A Knowledge-Augmented Two-Stage Workflow for Architectural Concept-to-Massing Generation and Evaluation

Large language models (LLMs) and diffusion-based image generators can rapidly produce architectural ideas and imagery, yet translating conceptual narratives into massing composition is often implicit and difficult to reproduce. In this paper, we present a knowledge-augmented two-stage workflow for architectural concept-to-massing generation and evaluation. The outputs are represented as axonometric massing proxy images, which serve as 2D visual proxies for early-stage massing refinement rather than editable 3D models. The workflow integrates a prototype library and Knowledge Graph (KG) routing to map narrative cues into executable strategy and operation tokens and compile stage-specific prompts. Stage 1 produces structural concept sketches emphasizing legible composition, while Stage 2 generates axonometric massing proxy images conditioned on Stage 1 sketches to stabilize composition across candidates. Under a fixed sampling budget, candidates are ranked using a rubric-based scoring protocol with Top-K selection, and evaluation signals can be written back to update prompt compilation iteratively. Across diverse project briefs, ablation studies demonstrate that knowledge augmentation improves constraint compliance and composition readability while maintaining controlled diversity for early exploration. We report expert ratings together with paired statistical tests to support reproducible comparisons.

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Publication Details

Journal
Buildings
Published
2026-03-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16061265
Primary Topic
Multimodal Machine Learning Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

A Knowledge-Augmented Two-Stage Workflow for Architectural Concept-to-Massing Generation and Evaluation

Yao Fu, Shangci Sun
Buildings
Multimodal Machine Learning Applications
article

A Knowledge-Augmented Two-Stage Workflow for Architectural Concept-to-Massing Generation and Evaluation

Yao Fu, Shangci Sun
article en

Abstract

Large language models (LLMs) and diffusion-based image generators can rapidly produce architectural ideas and imagery, yet translating conceptual narratives into massing composition is often implicit and difficult to reproduce. In this paper, we present a knowledge-augmented two-stage workflow for architectural concept-to-massing generation and evaluation. The outputs are represented as axonometric massing proxy images, which serve as 2D visual proxies for early-stage massing refinement rather than editable 3D models. The workflow integrates a prototype library and Knowledge Graph (KG) routing to map narrative cues into executable strategy and operation tokens and compile stage-specific prompts. Stage 1 produces structural concept sketches emphasizing legible composition, while Stage 2 generates axonometric massing proxy images conditioned on Stage 1 sketches to stabilize composition across candidates. Under a fixed sampling budget, candidates are ranked using a rubric-based scoring protocol with Top-K selection, and evaluation signals can be written back to update prompt compilation iteratively. Across diverse project briefs, ablation studies demonstrate that knowledge augmentation improves constraint compliance and composition readability while maintaining controlled diversity for early exploration. We report expert ratings together with paired statistical tests to support reproducible comparisons.

BuildingsVol. 16(6)
Architectural Association School of Architecture (GB), Shenyang Jianzhu University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Multimodal Machine Learning Applications
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