An Evolutionary Approach to Generating Constraint-Based Space Layout Topologies

Abstract

This paper describes a system to produce space layout topologies for architectural plans using an evolutionary approach. The layout specification is defined as a set of topological and directional constraints, which are used as a fitness function in the evolutionary system. The halfplane representation is used to represent the genotypes in the evolutionary system, for both arrangements of halfplanes and the figures generated from those arrangements. As the halfplane representation proposed here does not distinguish between straight and non-straight boundaries, at the symbolic level the spaces and the layouts produced can also be bounded by straight or non-straight lines. The well known rectangular (polyomino) arrangements become a particular case only.