Architect’s design code: Streamlining early-stage architectural workflow with parametric tools

Abstract

The Architect’s Design Code aims to research, enhance and augment the architectural design process by improving efficiency through automated aid with the help of computational tools. The tools and research conducted in this paper serve as a framework for continued research through a selection of explorations and experiments, combined with a demonstration of powerful computational modelling aids. Over the past decades, digital development has significantly improved workflows in the architectural design process through software’s such as AutoCAD, Rhino, SketchUp and Revit. Despite these developments, the architecture field has been slow at adapting to emerging technical possibilities and the design process still involves a considerable amount of time on procedures that could be automated with parametric tools. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how parametric tools, in the form of developed Grasshopper scripts, can streamline and automate aspects of an architectural design process and research how that affects the concept design workflow. Through development of scripts with different functions, designers can rapidly visualize ideas and allocate more time exploring and/or developing concepts while getting immediate feedback on their ideas. Tools created in this thesis were designed in a way to allow the user to have full control over the design without requiring prior computational experience. In parallel to the tool development, a designbased project was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools. This project involves the design of an activity center for the elderly, located on an old boule-field in the small town of Knivsta, Sweden. The expected outcome of The Architect’s Design Code is not to deliver a flawless set of design tools, but rather to raise awareness and demonstrate the potential of computational methods. By integrating such tools, architects can reduce repetitive workload, allowing them to focus on other critical design tasks and better visualize their ideas.