Towards Morphogenesis in Architecture

Abstract

Procedural, parametric and generative computer-supported techniques in combination with mass customization and automated fabrication enable holistic manipulation in silico and the subsequent production of increasingly complex architectural arrangements. By automating parts of the design process, computers make it easier to develop designs through versioning and gradual adjustment. In recent architectural discourse, these approaches to designing have been described as morphogenesis. This paper invites further reflection on the possible meanings of this imported concept in the field of architectural designing. It contributes by comparing computational modelling of morphogenesis in plant science with techniques in architectural designing. Deriving examples from case-studies, the paper suggests potentials for collaboration and opportunities for bi-directional knowledge transfers.

Self-organized matter: design and primitive future of the eidetic categories

“…Even in this case, materiality is not a passive property, but it becomes an active generator, which allows the growth of a "complex performative structure", close to the Deleuzian concept of objectile (Cache 1995) and developed by means of a constant feedback between computational design, simulation, fabrication and external influences. Thus materiality becomes the starting point of an "open-ended design process", involving design and architectural research (Menges 2012) and leading to mass customisation (Roudavski 2009), a technique that combines mass production with flexibility.…”

Eidogenesis of the Artificial: The Case of the Relationships between Models of the “Natural Image” and Cellular Automata

“…The Lindenmayer systems, together with other sets of algorithms-fractals, Voronoi diagrams, parametric equations, evolutionary (genetics) algorithms, Generative Modelling Language ...-are, by now, part of the computational geometry and can be regarded as possible IT resources for the procedural modelling suites employed in the so-called "procedural digital modelling": i.e., the modelling of complex 3D shapes used in different fields of design, especially in some trends called "parametric" and "morphogenetic design" [28][29][30][31][32].…”

Interaction of analogic and digital workflows for architectural design and production

“…A concept underpinned on the principles of digital morphogenesis in architecture, defined by S. Roudavski (2009) as "a group of methods that employ digital media not as a representational tool but as generative tools for the derivation of form and its transformation… often in an inspiration to express contextual processes in built form…", which uses geometric patterns as a "mechanism to explore cells as structural components created by parametric modeling" (Gámez, . The aim of this approach is to enrich the constructive dimension and design possibilities of cellular wooden-structures applied not only to ephemeral constructions but to permanent architectural objects, as a design alternative in which patterns play an aesthetic and structural role by transforming the components of a wall into cells that can be easily assembled and mounted in an endeavor to optimize material consumption and execution time.…”

“…Considering the principles of morphogenesis in architecture discussed by B. Kolarevic (2005) and S. Roudavski (2009), along with the usefulness of geometric patterns as basis for structural conception, the concept of cell as product of surface subdivision by means of a pattern, arises as to define the unit that will morphologically and structurally redefine a non-standard wall for use in facades and/or architectural envelopes (Gámez et al, 2015).…”