Algorithmic Sustainable Design: The Future of Architectural Theory.
A series of 12 Lectures, 1 hour each.
Instructor: Nikos A. Salingaros, SB 4.01.44, UTSA 1604 Campus, 210 458 5546. salingar@sphere.math.utsa.edu
Prerequisite: Professional status as a practitioner, employee in architecture firm, graduate standing in either the College of Sciences or the College of Architecture.
Official Status: 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:
1. Recursion and the Fibonacci sequence. Scaling.
2. Cellular automata.
3. Fractals and the Sierpinski gasket.
4. Generating a Sierpinski carpet with a 1-D cellular automaton.
5. Harmony-seeking computations.
6. Alexander’s 15 Fundamental Properties.
7. Biologically-inspired computation and genetic algorithms.
8. Emergent systems. Examples from Artificial Life.
9. 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.
Text: We will use the monograph “Harmony-seeking computations” by Christopher Alexander, published in a special issue of the International Journal of Unconventional Computation, 2008 (available online). 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.
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, 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.