A Shape Grammar Analysis Of An Architectural Language And Presentation In Computer Environment

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 1995Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 1995Steadman'a göre mimarlığın akademik eğitimi, bir dili konuşmayı öğrenmeye benzer biçimde mimari dilin öğretilmesi; edebiyat tarihi ve edebiyat eleştirisine benzer biçimde mimarlık tarihinin eleştirel ve estetik açıdan öğretilmesi; dilbilim çalışmalarına benzer olarak mimari dilin anlamsal ve biçimsel yönünün incelendiği mimarlık biliminin öğretilmesini içerir. Anadolu Selçukluları'nın yüksek kültürünü en iyi biçimde günümüze kadar getiren eserler bütün Anadolu boyunca uzanan yollar üzerinde yapılmış olan kervansaraylardır. Bu kervansaraylar, o dönemdeki saltanatın kudretini, büyüklüğünü ve teşkilatının sağlamlığını gösteren anıtsal eserlerdir. Tezin konusu, Anadolu'nun mimari yapılan arasında olan Anadolu Selçuklu kervansaraylannın biçim grameri analizi ve bilgisayarda farklı yazılım ortamlarında yapılan bu analizin çoklu bir ortamda kullanıcıya sunulmasıdır. Çalışmanın birinci bölümünde, bu tez çalışmasının bilgisayar destekli mimari tasarım alanında mimari dilbilim çalışmalarına dönük olduğu, ele alman tasarım ürünlerinin çeşitli açılardan yorumlanarak analiz edildiği ve bu analizlerden elde edilen bilgilerin grafik, sayısal ve sözel formatlarda ve çeşitli kurallar aracılığıyla depolanıp birer bilgi dağarcığını oluşturması anlatılmaktadır. İkinci bölümde bilgisayarın mimarlık eğitiminde kullanılması, mimari tasarımda bilgisayar kullanımı ve mimarlık eğitiminde çoklu ortamların kullanılması ele alınmıştır. Üçüncü bölümde mimari tasarımda biçim grameri incelenmiştir. Mimari dil ve elemanları, biçim grameri analizleri anlatılmış ve mimari tasarımda kullanılan farklı düzeydeki biçim gramerlerine örnekler verilmiştir. Dördüncü bölümde kervansarayların mimarideki yeri ve Anadolu Selçuklu dönemi kervansarayları, kervansarayların ortaya çıkış süreci ve formunu etkileyen faktörler anlatılmıştır. Beşinci bölümde ise Anadolu Selçuklu kervansaraylannın tipolojik analizleri yapılmıştır. Bu analizler kervansarayların plan şemaları, mekan yerleşimleri ve strüktür sistemleri gözönünde tutularak yapılmıştır. Altıncı bölümde ise Anadolu Selçuklu kervansaraylannın biçim grameri analizinin sunumunda kullanılan çoklu ortam modeli üzerinde durulmuştur. Bu bölümde geliştirilen modelin özellikleri, modelde kullanılan ekran düzenleri hakkında bilgiler verilmiştir. Yedinci bölümde ise yapılan literatür çahşmalan ve geliştirilen model çerçevesinde sonuçlar yorumlanarak modelin özellikleri ve smırlamalan belirtilmiştir.An architectural language has certain syntactic and semantic characteristics. The syntax of the architectural language deals with the architectural forms and arrangements, and its semantics deals with the meaning. This thesis introduces a structured databased CAD system that serves as a tool in teaching an architectural language. The database units consist of the information about the Anatolian Seljuk caravanserais which were built during the Xlllth century on the important merchant routes. These caravanserais are analyzed in terms of their syntactic and formal characteristics. These analyses are based on the configurational characteristics of the plan layouts, the vocabulary elements, and the geometric patterns of stonework on their portals. By using the knowledge derived from these analyses, a shape grammar can be defined and used effectively in teaching architectural history. The system that has been developed supports an active mode of learning by seeing and using the graphic capabilities of the computer. This hypermedia-based system provides a data structure, graphic capabilities, and a user interface. In the. first chapter of this study, states that the thesis is looking forward to architectural language in computer aided architectural design. It also talks about the analysis and interpretation of selected products of design from various angles and how the information attained from this analysis is stored in graphical, numerical and oral formats by way of certain principles. The second chapter deals with the usage of computers in architectural education, in architectural design and the usage of hypertext, hypermedia and multimedia systems in architectural education. Hypermedia is an effective tool for storing and recalling information in computer systems. The system which has been developed in this study is a simple kind of hypermedia that contains textual information, images and graphics, and an executable code of generation of the geometric patterns. Shape grammar in architectural design is investigated in the third chapter of the thesis. Architectural language and its analysis as shape grammar are explained and the examples are given for different levels of shape grammar which used in the architectural design. These different levels can be grouped into three parts:. Shape grammar analysis on buildings, XI . Shape grammar analysis on components,. Shape grammar analysis