4_text.pdf
Planning Department. Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (2022). https://www.pland.gov.hk/pland_en/tech_doc/hkpsg/full/index.htm
Chatzidimitriou, A., Yannas, S.: Microclimate design for open spaces: Ranking urban design effects on pedestrian thermal comfort in summer. Sustain. Cities Soc. 26, 27–47 (2016)
Huang, J., Zhou, C., Zhuo, Y., Xu, L., Jiang, Y.: Outdoor thermal environments and activities in open space: an experiment study in humid subtropical climates. Build. Environ. 103, 238–249 (2016)
Blazejczyk, K., Epstein, Y., Jendritzky, G., Staiger, H., Tinz, B.: Comparison of UTCI to selected thermal indices. Int. J. Biometeorol. 56(3), 515–535 (2012)
Ho, H.C., Wong, M.S., Man, H.Y., Shi, Y., Abbas, S.: Neighborhood-based subjective environmental vulnerability index for community health assessment: development, validation and evaluation. Sci. Total Environ. 654, 1082–1090 (2019)
Dirksen, M., Ronda, R.J., Theeuwes, N.E., Pagani, G.A.: Sky view factor calculations and its application in urban heat island studies. Urban Clim. 30, 100498 (2019)
Acknowledgement
This study is supported by the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) grant from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (Project No.: T22-504/21-R).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Peng, Z., Lu, W., Tang, X., Webster, C. (2023). Inverse Generative Design: A Guideline. In: Li, J., Lu, W., Peng, Y., Yuan, H., Wang, D. (eds) Proceedings of the 27th International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate. CRIOCM 2022. Lecture Notes in Operations Research. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3626-7_91
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3626-7_91
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-3625-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-3626-7
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)