Nikos A. Salingaros: PAPERS ON ARCHITECTURE, COMPLEXITY, PATTERNS, AND URBANISM See also: PUBLICATIONS -- THEMATIC SUMMARY
"Surely no voice is more thought-provoking than that of this intriguing, perhaps historically important, new thinker?" -- HRH Prince Charles
"Nikos A. Salingaros: A New Vitruvius for 21st-Century Architecture and Urbanism?" -- Ashraf Salama
"[Nikos Salingaros' books are] three fundamental texts, among the most significant of the past several years" -- Vilma Torselli
NEW ITEMS NO ALLE ARCHISTAR: IL MANIFESTO CONTRO LE AVANGUARDIE
A new book that combines all recent and related articles in Italian. Soon to be available for free downloading, until the print version is available.No alle archistar, sono nichiliste (in Italian)
Il Sole 24 ORE (September 2008), page 17; also HERE and in PDF. To stop the invasion of historic city centers by ill-adapted contemporary architectural projects, we need a set of criteria that judges their non-adaptability and counters their misuse of the media.Connecting the Fractal Coast
Plenary talk at the 7o Laboratorio Internazionale d'Architettura, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italy, 22 September 2008. An analysis of the fractal geometrical qualities of coastal cities, and how enhancing them encourages urban life. The final section discusses the proposed bridge over the Messina straits.Urban Plazas Project, Querétaro, Mexico (in Spanish)
Proposal to the Government of Mexico to build a series of New Urbanist Plazas (project in collaboration with Carlos Arvizu-García and Stefania Biondi). A set of rules that can generate successful urban plazas in almost any context.Peer-to-peer Urbanism
Interview by Michel Bauwens, P2P Foundation Wiki (September 2008).Geospatial Analysis and Living Urban Geometry (co-authored with Pietro Pagliardini and Sergio Porta)
To appear in: Bin Jiang and Xiaobai Angela Yao, Editors, Geospatial Analysis and Modeling of Urban Environments: Structure and Dynamics, Springer, New York, 2009. Extracts posted on the P2PFoundation Wiki, and also HERE.DESIGN REVIEW: Arata Isozaki's Proposed Metal Frame, Piazza dei Castellani (Uffizi Galleries) in Florence, Italy.
Archinect (23 August 2008).RECENSIONE DEL PROGETTO: Proposta di Arata Isozaki per un telaio metallico, Piazza dei Castellani (Gallerie degli Uffizi), Firenze.
Italian version presented in a press conference with Vittorio Sgarbi to the Circolo dei Liberi -- Fondazione Magna Carta, Florence (PHOTO), Artonweb (20 September 2008).Religione e natura: le fonti architettoniche della bellezza
Italian essay translated from the Third English Edition of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, published in ATRIUM -- Studi metafisici ed umanistici, "Il Sacro, l'Arte, la Memoria: la misura dell'Arte", Anno X, Numero 2 (2008), pagine 42-49.Biofilia, architettura per la mente (with Kenneth G. Masden; in Italian)
Il Domenicale, No. 30 (26 July 2008), page 11. Also in HTML and PDF. Biophilia is helping to shape a new adaptive and sustainable design movement.È giusto smantellare l'Ara Pacis, Il Domenicale, No. 19 (10 May 2008), pages 1 & 4. Reprinting of Ara Pacis Augustae: evidenza d'un fenomeno architettonico in sviluppo, Il Covile, No. 329 (2006). Chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007. English version is a Chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, 3rd Edition, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2008.
The Roman Emperor Augustus built the “Altar of Peace” (Ara Pacis) in Rome in the year 13 BCE. In 1996 Richard Meier was designated to construct a new cover. The frankly non-adaptive character of Meier’s design unleashed strong protests and sparked off an architectural debate, ignited once more when the new museum building finally opened in 2006.I grattacieli? Utopie totalitarie. Serve un patto uomo-natura (in Italian)
Corriere della Sera (31 March 2008), page 35. Reprinted in Archiworld, PatrimonioSOS, Il Mosaico di Bergamo, and Regione Autonoma della Sardegna (April 2008), and also in PDF with alternative PDF.
Response to Mario Botta and Massimiliano Fuksas, who dismissed my calls for a new adaptive architecture as "senseless nostalgias".C'era una volta il bello: Il culto del nichilismo nell'architettura contemporanea (in Italian)
Il Domenicale, No. 12 (22 March 2008), pages 1, 6 & 7. Republication under a new title of Architettura Sacra Contemporanea: Religione o Nichilismo?, Il Covile, No. 427 (January 2008). Reprinted by Libero, and also available in PDF with pictures and PDF without pictures.
New, innovative forms seen in the current trend of fashionable buildings (including religious architecture) are actually influenced by nihilistic philosophies. Philosophical relativism and the media have programmed contemporary society to accept disconnection and architectural nihilism.Respect for the Human Scale
NEXT AMERICAN CITY, Issue 18: Living Under Peril (Spring 2008). A more complete version was published (Summer 2008) in two parts: PART 1 & PART 2.
Lakis Polycarpou interviews James Howard Kunstler and Nikos A. Salingaros.LITHUANIAN VERSION of Respect for the Human Scale
Intelligence-Based Design: A Sustainable Foundation For Worldwide Architectural Education (with Kenneth G. Masden II) [PDF]
Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research Vol 2, Issue 1 (March 2008), pages 129-188. Against Ecophobia: Towards a Human Habitat, section of this article published in Greekarchitects.net (20 September 2008).
