This thesis interrogates the interrelation between architecture and science fiction cinema to understand the fictional and representative power of architecture. Since cinema embraces both physical and representative aspects of architecture it is convenient to carry out the research through the mediation of cinema. To accomplish this goal science fiction genre is particularly chosen where architectural image can break its commonly acknowledged facet and can reconstruct to participate in the narrative. The architectural image is intended to be interpreted through the concept of city and architectural components in science fiction cinema. To create a mutual language, a world wide known city &amp / #8211 / New York City &amp / #8211 / is selected as the case study subject / that the research is developed upon. Initially the study is based on the discussion over cinema architecture relationship from an architect&amp / #8217 / s point of view. Subsequently architectural image in architecture and cinema is studied under several categories. Twenty four science fiction movies with various plots are chosen where all the movies are either located in New York City or in a fictional city inspired by it. By analyzing these movies through architectural concepts it is aimed to gain understanding to key points in architectural design.

This thesis is devoted to 2D and 3D modeling of urban environments using structured representations and grammars. Our approach introduces a semantic representation for buildings that encodes expected architectural constraints and is able to derive complex instances using fairly simple grammars. Furthermore, we propose two novel inference algorithms to parse images using such grammars. To this end, a steepest ascent hill climbing concept is considered to derive the grammar and the corresponding parameters from a single facade view. It combines the grammar constraints with the expected visual properties of the different architectural elements. Towards addressing more complex scenarios and incorporating 3D information, a second inference strategy based on evolutionary computational algorithms is adopted to optimize a two-component objective function introducing depth cues. The proposed framework was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively on a benchmark of annotated facades, demonstrating robustness to challenging situations. Substantial improvement due to the strong grammatical context was shown in comparison to the performance of the same appearance models coupled with local priors. Therefore, our approach provides powerful techniques in response to increasing demand on large scale 3D modeling of real environments through compact, structured and semantic representations, while opening new perspectives for image understanding

The architectural image acts towards two primary objectives; to represent what is there and to make present what is not. This differentiation between the two constitutes a frame in which what is not present can appear. Images considered as such allow for the exploration of the formal questions of place, questions that address both longing and belonging and one's belief that something can and should take place. Through photography, drawing, and collage, the project considers the nature of a room with a view in relation to the house and the field. / Master of Architecture

La présente thèse est consacrée à la modélisation 2D et 3D d’environnements urbains à l’aide de représentations structurées et de grammaires de formes. Notre approche consiste à introduire une représentation sémantique de bâtiments, qui encode les contraintes architecturales attendues, et qui soit capable de traiter des exemples complexes en utilisant des grammaires très simples. En outre, nous proposons deux nouveaux algorithmes d’inférence permettant l’analyse grammaticale d’images en utilisant ces grammaires. En premier lieu, un algorithme dit de hill climbing permet d’extraire les règles de grammaire et les paramètres correspondants à partir d’une vue unique d’une façade. Ce concept combine astucieusement les contraintes grammaticales et les propriétés visuelles attendues pour les différents éléments architecturaux. Cependant, afin de pouvoir traiter de cas plus complexes et également d’incorporer de l’information 3D, une deuxième stratégie d’inférence basée sur des algorithmes évolutionnaires a été adoptée pour optimiser un fonction à deux objectifs qui introduit notamment des notions de profondeur. Le système proposé a été évalué tant qualitativement que quantitativement sur un panel de façades de référence toute munies d’annotations, démontrant ainsi sa robustesse face à des situations d’abords difficiles. Grâce à la force du contexte grammatical, des améliorations substantielles ont été démontrées par rapport aux performances des mêmes modèles couplés à des a priori uniquement locaux. Par conséquent, notre approche fournit des outils puissants permettant de faire face à la demande croissante en modélisation 3D d’environnements réels à large échelle, grâce à des représentations sémantiques compactes et structurées. Ce travail ouvre par ailleurs un vaste champ de perspectives pour le domaine de l’interprétation d’images / This thesis is devoted to 2D and 3D modeling of urban environments using structured representations and grammars. Our approach introduces a semantic representation for buildings that encodes expected architectural constraints and is able to derive complex instances using fairly simple grammars. Furthermore, we propose two novel inference algorithms to parse images using such grammars. To this end, a steepest ascent hill climbing concept is considered to derive the grammar and the corresponding parameters from a single facade view. It combines the grammar constraints with the expected visual properties of the different architectural elements. Towards addressing more complex scenarios and incorporating 3D information, a second inference strategy based on evolutionary computational algorithms is adopted to optimize a two-component objective function introducing depth cues. The proposed framework was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively on a benchmark of annotated facades, demonstrating robustness to challenging situations. Substantial improvement due to the strong grammatical context was shown in comparison to the performance of the same appearance models coupled with local priors. Therefore, our approach provides powerful techniques in response to increasing demand on large scale 3D modeling of real environments through compact, structured and semantic representations, while opening new perspectives for image understanding