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Very cool! Extremely related to this, which focuses more on integrating architectural design constraints: http://www.rewdesign.ch/automated-floorplan-generati

by szvsw 2y ago

Very cool! Extremely related to this, which focuses more on integrating architectural design constraints: http://www.rewdesign.ch/automated-floorplan-generation-in-architectural-design/ http://www.rewdesign.ch/automated-floorplan-generation-in-ar... https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380319243_A_hypergraph_model_shows_the_carbon_reduction_potential_of_effective_space_use_in_housing https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380319243_A_hypergr... https://github.com/ramonweber/hypergraph https://github.com/ramonweber/hypergraph

donw 2y ago
This is why I still come to HN. The articles may or not be useful, but you can bet that someone in the comments will link to a bunch of other related work.
- szvsw 2y ago
  For sure. Read the author’s dissertation (should be posted on MIT DSpace by now or in the coming weeks) - it’s excellent. He just started teaching at Berkeley - definitely worth following his work. (Disclosure: I wrote all the Python API/web app/infra stuff in the repo above but not any of the underlying algorithms).
larodi 2y ago
I knew it Voronoi diagrams are much more than just a shiny topo tool. Incredibly simple approach, and yet so nice results. Kudos.
twelvechairs 2y ago
Of course the problems with all of these are - They are selecting only parts of the rich tapestry of what is meaningful and useful about an architectural space, which can also vary by culture and by person. - They also don't tend to respond to regulation requirements which may be 'hard line' or 'guideline' depending on the place. It's a complex world out there for good reason and it doesn't usually reduce well to a few key variables.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y ago
  > rich tapestry certainly, let's dive into the rich tapestry of floor plans X-D
- szvsw 2y ago
  > They also don't tend to respond to regulation requirements which may be 'hard line' or 'guideline' depending on the place. Not sure if you read much of the ones I posted, but they (and the latest version of that work stream in the author’s dissertation) definitely deal with accessibility requirements and so on. That’s pretty much the entire point of tools like these - it’s trivially easy to subdivide a polygon, but non-trivially easy to do so while maintaining various constraints, like clearance sizes, connectivity, daylighting requirements, structural requirements, etc etc.
  - doctorpangloss 2y ago
    The so-called FAR game has been settled for a while - https://www.archdaily.com/787866/why-the-far-floor-area-ratio-game-inside-koreas-pavilion-at-the-2016-venice-biennale https://www.archdaily.com/787866/why-the-far-floor-area-rati... - this was a really interesting retrospective on it. IMO almost all architectural innovation is sales and marketing. This software is chasing the wrong problem.
    - szvsw 2y ago
      I disagree. The world is adding a Manhattan’s worth of buildings to the global building stock every 5-6 weeks or so. It’s insane. The vast majority of those buildings are not being designed by boutique architecture firms… there is definitely a need for better integration of analysis methods for the daylighting, energy usage, and embodied carbon impact of design decisions throughout the design-build process, but especially in early stage design, and especially when operating at scale. But that’s just my 2c
      - doctorpangloss 2y ago
        This is true but what does it add up to besides more features in Revit? Similar forces across all professional industries. Every medical operations innovation also boils down to, wait for it to appear in EPIC for free. Why do free R&D for Autodesk and EPIC? Big picture, sometimes people are saying too much construction (you). Other people are saying not enough. It’s complicated right? Software entrepreneurs are in denial about how exceptional Figma was. Adobe is asleep at the wheel sure. But every other professional services company? I don’t know, it’s tough for Godot, Blender, Black Magic, EPIC competitors that no one has heard of… Then you listen to what CEOs who are paying attention actually say: marketing, monetization, sales, etc (John Riccitiello comes to mind). Meanwhile Gensler, Dentsu, whatever are using the kinds of sophisticated analyses you’re talking about to sell post-construction support, it’s a little insincere. It’s just increasing cost to convince them to do a better job. One thing’s for sure: there is a glut of buildings people do not want to buy and also a shortage of buildings people are willing to pay dearly for. Better massing isn’t going to solve that. You’re talking about stuff that goes into slide 30 in the pitch deck. The prince has already walked out of the room by then.

by szvsw 2y ago

donw 2y ago

This is why I still come to HN. The articles may or not be useful, but you can bet that someone in the comments will link to a bunch of other related work.

szvsw 2y ago
For sure. Read the author’s dissertation (should be posted on MIT DSpace by now or in the coming weeks) - it’s excellent. He just started teaching at Berkeley - definitely worth following his work. (Disclosure: I wrote all the Python API/web app/infra stuff in the repo above but not any of the underlying algorithms).

larodi 2y ago

I knew it Voronoi diagrams are much more than just a shiny topo tool. Incredibly simple approach, and yet so nice results. Kudos.

twelvechairs 2y ago

Of course the problems with all of these are - They are selecting only parts of the rich tapestry of what is meaningful and useful about an architectural space, which can also vary by culture and by person. - They also don't tend to respond to regulation requirements which may be 'hard line' or 'guideline' depending on the place. It's a complex world out there for good reason and it doesn't usually reduce well to a few key variables.

DemocracyFTW2 2y ago
> rich tapestry certainly, let's dive into the rich tapestry of floor plans X-D
szvsw 2y ago
> They also don't tend to respond to regulation requirements which may be 'hard line' or 'guideline' depending on the place. Not sure if you read much of the ones I posted, but they (and the latest version of that work stream in the author’s dissertation) definitely deal with accessibility requirements and so on. That’s pretty much the entire point of tools like these - it’s trivially easy to subdivide a polygon, but non-trivially easy to do so while maintaining various constraints, like clearance sizes, connectivity, daylighting requirements, structural requirements, etc etc.
- doctorpangloss 2y ago
  The so-called FAR game has been settled for a while - https://www.archdaily.com/787866/why-the-far-floor-area-ratio-game-inside-koreas-pavilion-at-the-2016-venice-biennale https://www.archdaily.com/787866/why-the-far-floor-area-rati... - this was a really interesting retrospective on it. IMO almost all architectural innovation is sales and marketing. This software is chasing the wrong problem.
  - szvsw 2y ago
    I disagree. The world is adding a Manhattan’s worth of buildings to the global building stock every 5-6 weeks or so. It’s insane. The vast majority of those buildings are not being designed by boutique architecture firms… there is definitely a need for better integration of analysis methods for the daylighting, energy usage, and embodied carbon impact of design decisions throughout the design-build process, but especially in early stage design, and especially when operating at scale. But that’s just my 2c
    - doctorpangloss 2y ago
      This is true but what does it add up to besides more features in Revit? Similar forces across all professional industries. Every medical operations innovation also boils down to, wait for it to appear in EPIC for free. Why do free R&D for Autodesk and EPIC? Big picture, sometimes people are saying too much construction (you). Other people are saying not enough. It’s complicated right? Software entrepreneurs are in denial about how exceptional Figma was. Adobe is asleep at the wheel sure. But every other professional services company? I don’t know, it’s tough for Godot, Blender, Black Magic, EPIC competitors that no one has heard of… Then you listen to what CEOs who are paying attention actually say: marketing, monetization, sales, etc (John Riccitiello comes to mind). Meanwhile Gensler, Dentsu, whatever are using the kinds of sophisticated analyses you’re talking about to sell post-construction support, it’s a little insincere. It’s just increasing cost to convince them to do a better job. One thing’s for sure: there is a glut of buildings people do not want to buy and also a shortage of buildings people are willing to pay dearly for. Better massing isn’t going to solve that. You’re talking about stuff that goes into slide 30 in the pitch deck. The prince has already walked out of the room by then.