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.Contro l'ecofobia, per un habitat umano
Italian version of two sections from Intelligence-Based Design: A Sustainable Foundation For Worldwide Architectural Education, Il Domenicale, No. 14 (5 April 2008), pages 6-7; reprinted in Il Mascellaro, and in Alessandro Serra (April 2008). Ecophobia is the blind hatred of one's native culture and of nature. Fashionable contemporary architecture has become succesful primarily by turning people against their proper heritage and tradition.
The most exciting scientific developments of the past decade, such as fractals, complexity theory, evolutionary biology, and artificial intelligence give us an idea of how human beings interact with their environment. Organisms, computer programs, buildings, neighborhoods, and cities share the same general rules governing a complex hierarchical system. All matter -- biological as well as inanimate -- organizes itself into coherent structures. The human mind has evolved in order to adapt to complex patterns in the natural world, so the patterns we perceive around us influence our internal function as human beings.
A new, human-oriented architecture follows ideas by Christopher Alexander, combining the best qualities of traditional architecture with the latest technological and scientific advances. The greatest architecture is complex and coherent; but neither random, nor simplistic. By understanding how to generate "life" in built structures, we can drastically improve the way buildings and cities relate to people. Unfortunately, the universe's wonderfully rich complexity is ignored and suppressed by a contemporary design canon that seeks plainness and a false purity, while at the same time promoting disorder rather than coherent structures.
WEB PRESENTATIONS Algorithmic Sustainable Design: The Future of Architectural Theory
A series of 12 Lectures on Video given at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Spring 2008.
Application of cutting-edge mathematical techniques and recent results of Christopher Alexander to architectural design. Fractals and algorithmic processes. Cellular automata that generate the Sierpinski carpet. Harmony-seeking computations. 15 Fundamental Properties. Generative codes, and their difference from static New Urbanist codes. [Both the videos and the Powerpoint presentations of these lectures are available from the above webpage].Connecting the Fractal Coast
Web presentation for the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Italy, September 2008
With the urbanization of the Mediterranean coastline into one continuous ribbon city, we need more intelligent techniques to manage its growth. The goal is to allow commercialization without destroying the life-giving qualities that attract people to the coastline in the first place. A method for long-term solutions utilizes fractals and networks. The proposed bridge to Sicily is discussed.Vivienda Social en Latino-América.
Web presentation in Spanish, for the Brazilian and Ibero-American Congress on Social Housing, Florianópolis, Brazil, November 2006.
Evidence-based optimal practices for social housing are developed in a Latin American context. Solutions towards long-term sustainability help to attach residents to their built environment. At the same time, we analyze the failures of the standard social housing typologies favored by governments around the world.
BOOKS
1. "ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION", Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2004. Second Expanded Edition, 2007. Third Edition, 2008.
A collection of my essays aimed at understanding the world's current infatuation with deconstructivism. This book is having a quiet but significant impact in re-orienting architecture away from deconstructivism. Topics include Christopher Alexander, Jacques Derrida, Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi, Religion, and Cults.
FRENCH EDITION: "ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION", Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
ITALIAN EDITION: "ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE", Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
PERSIAN EDITION: underway.
SPANISH EDITION: incomplete -- free download.2. "PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE", Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005.
A monograph consisting of several of my urban papers. Introduces the unifying notion of the network city to understand urban phenomena as components of a complex system. This book is meant to satisfy the needs of professional urbanists, students, and teachers who wish to understand how and why cities are successful or not, depending on their form, components, and substructure.
CHINESE EDITION: underway
PERSIAN EDITION: almost complete.
PORTUGUESE EDITION: underway.
SPANISH EDITION: underway -- free download.3. "A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE", Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
An innovative approach to design based upon my papers in . I explain the foundations of architectural form using scientific concepts such as fractals, hierarchical scaling, complexity, and memes. Already used by many architecture students to learn practical methods architecture This book is intended to initiate a new direction for building and design that breaks free from irrelevant images.
PERSIAN EDITION: translation of abstracts only -- complete book in preparation.
SPANISH EDITION: underway.4. "Favelas and Social Housing: The Urbanism of Self-Organization" (with David Brain, Andrés M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy & Ernesto Philibert-Petit) -- book in preparation in several different languages.
Evidence-based optimal practices are developed for social housing. Solutions towards long-term sustainability help to attach residents to their built environment. At the same time, we analyze the failures of the standard social housing typologies favored by governments around the world.
This study has an entry in the AboutUs wiki. Comments by Michel Bauwens, posting a section of the book on the P2P Foundation wiki and also HERE.
ITALIAN EDITION will be published by Libreria Editrice Fiorentina.
PORTUGUESE EDITION: "Habitação social na América Latina: uma metodologia para utilizar processos de auto-organização" [PDF]. Free download -- the book will be published by the University Press of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
SPANISH EDITION: "Vivenda Social en Latino-América" [PDF]. Free download -- the book will be published in Mexico by the Tecnológico de Monterrey Press.5. "INTELLIGENCE-BASED ARCHITECTURE" (with Kenneth G. Masden), Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, in preparation.
We present a new model for architecture and the teaching of architecture, and give detaled suggestions for implementing a wholescale revision of architectural education. The new architecture relies directly upon mechanisms of human biology and intelligence. This opens up unsuspected possibilities for innovative design oriented towards understanding the interaction of the built environment with human physiology."THE FUTURE OF CITIES", in preparation -- contents for this book are still not decided.
