Designing with data: Moving beyond the design space catalog

Abstract

Design space catalogs, which present a collection of different options for selection by human designers, have b com commonplace in architecture. Increasingly, these catalogs are rapidly generated using parametric models and informed by simulations that describe energy usage, structural efficiency, daylight availability, views, acoustic properties, and other aspects of building performance. However, by conceiving of computational methods as a means for fostering interactive, collaborative, guided, expert-dependent design processes, many opportunities remain to improve upon the originally static archetype of the design space catalog. This paper presents developments in the areas of interaction, automation, simplification, and visualization that seek to improve on the current catalog model while also describing a vision for effective computer-aided, perform nce-based design processes in the future.