Research on computer aided creative design

In this paper, our research works are reported from requirement management to functional design, from automatic function-to-form mapping to shape decomposition and synthesizing etc. Tree points are emphasized, decomposition, mapping and reconstitution (D-M-R for short), which is proposed to cope with divergent exploration, automatic transformation and convergent exploitation. It could be concluded that, 1.) management of creative process is the key issue to develop creative computational design tools; and the modeling of design tools could facilitate the creative thought processes; 2) in many research areas there seemed no direct relationship between automation and creativity, while in design practices, it could be concluded that automation not necessarily result in creative works, but highly automatic procedures could facilitate creative works; 3) although creative work need the tension between building and breaking out of intellectual traditions, the creative activity in CAD systems need large knowledge base to support design activities and is capable of learning. 4) the decomposition, mapping and reconstitution model could be a common exploration, transformation and exploitation procedure for management of computational design tools, therefore helpful for creative work, specifically packages of design tools have been developed to testify creativity in design practices, and the relationship between creativity and automation.