Space Syntax is a theory of architecture and built environment that seeks to explain the effect of spatial configurations on behavioral patterns of people. SYNTACTIC tools bring Space Syntax theory into parametric design workflows. More information on syntactic design methodology:
My PhD dissertation (see chapters 3 & 4)
For more information, videos, news and updates you can visit the following website.
See a video demo-tutorial here.
The plugin is available for download here: https://genesis-lab.dev/products/syntactic/
This plugin is completely compatible with SpiderWeb for Grasshopper and we hereby thank Richard Schaffranek for all we have learned from this extremely useful plugin.
NEW VERSION WAS RELEASED ON JANUARY 25, 2015.
See our newest results these publications:
Voxel-Based Spatial Ergonomics Research
Evaluating Spatial Configurations as to their [Adaptive] Reuse Potential
UPDATE: Genesis Lab [webpage][website] is to modernize, open-source, and develop the toolkit starting in December 2021. Stay tuned for updates through my YouTube Channel and ResearchGate.
George Agafonov
Same as Alois's image when open tutorial.
I´m using Rhino5 + latest Grasshopper version+windows 8.1
Thanks in advance.
Aug 4, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi George Agafonov & Alois, excuse me for this late response; have been travelling these days... Are you still experiencing this problem? A pessimist view would relate it to windows 8! If there is anyone who has been using Syntactic on windows 8 please let us know.
If you say everything is up to date and you are sure you've unblocked the GHA in the components folder then I don't know what might be the problem. Could you ask David's opinion on this problem?
Aug 7, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi all, I need to showcase a few design processes in which the toolkit SYNTACTIC has been used in my PhD dissertation. Of course, I will give full credit and acknowledgements as appropriate. I would be very thankful if you could kindly share your work samples. It is especially interesting to show how the tools are combined with other approaches.
Aug 18, 2015
Guillermo Varela
Hi Pirouz! Congratulations and thank you for this amazing plugin.
I have been trying to use it for my final work, but I have some problems using the syntactic design tools for generative design to create a pavilion combining parametric design with the spatial patterns of C. Alexander.
I am trying to use SYNTACTIC to make a parametric base plan but I don´t know how to transform the tutte convex drawing in a voronoi or rectangular design.
Could you upload the tutorial of the generative process?
I don´t know how to scale the tuttedrawing to see it ok, because the bubbles aren´t tangents and the dual graph doesn´t works well.
Thanks in advance
Guillermo
Aug 28, 2015
Paul Arsene
Hi Pirouz;
Just to let you know that Install doesn't work here either, on windows 7
Regards
Aug 28, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Guillermo Varela, I am happy that you've found the tools useful. I am currently having a very intensive schedule finishing my PhD, so I cannot work on tutorials. We have documented the generative process however in two papers. Just beware that this process is still a WIP. Looking at what you've been trying to do, I guess you are trying to plan with a non-planar graph. Please have a look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planar_graph
I am not working on rectangular layout anymore. Instead I am working on a much more generic solution using our Isovist bubble2D and Isovist Bubble3D constructs. It will take a while until I make sure we have some stable solution to release. Anyway... if you have a planar graph, i.e. a graph that can be possibly drawn on a piece of paper without its edges crossing each other then the Tutte algorithm and our triangulation and dual graph tools should work; provided that you have enough connections with the NEWS sides. Please use the example file that comes with SYNTACTIC 2.7 and start from tweaking that definition with your inputs. I hope these ideas help.
http://www.sss9.or.kr/paperpdf/mmd/SSS9_2013_REF048_P.pdf
Aug 31, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Paul Arsene, could you please specify what kind of problem you have with the installation? did you run the installer? did you find the installed folder in your computer? did you drag and drop the GHA onto your GH and make sure it is in your components' folder and that it is unblocked?
Aug 31, 2015
dalec
Hey, good to know that he idea of creating a 3D space configuration is still running... I though it was abandoned :);)
Aug 31, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi dalec, yep, good news is that I have generalized Isovist Bubble 2D to Isovist Bubble 3D; posted an image here: https://sites.google.com/site/pirouznourian/syntactic-design
next stage is making an Agent-Based Model that requires some time, motivation and peace of mind :)
Aug 31, 2015
salma samir elesawy
Hello...in space syntax analysis by spider web or decodingspace " choice and integration " these tools donot appear on windows 7 or 8 and can be used only in Mac software only , is that right or not ?
