Design-Information-Modeling for Kit-of-Parts Architecture 🧩
semio is the toolchain for designing modular architecture ✏️
🤔 Why semio?
🛠️ Features
✅ Ready
- Grasshopper: Battery-included plugin for creating, editing and sharing semio kits 🦗
- Wasp: A Grasshopper-based integration between semio and Wasp 🐝
- Speckle: A Grasshopper-based integration between semio and Speckle 🟦
- Remote: Use any file-hosting platform as a shared Common-Data-Environment ☁️
🚀 In the making
- sketchpad: A drag and drop interface to create semio designs ✏️
- Ladybug: A Grasshopper-based converter from semio to Ladybug 🐞
📅 Planned
- studio: A platform to design together in real-time 🕹️
- design assistant: A personalized ai to help you design 🤖
❌ What semio is not:
-
Rhino, SketchUp, 3ds Max, Blender, …
A 3d tool 🐚
In semio you link 3d-models 🎋
-
AutoCAD, DraftSight, LibreCAD, …
A CAD tool 📐
In semio you link dynamic blocks 📦
-
Revit, ArchiCAD, Vectorworks, BricksCAD, BlenderBIM, …
A BIM tool 🧱
In semio you link instances of your own types 🗿
-
Grasshopper, Dynamo, GenerativeComponents, Sverchok, …
A node tool 🦗
In semio you link the input with the output ⛓️💥
-
IFC, Speckle, BHoM, …
A data tool 📄
In semio you link design knowledge 📚
-
Hypar, Viktor, Fusion, …
A parametric tool 🎛️
In semio you link static designs 🩻
-
Wasp, Assembler, Monoceros, ComputerGeneratedArchitecture …
A solver tool 🎰
In semio you link precise pieces 🪡
-
OpenSCAD, CadQuery, Fornjot, …
A scripting tool 📜
In semio you link ports visually 🖱️
-
Illustrator, AffinityDesigner, InkScape, …
A vector tool ↗️
In semio you link drawings 🪙
-
EnergyPlus, TRYNSIS, Modellica, …
A simulation tool ☀️
In semio you link models and results 🔢
-
Autodesk Construction Cloud, Bimcloud, Bentley Infrastructure Cloud, Git, Nextcloud, …
A CDE tool ☁️
In semio you link urls 🔗
📖 So, what is semio?
In other words:
- An open-source ecosystem for designing kit-of-parts architecture 🧩
- A designer-affine pencil for a placeholder-based, non-linear and iterative design space exploration 🔀
- A collaboration-friendly platform to design effectively in large teams 🤝
- A local-first storage to link, reuse and develop design systems 🔗
- A decentralized technology of sharing online assets with metadata 🌐
- An ai-boosted design assistant, ready for LLM super powers 🤖
- A razor-sharp interface for integrating manual and automated design workflows 🏗️
- A conversion-free interoperability standard that sits on top of existing software and is not trying to get in between 🪆
- A ready-to-use API for other developers 👩💻
📃 Principles
semio is built on top of the following premises:
- 🔓 Open over closed: Futureproof technology needs to be developed together 🤝
- 🖱️ Manual over automated: Design supported and not derived by technology 🪛
- 👥 Team over individual: To collaborate efficiently we need interfaces 🧩
- ♻️ Composable over disposable: Even the most complex systems can be thought of parts 🧠
- 🧪 Implementation over specification: Hands-on instead of head-first ✍️
- 🔀 Integration over generality: We don’t want to replace existing tools but extend them 🚀
- 🔨 Simple over complex: Complexity arises on it’s own 🌱
- 📖 Example over theory: To avoid building an ivory tower 🗼
- 🏛️ Architecture over modeling: We need more architecture-focused toolchains ✏️
- 🏗️ Prefab over custom: For economic and ecologic solutions 📉
🔓 Open over closed
The reason why computer science is so successful is because all of its core is open-source 🤝
Big IT-companies have realized that an open core is the best way for an industry to grow 📈
The monetization shouldn’t happen on the core technology but on the services around them 💰
As customers we pay for:
- Shared collaboration environments
- Productivity enhancing features
- Private working environments
- Integration with company-specific infrastructure
- …
We don’t care about the underlying:
- Libraries
- Engines
- CLIs
- APIs
- SDKs
- …
Most servers in the world run on Linux 🐧
Software companies of the Architecture-Engineering-Construction (AEC) industry have made the mistake to compete on the core technology instead of the services around them ❌
🖱️ Manual over automated
👥 Team over individual
♻️ Composable over disposable
🛠️ Implementation over specification
🔀 Integration over generality
🧩 Simple over complex
📖 Example over theory
🏛️ Architecture over modeling
🏗️ Prefab over custom
🤨 When should I design with semio?
If you design unique atmospheres by hand drawn sketches, eager to find the right shape based on surfaces with one-of-each-kind morphology, then you should stick to your 3d tool ❌
If you design floor plans, sections and elevations by moving lines and hatches around, analyzing contours then you should stick to your CAD tool ❌
If you design storeys, walls, windows, slabs and roofs by moving them around, changing individual dimensions of those, then you should stick to your BIM tool ❌
If you design high-resolution blobs by sophisticated rules, statistical noise, intersection-based entropy, then you should stick to your solver tool ❌
If you design modular systems by iteratively developing typology based on metrics, then you should use semio ✅