Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T13:54:44.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Unveiling the structure of the Marrakech Medina: A shape grammar and an interpreter for generating urban form

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2007

José P. Duarte
Affiliation:
ICIST, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
João M. Rocha
Affiliation:
CHAIA, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal
Gonçalo Ducla Soares
Affiliation:
ICIST, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract

This paper describes research carried out to develop a parametric urban shape grammar for the Zaouiat Lakhdar quarter of the Medina of Marrakech in Morocco. The goal is to create the basis for a system that could capture some features of the existing urban fabric and apply them in contemporary urban planning and architectural design. The methodology used is described, from the initial historical analysis and fieldwork to the identification of three subgrammars necessary to encode the complexity of the urban preexistences: the urban grammar, the negotiation grammar, and the housing grammar. Top-down and bottom-up approaches to grammar design are analyzed and compared. The bottom-up urban grammar developed is then described, and a hand derivation of the existing urban fabric is proposed. Visual, symbolic, and tagged computer implementations of shape grammars are briefly discussed and a novel design generated by the tagged interpreter is presented.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Beirão, J.N., & Duarte, J.P. (2005). Urban grammars: towards flexible urban design. Proc. 23rd Int. eCAADe Conf., pp. 491500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonine, M. (1990). The sacred direction and city structure: a preliminary analysis of the Islamic cities of Morocco. Proc. 7th Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture, pp. 5072. Leiden: E.J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldas, L.G. (2001). An evolution-based generative design system: using adaptation to shape architectural form. PhD Dissertation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Caldas, L.G. (2005). Three-dimensional shape generation of low-energy architecture solutions using pareto genetic algorithms. Proc. 23rd Int. eCAADe Conf., pp. 491500.Google Scholar
Chau, H.H., Chen, X., McKay, A., & Pennington, A. (2004). Evaluation of a 3D shape grammar implementation. Proc. 1st Int. DCC Conf., pp. 357376. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duarte, J.P. (2001). Customizing mass housing: a discursive grammar for Siza's Malagueira houses. PhD Dissertation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Duarte, J.P. (2005). A discursive grammar for customizing mass housing: the case of Siza's houses at Malagueira. Automation in Construction 14(2), 265275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flemming, U. (1987). More than the sum of parts: the grammar of Queen Anne houses. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 14, 323350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grabar, O. (1976). Cities and citizens: the growth and culture of urban Islam. In Islam and the Arab World (Lewis, B., Ed.), pp. 89116. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Heisserman, J. (1991). Generative geometric design and boundary solid grammars. PhD Dissertation. Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Architecture.Google Scholar
Knight, T.W. (1998). Designing a shape grammar: problems of predictability. Proc. 5th Int. Artificial Intelligence in Design Conf., pp. 499516. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.Google Scholar
Krishnamurti, R. (1982). SGI: A Shape Grammar Interpreter. Technical Report. The Open University.Google Scholar
McGill, M. (2002). Shaper2D: visual software for learning shape grammars. Proc. 20th eCAADe Conf., pp. 148151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mortada, H. (2003). Traditional Islamic Principles of Built Environment. New York: Routledge Curzon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Requicha, A. (1980). Representations for rigid solids: theory, methods, and systems. Computing Surveys 12, 437464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rocha, J. (1995). Marrakech: An Evolutionary Model. Abstract 94/95, p. 80. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Shea, K., & Cagan, J. (1998). Generating structural essays from languages of discrete structures. Proc. 5th Int. Artificial Intelligence in Design Conf., pp. 365384. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiny, G. (1977). Ice-ray: a note on Chinese lattice designs. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 4, 8998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiny, G. (1980). Introduction to shape and shape grammars. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 7, 343351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiny, G., & Mitchell, W.J. (1978). The Palladian grammar. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 5, 518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tapia, M. (1999). A visual implementation of a shape grammar system. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 26, 5973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teeling, C. (1996). Algorithmic design: generating urban form. Urban Design Studies 2, 89100.Google Scholar
Wang, Y., & Duarte, J.P. (2002). Automatic generation and fabrication of designs. Automation in Construction 11, 291302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilbaux, Q. (2001). La Medina de Marrakech. Formation des Spaces Urbains d'Une Ancienne Capitale du Maroc. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar