In this brief, accessible volume, the authors — an urban philosopher and a mathematician-physicist — explain the surprising new findings from the sciences that are beginning to transform environmental design in the modern era. Authors Michael Mehaffy and Nikos Salingaros explore fractals, networks, self-organization, dynamical systems and other revolutionary ideas, describing them to non-science readers in a direct and engaging way. The book also examines fascinating new topics of design, including Agile, Wiki, Design Patterns and other “open-source” approaches from the software world. The authors conclude that a profound transformation is under way in modern design — and today’s students and practitioners will need to be aware of its implications for our future.
Chapter | Acknowledgements | 5 | |||||
Preface | 8 | ||||||
Introduction | 10 | ||||||
PART I: Toward Resilient Architectures |
17 | ||||||
Ch 01. | Biology Lessons | 18 | IT | PT | GR | ||
Ch 02. | Why Green Often Isn’t | 29 | IT | PT | ES | ||
Ch 03. | How Modernism Got Square | 39 | IT | ||||
Ch 04. | The Geometry of Resilience | 50 | |||||
Ch 05. | Agile Design | 61 | |||||
PART II: Science for Designers |
75 | ||||||
Ch 06. | Scaling and Fractals | 76 | |||||
Ch 07. | Intelligence and the Information Environment | 86 | |||||
Ch 08. | The Meaning of Complexity | 93 | PT | ||||
Ch 09. | The Transformation of Wholes | 101 | |||||
Ch 10. | Complex Adaptive Systems | 111 | |||||
PART III: Frontiers of Design Science |
123 | ||||||
Ch 11. | Evidence-‐Based Design | 124 | |||||
Ch 12. | Biophilia | 131 | |||||
Ch 13. | Self-‐Organization | 138 | |||||
Ch 14. | The Network City | 147 | |||||
Ch 15. | Computational Irreducibility | 156 | |||||
PART IV: The Remarkable Technology of Christopher Alexander |
165 | ||||||
Ch 16. | Alexander’s Radical Technology | 166 | |||||
Ch 17. | Alexander’s Sustainable Technology | 175 | IT | PT | |||
Ch 18. | Alexander’s Pattern Technology | 180 | |||||
Ch 19. | Alexander’s Living Technology | 188 | |||||
Ch 20. | Alexander’s Wholeness-‐Generating Technology | 198 | |||||
Conclusion: The Inexorable Transformation |
209 | ||||||
Appendices |
215 | ||||||
The Fraudulent Evolution from Artisan to Industrial. — Appendix to Chapter 3 | 216 | PT | |||||
“On Exactitude in Science”, by Jorge Luis Borges. — Appendix to Chapter 15 | 221 | PT | |||||
References |
224 | ||||||
Authors’ Biographies | 229 | ||||||
Dates of Original Publication | 230 | ||||||
Index | 232 |