Integrating spatial and functional data in a prototype solids grammar of tall building design

Abstract: "Spatial grammars and solids modeling have both contributed to the expansion of computer representable abstractions from numerical and symbolic data into the realm of spatial data. Spatial grammars, such as Stiny's shape grammars, have focused on representing and transforming this spatial data. However, to date spatial and non-spatial data have not been fully integrated into an engineering design process. We describe a grammar which uses a solids modeling representation with object-attribute-value labels. The objects in this label data structure are any of the topological elements of the solids model. Through this enriched representation we demonstrate the extensibility of the grammar formalism into engineering disciplines bound by functional constraints. The grammar presented is a prototype implementation intended to demonstrate the relevant domain variables as well as the nature of their interaction in driving the design process. We describe the grammar and discuss the lessons we have learned from its development and critique."