Diffusion Models for Computational Design at the Example of Floor Plans
Joern Ploennigs Markus Berger
AI Image generators based on diffusion models are widely discussed recently
for their capability to create images from simple text prompts. But, for
practical use in civil engineering they need to be able to create specific
construction plans for given constraints. Within this paper we explore the
capabilities of those diffusion-based AI generators for computational design at
the example of floor plans and identify their current limitation. We explain
how the diffusion-models work and propose new diffusion models with improved
semantic encoding. In several experiments we show that we can improve validity
of generated floor plans from 6% to 90% and query performance for different
examples. We identify short comings and derive future research challenges of
those models and discuss the need to combine diffusion models with building
information modelling. With this we provide key insights into the current state
and future directions for diffusion models in civil engineering.