Towards a Vitruvian Shape Grammar for Procedurally Generating Classical Roman Architecture

Abstract

The ability to automatically generate urban virtual environments using procedural methods is important for anyone who needs to create plausible virtual representations of human settlements, and these techniques are used in simulation and reconstruction of archeaological sites as well as in education and the entertainment industry. In this paper we present an attempt at providing a shape grammar based on the writings of the ancient Roman architect Virtuvius, encoding rules for procedurally defining the make-up of Roman settlements. Our initial results allow the procedural generation of classical Roman Temples, which include many of the architectural elements found in Roman civic buildings.