A second book on cities will concentrate on real urban forces and develops strategies for how to channel them positively. Accepting contemporary urban phenomena, I suggest how they can be used to create a new type of human (instead of mechanical) environment. Topics such as owner-built settlements, slums, highways, parking lots, suburban sprawl, and skyscrapers are tackled head-on.
SPANISH EDITION: underway -- free download.
PAPERS AND ESSAYS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF INITIAL PUBLICATION
*NOTE: For copyright reasons, many papers have had to be taken off the web because they are now available as chapters of my books. I'm happy to provide them to anyone wishing to use them in a course, for republishing, or for translation. Interested readers should also conduct a web search under a paper's title, since other sites have posted early copies of my papers.
The Laws of Architecture from a Physicist's Perspective
Physics Essays 8 (1995), pages 638-643. Chapter 1 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
Three architectural laws follow from how matter comes together to form coherent structures; they are satisfied by most buildings in history up to (but excluding) the twentieth century.Las Leyes de la Arquitectura desde la Perspectiva de un Físico, traducción en español de The Laws of Architecture from a Physicist's Perspective. El Hombre y la Máquina, No 16, Abril de 2001, páginas 12-23. También en La Simetria, Febrero de 2002, approx. 12 páginas. Republicado por Deconstructivismo (Abril de 2007). Por analogía con principios físicos básicos se obtienen tres leyes applicables al orden arquitectónico, que son válidas tanto para las estructuras naturales como para las construidas por el hombre.As Leis da Arquitetura na Perspectiva de um Físico, tradução em Português del artigo intitulado The Laws of Architecture from a Physicist's Perspective. [Disponível nos formatos pdf e WORD] (October 2003).
Life and Complexity in Architecture From a Thermodynamic Analogy
Physics Essays 10 (1997), pages 165-173. Chapter 5 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006. Subject of Appendix 6 of Christopher Alexander's book The Phenomenon of Life: The Nature of Order, Volume 1, 2003.
A model visually estimates the comparative degree of organized complexity (i.e., the "life") of buildings, and contrasts this with their disorganized complexity. This model permits buildings in any style and from any period to be classified within a unified scheme.
Theory of the Urban Web
Journal of Urban Design 3 (1998), pages 53-71. Chapter 1 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005. Earlier version published by RUDI -- Resource for Urban Design Information in 1997.
A living city depends on an enormous number of different paths, and the evolution of an urban region from "dead" to "alive" is sudden. Dead cities need to become more connected to regain urban vitality.Kaupunki Verkostona, Finnish translation of Theory of the Urban Web. Tampere University of Technology, Institute of Urban Planning, publication No. 33 (2000). [To order a copy, contact Fax 358-3-3653206].Teoría de la Red Urbana, traducción en Español de Theory of the Urban Web, 16 páginas [pdf]. Published in Cuadernos de Arquitectura y Nuevo Urbanismo, Numero 3, Septiembre 2007, páginas 5-18.
A Teoria da Teia Urbana, tradução em Português del artigo intitulado Theory of the Urban Web. [Disponível nos formatos PDF e WORD].
A Scientific Basis for Creating Architectural Forms
Journal of Architectural and Planning Research 15 (1998), pages 283-293. Chapter 2 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
A scaling rule is proposed for architectural elements, based on the scaling factor e = 2.718, the base for natural logarithms. This determines the optimal way to subdivide forms so as to achieve design coherence.
Urban Space and its Information Field
Journal of Urban Design 4 (1999), pages 29-49. Chapter 2 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005.
I explain why some urban spaces are used, while others are avoided. Urban space is characterized by an information field generated by surrounding surfaces, which in turn determines the optimal position of paths and local activity nodes.Espaço Urbano e seu campo de informação, tradução em Português del artigo intitulado Urban Space and its Information Field.
Architecture, Patterns, and Mathematics
Nexus Network Journal 1 (1999), pages 75-85. Reprinted by Any Architect (March 2004). Chapter 6 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
The elimination of complex visual patterns in twentieth century architecture could be handicapping people's capacity for mathematical thinking, which works strictly in terms of pattern organization.A Universal Rule for the Distribution of Sizes (co-authored with Bruce J. West)
Environment and Planning B 26 (1999), pages 909-923. Chapter 3 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005.
Most pleasing objects and designs obey an inverse power-law distribution in their subdivisions, which is a widely-observed relationship in both the natural and social sciences. Modernist design intentionally violates this rule.
Ecology and the Fractal Mind in the New Architecture: A Conversation with Victor Padrón
RUDI -- Resource for Urban Design Information (2000), approximately 12 pages.
Our fractal mind mirrors Jungian archetypes that influence the design of man-made structures such as buildings, cities, and artworks. Because the underlying geometries are incompatible, the modernist anti-fractal attitude is antithetical to ecological thinking.PERSIAN VERSION of Ecology and the Fractal Mind in the New Architecture, KHANEH Quarterly, Volumes 4&5 (Winter & Spring 2003) [pdf].
Pavements as Embodiments of Meaning for a Fractal Mind (co-authored with Terry M. Mikiten and Hing-Sing Yu)
Nexus Network Journal 2 (2000), pages 61-72. Chapter 7 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
The mind establishes a connection with the environment by processing information. By acting as a vehicle for conveying meaning, visual patterns play a role in connecting human beings to surrounding structures. The design on pavements transfers meaning from our surroundings to our awareness.The Structure of Pattern Languages
Architectural Research Quarterly 4 (2000), pages 149-161. Chapter 8 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005.
Patterns encapsulate information about recurring design solutions and human activities. Techniques for linking observed patterns validate a pattern language, and dismiss stylistic rules as arbitrary. Combining patterns on urban interfaces defines a new kind of livable region.
Comments by E. Todd, E. Kemp, and C. Phillips [pdf].PERSIAN VERSION of The Structure of Pattern Languages [pdf].Hierarchical Cooperation in Architecture, and the Mathematical Necessity for Ornament
Journal of Architectural and Planning Research 17 (2000), pages 221-235. Chapter 3 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
Coherent structures follow the theory of hierarchical systems, developed in computer science and biology, showing how ornament on the scales 1cm - 2m is necessary for architectural coherence.La Nécéssité Mathématique de l'Ornement, traduction française (contenant environs 50% du texte original) de Hierarchical Cooperation in Architecture, and the Mathematical Necessity for Ornament. Revue BénéFique (Lyon) 2 (2002), pages 151-174. Il est établi que la conception architecturale doit être organisée hiérarchiquement. Pour ce faire, je présente une méthode et une formule dérivée, basées sur la biologie et l'informatique. [Disponible aussi en format WORD]Complexity and Urban Coherence
Journal of Urban Design 5 (2000), pages 291-316. Chapter 4 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005.
The theory of complex systems is applied to urban design. Coherence in city form comes from assembling components using intense local couplings together with long-range connections that reduce disorder.Complessità e Coerenza Urbana, versione italiana [PDF] di Complexity and Urban Coherence, Nexus Lab (2007), 23 pagine. Repubblicata en PLANUM (2007). C'è anche una traduzione parziale, Strumenti per la Pianificazione e Progettazione Sostenibile (2000), circa 10 pagine. Applicazione della teoria dei sistemi complessi alla progettazione urbana. La coerenza della struttura urbana risulta dalle interconnessioni tra elementi diversi.A Pattern Measure (co-authored with Allen Klinger)
Environment and Planning B 27 (2000), pages 537-547.
A quantitative model for computing the organized complexity of arrays containing different symbols is applied to measure the degree to which people connect with a design. [An earlier version was entitled Complexity and Visual Images].PERSIAN VERSION of A Pattern Measure [pdf].
Fractals in the New Architecture
Portions of Ecology and the Fractal Mind in the New Architecture republished as an essay with new illustrations. Archimagazine (2001), approximately 6 pages. Republished in Katarxis No. 3 (September 2004).
The urban fabric is characterized as a fractal. Complex structure is evident at every level of scale, and all the different scales cooperate to define a unified whole.I Frattali Nella Nuova Architettura, porzione della conversazione Ecology and the Fractal Mind in the New Architecture tradotta in italiano. Archimagazine (2001), circa 6 pagine. Il tessuto urbano vivente mostra delle caratteristiche frattali: cioè, un complesso coerente con struttura definita ad ogni scala (con 7 figure).PERSIAN VERSION of Fractals in the New Architecture, published in Architecture Quarterly, volume 26 (summer 2004), pages 27-28.
Modularity and the Number of Design Choices (co-authored with Débora M. Tejada)
Nexus Network Journal 3 Number 1 (2001), pages 99-109. Chapter 8 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
We argue that modularity severely restricts the creativity of design, and support our argument by comparing the number of possible design choices in modular and non-modular design systems.Remarks on a City's Composition
Journal of Design Research 4, Issue 1 (March 2004), approximately 14 pages. Shorter version published in RUDI -- Resource for Urban Design Information in 2001, and republished by Cartage in 2003. Chapter 5 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005.
A living city's components connect according to the theory of complex hierarchical systems. The distribution of path lengths follows an inverse-power scaling law.Kaupunki ei todellakaan ole puu, Finnish translation of the first half of Remarks on a City's Composition. Yhteiskuntasuunnittelu -- The Finnish Journal of Urban Studies 39 (2001), pages 68-76.The End of Tall Buildings (co-authored with James Howard Kunstler)
PLANetizen (September 2001), approximately 5 pages. Reprinted in: Bruce Ballenger, The Curious Writer (Pearson-Longman, New York, 2005), pages 249-254. Reprinted in: Planetizen’s Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning, edited by Abhijeet Chavan, Christian Peralta & Christopher Steins (Island Press, Washington DC, 2007), pages 117-122. Results of this paper used by Sue Roaf in Chapter 11 of her book Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change, Architectural Press, Oxford, 2005.
We argue that the age of skyscrapers is at an end, and that 9/11 marks the beginning of the end of modernist typologies dominating urban form.
Comments: Anthony Flint in the Boston Globe, 2001; Benjamin Forgey in the Washington Post, 2001; Neal Peirce in the Seattle Times, 2001; Bash Mohandis, 2007.La fin des "bâtiments-tours" (avec James Howard Kunstler), traduction française de The End of Tall Buildings, Archicool (Octobre 2001), circa 5 pages. Nous sommes convaincus que l'âge des gratte-ciels touche à sa fin. Il faut maintenant considérer les immeubles de grande hauteur comme faisant partie d'une typologie périmée et d'une expérimentation ayant échoué.PERSIAN VERSION of The End of Tall Buildings [pdf].
The Future Of Cities: The Absurdity of Modernism -- Nikos Salingaros interviews Léon Krier
PLANetizen (November 2001), approximately 10 pages. Edited version reprinted in Urban Land 61 (January 2002), pages 12-15. Portions also published in Katarxis No. 2 with illustrations (2002), approximately 8 pages.
The godfather of New Urbanism offers his perspective on the future of cities. The most beautiful cities which survive in the world today have all been conceived with buildings of between two and five floors -- the era of the utilitarian skyscraper is at an end.Il Futuro delle Città : l'Assurdità del Modernismo -- Nikos Salingaros intervista Léon Krier, traduzione italiana de The Future Of Cities: The Absurdity of Modernism. Archimagazine (Febbraio 2002), circa 9 pagine. Repubblicato in Temi di Stefano Borselli (2002). Il "padre" del movimento New Urbanism offre la sua prospettiva sul futuro delle città. Le città più belle che sopravvivono oggi sono state concepite con edifici di altezza tra due e cinque piani.El Futuro de las Ciudades: La Absurdidad del Modernismo -- Nikos Salíngaros entrevista Léon Krier, traducción en español de The Future Of Cities: The Absurdity of Modernism. Ambiente (Marzo de 2004), approx. 9 páginas. El "padre" del movimento New Urbanism ofrece su perspectiva sobre el futuro de las ciudades. No hay en sentido estricto una correlación entre la presión demográfica y los edificios altos (con la excepción rara del tipo de condiciones encontradas en Hong Kong).
Om stadernas framtid och det absurda i modernismen -- Nikos Salingaros intervju med Léon Krier, Tvarsnitt Nr. 4, 2003. Swedish translation of my interview with Léon Krier: The Future Of Cities: The Absurdity of Modernism.
PERSIAN VERSION of The Future of Cities [pdf].
The End of the Modern World (co-authored with Michael W. Mehaffy)
PLANetizen (January 2002), approximately 4 pages. Revised version published by Open Democracy (March 2002), and by Orthodoxy Today (November 2007). Portions of this paper used by Roger Scruton in his book The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat (ISI Books, Wilmington, Delaware, 2002).
Part of the driving force in the recent terrorist attacks is traced to a rage in the third world against modernist planning. The West has to develop a new respect for traditional urban and design cultures. [Also available in PDF].
Geometrical Fundamentalism (co-authored with Michael W. Mehaffy)
Plan Net Online Architectural Resources (January 2002). Chapter 9 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
We identify a geometrical disconnectedness as an integral part of modernist architecture and planning, and suggest that this is in part responsible for why the rest of the world resents the industrialized western nations.
Comment: "'Geometrical Fundamentalism' -- which to my mind takes care of Modernism in a scant two words -- is only one of the many beauties Nikos has coined." -- Michael Blowhard, Introduction to ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition 2007.Il Fondamentalismo Geometrico (con Michael W. Mehaffy), traduzione italiana de Geometrical Fundamentalism. Professione Architetto (Febbraio 2002), circa 20 pagine. Versione migliorata pubblicata in Temi di Stefano Borselli No. 108 (2002). Repubblicato in L'Inventario della Fierucola (Firenze) No. 24-25-26 (Agosto 2003), pagine 24-38. L'architettura modernista del XX secolo è stata guidata da un credo visivo (estetico!) basato sulle forme geometriche semplicistiche. Si ritiene che questo fenomeno crei un risentimento nelle nazioni non-industrializzate.
Comentários neste artigo, no português, por Julio Lemos.Darwinian Processes and Memes in Architecture: A Memetic Theory of Modernism (co-authored with Terry M. Mikiten)
Journal of Memetics -- Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission 6 (2002), approximately 15 pages. Reprinted in DATUTOP Journal of Architectural Theory 23 (2002), pages 117-139. Chapter 10 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
Architecture and urbanism in the twentieth century are driven by images, called "memes", that propagate in the minds of people. This process is analogous to the spread of viruses. By becoming ingrained, these visual images prevent the evolution of more adaptive design solutions.POLISH VERSION of Darwinian Processes and Memes in Architecture: A Memetic Theory of Modernism [PDF]. Also available in DOC format.
A Missed Learning Opportunity
PLANetizen (September 2002), approximately 3 pages.
The architectural implications of the September 11, 2001 tragedy. Have planners and architects overlooked the moral lesson to practice humane urban design?Twentieth-Century Architecture as a Cult
INTBAU Volume 1, Essay Number 3 (November 2002), approximately 6 pages. Part of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004.
Cult methods were applied to make modernism into a new cult -- an extremely dangerous one because of its virulence and destructive aims. A key aspect was its absolute belief in the necessity of eliminating all examples of pre-modernist architecture.
Comment: "Nikos Salingaros raises something that I think should be reasonable to anybody who has experienced the rituals of architecture school, and survived the perils of indoctrination with their sensible open mind intact."Architektur des 20. Jahrhunderts als Kult, UMBAU-VERLAG (April 2004), approx. 5 pages, german translation of Twentieth-Century Architecture as a Cult.FRENCH VERSION of Twentieth-Century Architecture as a Cult appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
ITALIAN VERSION of Twentieth-Century Architecture as a Cult appears as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
HUNGARIAN VERSION of Twentieth-Century Architecture as a Cult, Ingyenweb (2007).
Anti-architecture and Religion
Sacred Architecture Issue 7 (Fall/Winter 2002), pages 11-13. Part of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition 2007.
Traditional religions created order as a geometrical expression of faith using physical materials. All of this ended abruptly in the twentieth century -- not only the creation of enlightened spaces, but also our attachment through architecture to a higher form of order in the universe.
Comment: "This article is essential, absolutely essential. I'm not going to waste time discussing it. Read it!" -- Julio Lemos (February 2003).Anti-arquitectura e Religião, tradução em Português del artigo intitulado Anti-architecture and Religion, Brotéria (Lisboa) 155 (Novembro 2002), páginas 381-388. Ao querer explicar um mistério cultural -- porque é que o mundo renunciou a edifícios emocionalmente nutridores, e adoptou, em vez deles, edifícios que nos fazem literalmente mal -- deparamse obstáculos severos.
