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IM-sgi: Interface Model for Shape Grammar Implementations. The User / Shape Grammar Implementation interaction as the basis for an improved use of Shape Grammars in Design.
The present study arises from the interest in computing as an important partner in the design project and the new paradigms in design practice that emerge with the use of computation. Information technologies are currently a driving force for progress in the process of design and also allow new forms of creativity. The increasing sophistication of computer applications, its easier access and lower cost brought great impact on design and may be regarded as a paradigm change. Invention and creativity are thus seen as knowledge processing activities and can, at least partially, be carried out with the support of computer applications. In this context, we can find Shape Grammars as production systems that allow the creation of designs through rules. Shape Grammars have the potential to create designs with total or no user input and have the ability to evaluate a large number of alternatives that may lead to innovative designs.
For Shape Grammars to have real potential of use by designers’ models of interaction between Shape Grammars and the user have been developed. According to this investigation and study there seems to be a lack of guiding lines for an unambiguous interface for Shape Grammar implementations that fulfill the objectives of the existing models of interaction, that already address to a large number of questions about the needs of the Shape Grammars users.
The IM-sgi (Interface Model for Shape Grammar Implementations) is a model that pretends to respond to the need for computing ergonomics and suitability to the needs of designers that Shape Grammar implementations should respond. This work aims to help computer Shape Grammar applications to effectively enter in the design practice and become a relevant way of exploring ideas and project solutions. Designers and Architects would be able to see Shape Grammars as a real potential design technique and the computer as a partner.
