Glossary

Generative Design Primer

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Glossary

Algorithm / al·go·rithm / noun
A process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations with a computer.
Computational design / comp·u·ta·tion·al de·sign / noun
Explicit rules that systematically model the behavior of a proposed design and the resulting data and geometry. Not many project data are kept as static objects; instead, the procedure to create them is saved. Project geometry and data are generated from the execution of mathematical and logical procedures.
Cross-product / cross pro·duct / verb
aka Cartesian Product - the product of two or more sets that contains all ordered pairs between the sets.
Evaluate / e·val·u·ate / verb
To judge the quality of something based on how well it performs in one or more objective functions.
Evolve / e·vol·ve / verb
To gradually make something better over generations.
Explore / ex·plore / verb
To consider different ways of interpreting results and rankings.
Generate / gen·er·ate / verb
To produce or create a design. Requires one or more input parameters that are combined in an algorithm to produce a design study. The resulting model or data is not necessarily a viable design.
Generative design / gen·er·a·tive de·sign / noun
A system that produces design studies (alternatives), evaluates them against quantifiable goals, improves studies by learning from previous results, and ranks results based on their distance from the goals. The project is kept as a system, with affordances to choose one or a small subset of alternatives as a final set of project data and geometry.
Global optimum / glo·bal op·ti·mum / verb
The best solution out of all the possible solutions.
Goal / goal / noun
A quantifiable target value or range for a project or feature of a project.
Iterative / it·er·a·tive / verb
Doing something repeatedly, often to make it better.
Local optimum / lo·cal op·ti·mum / verb
The best solution within a group of solutions that are slightly different, but still worse than the global optimum.
Multi-objective / mul·ti ob·ject·ive / adjective
Using two or more objectives when optimizing a solution.
Optimization / op·ti·mi·sa·tion / verb
Maximizing or minimizing a mathematical function to arrive at the best possible solution to a problem.
Optioneering / op·tion·eer·ing / verb
Enter a desired number of results and design algorithm and make the computer generate solutions.
Permutation / per·mu·ta·tion / verb
A unique iteration of a design.
Seed / seed / noun
A value that initializes a random function.
Solver / solv·er / noun
An algorithm specifically designed to find the solution to a precisely defined problem.

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Reference Material

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