A complementary approach also is possible. Rather than using multiple versions to decide what is best based on comparison, architects can instead use computing power to find structural solutions that are self-organizing; that is, not decided on by an individual but arrived at by genetic algorithms that iteratively apply relatively simple rules.

This iterative, emergent process — people designing better tools to take on interesting projects and then conceiving more interesting projects to take advantage of the better tools — is at once new and quintessentially human. By building and using better design tools and creating a culture that gets the most out of these tools, the generative design movement is becoming a potent tool for evolving our built environment.