Building patterns are important features that should be preserved in the map generalization process. However, the patterns are not explicitly accessible to automated systems. This paper proposes a framework and several algorithms that automatically recognize building patterns from topographic data, with a focus on collinear and curvilinear alignments. For both patterns two algorithms are developed, which are able to recognize alignment-of-center and alignment-of-side patterns. The presented approach integrates aspects of computational geometry, graph-theoretic concepts and theories of visual perception. Although the individual algorithms for collinear and curvilinear patterns show great potential for each type of the patterns, the recognized patterns are neither complete nor of enough good quality. We therefore advocate the use of a multi-algorithm paradigm, where a mechanism is proposed to combine results from different algorithms to improve the recognition quality. The potential of our method is demonstrated by an application of the framework to several real topographic datasets. The quality of the recognition results are validated in an expert survey.