Integrated Algorithmic Design Renata Alves Castelo Branco Thesis to obtain the Master of Science Degree in Architecture Supervisor: Prof. Dr. António Paulo Teles de Menezes Correia Leitão Examination Committee Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Ana Paula Filipe Tomé Supervisor: Prof. Dr. António Paulo Teles de Menezes Correia Leitão Member of the Committee: Prof. Dr. Francisco Manuel Caldeira Pinto Teixeira Bastos May 2017 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My supervisor accuses me of being a poet. A wonderful quality to have if you're a writer, yet not so much if you aspire to be an investigator. With that said, this is the only page in this document that will not be evaluated. Hence, I chose to let the poetry in me take over. I wish to thank all those who helped me in this process, with all the adjectives and metaphors I held back throughout this document! My deepest and greatest gratitude goes to Professor António Menezes Leitão, for exceeding his condition as supervisor, becoming more than a teacher, a role model and a constant source of inspiration. I thank him extensively, for the unconditional support, ridiculous availability and disposition to help, for his tireless creative spirit, his unbelievable work ethic and his unconditional dedication to investigation. A warm acknowledgment to the members of ADA. This research group turned what might have been a lonesome task of a year, into a cooperative endeavour that improved each one of our works individually, and gave them all a sense of purpose, beyond the sole production of official documents. Among the ADA team I must emphasize Guilherme Barreto. Not only would my work not have been possible without the one he developed, but I also would not have gotten as far, if not for the endless amount of time, he always seemed to have available to explain the smallest things to me. I must also state my great appreciation for Duarte Ramos. No longer a member of our team, yet he succoured me in those dreadful last days with a brilliant mixture of friendliness and professionalism. Last, but not least, I thank my family and friends for their unlimited support and faith in me. For constantly reading and correcting documents they might not have fully liked or understood. For caring about me and my work and for making my existence a joyful event to live through. I am most grateful to Diogo for enduring all the stress and panic I conveyed during this process, giving back nothing but calm and solace. Finally, this work was partially supported by national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) with reference UID/CEC/50021/2013. i ABSTRACT Many great architectural endeavors today engage in a multi software approach, as each party develops their respective part of the project in a different software. Moreover, the architectural project itself covers many tasks, including 3D modeling, analysis, and rendering, which benefit from the use of different tools. Combining them in the same project involves the sharing and crossing of the various information systems, which is not always a successful process. A mechanism is needed that connects all the different tools used, in a more effective manner - a portability mechanism. Algorithmic Design (AD) presents itself as a potential solution. AD is an algorithmic approach to architectural design that allows architects to transcend factory-set limitations of the currently used 3D software. As mathematical descriptions are oblivious to any software, the algorithmic descriptions of the designs become independent from the software that might be used to produce them. This thesis aims to explore the advantages an algorithmic approach can bring to the design process, and investigate, at the same time, how to bridge the gap between the different tools with which architecture currently operates. We propose a methodology based on an algorithmic approach to design, where a single program can describe not only the intended model, but also additional tasks, such as model analysis. We call this approach, Integrated Algorithmic Design (IAD) and using it, the architect can take advantage of various CAD, BIM and analysis tools, with little effort when it comes to the transition between them. Keywords: Algorithmic Design; CAD; BIM; Analysis tools ii RESUMO Grandes empreendimentos de arquitectura utilizam, actualmente, uma série de ferramentas no seu processo de desenvolvimento, uma vez que cada uma das partes envolvidas utiliza um software diferente para desenvolver a sua especialidade. Para além disto, o projecto de arquitectura em si engloba uma série de tarefas, como a modelação 3D, análises e produção de renders, para as quais são também necessárias diferentes ferramentas. A combinação de todas elas num projecto obriga à partilha e tradução dos vários sistemas de informação utilizados, processo que nem sempre é bem sucedido. É necessário um mecanismo capaz de fazer uma conexão mais eficaz entre as diversas ferramentas usadas. O design algorítmico apresenta-nos uma possível solução para este problema. O design algorítmico é uma abordagem ao projecto que permite aos arquitectos ir além da manipulação manual de modelos tridimensionais e transcender as limitações impostas pelos softwares de modelação. Visto que descrições matemáticas são alheias a qualquer software, descrições algorítmicas de designs tornam-se também elas independentes do software usado para as produzir. Esta tese tem como objetivo explorar as vantagens que uma abordagem algorítmica pode trazer ao processo de design e investigar, simultaneamente, como podemos ultrapassar as diferenças entre as diversas ferramentas com as quais os arquitectos trabalham. Propomos uma metodologia baseada no desenvolvimento de um único programa que, descreve não só o modelo pretendido, mas também outras tarefas adicionais como a análise do mesmo. Chamamos a este método design algorítmico integrado e, com dele, o arquitecto pode usufruir das ferramentas de CAD, BIM e análise, sendo o esforço necessário para transitar entre elas muito reduzido. Palavras-Chave: Design Algorítmico; CAD; BIM; Ferramentas de Análise iii CONTRIBUTIONS During the development of this master thesis, three scientific articles were published: ▪ Castelo Branco, R. and Leitão, A. (2017) ‘Integrated Algorithmic Design: A single-script approach for multiple design tasks’, eCAADe (Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe), Sapienza University, Rome. ▪ Castelo Branco, R. and Leitão, A. (2017) ‘Translating Algorithmic Design from CAD to BIM’, KineSIStem - From Nature to Architectural Matter, International Conference, ISCTE University, Lisbon, 181-190. ▪ Leitão, A., Castelo Branco, R. and Cardoso, C. (2017) ‘Algorithmic-Based Analysis - Design and Analysis in a Multi Backend Generative Tool’, P. Janssen, P. Loh, A. Raonic, M. A. Schnabel (eds.), Protocols, Flows, and Glitches - Proceedings of the 22nd CAADRIA Conference, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China, 137-146. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xiii ABREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................................xiv GLOSSARY OF TERMS ..............................................................................................................xiv INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 MOTIVATION.............................................................................................................................................................. 2 OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................................................. 3 METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................................................ 4 STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................................................................. 4 I - BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................... 7 1 REPRESENTATION METHODS ............................................................................................ 8 1.1. HISTORY OF REPRESENTATION IN ARCHITECTURE ......................................................................... 9 1.2. COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.3. HEISTING SOFTWARE FROM OTHER ARTS ....................................................................................... 10 1.4. COLLABORATIVE ENTERPRISE ................................................................................................................ 11 1.5. BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING................................................................................................ 11 1.6. TWO DIFFERENT PARADIGMS ................................................................................................................ 12 2 ALGORITHMIC DESIGN .................................................................................................... 13