Sketch-based Methods for Researching Building Layouts through the Semantic Fingerprint of Architecture

Sketch-based Methods for Researching Building Layouts through the Semantic Fingerprint of Architecture
Christoph Langenhan, Markus Weber, Marcus Liwicki, Frank Petzold, Andreas Dengel
CAAD Futures 2011 CAAD Futures, Designing together, July 4-8, Liège, Belgium

Abstract:: The paper focuses on the early stages of the design process where the architect needs assistance in finding reference projects and describes different aspects of a concept for retrieving previous design solutions with similar structural characteristics. The proposed system offers a computational approach to extracting a few characteristic and prominent features of a floor plan which are then used to generate a semantic fingerprint. We propose the use of a visual query language and a semantic structure to query and create a floor plan repository. This enables the user of the system to sketch a schematic abstraction of a floor plan and search for floor plans that are structurally similar. It is a collective effort to create a community knowledge base about past projects and the retrieval strategies of this information. We examine the use of classic mouse and keyboard and pen- and touch-enabled interaction methods to annotate and retrieve spatial situation.

Keywords:: case-based reasoning, taxonomy, collaborative knowledge base, architecture

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