From Topology Optimization to Complex Digital Architecture: A New Methodology for Architectural Morphology Generation

Abstract

Owing to the capacities of generating structural configuration with both reasonable mechanical properties and high material utilization, topology optimization has been widely adopted in engineering design. Although numerous architects have tried to apply topology optimization tools to assist architectural morphology design in practical projects, topology optimization, like other quantitative analysis techniques, has not been systematically incorporated into the architectural morphology design. In this study, by integrating topology optimization toolsets and parametric design theory, combined with multiattribute decision-making analysis, a design method is proposed that could efficiently obtain several architectural structural architectural morphologies with both structural rationality and aesthetic rules and complete the evaluation and performance ranking of alternatives. In this study, the essential architectural application scenarios are divided into surface application scenarios and volumetric application scenarios, and the possible variation range of topology optimization parameters of architectural application scenarios is defined. By iteratively adjusting the influence parameters, diverse results of structural morphology are obtained. It is found that small changes in optimization parameters will bring great differences in topological results. Such a sensitive relationship can be utilized to generate a set of rational topological structures, and these topological results can be regarded as alternatives for architectural morphology design. For the performance evaluation and ranking analysis of alternatives, the application of FANP-TOPSIS multiattribute decision-making model is put forward in this study. The case study shows that this decision-making analysis model is efficient, convenient, and applicable in the architectural morphology design. The results of this study can provide new ideas and key references for scholars and architects in the field of architecture to explore the process and method of architectural morphology design and other related issues.

The integration of morphological design and topology optimization to enhance the visual quality of electricity pylons

“…He et al (2022) moved a step forward to aesthetics, by proposing a methodology to produce multiple high-performance designs with distinct topologies, with practical applications in architecture and engineering, where the structural complexity usually needs to be controlled to balance the aesthetic, functional, economical, and other considerations. A similar approach is proposed by Lin et al (2021), by integrating TO and parametric design theory, combined with multi criteria decision-making analysis. They efficiently obtain several architectural morphologies with both structural rationality and aesthetic rules, which lead to the exploration of design alternatives.…”

A Study on the Parametric Design Parameters That Influence Environmental Ergonomics and Sustainability

“…The development of computers and design software led to the evolution of parametric design. The new possibilities were aimed at systems that develop more complex calculations and projects [36]. Thus, parametric design has resulted in impressive works such as Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in 1997, with its titanium skin, the complex geometry of the National Stadium in Beijing by Herzog and de Meuron or the precarious cantilever of the MAXXI National Museum in Rome by Zaha Hadid [37].…”