The studio's applied research. We test parametric design, optimization and visual AI on real cases and bring the methods that work into our projects.
[01] Parametric design
Building repurposing
The question
How many homes fit in an existing building without adding volume? The algorithm tests layouts and scores each on three goals.
Key figures
- 3
- goals scored for every layout
- 545 ft²
- the smallest apartment allowed
- 30 ft
- offset chosen by the user
How the layout is generated
Carves recesses into the edge of the floor plate.
Fixes the circulation core.
Applies the offset chosen by the user.
Divides the floor into apartments that meet the minimum size.
Measures the floor area left over.
Places new apartments in that leftover area.
Goals and limits
What it aims for
More homes in the same building.
More sun in each home, as a proxy for its daylight autonomy.
More views without obstructions.
Rules it cannot break
The new volume never exceeds the original.
Only when that rule holds can it add homes on the roof.
No apartment falls below the minimum size.
What comes next
- Today
Layout, three goals and their rules.
- Next · 01
Include the structure in the model.
- Next · 02
Add the daylight evaluator.
[02] Exploration
Multi-objective optimization of an industrial warehouse
San Luis Potosí, Mexico
The question
Each point is a different roof, scored for comfort, daylight and cost. The algorithm keeps those no other beats on all three.
With neighbours on three sides, all the room for improvement is in the roof.
Key figures
- 39
- design variables
- 1,018
- combinations evaluated
- 417
- optimal solutions (Pareto front)
The parametric model
A parametric model of the roof with 39 variables: typology, pitch, skylights, shading overhangs, insulation, absorptance and ventilation. Three purpose-built metrics score every combination.
Discomfort: annual degree-hours per zone (EN 16798, local climate).
Daylight: daylight factor weighted by the sky each skylight sees.
Cost: materials, flashing and line items at verified market prices.
A genetic algorithm evaluated 1,018 combinations: 417 form the Pareto front, where none improves one goal without giving up another.
That front is the deliverable: the basis for deciding how much comfort and daylight each investment buys.
Current state and four solutions
Choose an option to see it
Maximum indoor temperature in the warehouse: 42.6 °C. Daylight factor of 0.77 %, against a 2 % target.
[03] Case study
Safe public spaces: perception or reality?
Visual AI applied to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) in Rio de Janeiro
The question
Rio has answered crime by militarizing neighbourhoods and closing off public space. Does the design of space influence crime? With computer vision we audited a whole neighbourhood from street images and cross-referenced it with real shooting data.
Key figures
- 2022–2023
- shootings mapped across the metropolitan area
- 99 %
- confidence of the chosen hot spot
- 43 → 29
- object categories tested and useful
Methodology
CPTED holds that the form of space (surveillance, lighting, access, maintenance, vegetation, activity) can prevent crime. Here an AI runs that audit at neighbourhood scale, in five steps.
Crime data
Shootings recorded by Fogo Cruzado across the metropolitan area, 2022–2023, by cause.
Where to look
A hot spot analysis pinpointed the highest concentration of crime, at 99 % confidence: Praça Seca.
Walking the neighbourhood remotely
We covered every street with Google Street View; each capture is georeferenced.
Where crime concentrates
A few very intense clusters: the baseline for every comparison.
The AI reads the street
A semantic segmentation model (DPT) classifies every pixel (camera, street light, wall, fence, tree, graffiti, shop) and groups objects into CPTED strategies to give an index per point. Of 43 categories tested, 29 proved useful.
Crossing design and crime: results
Each point gets its distance to the nearest crime. The maps show where design and crime coincide; the plots, which way the link points. The two clearest trends run in opposite directions.
Crime and access control
There are more walls, fences and gates where there is more crime. Closing space off does not seem to protect it; it empties the street.
Crime and landscape
Where there are more trees, parks and vegetation, there is less crime. Spaces that invite people to stay strengthen community life.
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