Wall grammar for building generation

Abstract

We present a new technique to automatically generate building exteriors. Our technique relies on the definition of building templates that will be applied on building descriptions. The building descriptions require the building 3D footprints and their heights and roof heights. This information can be stored within a Geographic Information System (GIS). Most of the time, graphic designers use the texture repetition method in order to create building frontages. Due to this lack of flexibility, this method often disappoints the users who expect more realism. In this paper, we focus on the description of our frontage generation method. Building frontages are generated using a 2.5D wall grammar based on a set of rules that can be simple or detailed enough to fulfil the users wishes. Our method is as easy to use as the texture repetition but provides a higher level of realism and diversity in the resulting buildings.