Critical Practice: Protocol for a Fused Technology.

Part of a special issue on collective intelligence in design. The writers describe how their collaborative design group Open Source Architecture developed design software that merges previously distinct areas of expertise. The group, which spans New York, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv, has worked with structural engineers and software developers to create a computational protocol based on a stochastic evolutionary topological optimization algorithm, a procedure that enables architects to work with complex geometries previously limited to the expertise of engineering. The group allows various disciplines (computer science, structural engineering, and architectural design) to work together with a fluidity and commonality not previously possible.