Behavioral Modeling - Intro

Sequence Summary

In this module you will learn how to simulate behavior using a gaming engine and a framework called agent based modeling. You will learn to think of the systems beyond the typical 3d Rhino model: which captures only the physical 3 dimensions in a specific moment in time when the building is created. Instead you will think about the dynamic aspects: time, behavior, moment, growth, policy, economics. By modeling these behaviors explicitly through agent based rules designers can test and challenge assumptions usually inherent in the design of cities.

You will get an overview of:

• Understand Simulations, Agent Based Models and their uses and shortcomings
• Get a basic understanding of Gaming Engines (Unity)
• Learn to animate "characters" using a plugin called Behavior Bricks
• Learn to work with Software Development Kits through the Mapbox SDK (Software Development Kit)

Why?

A World Influenced By Seemingly Invisible Forces: Why Designers Should Model Behavior

Architects today have to think about and design systems beyond the physical. The computerization of every aspect of life has created a Platform society. Today most of our social and economic relations take place through platforms like Facebook and Venmo. Tinder’s matching algorithm leads to an increasing number of matches and marriages each year. Ultimately its algorithm will shape the genetic makeup of the human race, as swipes are made, humans are matched and babies are born. The filters of StreetEasy and Apartment Finder literally filter the makeup of who lives in what neighborhoods; reprogramming entire city zones. Where the Nolli map once exposed accessible public space, Yelp is now telling individuals what spaces they should like, but when everyone sees a different map, recommendation systems algorithmically segregate cities, generating spatialized filter bubbles which choreograph pedestrian flows through siloed canals across the city. From Yelp reviews directing people to preferred restaurants to Airbnb reprogramming homes into vacation rentals, the invisible code that powers a city’s use may have more drastic influence than any physical invention in the last century.

But long before the internet, encoded rules like zoning, to racial redlining of the 30s also governed the structure and behavior of cities. Scientists in the 40s speculated that the emergent behaviors of cities could be simulated, analyzed and even shifted through agent based models. Today, computing speed, open spatial data, gives immense power to designers and engineers to create far more sophisticated models of interdependent dynamic systems. But even more importantly, in a century dictated by invisible algorithms, pokemon stops, and interconnected sharing economies - the design of rules, policies or algorithms may be more important than the design of a new building or masterplan.

Example Student Projects

Simulation — Rodent Plague in Manhattan, Yingjun Mou, 2018

Uber Simulation Model, Guangwei Ren, Data Mining the City 2019