An initial software prototype capable of automating the process of decoding a commonly used parametric design data (PDD) file format and then re-encoding it with new set of metrics to facilitate multiple PDD searchability, comparability and interoperability, via an integrated web interface querying a design data repository. All PDDs are conceptualized as genealogies of numerical or geometric transformations and explicitly encoded with a graph-based data structure. Using techniques found in graph theory, the system generates a multiplicity of new PDDs (i.e. new sub-graphs, sub-genealogies and sub-parametric models) from a single original PDD, thus exposing its inherent design histories which could be further recombined with other PDDs to generate more heterogeneous ones.
keywords: Design Decoder; Design Space Exploration; Parametric Design; Visual Analytics; Design Data.
authors: Immanuel Koh, Paul Keel, Jeffrey Huang
creative-coding: Immanuel Koh
Image credits: MxD and SUTD