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..
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.