More information is available at research statement details . Innovative Application of GP My second research direction explores the use of GP in the domain of architecture. I was approached by an architect who was seeking a computational technique to help him integrate the natural and artificial processes at a design site into architectural forms. GP is an effective way of exploring conceptual spaces for architects because inheritance allows them to refine while blind variation stimulates them with unpredictable options. The evolutionary metaphor allows a non-specialist to comprehend the algorithmic process.
Evolution manipulates the programs that generate the coordinates of the surfaces.
The project has demanded a revision of the standard view of GP as a non-interactive, stand alone module with well defined fitness criteria and domain independent genetic manipulation. Our system will allow the architect to interactively control selection by ranking drawings. This reassigns the task of judgement to the agent who understands the interpretive demands. The system interfaces with the architectural drawing tool in a sequence of evolution and drawing. It provides genetic operations that work on architecturally meaningful abstractions, e.g., folds, flips, lifts, and stretches to a surface or face.