The shape grammar formalism provides a robust framework to try ideas in analysis and synthesis in design. Still what might work in paper does not necessarily work in a shape grammar interpreter. if a computation fails, it is clear who is to blame? Did the user of the grammar follow rightly all the rules when she attempted to make a production of her own? Did she erase the labels properly? Did she apply the rules in all possible parts before she would move one to the next stage? If a mistake happens, is it in the designer’s side? Is it in the publisher’s side? Is it on the reader’s side? And so on. A most satisfying effort, and a great lesson to learn for everyone involved, but error prone too.

This work here takes on a given paper grammar that formalizes basic compositional moves in Portman's practice and puts them in action within the shape machine, the shape grammar interpreter currently developed in SCL. Interestingly, the expressiveness of the new medium not only checks and spellchecks the thesis as its was expressed in the original paper but it transforms it too. A visual catalogue of several possible designs is mechanically produced in the shape machine software to test the expressiveness of the grammar for a variety of n x m cell configurations. The term "Portmino villas" is assigned to the series to refer to Portman's inverse of Corbusier's villa Domino.