Topological Investigation of the Generative Grammar for the Balcony Access Type Apartment Houses in Seoul

This study aims to construct the design competence by means of a topological approach. To this end, the linguistic concept of 'competence and performance' in Chomskian sense is borrowed and applied to the study. The usability of this method is then tested against the sample apartment plans from Gangnam-gu area in Seoul, and it is found that this enabled a middle-ground approach to a more productive grammar that overcomes the limits in Glassie's and Stiny's grammar systems. Through a series of analyses on the sample plans, it could be clarified that there appear classificatory levels in the competence that controls the planning of the building, zoning of the unit, and layout of LDK combination. At the end, it is evaluated that the generative grammar, constructed in this research, is the possible world in designers' minds, and this retrospective remodelling of the architectural competence could illuminate the 'design decision flow' that generates the sample plans.