Comentários neste artigo, por Julio Lemos.FRENCH VERSION of Anti-architecture and Religion appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
ITALIAN VERSION of Anti-architecture and Religion appears as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
Deconstructing The Decons: The World Trade Center Project Spotlights The Empire's Newest Clothes (co-authored with Michael W. Mehaffy)
PLANetizen (January 2003), approximately 4 pages. Republished in Café l'Urbanité & Architecture (January 2003), and by Southeastern University (Nanjing, China) (2004). Shortened version published by The American Enterprise Volume 13, No. 2 (March 2003), page 13. Full version reprinted in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; 2008.
The World Trade Center reconstruction proposals reveal that the architecture profession's avant-garde is hopelessly mired in a failed past. This project may indeed be "ground zero" for a self-pitying movement, built on an antiquated scientific world view and a modern philosophical fallacy.El Nuevo Traje del Emperador (escrito con Michael Mehaffy), traducción en español de Deconstructing The Decons: The World Trade Center Project Spotlights The Empire's Newest Clothes. Ambiente Revista 90 (Marzo de 2003), approximadamente 7 páginas, republicado por Deconstructivismo (Febrero de 2007). Las propuestas para la reconstrucción del World Trade Center presentadas por algunos de los más importantes arquitectos del mundo revelan una curiosa situación: la vanguardia de la arquitectura se encuentra atrapada desesperadamente en un pasado fracasado.FRENCH VERSION of Deconstructing The Decons appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
ITALIAN VERSION of Deconstructing The Decons appears as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
Two Languages for Architecture
Plan Net Online Architectural Resources (February 2003). Also in Architettura, Comunità e Partecipazione: Quale Linguaggio?, Università Degli Studi Roma Tre -- Facoltà di Architettura (Aracne Editrice, Roma, 2003), pages 41-45. Chapter 11 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
Architecture and urbanism are guided by two distinct languages -- a pattern language, and a form language. The pattern language contains rules for how human beings interact with built forms, whereas a form language consists of geometrical rules for putting matter together.Death, Life, and Libeskind (co-authored with Brian Hanson)
Architectural Record Online -- In the Cause of Architecture (February 2003), approximately 10 pages. Shortened version entitled Daniel Libeskind's Architecture of Death published by 2Blowhards (January 2003), approximately 4 pages. Full version with a new appendix reprinted as Part of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition 2007.
We contrast two distinct threads in the architecture of Daniel Libeskind -- the geometry employed in his Holocaust Memorials, and the geometry of those buildings whose purpose is life and regeneration. We find no difference whatsoever between the two types, thus concluding that Libeskind's buildings cannot serve to bring architecture to life.
Comment: "This also explains why I get 'bad vibes'; the decon sense of life reminds me of the bits and pieces of deconstructed style I've encountered in literature, history and art, and wherever I find it, its total rejection of beauty and truth gives me 'the deepest creeps'."PERSIAN VERSION of Death, Life, and Libeskind, KHANEH Quarterly, Volumes 6 & 7 (Summer & Autumn 2004) [pdf].FRENCH VERSION of Death, Life, and Libeskind appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
ITALIAN VERSION of Death, Life, and Libeskind appears as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
Adaptive evolution, not modernism, produces architecture 'of our time' (co-authored with Michael Mehaffy)
The Post and Courier (Charleston) 6 April 2003, page 13A.
The recent controversy over the addition to Charleston's Simons Center has focussed on the notion that such a prominent work of architecture must be "of its own time." It seems that proponents of this idea want the architecture of our time to reject all traditional ornamentation, typology, and scale in favor of the familiar minimalist industrial geometries of early 20th century modernism and its descendants. This view is -- rather ironically -- mired in the past.The Danger of Deconstructivism
2Blowhards (April 2003), approximately 8 pages (with an introduction by Michael Blowhard). Part of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition 2007.
In a conversation with Terry Mikiten, I discuss the danger that deconstructivist architecture poses to our evolved perception of order. It uses our sensory mechanisms to undo the meaning human beings attach to their environment.
Comment: "Another reality that Salingaros rediscovers is the existence of truth and its relevance for human community. The lack of a commonly-shared code of truth destroys a society." -- Giannozzo Pucci (April 2003).Il Pericolo del Decostruttivismo, versione italiana di The Danger of Deconstructivism. Temi di Stefano Borselli No. 123 (Febbraio 2003), circa 3 pagine. Appears as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007. L'architettura da sempre incorpora la nostra concezione del mondo, la sua struttura e il come intendiamo la struttura dell'universo nel momento attuale. L'architettura decostruttivista ci esibisce la visione di un mondo distrutto, di un universo ridotto in briciole, in frantumi di vetro.
Osservazioni su questo articolo, dal Giannozzo Pucci.FRENCH VERSION of The Danger of Deconstructivism appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
Pattern Language and Interactive Design
"Inventing the City", Poiesis Architecture (Toulouse) No. 15 (2003), pages 385-405. Chapter 9 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005. Earlier version entitled How the Pattern Language Defines a Geometry for Urban Interfaces, published in: Progettare con la Comunità : Metodi e Nuove Professionalità a Confronto, Università Rome Tre, Rome, 2000, pages 15-21.
