Towards 3D modelling as a replicable and intellectually transparent process
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2019-09-10

This contribution demonstrates the capabilities of the Computer Generated Architecture (CGA) rule-based shape grammar. The main application of this scripting language is to (semi-)automatically generate 3D models of architecture in the software package CityEngine, but its recent integration with ArcGIS has enabled users also to automatize the visualization of specific properties of a GIS dataset. Although it is primarily targeted at modern urban planning and geodesign, this shape grammar has great potential also as a method for the interpretation and visualization of archaeological datasets. The archaeological case studies that will be discussed here will show how the CGA grammar can be used for the creation of a GIS-driven symbology and the modelling of 3D reconstructions of the past built environment. Moreover, I will focus on how this rule-based approach encourages the generation of reproducible and intellectually transparent 3D reconstructions that can be used as tools for real time simulation and analysis.

Full title: Towards 3D modelling as a replicable and intellectually transparent process: A rule-based approach to archaeological visualizations 

(Chiara Piccoli)