Generative systems in architectural design

Generative design is the activity of discovering and evaluating design alternatives. While this is one of the long-standing motivating ideas underlying computer-aided design research, it gains renewed interest in the current context of increased emphasis on building performance. Information systems that can support this task of generating design alternatives can be beneficial as they allow the designer to quickly evaluate the alternatives and proceed freely in an open-ended process of discovery. In this PhD research, we first attempt to create a historical overview of generative systems in architecture. The advent of generative systems can be traced back to the 1960s, when architects began to turn to computer-related sciences in an attempt to legitimize their design decisions. Ultimately, the goal of this literature review is to determine how key figures from both architectural history and artificial intelligence influenced traditional architectural design, and how this work can be of value in our current context. Based on these observations, the second part of the research investigates how new theories and technologies from artificial intelligence can be applied to enhance generative design exploration support