Generative design method of the facade of traditional architecture and settlement based on knowledge discovery and digital generation: a case study of Gunanjie Street in China

There is a huge gap between the conceptual design and the practical implementation of the conservation planning of traditional architecture and settlement in China. The major cause is the diversity of individual comprehension. In this study, a generative design method was developed to regenerate the facades. The proposed method first adapted novel data acquisition and processing techniques to gather information and build the database. Cognition investigation and morphology analysis were then implemented to quantify and evaluate the features of historical characteristics. The knowledge discovery tools were further used to abstract the rules of the traditional facade. With the above three phases, the proposed method was able to generate the referable facades quantitatively and establishing generally accepted conservation plans and guidelines.