Towards a Methodology for Flexible Urban Design: Designing with Urban Patterns and Shape Grammars

Duarte, José Pinto; Beirão, José Nuno

doi:10.1068/b37026

Cited by 30 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…It is remarkable that overall, the use of design patterns was perceived by the students as an instrument for analysis and evaluation, rather than as a means for supporting the generation of novel design solutions. This result is in line with previous studies arguing that patterns are effective in structuring problems [15], and those that raised questions regarding their contribution to design creativity and innovation [16]. Another interesting result is that whereas the most dominant factors centered on the design task, the less important ones focused on the team activities.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The Use of Patterns as an Urban Design Approach

Casakin

2018

Urban Science

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Urban design is a complex problem-solving activity that commonly requires the aid of a variety of methods to support the process and enhance the quality of the outcomes. How to help designers with suitable methods to deal with ill-defined urban problems constitutes a major challenge in the urban design domain. In this regard, the use of urban design patterns is considered as a method that can contribute to urban design problem-solving. However, this tool was never investigated to understand its role in the task-related activities that take place during the design process by designers working in a team, and its influence on the creativity of the final design outcome as perceived by urban designers and students. Therefore, an empirical research based on a controlled experiment was carried out to explore the aid provided by design patterns during the conceptual stages of the process. Sixty-three master students working in teams of three were assigned a set of patterns to solve an urban design task. They were requested to use this material to produce as many creative conceptual solutions as possible. At the end of the sessions, they evaluated the creativity of their outcomes, and they completed a questionnaire about the aid afforded by the patterns. The solutions were also assessed by two independent urban designers. The study contributed to gain a better insight into the main design activities derived from the use of patterns as problem-solving tools and to unveil their contribution to urban design. The aid provided by the urban patterns was mainly concerned with task-related activities, and thereafter with team interactions. Overall, the use of patterns was seen to enhance the functionality of the design. Implications for design practice and design education are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The Use of Patterns as an Urban Design Approach

Casakin

2018

Urban Science

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“…In CItyMaker (Beirão, 2012), Beirão defines a common structure for Urban Induction Patterns (UIPs). UIPs are presented as algorithms for urban design involving a structure inspired by Gamma et al (1995) that include shape grammars as template codes for describing typical urban design operations.…”

Section: Generic Grammars For the Urban Design Domainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, rules will operate on objects from classes AN, SN, TN, NO, SD, CR, and SC. Rules are arranged in the form of UIPs with the structure and algorithmic description found in Table 6 in CItyMaker (Beirão, 2012, pages 117–121). This table contains a structure that embeds the typical procedures designers need to follow to develop an urban plan.…”

Section: Generic Grammars For the Urban Design Domainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generic grammars for design domains

Beirão

Duarte

2018

AIEDAM

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Shape grammars have been developed to codify a specific type of artifact – Queen Anne houses, Buffalo bungalows – or the style of a particular designer – Andrea Palladio, Frank Lloyd Wright, or Álvaro Siza Vieira. However, these specific grammars fail to encode recurrent design moves or features that are above the particularities of a specific design style or the idiosyncrasies of a specific designer and, therefore, are common to a larger category of designs and maybe reutilized and incorporated in the definition of new, specific design languages. To overcome these limitations, the notion of generic grammars for defining design domains is introduced. Its application to the urban design domain is illustrated by showing a generic grammar implementation resulting in a City Information Modeling platform composed of a parametric design interface connected to a geographic database.

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“…Others proposed the use of SGs in design classes, providing grammars to the students so that they could use and transform them to build other design languages (Flemming, 1989). Some experiments with architecture students are documented in Li (2001) and in Duarte and Beirão (2011).…”

Section: Sgs As Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shape grammars as design tools: an implementation of a multipurpose chair grammar

Garcia

Leitão

2018

AIEDAM

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This paper presents a multipurpose chair grammar and its implementation in the design tool ChairDNA. This tool is oriented for the exploration of design alternatives in the early concept phase of the chair design process. This work addresses two shortcomings within the research area of shape grammars (SGs), namely, the lack of implementation of SGs applied to design domains, and the lack of practical applications in real-life design scenarios. To address these problems, a methodology is proposed for the implementation of a SG (more specifically, a set grammar) into a tool, comprising the translation of the grammar into user-interface elements oriented for design practitioners. By using the proposed tool, the user can add/delete chair components and edit shape parameters, while visualizing the effects on a three-dimensional digital model presented in a variety of CAD applications. Compared with other SG implementations, ChairDNA uses an approach that keeps under control the combinatorial explosion of rule applications, which simplifies the use of the tool by designers that do not have experience in SGs. The generative potential of the tool is demonstrated by generating chairs of different types, and its usability and utility in aiding the designer are evaluated by design students and design practitioners.

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Towards a Methodology for Flexible Urban Design: Designing with Urban Patterns and Shape Grammars

Cited by 30 publications

References 11 publications

The Use of Patterns as an Urban Design Approach

The Use of Patterns as an Urban Design Approach

Generic grammars for design domains

Shape grammars as design tools: an implementation of a multipurpose chair grammar

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