KotaView: simulating traditional Korean architecture interactively and intelligently on the web

Abstract

Traditional architecture is an important topic, not only for finding local identities from traditional heritages but also for representing the traditional identities. It is especially true because locality issues are critical in this global era. Nevertheless, the structure of traditional Korean architecture has not been fully explored in a systematical or computational manner. Furthermore, this information is not managed efficiently even though the technology for managing information effectively is quite widely available and the information could be used in many application areas. Currently, all but a few experts keep their knowledge exclusively and transfer it to few people in a limited and traditional manner. This study thus selects the Internet as an educational environment for practical reasons and explores a way of structuring construction knowledge and building information of traditional Korean architecture. That will be the first step to manage information of traditional architecture. In order to simulate traditional buildings in advanced and intelligent ways, we apply a computer technique, called data modeling. We develop a robust data model to effectively represent the building. For data modeling, we select a well-known building, Buseoksa Muryangsujun as a prototype, which is one of the oldest wooden structures in Korea. We first build an accurate three-dimensional model of the building, and then analyze its building components and their connectivity by focusing on the capital order system, called Gongpo. We also suggest a user interface model operated through the data model. The interface provides several components and functionality such as viewing each architectural component, simulating the components' connectivity interactively, and retrieving architectural information. The study shows a diagram of the wooden construction data model and some rules to explain components' connectivity, and a user interface model. This is currently being integrated into the KotaView system based on two environments: a web-based solid modeler(called WebMod) and a web-based VR engine (Active World™, EON™).