From type to network: a review of knowledge representation methods in architecture intelligence design

With the rise of the next generation of artificial intelligence driven by knowledge and data, the research on knowledge representation in architecture is also receiving widespread attention from the academia. This paper sorts out the evolution of architectural knowledge representation methods in the history of architecture, and summarizes three progressive representation frameworks of their development with type, pattern and network. By searching these three keywords in the Web of Science Core Collection among 4867 publications from 1990 to 2021, the number of publications in the past 5 years raised more than 50%, which show significant research interest in architecture industry in recent years. Among them, the first two are static declarative knowledge representation methods, while the network-based knowledge representation method also includes procedural knowledge representation methods and provides a way for knowledge association. This means the network representation has more advantage in terms of the logical completeness of knowledge representation, and accounts for 67% of the current research on knowledge representation in architecture. In the context of the rapid development of artificial intelligence, this method can realize the construction of architectural knowledge system and greatly improve the work efficiency of the building industry. On the other hand, in the face of carbon-neutral sustainable development scenarios, using knowledge representation, building performance knowledge and design knowledge could be expressed in a unified manner, and a personalized and efficient workflow for performance-oriented scheme design and optimization would be achieved.