Architecture firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel has launched ACPVLab, a research and development unit that will focus on using generative design to develop bespoke interiors.

Led by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel partners Paolo Mazza and Marco Brambilla, ACPVLab will use generative design technology to "move beyond off-the-shelf solutions" and create "richer" interiors at a fast pace.

Generative design involves using computer software to generate a variety of design solutions that meet the pre-set parameters of a given space.

"Handcrafted" script

ACPVLab has developed a "handcrafted" computer script that will allow architects and interior designers to explore thousands of different layout permutations instantly.

"Through algorithms providing a series of optimal design outcomes in iteration sequences, the methodology will help architects and designers evaluate and refine designs," the firm said.

"Generative design, assisted by artificial intelligence, has now reached a level of accessibility and computational power which allows us to use it for our bespoke design, now supported by more and better-informed decisions," Mazza told Dezeen.

"Generative design and its algorithms will improve the speed with which variables such as comfort, people-to-people distance, headcount maximization, sustainability, natural lighting and other environmental and project data can be taken into account during the design process."

Using generative design, ACPVLab will develop software tools that will be able to process a greater amount of input data and therefore consider a wider array of spatial parameters.

Tool can help social distancing in offices

These tools will be able to be to produce different types of spaces including residential, commercial and offices – something which Mazza says is particularly important in light of the global coronavirus pandemic, which has challenged the way in which we can safely use and occupy workspaces.

"We believe that the change of culture in workplaces is profound and will change the proportions between collaborative and personal workspaces, shifting the weight heavily towards collaborative spaces,"  Mazza added. "Social distancing is just one of the many parameters we feed our scripts with."

"In its essence, the new tool will allow for a more free, unconstrained and wide terrain of possibilities and configurations within which architects can operate and react quickly to ever-changing needs."

Designers turning towards generative design

ACPVLab joins a growing number of architecture, construction and design companies turning to generative design. Last year, Wallgren Arkitekter and BOX Bygg worked together to create a parametric tool called Finch which can help architects and designers adapt their floor plans to suit the constraints of a given site.

Phillipe Starck also employed generative design software developed by Autodesk to produce the AI chair for Italian furniture brand Kartell. Autodesk claimed it is the world's first chair created using artificial intelligence to go into production.

ACPVLab is an offshoot of architecture and design studio Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, which was founded by Milan-based architects Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel.