Case‐Based Preliminary Building Design

Abstract

A team of civil engineers, architects, and computer scientists is using case‐based design in the CADRE system as an approach for integrating preliminary architectural and structural design. This approach focuses on dimensional and topological adaptation of geometric models of existing buildings to find solutions for new design problems. An advantage of such an approach is that a case is used in which integration has already been achieved, and the design process is therefore one of adapting the case to achieve new goals while maintaining the original building features. Dimensional adaptation involves the solution of a set of linear and nonlinear constraints describing the geometry of structural and architectural abstractions of a building. Integrated solutions are produced because different abstractions are related in terms of dimensions. The present paper describes how CADRE is able to manipulate potentially thousands of geometric constraints that describe complex objects such as buildings. Topological adaptation yields a new set of dimensional constraints when the original set has no solution. The present work concludes that cases consisting of a geometric building model both simplify design knowledge acquisition and provide valuable initial integrated‐design solutions that serve as useful starting points for the design process.