In Forma Building Design, you can design façade expressions using either manual placement tools or automated façade generation.
- Manual design provides precise control over individual elements:
- Windows
- Doors
- Balconies
- Façade automations let you quickly generate patterns that adapt automatically to changes in building geometry.
You can combine both approaches and switch between them at any time.
Manually Designing a Facade
Manual façade design allows you to place and edit individual façade elements or modules directly on the building. To manually design a façade:
- Open the Elevation view of the façade you want to edit by:
- Selecting “Elevation” from Views in the Map Tools menu (bottom center of the screen), or
- Double-clicking directly on the façade in the 3D view of the model.
- In the Elevation view, you can design using:
- Place individual façade elements such as windows, doors, and balconies.
- Place Modules — saved groupings of window, door, and balcony elements.
Using Facade Automations
Façade Automations allow you to quickly generate façade patterns that automatically adapt to changes in building geometry.
Automations can be applied at multiple levels:
- Entire building
- Individual façades
- Individual floors
To use Facade Automations:
- Select the relevant building element to which the automation will be applied:
- An entire building
- An individual façade
- An individual floor
- Choose one of the Automations that appear in the Facade properties panel:
- Single Windows
- Window-To-Wall Ratio
- Modules
- Enter the parameters that drive the automation in the Facade properties panel:
