Tech start-up Higharc aims to "reinvent home design for the digital age," reports the Financial Times. The company uses iterative design to create "custom" 3D models and plans. Algorithmic design isn't new to architecture, but it looks like Higharc seeks to do away with "expensive, architect-designed plans that take forever to produce."
According to the Financial Times, Marc Minor, founder and CEO of Higharc, said that the company's system is "faster than existing best-in-class design software for homes...there are sophisticated algorithms behind the scenes continuously determining crucial details that typically take hours of manual effort."
Additionally, Pamela Wallgreen, co-founder of a start-up called Finch 3D, "whose software that automates repetitive tasks and guides architects through the design process" through simulation and AI encouraged architects to take advantage of these new emerging technologies.
since there is no product yet just another startup promising to revolutionize the industry, it's not worth saying much.
but they seem to be taken by the common fallacy that the design process is what makes custom homes slow and expensive. rather it's the efficiency of working at scale with large stable construction teams and support from the locality that makes tract housing somewhat affordable. the design of any individual house is of secondary importance so long as they fit within a system. this tool solves none of that.
that said, it looks like something fun to play with. i never design homes professionally but actually have some fun playing around with software like this. i think there will always be a role for architects to subvert tools like this to create more clever designs.
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Looks great to me
Who needs an architect to design the house shown in the example? If anything, I think it represents a larger idea that many people (in the US) don't value the art of architecture, which results in them not valuing architecture. Look at the majority of architecture in the USA. It's the basis of the previous sentence.
What is it about the house in the example that suggests that it wouldn’t have required an architect to design it?
It looks like any and every other house in any suburban location across the United States. It looks like a house selected from a catalog, that was pre-designed and built by a contractor. I suppose I'm distinguishing between building and architecture.
It seems that you're misunderstanding what my focus is. I think the point is that there are a lot of homes that have little to no architectural thought other than how to apply a regurgitated historic style. I fully agree that code interpretation and ensuring life safety not something AI can do, but the house shown here is not a complicated building and doesn't require an abundance of attention. The person that developed this doesn't want design and that's why it's automated. Many people think similarly and while I think it's a shame and disagree with the approach of using AI to take work away from architects, the house shown doesn't seem to be taking anything away from architects because it doesn't want an architects input. Houses can be built with just an engineers stamp as well btw. So an architect wouldn't necessarily have to be involved in a project like this.
It looks to me like permutations on a traditional farm house/ranch house. This one is not particularly well done, but a house like that could have been really great if designed by a good human architect.
If it keeps moving like that when you are inside someone could get hurt.
Freaky!
Parametrics has arrived. Patrik can retire now.
Why would anyone who looks at any commercial strip shopping area where EVERY dreck structure is designed by an architect want to hire one to design his home? That person would likely find some homes he is attracted to and find out who designed them and approach them to design his home. If they are an architect, fine, if not, that's fine too. If they modify an existing plan from a builder, that's fine also. More than a few hideous McMansions have been designed by card-carrying AIA members.
They want to do away with architects, but hoping architects using their software in the last statement. Ooo..kay! Hope it doesnt bite the dust anytime soon.
since there is no product yet just another startup promising to revolutionize the industry, it's not worth saying much.
but they seem to be taken by the common fallacy that the design process is what makes custom homes slow and expensive. rather it's the efficiency of working at scale with large stable construction teams and support from the locality that makes tract housing somewhat affordable. the design of any individual house is of secondary importance so long as they fit within a system. this tool solves none of that.
that said, it looks like something fun to play with. i never design homes professionally but actually have some fun playing around with software like this. i think there will always be a role for architects to subvert tools like this to create more clever designs.
Housing is not affordable. This is due to the tax structure that rewards real estate speculation and rent collection. There are more vacant units than there are homeless.
Obligatory map
This article seems to be baiting readers just a little ;-).
Nowhere on the 'Finch' company website does it suggest their vision is to do away with 'expensive' architects. How silly. This is marketed as an early-stage design tool to be used by both clients and architects that is geared towards ideation.
Many things in a design are standardized and predictable--and let's be honest--some of the work to test out different visions can be perfunctory and time-consuming. This is not the 'artistic' side of architectural design.
Again its a tool. Maybe it gives you a good idea, maybe it doesn't. Maybe you need to 'train' it on a certain style of building, or tweak parameters.
BTW, you don't need an AI to get repetitive & soulless designs. We seem to be fine at doing that all on our own.
This is not a zero-sum game where AI will take jobs from humans. It is a race with machines not against them. Downplaying its usefulness or rooting for its failure seems foolhardy.
why are you here? what is your agenda? will we ever hear from you again?
@SkeakyPete I'm here because I'm curious about new technology and how it might impact architecture. My agenda to provide my perspective. I see no need to be ruthlessly skeptical of me or this technology. It is a tool.
Oops, just realized this article is over two years old. Has anything been built with this yet?
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