Integrated generative design tools for the mass customisation of furniture

This paper presents the optimisation step in a grammar-based generative design system for the mass customisation of furniture. The ongoing re-search assesses the use of integrated CAD-CAE tools in the develop-ment of a digital design process involving closer collaboration between design and engineering as a feasible motivation for optimum designs. The optimisation of structural behaviour is illustrated by a series of ex-periments using a simulated annealing algorithm to explore solutions for custom chairs generated by parametric models. Constraints are de-fined according to the aesthetic considerations established in the design language. The paper concludes with a discussion of the effective use of integrated performance tools in furniture design methodology in the age of mass customisation.