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This paper proposes a parametric shape grammar for ancient Egyptian funerary monuments. The corpus of monuments includes ten rock-cut structures, duly documented. They exhibit different grades of completion and preservation and possess variant archaeological documentation. The generation of a design following the proposed grammar depends both on formal and functional aspects. Metadata indicates the evidential value and numerical occurrence of rules in the generation of designs. The developed grammar can be used to reconstruct unfinished tombs, extend an existing one, or generate new designs according to the rules. It denotes the linear and symmetric structure characteristic of the monuments and reflects the chronological sequence of construction. The proposed grammar encodes the typology of the studied monuments and suggests that ancient Egyptian architecture may have implied a clear set of canons that may be made explicit by developing additional grammars for other building types.

This research presents a methodology to develop and implement a generative design system as the technological model for mass customisation in the furniture industry. The generative design system comprises two subsystems that permit the generation and the evaluation of customised designs within a predefined design language. The shape generation subsystem is defined by shape grammars and parametric design models. The shape evaluation subsystem encompasses simulation and optimisation to guarantee the structural feasibility of the customised designs under operating conditions. This paper focuses on the modelling activities regarding the constitution of the optimisation part of the shape evaluation subsystem. Structural optimisation using simulated annealing is applied to assist the designer in the automatic search for an optimal grammar-based detailed solution. The theoretical model is illustrated by its application to a symbolic mass production problem: Thonet bentwood chairs, which were changed to comply with the mass customisation paradigm.

This research uses shape grammars as the basis of a computational tool to explore the relationship between the human body in motion and space, aiming to develop further knowledge about cognition and architecture. Artistic and scientific tools and methods already used to develop these concepts are being studied in order to create a new tool that will help us to understand, through simulation, how the body mediated through architecture can influence human cognitive response and thus behaviour. The goal is a methodology for the design of a “corporeal architecture” that can create a naturally immersive environment in which the ability of its geometry and physical properties to conduct or induce body movements in space for specific purposes can generate experience. Also discussed is the potential of the tool proposed for the study of the human body in movement as a generative strategy in architecture. In describing the parameters and criteria chosen to develop our software, we exemplify briefly how a shape grammar, as a system of rules, can be used to generate sequences of actions, establishing the idea that human behaviour in space can be composed as choreography and provide a means of considering architectural space not only in terms of shape but particularly in terms of life.

The aim of the City Induction project is to develop an urban design tool consisting of 3 parts: an urban programme formulation module, a generation module and an evaluation module. The generation module relies on a very generic Urban Grammar composed of several generic grammars called Urban Induction Patterns (UIPs) corresponding to typical urban design moves. Specific grammars, such as the analytical grammars inferred from our case studies, can be obtained by defining specific arrangements of Urban Induction Patterns and specific constraints on the rule parameters. We show that variations on the UIP arrangements or rule parameters can provide design variations and specific grammars to be synthesised through design exploration. It is therefore seen as a process for synthesizing a specific design grammar within the field of urban design and has two main features: (1) it allows for the synthesis of specific grammars during the design process and (2) it allows for the customization of a personal design language within the broad scope of the generic grammar. A formal definition of Urban Grammars is presented and its application in the production of customized urban designs is demonstrated by customizing design languages using a specific compound grammar defined by a specific arrangement of generic grammars.

The research described in this paper is part of a project aimed at decoding Alberti’s De re aedificatoria by inferring the corresponding shape grammar using the computational framework provided by description and shape grammars to determine the extent of such an influence in the Counter-Reformation period in Portugal. Here we concentrate on the theoretical foundations that enable the translation of Alberti’s text into a shape grammar and then use it in determining its influence on Portuguese Renaissance architecture.