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Buildings from the same time period or region usually have a similar form and appearance of certain elements like windows, doors, roofs and so on. Just as gothic architecture is known for the lancet arch windows and romanesque architecture for the rounded arch, every architectural style has its own destinctive use of forms. The ArchiXML styles use a similar concept to describe similarities and suitable variations. The combination of different styles and the use with an arbitrary number of buildings provide an effective way of modelling large and detailed cityscapes.
The characteristics of each constructional element, such as size, material or profile, are merged into so-called style definitions. These style definitions can be freely combined with each other. For instance, the combination of the definitions for 'lancet arch window', 'brickwork' and 'stepped gable' will result in a definition for a general 'Brick Gothic' style. This concept is equivalent to the approach of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for the text markup language HTML.
Because style definitions are independent of a particular building form, they can be applied to various buildings to create realistic and plausible models. The resulting 3d models are editable and can be refined at any time. In addition, the resulting styles can be extracted from these models to create new variations. The style definitions can be organized and managed in style libraries. These libraries can be used to create building models from scratch, and they also can be purchased to facilitate the actual modelling process.
When using style definitions, they are applied to a building model by simple rules that are derived by the logic of architecture. Styles can be assigned to facades, roofs, floors or window axes using principles like symmetry, rhythm, alignment and proportion. These easy-to-understand principles can be found in any kind of architecture regardless of the time period, origin or cultural context.
A romanesque church. Elements like round arched friezes and windows are typical for romanesque art.
The great hall of a medieval castle having the same romanesque elements as the church above.