on ornamentation. In this thesis, the Anatolian Seljuk caravanserais are analyzed as an architectural language. In learning an existing architectural language, the main issue is to analyze the buildings that belong to that language. In design education, the development of computational tools can provide an important means in studying architectural history. The aim of this study is to collect the data specifying the rules of a historical architectural language explicitly and precisely enough so that they can be used in generating the design sentences of this language. In this way, a tool will be developed to use in teaching the compositional configurations of this language with computer assistance. The forth chapter of the thesis is related with the caravanserais and Anatolian Seljuks. The magnificent style of the Anatolian Seljuk art was created in Anatolia in the XIII. Century. Besides the mosques, the medresses, and the funerary monuments, namely the kumbeds and the tombs, the most important structures of the Anatolian Seljuk period were the caravanserais, which are also known as the most interesting institutions of the Middle Ages. The composition of the caravanserais can be regarded as an identifiable architectural language that belongs to the Turkish-Anatolian architecture in general. These caravanserais exhibit all the architectural characteristics of different spatial organizations and stone decorations on the portals of this period. They were built on the merchant routes to guarantee a safe journey and a place to spend the night for the caravans and the travelers. The general name given to these buildings in Anatolia is Hem (Inn). The Seljuk caravanserais in Anatolia are castle-like structures built of cut stone and they really have the appearance of a palace (Altun, 1990, 197-199). In the fifth chapter, sixty Anatolian Seljuk caravanserais will be analysed in terms of their syntactical and formal characteristics and the geometrical patterns on their portals. The plan schemes can be grouped into four categories :. Caravanserais with an open courtyard;. Covered caravanserais;. Covered caravanserais with an open courtyard;. Caravanserais with a concentric plan. The Anatolian Seljuk portals, which were rectangular blocks of masonry averaging about 8 meters in height, 4 meters in breadth, and 2 meters in depth, were examples of magnificent stonework (ögel, 1987, p. 157). They were in the form of a niche or an iwan and mostly filled with stalactites. A great variety of figurative ornaments decorated these structures together with a very rich variety of geometric and floral motifs (Altun, p. 200). As Schmitt stated, Islamic ornaments follow strict grammatical rules to form an architectural language (Schmitt, 1988, p. 95). The process of generating of these figures typically starts with a symmetrical arrangement of simple basic shapes, such as squares, diamonds, circles, etc., which overlap with each other to form repetitive XII pattern (Yessios, 1987, p. 176). Then relacing and/or interlacing operations may be applied. In many examples, it can be seen that the visual and the mathematical forms in nature are used in relation to those in Islamic decorations and the same geometry is used in Islamic building plans (özsanyıldız, 1991, p.25). Configurations of a decagonal star and interlaced squares are frequently used both within small scale patterns and in architectural plans for minarets or tomb towers (Albarn et. al, 1974, p.34). Islamic patterns can be generated by using unary operations such as reflection, repetition, rotation, and scaling. A hypertext system may contain both textual and nontextual information such as graphics, animation, video, sounds, and even executable code (McCall et aL, 1990, p. 250). As Coyne stated, "The idea of hypermedia provides a useful model of the storage and recall of information through associative links established a priori. It also makes use of well-established technology for storing information." (Coyne, 1990, p. 104). When libraries of knowledge bases become large, hypermedia techniques can be used for finding the ones that are relevant to a particular design context (Mitchell, etal, 1990, p. 147) In the sixth chapter of the thesis,the model that we developed is explained. The hypermedia-based system developed in mis study provides effective ways of handling various architectural media-texts, images, architectural drawings, and graphic parametric models. The information about the caravanserais is presented by using different representations which are stored in different database units :. Text databases;. Graphical pictures or image database;. Architectural drawings databases (2-D and 2 1/2-D models);. Graphical parametric models of geometric patterns. Each of these units represents the information in a different fashion. They constitute a framework, and a shape grammar can then be formalized by using the knowledge which has been derived from this framework. All the units in this system express visually the information about the