Introduction

A series of 12 Lectures, 1 hour each.

This seminar is not an official course, so registration is not required, and no university credit will accrue. Continuing Education credits may be earned for documented attendance, but details will have to be worked out with the AIA.

Description

Application of cutting-edge mathematical techniques to architectural design. Fractals and algorithmic processes. Cellular automata that generate the Sierpinski carpet. Harmony-seeking computations. Generative codes, and their difference from static New Urbanist codes.

Syllabus

011 Recursion and the Fibonacci sequence. Universal scaling.
02 Fractals and the Sierpinski gasket.
03 Universal distribution of sizes.
04 Generating a Sierpinski carpet with a 1-D cellular automaton.
05 Harmony-seeking computations.
06 Alexander’s 15 Fundamental Properties.
07 Biologically-inspired computation and genetic algorithms.
08 Emergent systems. Artificial Life.
09 Symmetry production and symmetry breaking.
10 Generative codes and their application to building and urban morphology.
11 DPZ New Urbanist codes and the Transect.
12 Implementation of generative codes in design.

 

  • 1. Lecture 1 offered to Mysore School of Architecture, India, via a distance-lecture by Nikos Salingaros

Texts

  • We will use the monograph “Harmony-seeking computations” by Christopher Alexander, to appear in the International Journal of Unconventional Computation, Volume 4, 2008. We will also use extracts from Alexander’s “The Nature of Order”, Books 1, 2,  and 3.  and Stephen Wolfram’s “A New Kind of Science”. Supplemental material will be prepared by the instructor to hand out to students.Lectures
  • Each one-hour lecture will be repeated twice a week. No registration fee is necessary for either lecture. The first time around, it will be offered at Michael G. Imber Architects, 111 W. El Prado St. (right off the McCullough Street roundabout), San Antonio, Texas 78212, on Wednesdays at 12:00-1:00. Seating is limited. First lecture is on Wednesday, January 23, 2008. There is no lecture on March 19, 2008, because of Spring Break.
  • The lecture will be repeated at The University of Texas at San Antonio, (1604 Campus), One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, Texas 78249, Thursdays at 11:00-12:15 Central time, Business Building ITV Room — BB 3.03.02. The Thursday lecture will be transmitted via videoconference to participating institutions throughout the world. First lecture is on Thursday, January 24, 2008. There is no lecture on March 20, 2008, because of Spring Break.

Questions and Feedback

  • After each lecture, please feel free to write in questions to me at:
  • salingar [at ] sphere.math.utsa.edu
  • I will read them and perhaps choose one or more to answer in a subsequent lecture
  • Your questions don’t have to be in English; try Greek or the Romance languages

Students can follow twelve innovative one-hour lectures in English (streaming video below) covering architecture and urbanism for free.

The accompanying book of lecture notes is also available: Algorithmic Sustainable Design -- Twelve Lectures on Architecture, US edition HERE, older printing HERE, International Edition HERE, buy in India HERE, translation into Chinese HERE, translation into Russian HERE.

The course material is original, and includes topics introduced into architecture for the first time. This innovative framework applies cellular automata, codes, complexity, emergent phenomena, fractals, information, networks, organization, scaling, and symmetries to design. Biological algorithms responsible for human evolutionary development link us to the greatest creations of humanity -- buildings, cities, artworks, and artifacts. The same relationships are also found in vernacular and traditional architectural and urban forms. Students from around the world can now learn the intelligent basis for architecture, and re-establish adaptability and genuine sustainability.