Algorithmic Sustainable Design: The Future of Architectural Theory, by Nikos A. Salingaros, contains notes from a series of 12 lectures. Architecture and urbanism are presented as advanced applications of computations. Each step in the design process on every scale corresponds to a computation. This series of lectures brings together geometrical constructs such as Cellular Automata, recursive growth, the Fibonacci sequence, fractals, universal scaling, etc. Few of these topics are current../MORE

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Algorithmic Sustainable Design: The Future of Architectural Theory, by Nikos A. Salingaros, contains notes from a series of 12 lectures. Architecture and urbanism are presented as advanced applications of computations. Each step in the design process on every scale corresponds to a computation. This series of lectures brings together geometrical constructs such as Cellular Automata, recursive growth, the Fibonacci sequence, fractals, universal scaling, etc. Few of these topics are currently taught in architecture schools, nor are simple descriptions available for non-mathematicians. All of these disparate techniques are woven together into one useful design tool, which can be used by both architecture students and practitioners. The design methodology outlined here combines structural rules of constraints with a free computational method that liberates a designer from any previously held design dogma. Complex systems and computational reducibility are frameworks that help to create a general theory of design. The theory of intelligence and memory storage is intimately tied to interactive computations. Concepts from biology such as the evolution of morphological features and embryonic development are applied to architectural and urban design. There are remarkable instances of how these techniques generate natural forms such as plants, seashells, and other organisms. Evolutionary regression is also essential in understanding the historical drift of architectural styles.   Christopher Alexander’s most recent work is highlighted and explained with simple examples. The computations necessary for design decisions have to follow a very specific sequence; otherwise the end-result will be dysfunctional. Alexander’s classic work on “Pattern Languages” is an essential part of the new design paradigm, since Alexandrine patterns provide essential constraints on every adaptive computation, without which the building or urban region becomes uninhabitable. Results from theoretical physics delve deeply into the concept of symmetry. Using elementary particle symmetries to better understand the process of symmetry breaking reveals how to create energy in architecture through the use of ornament. It is shown how indigenous design, such as is practiced in building favelas, bears a striking parallel with the mechanism by which mobile robots function. On the urban scale, New Urbanist codes should replace the post World-War II zoning that created cities fit only for cars. The regeneration of cities and suburbs depends upon the type of urban computations that are described here. Tall buildings come in for severe criticism as not offering any true energy benefit, but many hidden costs: they are neither the solution towards achieving urban density, nor to creating green urban regions. The correct manner to design a sustainable urban plaza is outlined. By applying cutting-edge mathematical techniques to architectural and urban design, a new toolbox is presented to design practitioners.  
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