Statistical Design in Computer Supported Urban Planning

A cooperative project between KCAP and the professorship for CAAD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich resulted in Kaisersrot – software which can be used to automatically generate urban structures. With design factors (lot sizes, denseness, development areas) and the requests and objectives of those involved as a basis, the software is used to autonomously distribute lot and building spaces over the planning area. Unlike pure figures-based statistics, this method, known as ‘statistical design’, takes into account the forms, position and proportions of new and existing buildings. The resulting planning process, which can be adapted to changing parameters, immediately provides visual feedback and offers the builder and those involved in the planning a basis for making further decisions. The Kaisersrot software has now developed into a practice-oriented design technology, which has been used in various projects. During a study for Zurich’s Hardturmareal, the computer identified the possible construction volume, its optimisation in line with the factors noise, view and exposure to sunlight, and the optimised distribution of apartments and central interior spaces within an automatic process.