Eco Shaping Architecture

Form, as the physical bearer of both the architectural meaning and function having being increasingly engineering focused by the designers and users in todays’ context, which corresponding with the changing and developing in science, society and also aesthetic. With this trend, form generation methods have gradually become an important branch in the field of design research. Meanwhile, computer aided techniques and ecological simulation platform also progressing rapidly as a result of massive increased application requests. Theoretically, the three have great potential and significance in integrated application. The present thesis is the result of the efforts devoted to developing the issues of the integration of the three-Form Generation method, Parametric Design, and Architectural Ecological Simulation -from theory possibilities to practical application.

This paper by Zhao Jingtao proposes the theoretical framework of Eco-shaping Architectural Design Approach, explains its work flow and verifies the effectiveness in one architectural design practice. Based on the cross discipline filed of parametric design and architectural ecological simulation. The study start with the simulation of environmental factors affecting the architecture’s ecological performance such as solar radiation and wind field. Based on the theoretical foundation of Complexity Science, Form Generation, and Performance Driven Design. Powered by Parametric Design technique and Building Performance Simulation technique as the operate platform. Using a method combined bottom-up self-organized generating and up-down performance driven optimizing.

The study reveals the application process of how the environmental factors be transformed into the driven force of form shaping and using genetic algorithms to optimize the result. Bridges the data gap between parametric design platform and building performance simulation plat form by quadratic programming under Grasshopper. And finally points out the technological superiority and limitations of the architecture form generative method and the problems requiring further studies are discussed.