Automated Best Connected Rectangular Floorplans

Abstract

As part of a larger research aimed at developing design aids for architects, this paper presents the “automated” generation of the “best connected” rectangular floor plans, satisfying given topological and dimensional constraints. It has been seen that architects, knowingly or unknowingly, have often used either the golden rectangle or the Fibonacci rectangle in their works throughout history. But it was hard to find any specific reason for such use, other than aesthetic. In 2015, Shekhawat showed that they are among the best connected rectangular arrangements (dimensionless rectangular floor plans) and that this may well be another reason for their frequent use in architectural design. In this work, an alternative algorithm is presented which generates n − 3 best connected rectangular arrangements, being n the number of rooms. Then, this concept is further extended for constructing the best connected dimensioned rectangular floor plans. The goal is to provide an optimal solution for the rectangular space allocation problem, while satisfying given topological and dimensional requirements.