AI as Co-designer

AI AS CO-DESIGNER FOR INTEGRATIVE COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN AND ENGINEERING HARNESSING BIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY AND PRE-USE FEATURES OF TIMBER

RP 36-1 develops an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based co-design system for the integrative computational design and engineering of timber buildings. The research integrates computational design, structural analysis, and generative AI methods to enable constraint-aware design generation. Architectural, structural, and material constraints are formalised and incorporated into the design process, allowing AI models to generate physically consistent and buildable building systems. The approach combines data-driven methods such as graph neural networks and diffusion models with explicit rules, simulation feedback, and user interaction.

The project formalises structured datasets and representations for AI-driven design. On this basis, it develops generative and constraint-aware AI methods for timber building design, formalises the constraints that guide the generation process, and integrates AI-based generation, structural evaluation, and user interaction into a coherent co-design workflow. The outcome is an AI-based co-design system that generates timber building designs based on defined building systems and constraints, while enabling interactive exploration and evaluation of structurally feasible solutions.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS & PARTICIPATING RESEARCHERS

Prof. Thomas Wortmann
Principal Investigator
Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD/CA)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

Prof. Achim Menges
Spokesperson
Institute of Computational Design and Construction (ICD)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Knippers
Deputy Spokesperson
Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

Prof. Dr. Mathias Niepert
Participating Researcher
Institute for Artificial Intelligence (KI)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

Prof. Dr. Daniel Weiskopf
Board of Directors
Visualization Research Center (VISUS) and Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems (VIS)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

RESEARCHERS

M.Sc., B. Arch. Diellza Elshani
Doctoral Researcher
Institute of Computational Design and Construction (ICD/CA)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

M.Sc. Markus Renner
Doctoral Researcher
Institute of Computational Design and Construction (ICD/CA)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

M.Sc. ITECH (Dist.), B.Sc. (Arch.) Hans Jakob Wagner
Doctoral Researcher
Institute of Computational Design and Construction (ICD)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

M.Sc. Renan Prandini
Doctoral Researcher
Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

M.Sc. Tanja Bien
Doctoral Researcher
Institute for Artificial Intelligence (KI)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC

M.Sc. Sebastian Künzel
Doctoral Researcher
Visualization Research Center (VISUS)
Cluster of Excellence IntCDC