Welcome to the Sortal.org website.

Sortal structures are representational structures based on a concept for representational flexibility.
Sortal grammars are a formalism (or rather, a class of formalisms) for design grammars, utilizing sortal structures as representational structures.

You can play with sortal grammars (and sortal structures) using the sortal grammar interpreter (SortalGI) library and API in the Python programming language. The SortalGI library supports both parametric and non-parametric shape grammars, including line segments, plane segments, points, (non-parametric) circular and elliptical arcs, labels, weights, colors, enumeratives, and (parametric) descriptions, in 2D and 3D. Emergence is naturally supported.

The SortalGI library can be employed in three different ways:

• within a Python development environment, e.g., the Spyder Python development environment within Anaconda;
• within the Rhino 3D modeling environment, to make use of Rhino's graphical capabilities;
• as a Rhino/Grasshopper plug-in, requiring no programming or scripting.

The SortalGI library and Grasshopper plug-in can be freely downloaded from the downloads section.

You can find some demonstrators in the gallery section. However, if you'd like to develop your own grammar using the SortalGI library, but want to avoid any Python programming, do check out the Rhino/Grasshopper plug-in or wait for Andrew Li's graphical shape grammar interface in Rhino (build upon the SortalGI library).

You can find a bibliography on "sortal" structures, "sortal" grammars and related topics in the gallery.
You're also welcome to provide us with your feedback, comments, questions and suggestions.

The SortalGI library and API has been developed as part of a research project entitled "Computational support for spatial grammars for urban and architectural design" and funded by the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1 Start-up Grant.

This is an active project and we welcome collaborations.

Last update: 6 November 2018, webmaster @ sortal.org