What if computational design wasn't about creating more complex forms, but about asking better architectural questions?
Computational design is often associated with increasingly complex geometries and expressive forms. Yet its greatest potential may lie elsewhere: in providing architects with a framework for exploring ideas, testing alternatives and developing more informed design decisions. Rather than being an end in itself,
digital tools can become a means of investigating how architecture responds to environmental, social and spatial challenges.
digital tools can become a means of investigating how architecture responds to environmental, social and spatial challenges.
The Pro-sumer explores how an office tower can evolve from being a consumer of resources into an active contributor to the city. Instead of treating sustainability as an additional layer applied to a finished design, the proposal integrates renewable energy production, water harvesting, food cultivation and passive environmental strategies into the architectural logic of the building itself. The result is a mixed-
use timber tower that reimagines the relationship between architecture, nature and urban life.
Developed using Rhino throughout the design process, the project employed computational modelling as a tool for exploring geometry, environmental performance and spatial organisation through an iterative workflow. Rather than simply representing a final design, the digital model became an essential part of evaluating alternatives and refining architectural decisions as the proposal evolved.
The Pro-sumer received Second Prize in the Buildner Timber SkyHive Competition and has since been invited for presentation at the Architecture Through Media Forums 2026 at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. The project forms part of a broader exploration of how computational design and digital technologies can contribute to regenerative architecture by supporting buildings that
produce resources, strengthen ecological systems and create more resilient urban environments.
Typology: Skyscraper
Project location: Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam
Gross Built Area: 10.000m2
Prize: - 2nd Buildner Skyhive Skyscraper Challenge! Edition #6
Selected for presentation at the Architecture Through Media Forums 2026, Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA), London.
Design year: 2023
Design team: Sofia Michopoulou
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