Sep 4, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Salma, decoding space and spider web have been developed and maintained by my friends, not me. I'm not sure if you have a problem with SYNTACTIC!? If so, could you please take a screen shot of an error message (if any)?
Sep 7, 2015
David Cruz
Hello everybody, i'm doing a research on the tools available for Space Syntax analysis. i found this tool very useful for the analysis of architecture, according to integration parameters, a so on. but i have a question. since all the values obtained from the analisis are numeric values, could they be used as a fitness funtion in galapagos? and could galapagos be integrated with the space syntax tool to optimize the configuration of a Building?.
Thanks for your advice
Sep 8, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi David, technically you can; but methodically there is no general way of defining such goals. Space Syntax measures are analytic and neutral, they do not imply goodness. Evaluation is required for optimization and it requires a framework as to which you can associate numerical values of an analysis to qualities sought. This is all to say that there is no generic sound way of saying something like 'the more integrated spaces the better'. I don't see what would be the meaning of such a goal. And yet you should be able to justify such statements and formulate them as goals for any goal-oriented search such as the evolutionary algorithm implemented in Galapagos. For these reasons I am generally very cautious with using the term optimization. Simply put, optimization is about either minimizing or maximizing a numerical value. That is straightforward; but what is the meaning of doing such a thing is always debatable, at least in the architectural context. Having said all these, I think it might be possible to define sensible syntactic/configurational goals 'specifically' for certain projects. If you are interested in such processes, I would suggest that you ask Richard Schaffranek, the developer of SpiderWeb for guidance, he has a couple of nice examples of such processes. In short, I don't have any generic solutions; Richard might have some specific examples.
Sep 8, 2015
David Cruz
Pirouz, thanks for your answer and advice and congratulations for making this exelent tool available for everybody.
Sep 8, 2015
johnnyUtah05
Thanks for a great tool!
Is it possible to control the text size on any of the charts or are they set to a default value?
thank you
Oct 1, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Erik, pleased to hear that you like the tools.
Yes, I have made text size relational to the sizes of constellations. I can imagine that in some cases you might wanna change it. If you tell me which component is that I might be able to provide an adapted scripted component. As to my current busy schedule I can't promise but I'll try.
Oct 2, 2015
johnnyUtah05
Hello Pirouz,
Thank you for your prompt response. I have been finding great use for them during the diagramming of for my thesis. The component that I am using is the 'nodelinkgraph' which is returning the large text. I understand you must be quite busy so I appreciate any help. It is such a useful tool you have created!
Best,
Erik
Oct 2, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Erik, sorry for late response, really hectic here... I would just turn off its preview and use native text display components of GH such as 3D tag or 2D tax with custom sizes and colors.
Oct 5, 2015
zahra msvi
hi... i have seen video and this plugin was amazing , i tried to do it myself but at first step it shows an error which i dont why is that happend, i ll be geatfull if someone help , i really need it for my thesis.
undefined
space%20syntax.gh
space%20syntax.3dm
Nov 17, 2015
zahra msvi
i send screenshot again.
Nov 17, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Zahra,
This issue can be resolved by updating your Rhino and Grasshopper.
I have checked your file as well. Note that the configuration you are trying to visualize as a coin-graph is not planar; that is you cannot draw the edges on a piece of paper avoiding crossings between them. However, the fact that you cannot draw this graph as a planar graph does not bother Space Syntax calculations.
