DeepDive: Computational design is climate smart design

The escalating resource consumption caused by humanity and the release of greenhouse gases has led to a climate crisis that drives the development of new technologies. Complete industries are forced to change direction or intensify already existing processes of change. How can a conscious exploration of dynamic workflows create sustainable and expressive buildings and cities?

Computational design is one way forward – design processes governed by computational procedures generating climate smart buildings and construction processes. Advanced design tools allow specialists and stake holders to formulate, simulate and assess the outcome of the different decisions of the design process. According to the architect and researcher Jonas Runberger, Head of Computational Design at White Arkitekters’s digitalisation practice Digital Matter, the processes for the creation of the architecture of tomorrow are already in use today.

– This is particularly important for us at White Arkitekter, where the vision is to offer climate neutral buildings through design excellence by 2030, Jonas states.

Powerful techniques demand new competence

Computational design brings together many concepts with scientific-sounding names that are increasingly becoming common practice, led by developers of the built environment, e.g. parametric modelling, generative design and evolutionary programming. Powerful techniques that require advanced expertise in the design team, through competence in both architecture and programming. The focus shifts from the creation of one architectural form (often with unclear climatic impact) to the creation of processes that can generate many forms linked to the possibility of finding one that performs better than the others.

– And we do not need to start from scratch if the conditions in a project is changed at late stages, we can simply adjust the parameters. This saves vast amounts of time, Jonas reflects.

Informed landscape invigorates Årstafältet

Computational design has often resulted in unconventional structures or radical designs. In recent years, efforts have increasingly focused on the broader architectural challenge, and the benefits are also found in projects where advanced form is central. One example is Årstafältet in Stockholm. The development of residential projects on the perimeter of the field requires removal of large amount of soil. Instead of moving the soil to off-site deposits, the architects considered the possibility of retaining it on Årstafältet in a new form. This reduced the costs and negative environmental impact of transportation.

– The design process became much more efficient with faster design decisions, a unified view among stakeholders and a lower risk for the completion stages, Jonas comments.

With a linear design process, it is difficult to handle complex conditions. The architect’s design process can become inefficient. The longer a project progresses, the more expensive late-stage changes become.

Computational design allows radical changes to be conducted also at later stages of the process – which can be needed in complex projects with high demands on form and structure as well as production. Jonas mentions the 65-meter-long bench on Forumtorget in Uppsala as a good example.

– The bench is the main attraction of the square, especially in the evening when it gets dark and coloured light filters through the 6,726 unique quartz composite and glass slats. We made the final alterations to the design just days before the production documentation was sent to the manufacturer, says Jonas.

A challenging design concept is born in Varberg

Many design concepts are abandoned due to high costs or difficult constructions. Computational design is on the way to ensuring that more sustainable and innovative concepts can be implemented. The winning competition proposal for the new observation tower at Getterön in Varberg used computational design to carry out analyses of complex geometries. The proposal would not have been possible if the team of architects and designers had not created an informed design system to generate the form.

– It would likely have been too expensive. The design system behind the tower is based on a large number of beams twisting around an axis, similar to the formation of a sheaf. The relationship between the beams and the achievement of stability of the geometry are advanced balancing acts, Jonas comments.

Generative workflows are already here

Jonas initiated Dsearch, the structured computational design initiative at White Arkitekter back in 2010, long before the concept was adopted in the Swedish context. Today, computational design is well established at White Arkitekter, where the methods are used to design landscapes and cities as well as buildings and interior spaces. The development of the field also continues in a research context, with Jonas’ role as a professor at Chalmers as an example.

– Computational design is a very powerful way for all developers of the built environment to work towards a transformation to a more sustainable society. We need to design buildings that reach the climate goals and at the same time provide a high value to society, Jonas argues

Do you want to know more about computational design and informed design systems? Contact Jonas Runberger, Head of Computational Design at White Arkitekter: +46 8 402 26 94.