building type under consideration and use different symbols in expressing it. In integrating the units, Fox-Pro software has been used so as to establish the relations between them more easily. The system developed in this study is a highly interactive graphics system controlled by mouse operation. A user interface is used for communication between the user and the units. As J.W. Choi stated, the potential user group/s of this system will be students of architecture. Since they do not have extensive computer skills in general, it is crucial to design an interface that is easy to use and that can provide direct manipulation (Choi, 1994, p. 165). The interface provides six windows for this communication:. A text database window;. A typological knowledge-base window;. An image window;. Architectural drawings windows (2-D and 2 1/2-D);. A graphical parametric model window. X1U The text database window contains a large text-box to display the information documents about the caravanserai. On the text window, textual information describing the building, its location, its construction date, and a brief description of the building are illustrated. The typological knowledge-base window also contains a text-box which shows a catalog record of the caravanserai. In these catalogs, the knowledge derived from the typological analysis of the caravanserais is recorded under different field names. These are as follows:. Location;. Construction date;. Plan type;. Number of aisles: * parallel to the portal wall;. in the covered section;. in the open courtyard; * perpendicular to the portal wall;. in the covered section;. in the open courtyard;. Directions of the vaults;. Number of rooms in the courtyard;. Number of iwans in the courtyard;. Number of rows of the riwaqs in the courtyard;. Having a lantern;. Having a masjid. The image window contains a characteristic view of the caravanserai, which has been scanned from a photograph. The architectural drawings have been presented in two separate windows: One of them contains 2-dimensional drawings such as the plan and the section/s; and the other contains 2 1/2-dimensional drawings, such as the axonometric views of the caravanserai. These two-dimensional and two and a half-dimensional models have been drawn by using AutoCAD R12 and then exported to Fox-Pro 2.6 environment. These models will be drawn in more detail and a 3-D model will be generated in further steps of this study. The graphical parametric model window contains the output of a parametric model which generates the geometrical patterns of ornaments on the portal of the caravanserai. This parametric model encodes the knowledge about those patterns and it has been coded in Pascal to maintain a data structure and to provide a graphical interface. In the seventh chapter, the limiting and the property of the developed model are defined by interpreting of the results. XIV The system which provides an educational tool is currently under development. This system can be used in presenting and teaching a specific subject in architectural history. It is an interactive system which consists of units of information connected by links. One of the major features of this system is that information access is not sequential; the user does not have to follow a specific routing to search information. S/he can follow the text and images sequentially to maintain continuity or to search randomly by selecting the field names in the databases. To provide a better aid to the students who want to study the architecture of the Anatolian Seljuk caravanserais, it should be expanded in a multimedia system that includes sound and animation. In this system, the units display the finished product of the architectural language that has been examined. The typological and topological knowledge obtained from these data have been organized to construct a knowledge-based system of analysis. A further step of the system will be to construct the vocabulary, the syntax, and the composition of this language and to encode the formal knowledge to constitute a shape grammar. In its current state, the Pascal programming language has been used to write the drafting algorithms for the geometrical patterns on the portals. It will be extended to include the 2-D and 2 1/2-D graphic features in order to generate a vocabulary. This vocabulary will consist of the design elements such as room, iwan, riwaq, vault, lantern, and aisle all of which are elements of caravanserais. Then, syntactical and formal knowledge about the configurations of the caravanserais may be represented by a set of shape grammar rules. The caravanserais can then be generated by using the parameterized shapes representing the design elements. The system will be in top- down fashion, which will begin with a very abstract representation, elaborate it step- by-step and finally reach a complete and detailed representation of the plan layouts of the Anatolian Seljuk caravansaries. Thus it will integrate a hypermedia with a knowledge-based design environment.Yüksek LisansM.Sc