William J. Mitchell

Synthesis and Optimization of Small Rectangular Floor Plans

This paper describes a set of algorithms for the production of a certain class of architectural plans. Each plan is made up from rectangular rooms arranged within a simple rectangular overall plan shape. The effective upper limit on the number of component rectangles which may presently be treated is eight. Given certain specified requirements as to which rooms shall be adjacent, the algorithms produce exhaustively all topologically distinct arrangements of rooms in which those requirements are satisfied. Constraints on the dimensions and areas of each room may then be introduced. Several approaches for the dimensioning of the rectangular arrangements have been explored. In certain cases, appropriate dimensions may be found by solving simultaneous linear equations. Under special conditions linear programming may be used to find that assignment of dimensions to rooms which gives least cost—where cost is for example calculated as a function of the enclosing surfaces. A more general solution may be found with the use of nonlinear programming methods. One further possibility, where dimensions are allowed to vary only by modular increments, is for all feasible dimensional solutions to be enumerated exhaustively.

The Grammar of Paradise: On the Generation of Mughul Gardens

The conventions used to design Mughul gardens are characterized. These conventions are represented by a parametric shape grammar.

The Theoretical Foundation of Computer-Aided Architectural Design

Computer-aided architectural design is a rapidly developing area of research, and the results of recent research and development efforts are now beginning to find widespread practical application. However, the field often presents the appearance of a confused mélange of disconnected theoretical concepts and ad hoc system-implementation projects. The intentions of this paper are to elucidate some of the basic unifying theoretical concepts which form the foundation of much of the work that has been done, to relate these concepts to their historical predecessors, and to use the theoretical framework that is developed to make some comparisons between computer-aided and manual design methods. The questions of how design problems are defined, how potential solutions are represented, how they are generated, and how they are evaluated, are taken up in turn. A distinction is drawn between well-defined and ill-defined design problems. The issues of originality and style are considered. Finally a comparison is made between manual and computer-aided design processes, and the division of tasks between human designer and machine is discussed.

Formal representations: a foundation for computer-aided architectural design

It is argued here that we must establish a demonstrably sound, comprehensive, rigorously formalized theoretical foundation upon which to base practical computer-aided architectural design software-development efforts, and a general approach to this task is suggested. First, the basic types of primitives, structures, and operations that we might employ are considered. Next, the concept of a formal architectural language is developed. Finally, design synthesis is viewed as a process of searching within such a language to find a particular design which, under specified algorithms that establish the semantics of the language, has acceptable interpretations. The implications of a program of formalization of architectural knowledge along these lines for research, development, teaching, and design practice are discussed.

Interactive graphic floor plan layout method

Abstract A new approach to the interactive solution of optimal floor plan layout problems is presented. The method is based upon the use of probability theory to predict the likely consequences of activity location decisions, combined with use of low-resolution raster graphics displays. It not only generates high quality results, but also provides the designer with a structural understanding of the space of alternatives being explored.

Techniques of automated design in architecture: A survey and evaluation

Abstract This paper traces the emergence of the fundamental concepts guiding current research in computer-aided architectural design, surveys and discusses the main thrusts of current research and applications, and discusses potential directions of future development. It begins by establishing a systematic theoretical framework for discussion of design problems, then in turn considers techniques for representing proposed building designs in computer memory, the specification of design criteria, procedures for automatically generating design solutions, and methods of linking the design and construction processes. Finally, an analysis is made of progress in the implementation of working automated design systems in architectural practice. An extensive (though by no means exhaustive) bibliography is provided for further reference.

The automated generation of architectural form

A systematic framework for discussion of automation of the solution of architectural problems is established, based on an examination of the concepts of solution representation, generation, and testing. Some of the more important implications of various different techniques and principles of representation, generation, and testing are then illustrated by a discussion of procedures for solution of some simple spatial arrangement games and puzzles. It is shown that when we attempt to write procedures for solution of the rather larger and more complex problems encountered in practical architectural design, we discover some quite severe limitations on our current ideas about architectural design automation. The major limitations are outlined, and progress made towards overcoming them recounted.

The application of statistical pattern-recognition techniques in dating ancient architectural construction

This paper explores the application of statistical pattern-recognition methods, discriminant analysis in particular, to the problems of classifying and of dating remains of Byzantine brick construction in Constantinople and Asia Minor. The technique is introduced and compared to other relevant multivariate statistical methods; results of analysis are presented and discussed; substantive conclusions are drawn; and the strengths and weaknesses of the approach are critically discussed.

Reviews: Shape Grammars and Their Uses, Pictorial and Formal Aspects of Shape Grammars, the Automated Architect, Place and Placelessness, from Geometry to Topology, Surfaces

To describe this object formally we might, for example, encode vertices as coordinate pairs and employ an incidence matrix or adjacency matrix to express connectivity. But a much more parsimonious description, which also gives much clearer insight into the structure of the form, can be achieved if we recognize that it is generated recursively. Application of the following transformation rule in recursive fashion