Generative Design
AI that automatically generates and optimizes design options based on specified constraints and goals.
Definition
Generative Design uses AI algorithms to automatically create and evaluate thousands of design alternatives based on project constraints, performance goals, and design parameters. Architects and engineers specify their requirements—such as program, site constraints, daylighting goals, or structural efficiency—and the AI generates optimized solutions that humans might not conceive. This enables exploration of a much broader design space and often results in more innovative, efficient designs.
In Depth
Generative design uses algorithms to create design options from a set of constraints and objectives — rather than the designer creating a single solution, the algorithm generates hundreds or thousands of options that satisfy all constraints and then presents the best-performing options for the designer to evaluate and refine.
In building design, generative approaches are most effective for space planning (laying out rooms and circulation within a given floor plate), structural system optimization (finding the most efficient framing layout for a given set of loads), and facade design (optimizing window placement for daylighting, energy, and views). These are problems with clearly definable constraints where exploring a large solution space reveals options that a human designer working sequentially would not discover.
The designer's role shifts from creating solutions to defining the problem (constraints, objectives, priorities) and evaluating the generated options. This is not a diminishment of design skill — defining the right problem is the hardest part of design, and evaluating options against multiple criteria requires the judgment and taste that define good architecture.
Examples
Generating optimal floor plan layouts based on program requirements and adjacencies
Creating structural systems optimized for material efficiency
Designing facade systems that maximize daylighting while controlling solar gain
Nomic Use Cases
See how Nomic applies this in production AEC workflows:
Compatible Platforms
Nomic integrates with these platforms so you can use generative design across your existing project data:
Frequently Asked Questions
Generative Design uses AI algorithms to automatically create and evaluate thousands of design alternatives based on project constraints, performance goals, and design parameters. Architects and engineers specify their requirements—such as program, site constraints, daylighting goals, or structural efficiency—and the AI generates optimized solutions that humans might not conceive. This enables exploration of a much broader design space and often results in more innovative, efficient designs.
Generating optimal floor plan layouts based on program requirements and adjacencies. Creating structural systems optimized for material efficiency. Designing facade systems that maximize daylighting while controlling solar gain.
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