IFC2GraphQL: Schema Mapping and Automated API Construction from IFC To GraphQL

Abstract: Large-scale building projects rely on extensive information exchange, often through file-based formats. However, many use cases require only a small subset of this data. To address over- and underfetching, element-level access is essential. GraphQL, a flexible query language for object-oriented data, offers a web-based alternative. This paper proposes a mapping from the IFC data model (EXPRESS) to a GraphQL schema, enabling structured, API-based access to building models. A prototypical implementation demonstrates the feasibility of this approach, supporting automatic API generation and querying of IFC models over the web.