Irregular vertex editing for architectural geometry design

This paper introduces an innovative computational design tool used to edit architectural geometry by addressing the problem of irregular vertices. An irregular vertex is a special kind of vertex, which is connected with less or more edges than regular vertex on a mesh surface. Such vertices create problems with further surface rationalization, as well as structural analysis and constructability of the surface. Geometry created by other tools is remeshed upon import. Using the developed tool, the user is able to identify irregular vertices, and interactively change type, move or remove these irregular vertices. The background of our research and related work on architectural geometry and mesh editing are explained. A case study for a Building Information Modeling (BIM) competition is used to illustrate the workflow. The advantages and disadvantages of editing mesh topology on architectural geometry design including the limitations are discussed at the end.