A Combined Grammatical and Syntactical Method

Abstract

This chapter presents a method that combines Shape Grammar and Space Syntax approaches to offer a rigorous way of understanding an architectural style and then producing variations of that style. The two approaches have only rarely been connected in the past, and the relationship between them has never been fully developed. The method commences with a justified plan graph (JPG) grammar and illustrates the grammatical interpretation of the structure of this syntax. The JPG technique is then followed by a massing grammar, which adds a consideration of architectural form. A significant strength of this method is that it encapsulates both the formal and functional properties of architecture. As part of the introduction to this method, the chapter employs two generic grammars, drawn from the combined method, along with their abstraction, measures, and configurations.