Overview

The Design Automation Lab was a research group at the Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore, from 2008 to 2022. The lab was set up and directed by Patrick Janssen, who is now Head of Research at Packhunt in Amsterdam.

The lab conducted research into the development of computational method and tools for supporting design decision making at building and urban scales.

These methods and tools support an adaptive-iterative type of design process that consists of two nested loops, as shown in the figure below.

The adaptive-iterative design process.

In the adaptive loop, design concepts and ideas are developed. In the iterative loop, the workability of these concepts and ideas are explored in three steps. First, design variants are developed based on the schema. Second, the variants are evaluated with respect to certain criteria. Third, feedback is generated based on the evaluation.

The research focuses mainly on the inner loop. It aims to support design decision making by creating computational procedures that automate steps in this inner loop in various combinations.