"INTELLIGENCE-BASED ARCHITECTURE"
by Nikos A. Salingaros and Kenneth G. Masden II
In this book deriving from a series of four publications, Kenneth Masden and I propose a new model for architecture and the teaching of architecture. We give sufficiently detaled suggestions for interested parties to implement a wholescale revision of architectural education. The book is currently under preparation, although the individual chapters can already be used by practitioners, and for courses in architecture schools.
1. Neuroscience, the Natural Environment, and Building Design, Chapter 5 of: Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life, edited by Stephen R. Kellert, Judith Heerwagen, and Martin Mador (John Wiley, New York, 2008), pages 59-83. Part of our perceptive system looks for information, whereas another part looks for meaning, thus giving rise to cultural, philosophical, and ideological constructs. Architects have come to operate in this second domain almost exclusively, which was not so in the past. Through Biophilic design, a new effort is made to reconnect human beings to the buildings and places they inhabit.
2. Architecture: Biological Form and Artificial Intelligence, The Structurist, No. 45/46 (2006), pages 54-61. Drawing from biology and artifical intelligence, we define the primary animating properties of living structure: (i) organized-complexity, (ii) metabolism, (iii) replication, (iv) adaptation, (v) intervention, (vi) situatedness, and (vii) connectivity. Looking to modern robotic science and technology, a strong correlation can be made between biologically-driven functions and the adaptive processes that once gave form to architecture. This analogy suggests a new direction for architecture in the 21st century.
3. Restructuring 21st Century Architecture Through Human Intelligence [PDF], Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research Vol 1, Issue 1 (March 2007), pages 36-52. Republished by GreekArchitects (February 2008) [HTML version]. How the human mind perceives and interacts with the built environment introduces a compelling new way of thinking about, teaching, and practicing architecture. We call this new design process "intelligent architecture". Perhaps surprisingly, scientifically-conceived rules for architectural design and building can lead to a more human architecture, one with a renewed respect for traditional methods of architectural design.
4. Intelligence-Based Design: A Sustainable Foundation For Worldwide Architectural Education [PDF], Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research Vol 2, Issue 1 (March 2008), pages 129-188. Architectural theory as currently taught in modern universities throughout the world no longer provides a plausible basis for the discipline and practice of architecture. Students learn to copy fashionable images without understanding their geometry. We re-situate the education of an architect directly in human existence, human perception, and the human necessity of corporeal engagement with the built environment. Our model re-institutes values in local culture and identity throughout the world.