Creating a shape grammar interpreter

I'm working on the creation of a parametric shape grammar 'interpreter' with Grasshopper for my thesis project. I have a certain knowledge of programming, but I'm having a hard time designing the approach. Ideally I'd like to have an initial shape (the lot), which includes certain parameters (density, access routes, etc), and a series of shape operations (or rules) coded in the C# component(s) that will transform this lot into a developed concept. I'll be working in both the urban scale and later I'll take the result and choose an area to detail further with another grammar.

I've already worked on an L-system interpreter (which I've attached, in case anyone wants to play with it), but this depends on a fractal approach. The concept of the rules should remain, but they should be applied given the conditions mentioned above (density, access routes, etc). The interpreter should probably work in phases following a top-down approach:

ex1: first x rules subdivide the plot according to parameters, next x rules create the road network, then the individual property plots, etc.
ex2: first x rules subdivide the housing plot according to parameters, next x rules create the outer walls, then the inner walls, etc.

I've started this discussion to see if I can get some help brainstorming an approach to this problem. Any feedback is welcome :)

I've included a couple of articles which cover the subject of shape grammars in different scales:
http://home.fa.utl.pt/~jduarte/p3/texts/2005_491.content.pdf
http://gsct3237.kaist.ac.kr/e-lib/ShapeGrammar/2005_A_Discursive_gr...
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.84.413&...

Attachments:

l-system.ghx, 229 KB

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rodrigo on June 7, 2010 at 10:20am

Curious, I am working with one of the authors of the references given. Can you give me some feedback about your work? I was researching if Rhino SDK is appropiate for my needs - i need topology about geometry (information about which edges a face is connect and alike), visualization (for what i see, rhino does the job), etc...
Thank you, Rodrigo

Permalink Reply by Adam Holloway on October 4, 2010 at 12:32pm

Hey Javier,

Did you get anywhere with this? I am also interested in implementing a shape grammar interpreter in grasshopper.

Does it have to be coded in a scripting component, or is there a way perhaps to reference the rules with shapes in rhino and logic gates in grasshopper (still trying to figure out how)?

- Adam

Permalink Reply by Javier Vizoso on October 4, 2010 at 1:46pm

Sorry, it's been a while since I worked on this project. My approach was to code small C#/VB blocks to solve the formal manipulations. Although I'm still very interested in shape grammars and their implementation in Grasshopper, my project diverged a bit towards urban self-organization and network logic. The biggest conceptual challenge I found was the user's intervention between one shape manipulation and the next. I wasn't quite sure whether I should automate a series of steps or allow for the user's intervention. I'd be willing to help you out if you have a clear idea of how you want to proceed. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Monique on March 4, 2011 at 8:13am

SWAP put out a shape grammar plugin for Rhino 5 called Grape-Shape. It is still in Beta mode and it is written in C#. however, making a grasshopper plugin/script like that would be an interesting proposal indeed.

http://plus.swap-zt.com/2010/09/grape-1-0/

Permalink Reply by Rodrigo on April 16, 2011 at 1:01pm

I downloaded grape_1_1 and installed as a plugin. How do we work with it?

Thank you, Rodrigo

Permalink Reply by kleerkoat on April 19, 2011 at 10:20am

hmm, link to download doesn't seem to work?

Permalink Reply by Rodrigo on May 2, 2011 at 10:38am

i think now everything seems to be working. thank you. will it be more updates of this tool?

Permalink Reply by Adam Holloway on July 22, 2011 at 2:30am

I know this topic is quite old now, but having just finished the school year, I decided to take another stab at figuring it out. At the moment I'm exploring the possibility of using the transform components to map the rules into a script. I am not sure how successful this approach will be however, as there seems to be little you can do to manipulate transformation data after it has been set. Here is my first experiment anyway:

Attachments:

Permalink Reply by Matthew McFetridge on July 25, 2011 at 1:52am

How do you think you would start adding more rules to this? I've been looking into this also and am fascinated by it. I am just struggling as to how to input rules to these scripts, all the examples i've seen leave that out unfortunately.

Also when I run this script it fails to input data, is this supposed to run straight after you open it? Sorry about this, its all new componentry to me.

Matt

Permalink Reply by Adam Holloway on July 28, 2011 at 8:56am

Did you open it the associated rhino file as well? Also, it uses Hoopsnake to iterate using the rule, so you need hoopsnake to run it.

With that definition I was just trying to interpret the relationships between geometry in rhino as a way to control the rules for a shape grammar. So there is a simple transformation that moves from one square to the next Some further explorations to come hopefully.

My interest in the potential of this lies in coupling it with Galapagos and exploring evolutionary design through shape grammars, as in:

Evolving tables through grammatical rules: http://www.demo.cs.brandeis.edu/papers/hornby_cec01.pdf

Combinging evolutionary algorithms and shape grammars to create branded designs: http://leva.leeds.ac.uk/shape-grammars/papers/ang.pdf

Permalink Reply by Sedef Çatalkaya on December 14, 2011 at 10:37am

hi, I'm working with l systems in my project and I really liked your vb script and want to use that but I couldnt understand how does the second slider you add works. and also is there a way to starting the branches in different points or direct them?

Permalink Reply by castroecosta on November 25, 2012 at 6:40am

Hi Javier,

Since this is an old post, maybe you already know this, but since I haven't seen it here I'll throw it anyway.

Check City Engine by Procedural / ESRI. They have a set grammar language called CGA, which does what I think you are looking for. Download the trial version: http://www.esri.com/apps/products/cityengine2/index.cfm

and then try the Shape Grammar tutorials (6 and 9 of the following page):

http://video.arcgis.com/series/62/cityengine

Best regards,

Eduardo

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