PlaceHolder is a plugin for Rhino allowing architects to generate hundreds of test building layouts that respond to site conditions and room relationships.
The software takes user inputted data about site conditions, room sizes, and desired relationships between these elements. It then places rooms where they want to be on the site, and joins them together into a single building. This layout is scored between 0% and 100% based on how many desired relationships were achieved. Then the order in which rooms are joined is slightly shuffled, and the process is repeated.
The script uses an annealing solver algorithm, so each layout it generates has a probability of being accepted as the new best layout based on its score. For each layout, the solver partially shuffles the room placement order, and if that new order results in a higher score, this new placement order is partially shuffled and the process repeats. Over time the scores get higher, and the room order is shuffled less and less until the solver finds a local maximum score that can’t be improved unless the layout is changed drastically. Then the solver resets and another local maximum score is found, resulting in a variety of acceptable building layouts.
For a full demonstration of PlaceHolder, see the video below. This is a work in progress, so please reach out if you’d like to discuss further.