Structural Design Exploration of High-rise Design Concepts Using Genetic Algorithms

The adoption of optimization algorithms has been slower in conceptual design compared to the later design phases. The choices made during the conceptual design phase have a large impact on the performance of the result. This research aims to find out why it is so hard to use optimization in conceptual design. Then a method is proposed to solve this issue during the application of optimization on the conceptual design of a case study. As subject of the case study the CCTV building in Beijing is chosen as it is a good example of a building were the concept development is nebulous, the shape is difficult to rationalize, and a small change in the concept can have large impact on the overall performance of the result. The case study was used to develop a method for optimizing design concepts. This method involves the parameterization of the CCTV building envelope, the calculation of its structural performance using an abstracted finite elements analysis, and the use of NSGA II. The result is a deeper insight into why optimization is difficult in the conceptual phase, a method that is considerate of these difficulties, and an analysis tool for this method.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Building Technolog