Procedural meta-models for architectural design praxis

Abstract

This article discusses a procedure for the exploration of options in preliminary design. The procedure is based on the application of morphing procedures, which are typical of animation software, to building parametric analyses. The procedure is based on partially overlapping sequences of evaluations targeted on dynamic ad-hoc test-models and is aimed at the creation of data fields for the representation of the performance consequences of competing design sceneries. This representation is necessarily multidimensional and is based on parallel coordinates plots. The implementation of a specific test procedure of the kind described above is also discussed. The procedure has been supported by the use of contemporary analytical and representational systems and tools; namely, ESP-r, Radiance, Ggobi, and an extensible tool for the dynamic morphing of models through user-specified criteria, named OPTS, by the author.