Following the work of Christopher Alexander, I use "Patterns" to aid in urban design. The method allows inhabitants of a particular neighborhood to participate in planning their own environment.Les « modèles » : un langage commun pour la conception participative, version française de Pattern Language and interactive Design, Inventer la Ville, Poiesis Architecture (Toulouse) No. 15 (2003), pages 385-405. En utilisant les travaux de Christopher Alexander, je présente une méthode qui utilise les « patterns » pour faciliter la conception des projects urbains.A linguagem de padrões e o desenho interativo [PDF], tradução em Português del artigo intitulado Pattern Language and Interactive Design.
The Sensory Value of Ornament
Communication & Cognition 36 No. 3-4 (2003), pages 331-351. Revised version is Chapter 4 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
Human beings connect with a given structure through the meaningful information it offers. We seek information encoded by color, detail, curvature, and organization in a design because it is an essential part of our neurophysiology.The Derrida Virus
TELOS No. 126 (2003), pages 66-82. Part of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition 2007.
Deconstruction can be understood by analogy to a virus -- a purely parasitic phenomenon -- and its products as essentially nonsensical media for encoding the viral template. By offering an obvious and highly visible form, deconstruction's manifestation in buildings is particularly dangerous.
Comments: "Nikos Salingaros thoroughly eviscerates the nonsense that passes for deconstructionist architectural 'theory' and goes on to explain why it won't just go away and die. With considerable precision and wit he characterises the deconstructionist meme as 'the Derrida virus' and shows how it propagates within society and results in the cult that is the contemporary architectural establishment." -- Sajjad Afzal-Woodward (September 2005). Comment by Hurree Babu.O virus Derrida [PDF], a tradução incompleta no português do artigo The Derrida Virus.
FRENCH VERSION of The Derrida Virus appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
ITALIAN VERSION of The Derrida Virus appears as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
'Annotations on an Implicit Text' -- the work of Nicolas Gomez-Davila
2Blowhards.com (December 2003), approximately 4 pages.
The first-ever presentation of the Colombian philosopher's aphorisms in English. A selection especially relevant to architecture and urbanism.Salingaros on Kahn
2Blowhards.com (December 2003), approximately 4 pages.
Personal impressions of some of the celebrated American architect Louis Kahn's buildings. This essay touches upon the possible role that Kahn could play in the New Architecture.
The Information Architecture of Cities (co-authored with L. Andrew Coward )
Journal of Information Science 30 No. 2 (2004), pages 107-118. Reprinted by Internet Changes Everything (January 2004). Chapter 7 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005.
Cities are systems of informational architecture, in which high-level functionality separates the system into communicating modules. Information exchange in urban systems includes visual input from the environment, personal contact, telecommunications, as well as the movement of people.
Nominated for inclusion in "Best Software Essays of 2004". Comments on this article by Phil Jones (here or here), and by Richard Veryard (here). "Just discovered a fantastic paper that thinks about cities as information processing systems. Can't recommend this highly enough."L'arquitectura de la informació en les ciutats (con L. Andrew Coward), MCRIT -- Sistemes de suport a la planificació (Barcelona) (December 2003), approx. 15 páginas, traducción en Catalán de The Information Architecture of Cities. [Disponible también en PDF].The New Acropolis Museum
2Blowhards.com (29 February 2004), approximately 5 pages. Republished in Temi di Stefano Borselli, No. 196 (4 March 2004), and in Archimagazine (16 April 2004). Reprinted in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition, 2007.
Criticism of the proposed New Acropolis Museum in Athens designed by Bernard Tschumi. Touches on related topics such as the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece, and the Greek elections on March 7, 2004.
Comments: "As we propose it, the 'Athens Effect' describes the downfall of an institution (corporation, university, government, or nation) that embraces alien architecture. In short, it's the opposite of the 'Bilbao Effect', which describes the magic transformation Frank Gehry's museum is said to have wrought on the city of Bilbao." -- Michael Blowhard (March 2004). Also on Seablogger and INTBAU.El Nuevo Museo de la Acrópolis, traducción en Español de The New Acropolis Museum , FORMA (4 Marzo de 2004), approx. 3 páginas.Il Nuovo Museo dell'Acropoli, Archimagazine (16 Aprile 2004), circa 7 pagine, traduzione italiana di The New Acropolis Museum. Reprinted, with notes, in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
FRENCH VERSION of The New Acropolis Museum appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
HUNGARIAN VERSION Ingyenweb (April 2007).
Connecting the Fractal City
Keynote speech, Fifth Biennial of Towns and Town Planners in Europe, Barcelona, April 2003. PLANUM -- The European Journal of Planning On-line (March 2004), approximately 17 pages. Chapter 6 of "PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE", Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005. Section 7 published separately by PLANetizen (October 2003), approximately 7 pages.
Living cities have intrinsically fractal properties, in common with all living systems. I use lessons learned from the evolution of biological systems and the internet to discuss how the distribution of sizes, inverse-power scaling laws, and 'small-world' networks apply to generate living urban fabric. These rules provide a blueprint for cities in the new millennium.
Comments: "Salingaros provides a useful starting point... His two fundamental fractal design principles are just as applicable to economic development planning as to urban spatial planning." -- Robert G. Dyck (2006). "The sexiest paper ever written." -- Sands and Sounds (March 2007).
Connectando la Ciudad Fractal [PDF], Spanish version of Connecting the Fractal City.
Comentarios sobre este artículo -- en Catalán, por Andreu Ulied.CHINESE VERSION of Connecting the Fractal City [PDF]. Also available in DOC format.