Nov 17, 2015
kimia farahnak
hi pirooz first of all tnx by your great works,
second im trying to use automate plan generating methods,in my thesis,i found your plugin usefull for the step1, in ur pdfs i saw an item which was almost near an actual plan drawing,but i couldnt understand how i can get that result.here i point at the one i need to know how to draw it with your plugin
Dec 8, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Kimia,
I need to clarify one thing... we did not want to generate plans automatically with these tools. Instead we wanted to 'enumerate and catalogue' topological layout possibilities corresponding to a graph. We made them to make a point that design can be procedural and started from connectivity graphs instead of shapes. It was already very difficult to generate the topological plan layouts at the left side of the image below (the result of the most complicated algorithm in the whole toolkit). After finishing it we kind of lost our interest in generating rectangular drawings and gave up realizing them (the rectangular drawings that you see at the right were made by unstable algorithms). Because they just show 'one of the possible ways' of creating a plan layout topology out of a topological map. I am following a more generic approach that will be much more interesting as it can help one to create free-form shapes as well as rectangular bubbles. This approach is based on 2D and 3D Isovist baubles:
https://sites.google.com/site/pirouznourian/syntactic-design
However, as I am busy with writing my dissertation I cannot promise releasing these tools any time soon.
Having said all these, note that the analytic tools work independently from these generative tools.
I hope these explanations help.
Dec 9, 2015
kimia farahnak
hi pirouz ,
now i understand,thank you so much for answering
hope we will soon see your new components,they seemed to be so cool and usefull in the pics!
good luck with your phd thesis.
Dec 9, 2015
Bruno Galvao
Hi Pirouz,
I had the same problem with the .gha fila loading as some of the others have asked(alois).
Intuitively, i went to "Grasshopper Developer Settings" And rechecked the "Memory Load .GHA with Coff byte arrays" box, which i had unchecked for another plugin, and it loaded Syntactic.
I don't really understand why, though. Maybe somebody can explain.
Hope it helps the others,
Bruno
Dec 30, 2015
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Bruno,
Thank you for sharing your insight into installation problems. I need to inspect this issue more deeply. There might be an issue in my code referencing rhinocommon or grasshopper dlls.
Best wishes for 2016!
Jan 4, 2016
Junghwo Park
Hi Pirouz Nourian,
Happy New Year!! Hope you took some rest:)
I have a problem to install SYNTACTIC_V_2.7
I have followed the exact steps from the instruction
Then I have copy and paste "SYNTACTIC Grasshopper Assembly (.GHA)" into my grasshopper components folder.
Unfortunately, All the components are missing.
I am using the most current Rhino Version 5 SR12 64-bit with Grasshopper 0.9.0076
Could you please help me out?????? Thanks in advance
Jan 7, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Junghwo,
Happy new year! I guess it might be because the GHA is blocked by your system. Please right click on it in your components' folder and go to its properties and double check. Otherwise, please read Bruno's comment on another probable cause of this problem below. To open Grasshopper Developer Settings type it in your Rhino command line.
Jan 8, 2016
ahmad heidari
dear pirouz
Happy new year!
I have used the plug in that you give me(Syntactic) in my design process and the result graph is attached.Please comment on that graph.
thanks in advanced
بررسی جایگاه نحو فضا در فرآیند طراحی معماری.pdf
Jan 8, 2016
ahmad heidari
Faculty of Architecture and Urban Design Art and Shiraz
Jan 8, 2016
Junghwo Park
Hi Pirouz,
Grasshopper Developer Settings solved the issue. Thanks heaps!!!!!!!!!
Jan 9, 2016
Florino Ita
Hello, is there some examples about using space syntax with kangoroo?Thank you for your answer
Great plugin btw I am having fun using it with my projects, but how can I exploit the result... Is there a gap between this plugin and other functionality in grasshopper or maybe i am wrong...
Jan 20, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Florino, I just made two components for baking the disks as colored meshes. You can find them in the attached file.
C%23_Disk_PZN.gh
Jan 20, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
the other component thickens the edge-lines (only for visualization)...
Jan 20, 2016
Florino Ita
Thank you for this fast development of the component... but actually, it is a bit frustrating since, after doing a graph in space syntax, I would like to extract the exact graph made, however, the component you should yesterday does not extract the exact graph, it makes other "disks" maybe with same area (not sure also if I have the same area, since I noticed that the area is different for some disks) but anyhow the other disks dont follow the same graphical representation made with the first simulation of space syntax...
or maybe I missed something?
