Masonry Regions: A New Approach for the Representation of Masonry Walls in BIM Applications

The article describes the theoretical approach for the development of computational representations of masonry walls based on the concept of regions. A masonry region is intended to support the description of various levels of detail pertaining to a masonry wall assembly, capturing the evolution and complexity of design information from early conceptual stages down to construction and operation. Since different wall types are characterized by a different set of domain-specific requirements, a special emphasis is put on a flexible strategy for classification of different types of view-dependent masonry regions. This classification will provide the foundation upon which masonry specific parametric modeling and rule-checking applications can be elaborated in the future. It will also provide the basis for the definition of model views necessary for particular data queries and exchanges between design stakeholders. The article introduces the concept of regions, and discusses its implications and future steps.