From Prototype to Massing: Learning Graph Correspondence for Scalable Facade Modeling

Abstract:Facade articulation at building scale is usually resolved manually or through parametric systems that encode design intent as explicit rules. This paper investigates a complementary workflow in which a designer-authored prototype supplies transferable articulation logic. Prototype and target massing are represented as heterogeneous attributed graphs, and a Siamese graph attention network with instance-local triplet supervision embeds their segments in a shared metric space. Many-to-one nearest-neighbor retrieval then routes prototype Patterns to the larger target. On the original 85/15 within-corpus holdout, prototype-to-massing top-1 accuracy reached 96.5%, compared with a reported 76.5% raw-feature baseline. A Rhino demonstrator converts predicted correspondence into reusable facade Patterns, and qualitative applications on four built projects show the workflow across distinct massing organizations. The contribution is not automated facade generation, but an authoring model in which resolved geometry serves as a computational specification for project-scale propagation.

Accepted at ACADIA 2026 (Humanism Recoded, Detroit). Author's version. 10 pages, 13 figures

Machine Learning (cs.LG); Graphics (cs.GR)

arXiv:2610.14098 [cs.LG]

(or arXiv:2610.14098v1 [cs.LG] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2610.14098 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.