Evolutionary Computing Applications in Architecture design

While evolutionary computing (EC) is nothing more than a search for the optimum, so is every (and thus also architectural) design. How can EC be applied for usage in architecture?

As Vitruvius pointed out some two thousand years ago, a well designed architecture has to match three standards: firmness (structural integrity), commodity (functionality) and delight (aesthetic value).

So, in the search for optimal architecture, it is very logical to map each of the Vitruvius' standards to evolutionary computing's fitness function.

When asssessing the structural fitness of a subject (a building), the fittest are those capable of carrying more static stress (burden), preferably with less material used for the construction.

In a similar way, the functionality can be assessed based on the set of conditions. It is certanly better if the drawing room is bigger than the hall; and it's better that master bedrom is closer to the bathroom than to the kitchen.

The hardest thing to process for the computer is the aesthetic. While one could struggle to automate the aesthetic assessment process with certain mathematic rules (symetry, proportions, rythm....), I remain sceptic about such an approach - aesthetic is a highly subjective category.

But even if the fitness function for aesthetic cannot be calculated, that does not mean evolutionary computing cannot be applied in that field.

If aesthetic is a subjective quality, something in the eye of the beholder - the human being, then a real human being must perform the assessment of the subjects. Selection by fitness function still exists, but it is not automated nor calculated. A human being, artist/architect in our case, would make selections in the manner of a horse breeder. Some subjects in population would look better and would be favored for passing their properties to the next generations.

One might argue that human intervention would render EC unusable. Well, it might slow down the process (few seconds instead of few miliseconds - that's 1000x slower), but all the key elements of the EC remain. Only the fitness function for the aesthetic is admitted to be what it actually is - inevitably a human's judgement.