Thank you again
Jan 21, 2016
Florino Ita
I have another question (sorry for my questions, I hope they are not really stupid since I am really new to grasshopper) I would like to know per example, when I am defining relations between spaces, in your plugin, we have to first define the points and for each point we have a space, after this we will link these points to the space names we have to deal with... so for each point we have an appropriate space name, in the second phase we will draw manually a line between each point to define the relation between the spaces... well here is my question, linking points (or spaces) is done manually, there is not automated method to link these points? (maybe having a list of all the configurations (links ) possible and after this we will choose links we want to keep?
Thank you again Pirouz
Jan 21, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
Florino, re your first question, could you please post your file? In doing so, please remove all components from other plugins and make it as simple as possible.
Regarding your second question, I think it is best if the designers themselves specify which spaces should connect to which other. Potential connections between n spaces will be n-squared. Frankly I don't see why removing unnecessary connections could be better than specifying directly what spaces should connect to one another. However, of course you can make connections automatically (I am not so interested in automating decision-making in design). If you need to make connections automatically you can do that with native components from grasshopper such as Proximity tools. Perhaps a better approach would be to use SpiderWeb tools to design a systematic process for doing so.
Jan 21, 2016
Florino Ita
Thank you Pirouz for your answer.
well, I said removing unnecessary connections, but it can have another way of defing the connections automatically
Jan 21, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
C_Disk_PZN_Corrected.gh
The attached component puts out the disks for working with the disk graph drawings.
Just noticed there was a small problem with the areas in the earlier version of this. I have fixed that problem in the attached.
Feb 13, 2016
Bao Nguyen
Hello, I had a problem with the RectangulateDual component, it appeared to have many layers. If anyone know why? Thank you.
Feb 16, 2016
CathyTs
Hello!! I downloaded Syntactic and i'm running the setup but it doesn't appear anywhere as a plug in in Grasshopper! What should i do?
Thank you!
Mar 14, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Katerina, after you finish the installation process, the installer will place a folder containing a GHA file and example Rh& GH files in your system. If you didn't notice where it put the folder, please repeat the process and make sure you place it somewhere recognizable. Once done, you can drag and drop the GHA onto your GH canvas and then start with the example files.
Mar 14, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Bao,
Looking at the picture it seems like one of the inputs must be a data tree. Anyhow, as I've mentioned in the example file this Rectangulate Dual is mostly an experimental placebo. If time allows I will propose an alternative method for geometric layout based on Isovist Bubbles: https://sites.google.com/site/pirouznourian/syntactic-design
Mar 14, 2016
Tim
Hi Pirouz,
Hope you are doing well.
I would like to ask about pie chart component, is there a way to make it show labels or is it a bug?
Check this discussion, your pie chart will do a nice addition to chart tool set.
Mar 14, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Tim, do you mean with this C# component that I've put below? or the component from the SYNTACTIC plugin?The C# add on below doesn't have the mechanism for representing labels. You can add those using tagging components of GH. In the original component from SYNTACTIC I have put those mechanisms as well. I hoped this component would provide for more options without having the texts.
Mar 16, 2016
Tim
Hi Pirouz,
I meant the component from the syntactic plugin, from utilities tab. You show it in the example images and it has white text labels. Not that I use it a lot, but when I did a quick walk through of the components I noticed that it didn't show any text.
Maybe something is wrong on my side, but I thought I'd let you know anyway.
Have a nice day.
Mar 16, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
Hi Tim, it might be an issue with GH preview or an issue with my code which pertains to GH preview. Anyhow, I would suggest using the C# component I've posted below in combination with tagging components from GH for the time being. I can more quickly add such snippets if necessary instead of revising the whole package at once.
Mar 16, 2016
Tim
Ok, no worries, I don't plan to use pie chart anyway, just thought I should report this.
I will use other components to analyse spacial relationships for my care center, I'd like to post some screenshots later.
Mar 16, 2016
Pirouz Nourian
Thanks for letting me know. Interesting topic (care centre). Please do post some screenshots :)
Mar 16, 2016
Tim
Hey Pirouz,
Finally got to use Space Syntax.
Trying to put everything together met this error:
Mar 27, 2016