Abstract
This chapter provides a background to the common “linguistic” analogies in architectural thinking, which are concerned with the “grammar” of form and the “syntax” of space. The chapter then links these linguistic properties to the classical Vitruvian architectural values of firmness, commodity, and delight. Thereafter, the chapter introduces the two most well-known computational design approaches, Shape Grammar and Space Syntax, and briefly outlines the general applications of each. In addition, throughout this book, new grammatical and syntactical approaches are typically demonstrated using the domestic architecture of Andrea Palladio, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Glenn Murcutt. Thus, this chapter also introduces these three architects and their architectural languages.