Architectural design through bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization

This article aims to reveal the power of modern structural topology optimization technology for architectural design.Structural topology optimization determines the best locations and shapes of cavities in the design domain;it is therefore capable of effectively generating both structurally efficient and architecturally innovative conceptual design.The Evolutionary Structural Optimization(ESO) method is one of the most popular topology optimization methods developed in the past three decades.Due to its simplicity in software implementation and effectiveness,ESO has been applied to solve a wide range of structural design problems.The latest version-the Bi-directional ESO(BESO) has reached a level of maturity with advanced robustness and accuracy;applications of this technique have emerged around the world especially in the past decade.Through a series of examples,the article demonstrates the capability of BESO as a digital design tool for finding aesthetically pleasing yet structurally efficient forms.