Courtyard Kit
A terrace design using seven movable shapes for seating, planting, tables, and pergolas.
Ján Pernecký & Hugo Fekar
Monoceros design study · 2026
Van Eyck study
Vaulted volumes and flat roofs on columns, assembled with Monoceros 3.
Development with Codex and Claude
This study explores how Codex and Claude can automate the preparation of a Monoceros project under the direction of Ján Pernecký.
The brief
An architectural experiment using Aldo van Eyck’s Amsterdam Orphanage as a reference. Low volumes have small square vaults. Taller domed volumes have 6 m walls without an intermediate floor. Flat-roofed upper volumes stand on columns above open ground.
The method
Codex generated and revised the geometry, Module library, connection Rules and scripts for headless Monoceros runs. Claude reviewed the architectural approach and proposed changes. Ján set the brief, compared intermediate results with the reference building and directed the revisions.
The result
Explore the Module library, its permitted connections and the resulting 3D assemblies below. Six input fields show how different preferences affect the generated layouts while leaving room for variation.
Further development
These are exploratory geometric results. Some covered paths remain disconnected, and access to the upper levels, including stairs, is unresolved. They have not been validated as a complete building design.
Study direction and evaluation: Ján Pernecký. Model and computational workflow developed with Codex; architectural review and proposals with Claude. Reference building: Aldo van Eyck, Amsterdam Orphanage (1955–1960).
Development process
This example shows architects and designers how to prepare a Monoceros project with Codex and Claude. Starting from a published building, it follows the development of the Module library, connection Rules, input preferences and generated results.
Codex wrote the scripts that generated the geometry, ran the headless Monoceros engine and built the interactive views on this page. Claude provided architectural review and proposed revisions. Ján Pernecký set the brief, checked the intermediate models and directed corrections.
Studying the reference
The study began with plans, sections, photographs and architectural texts about the Amsterdam Orphanage. Ján used these sources to check the generated model.
Revising the geometry
Corrections addressed the amount of open ground, the branching arrangement, square vault footprints, double-height domed rooms and raised flat-roofed volumes on columns.
Defining Modules and connections
The 325 Modules each occupy one Cell. Rooms, vaults and raised volumes are assembled from several Modules, with matching profiles at their boundaries.
Comparing results
The same library was tested with branching and loop-based preference fields at two grid sizes. Every initial position retained multiple possible Modules. The results were inspected, and unresolved circulation and access are reported alongside them.
3D assembly
Replay a recorded Monoceros result to see how the Module placements form the full assembly. Drag to orbit, or use the zoom controls to inspect it.
Small branching example
24 × 28 × 3 Cells · Random Seed 0.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Modules and assembled examples
These manually assembled examples show how the parts join at different spans and lengths. Use the controls to change the example or inspect a cutaway.
Square vaults
Manually assembled examples with spans of two, three and four bays.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Flat roof on columns
Manually assembled examples with different lengths and junctions.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Module geometry
Inspect one Module, the Cell it occupies, its rotation axis, Connectors and Terminators.
Single-Cell Module
Cell dimensions: 3.36 × 3.36 × 3.36 m.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Module catalogue
Browse all 325 Modules, including Modules for empty space. Select a thumbnail to inspect its geometry and connection markers.
325 Modules
The parts used in every result on this page.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Rules
Rules specify which Module Faces may meet. Explore them in the same viewer used by Monoceros Online, or select a Module to highlight its connections.
7,263 explicit Rules1,140 Connector-derived Rules
Module connections
Connections between the 325 Modules.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Preference fields and results
Compare branching, small-loop and large-loop preferences on two grid sizes. Each heatmap shows Slot Priority and is paired with a recorded result from that input. Several Modules remain possible at every initial position, with positive Weights, so the preferences guide the arrangement without fixing its footprint.
Lower Slot PriorityHigher Slot Priority
Branching preference · small Envelope
Slot Priority
24 × 28 × 3 Cells.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
3D result
Recorded assembly from the paired input · Random Seed 0.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Small-loop preference · small Envelope
Slot Priority
24 × 28 × 3 Cells.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
3D result
Recorded assembly from the paired input · Random Seed 1.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Large-loop preference · small Envelope
Slot Priority
24 × 28 × 3 Cells.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
3D result
Recorded assembly from the paired input · Random Seed 0.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Branching preference · large Envelope
Slot Priority
30 × 34 × 3 Cells.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
3D result
Recorded assembly from the paired input · Random Seed 0.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Small-loop preference · large Envelope
Slot Priority
30 × 34 × 3 Cells.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
3D result
Recorded assembly from the paired input · Random Seed 1.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Large-loop preference · large Envelope
Slot Priority
30 × 34 × 3 Cells.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
3D result
Recorded assembly from the paired input · Random Seed 1.
Drag to orbit and use the zoom buttons.
Further reading
Resources on the Amsterdam Orphanage, its architectural context and restoration.
- Francis Strauven, 2007. Aldo van Eyck: Shaping the New Reality, from the In-between to the Aesthetics of Number. CCA Mellon lecture. Lecture text (PDF).
- Oliver Sack, 2024. On Aldo van Eyck’s concept of the in-between and Raumbildung. ARENA Journal of Architectural Research, 9(1), 4.
- Wessel de Jonge, 2018. Myth and Metamorphosis: Aldo van Eyck’s Orphanage (1960) in Amsterdam Restored. Docomomo conference proceedings, pp. 587–593; abstract and publication record.
- Anneke Bokern, 2018. Bürolandschaft statt Waisenhaus. db deutsche bauzeitung.
- Liane Lefaivre and Alexander Tzonis, 2018. The Rebel Humanist: Aldo van Eyck (1918–1999). Arquitectura Viva, 203.
- René Boer and Michiel van Iersel, 2016. Orphan City. Failed Architecture; originally in Harvard Design Magazine, 41.
- WDJ Architecten: Burgerweeshuis restoration.
- Nieuwe Instituut: the archive of Hannie and Aldo van Eyck.
- Salvatore Paolo Alfio Reina / The Formwork, 2023. Aldo van Eyck: Orphanage in IJsbaanpad 1960, Atlas of Details. Reference atlas used to develop the study.
For a more detailed account, see Francis Strauven’s Aldo van Eyck’s Orphanage: A Modern Monument (1996) and The Shape of Relativity (1998), and Vincent Ligtelijn and Francis Strauven’s edited Collected Articles and Other Writings 1947–1998 (2008).
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