Generating Circulation Designs Using Shape Grammars

Shape grammars are well-known tools to explore abstract systems of shapes and their relationships. Although there has been much research on the use of shape grammars in the field of architectural styles, there has been little investigation into the concept of circulation using shape grammars. Circulation is a tool used in architecture and interior design and is formed by connecting the points left by the movement of human beings through indoor or outdoor spaces. This study shows that shape grammars are also helpful in this particular field by presenting how a parametric shape grammar is applied to generate circulation designs, and the system automatically generates four basic types of complex circulations. According to the specific conditions and requirements of each commercial space, different forms of circulation can be specified and generated.

Informal Settlements： A Shape Grammar Approach

Informal urban development is seldomly covered in academic studies or professional architectural training. This article sets forth the first stage of a novel study that observes the informal city using the methodology of analysis of architecture called shape grammars. The idea is to recognize peculiarities in the occupation of the land and the volumetric features of the buildings. Rocinha favela, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is taken as a case study with the primary aim of extrapolating a set of rules for its morphological features so that these rules can be used to generate new shapes, whilst bearing in mind the issues of adaptation and transformation which are so characteristic of informal settlements. There is some expectation that this study may help improve the housing and public space in the favela and enable new housing programs to observe the way the buildings and different architectural elements combined, forming a new channel of interchange with the spatial organization of the favela.

Favela’s Houses as Design Reference： Using Shape Grammar

Shape grammar has been used by many researchers to identify and/or define languages in architectural design. This paper presents a methodology developed using shape grammar to analyze the informal city, specifically Favela da Rocinha’s buildings, in Rio de Janeiro. The goal was finding the organizational foundations of self-built houses in an informal settlement. A methodology was developed to find composition patterns and to infer a set of rules which defines a shape grammar of Rocinha houses, allowing synthesis and analysis of low cost solutions for house designs. And above all, it highlights underlying design solutions produced empirically by inhabitants of favelas, emphasizing the diversity in favela’s architecture, and, that is also able to reflect the particular necessities of targeted population.

Study on Shape Design of Shouzhou Kiln Porcelain Based on Shape Grammar and Genetic Constraints

In order to expand the development of the Shouzhou kiln porcelain market and meet the diverse needs of the crowd,a deduction model for the shape design of Shouzhou kiln porcelain under the effect of shape grammar and genetic constraints was constructed.Based on the shape classification of the original samples of Shouzhou kiln porcelain,the characteristic genes of Shouzhou kiln porcelain were analyzed,and genetic constraints were determined.By extracting the shape characteristics of the porcelain and combining the questionnaires,the initial shape was screened and brought into the shape grammar deduction rule library.Under the dual effect of genetic constraints and deduction rules,the preliminary plans were generated.Finally,the preliminary plans were further screened and optimized by the fuzzy evaluation method to obtain the best plan.The shape grammar and product gene constraints were applied to the shape design of Shouzhou kiln porcelain.While inheriting and expanding the shape of Shouzhou kiln porcelain,it verified the effectiveness of the theory in design and application,and helps to improve the continuous innovation of designers and enterprises.

Morphological Essay on Favela da Rocinha through Shape Grammar

Favelas and other types of informal settlements are important urban issues in several regions around the world,especially in developing countries.They are the housing solution found by populations with no access to formal real estate market,who still suffer with the precariousness of both buildings and urban infrastructure.This paper presents a brief overview on governmental policies for favelas in the city of Rio de Janeiro along the 20th century,until the present moment,to observe hits and misses and present a morphological study about Rocinha,the biggest favela in Brazil.This work is based on the principles of Shape Grammar and demonstrates patterns of composition,organized in sets of rules that allow producing new designs.The intention is to create a proposal for an objective reading of typical favela spaces,to determine standards and rules that may contribute to architectural and urban designs that are more adequate to the populations they are designed for.

Extraction and evolution of grader’s bionic morphological feature line using shape structure behavior function model

To improve the innovation of agricultural machinery product styling,this paper proposes a shape structure behavior function(SSBF)model suitable for the industrial design field.The feature line evolution method combining shape grammar and genetic algorithm was used for modelling the of the grader,which not only maintains the product style characteristics but also reflects the typical identification characteristics of the bionic prototype and produces a new product modelling scheme.By conducting cognitive and recognition experiments on product styling features,the ranking of product styling features and the contribution of each component to product styling were determined.The method of combining shape grammar and quadratic Bézier curve was used to express and encode feature lines,and genetic algorithm was used to evolve biomimetic forms to form product feature lines with typical biological morphological features;The extracted form bionic elements were integrated into the grader modelling design,and the interaction evaluation was carried out through the genetic algorithm evolution scheme.The basic form elements were extracted and analyzed,and the deduction rules were formulated and reorganized.The derived feature line geometric data considered the product’s image features and the bio-inspired prototype,which can be used for the follow-up guidance of industrial design schemes.

Generative urban design using shape grammar and block morphological analysis

The significant challenges that urban design faces when moving forward into this new digital era involve the increasingly massive and complex projects that must be analyzed and developed.The need for efficient analysis tools and rational design methods represent ongoing concerns,while practicable and maneuverable applications rather than experimental studies are scarce.This research implemented a framework of digital description and generative grammar of block form from the perspective of block morphological complexity.The implemented framework was tested in an urban design practice.First,this study adapted the hierarchical structure and access structure theory to analyze the spatial form of target blocks.The characteristics of blocks case samples in Nanjing are extracted as text descriptions.Second,the relevant composition patterns and parameters were employed as features for classificati on and were converted into procedural rules.With the top-down control by rules and bottom-up generation by shape grammar in CityEngine,the texture of the block can be generated as close to the actual block as possible.Furthermore,in a real urban design case located in Nanjing,this work applies the method to construct a three-dimensional scene quickly and accurately.After integrating design factors such as an environment,transportation,and vision and summarizing the intentions of blocks and buildings in corresponding functions and control indexes,the initial generation plan was built by applying the obtained characteristics and procedural rules in specific shape grammar.Finally,designers can adjust the result in detail by employing real-time calculation and interactive operation.

The Hutong neighbourhood grammar:A procedural modelling approach to unravel the rationale of historical Beijing urban structure

Hutong neighbourhoods,composed of Chinese courtyard dwellings(Siheyuan),are historically and socially significant urban spaces that embody the traditional Chinese way of life and philosophy.As part of the national heritage,there is an increasing research interest in Hutong neighbourhoods,many of which are facing oblivion.This study presents a formal grammar for Hutong neighbourhood generation.This research investigates traditional principles of urban planning of ancient Beijing,based on examples on the historical map Qianlong Jingcheng Quantu,to derive the lost design rules.These rules are used to build up a procedural modelling framework,which reveals the development of Beijing’s urban structure from the Yuan(1271–1368)to the Qing(1644–1911)dynasty.Our findings present a grammar incorporated into the procedural modelling framework to parametrically generate Hutong neighbourhoods,which replicates the morphological characteristics of historic cases.It contributes to the understanding of the generation of Hutong neighbourhoods.In support of heritage sustainability,this grammar can be implemented in a computational environment by visual scripting that enables the generation of new instances of Hutong neighbourhoods,both real and virtual.

Design framework for robotic surgery wards at hospitals:Computational implementation

Robotic surgery is one of the most recent technologies in healthcare building field.Due to the design complexity of Robotic surgery wards,computational implementations are being developed to either measure the effect of inserting advanced technologies as Electronic medical recorders and tele surgery,or evaluate design alternatives on healthcare building.This paper presents a design framework that responds to the need for coordinating design phases for Robotic Surgery Wards(RSWs)computationally.This proposed design framework for RSWs can generate functional RSW alternatives and more than one solution for each alternative.The framework has been structured based on the main architectural considerations of RSWs which are geom etric and topological,the economic considerations,specific developed pools for shape and corridor patterns,and the theory of,fShape Grammars"has been utilized to compute the framework to generate a vast number of design alternatives.Accordingly,a computational implementation has been established to assist designers in early design stages.Numerical validation for the applications of the developed framework and implementation has been conducted by using reference examples of RSWs.The main finding in this paper is providing healthcare building designers with a computational implementation that generates RSW alternative computationally based on specific shape and cost levels.