Architectural Theory and the Work of Bernard Tschumi
2Blowhards (April-May 2004). Portion entitled Psychological Association in Tschumi's Texts republished by Greek Architects (December 2007). Entire article reprinted as Part of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; ; Second Edition 2007.
An essay that tries to make sense of contemporary architectural theory. I discuss some aspects of deconstructivism, with particular emphasis on the theoretical contributions of Bernard Tschumi. This article has become a hot topic during the debate on the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.FRENCH VERSION of Architectural Theory and the Work of Bernard Tschumi appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
ITALIAN VERSION of Architectural Theory and the Work of Bernard Tschumi appears as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
Charles Jencks and the New Paradigm in Architecture
Shortened version published in Chaos & Complexity Letters Volume 1, No. 3 (2005), pages 325-329. Reprinted in: Nicoletta Sala, Editor, Chaos and Complexity in the Arts and Architecture (Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2007), pages 129-133. Full version is published as Part 2 of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition 2007.
A "New Paradigm in Architecture" is indeed emerging, and it encompasses the innovative, humane architecture of Christopher Alexander and the traditional, humane architecture of Léon Krier. Significantly, it does not include deconstructivist buildings, contrary to claims made by Charles Jencks.Charles Jencks y el Nuevo Paradigma en Arquitectura, Spanish version of Charles Jencks and the New Paradigm in Architecture: AMBIENTE Revista 97, 2006. Republicado por Arqa.com, por Arqchile.cl (Agosto de 2006), y tambien por Taller Del Rio+Sandoval (Abril de 2007).
FRENCH VERSION of Charles Jencks and the New Paradigm in Architecture appears as a chapter in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE ET DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
ITALIAN VERSION of Charles Jencks and the New Paradigm in Architecture appears as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007.
Aggression and Architectural Education: The "Coup" in Viseu
2Blowhards (September 2004). Reprinted as Part of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Third Edition 2008. My disappointment at the recent demise of the New School for Traditional Architecture & Urbanism in Viseu, Portugal.
Comment: "Nikos Salingaros has just written about the architecture school in Viseu, Portugal, where a group of Modernists connived behind the scenes to replace the program with a new one just before the school year started." -- John Massengale (September 2004).Design Methods, Emergence, and Collective Intelligence
Talk given at the Inaugural Conference, Delft School of Design, June 2004 [PHOTO]. Katarxis No. 3 (September 2004), approximately 18 pages. Chapter 10 of PRINCIPLES OF URBAN STRUCTURE, Techne Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2005.
The two methods of adaptive top-down and bottom-up design are shown to be theoretically equivalent. Even though they differ drastically in their application, each one can help the other, and they may even be combined in a particular project.PERSIAN VERSION of Design Methods, Emergence, and Collective Intelligence [pdf].
Towards a New Urban Philosophy: The Case of Athens
Chapter 20 of: Shifting Sense -- Looking Back to the Future in Spatial Planning, edited by Edward Hulsbergen, Ina Klaasen & Iwan Kriens, Techne Press, Amsterdam, 2005, pages 265-280. Earlier version published in two parts as "City of Chaos", Greekworks.com (May & June 2004). [PART 1 & PART 2].
This essay presents some ideas on how to fix disasters in European urban planning and design, focusing on the case of Athens as a representative city with damaged urban fabric.
Imago et Civitas Diaboli (in Italian)
Il Covile No. 300, Speciale Architettura Religiosa (January 2006), approximately 9 pages. Reprinted as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007. English version is included in the Second Edition of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2007.
New Churches built around the world, even in Rome by the Vatican, have spurred heated controversy because of their unecclesiastical form. Many Roman Catholics feel that those buildings’ design makes them inappropriate for houses of worship, which is a pretty severe condemnation. The sacred character of the built environment extends beyond the physical confines of a house of worship.Architectural Memes in a Universe of Information
Published in both English and French by Mondes Francophones (February 2006). Revised version is Chapter 12 of A THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2006.
I describe a symbiosis between ideas, images, texts, and biological forms. Human culture consists of created objects as information, which form an essential extension of our biological bodies into our environment.La Scacchiera degli Stili Architettonici (in Italian)
Il Covile, No. 320 (2006). Reprinted as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007. English version is included in the Second Edition of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2007.
A classification of architectural styles evolved throughout the ages distinguishes those that have a strong degree of "life" from those that don't. This model helps to explain the emergence of both traditional and modernist architectures. Reprinted inAra Pacis Augustae: evidenza d'un fenomeno architettonico in sviluppo (in Italian)
Il Covile, No. 329 (2006). Reprinted as a chapter in ANTIARCHITETTURA E DEMOLIZIONE, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, Florence, Italy, 2007. Reprinted in Il Domenicale, 20 May 2008. English version is included in ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, 3rd Edition, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2008.
The Roman Emperor Augustus built the “Altar of Peace” (Ara Pacis) in Rome in the year 13 BCE. In 1996 Richard Meier was designated to construct a new cover. The frankly non-adaptive character of Meier’s design unleashed strong protests and sparked off an architectural debate, ignited once more when the new museum building finally opened in 2006.Compact City Replaces Sprawl
in: Crossover: Architecture, Urbanism, Technology, Edited by Arie Graafland & Leslie Kavanaugh (010 Publishers, Rotterdam, Holland, 2006), pages 100-115.
The inevitable forces generating sprawl on the urban periphery could be channeled to create livable communities. To achieve this, it is necessary to distinguish between unhealthy sprawl and real cities.La Ciudad Compacta Sustituye a la Dispersión
Chapter in: Francesco Indovina, Editor, La Ciudad de Baja Densidad, