A transformation-grammar-based methodology for the adaptation of existing housetypes: the case of the ‘rabo-de-bacalhau’

The research presented here aims to develop a methodology for rehabilitating the existing housing stock to meet the new needs of dwellers in the current information society and the consequent need to integrate information, communication, and automation technology into living areas. This paper focuses on the use of a transformation grammar in the rehabilitation methodology as a tool for identifying and encoding the principles and rules behind the adaptation of existing houses, and on space syntax as a tool for evaluating the spatial properties of the proposed designs, both in the final layout and during the transformation.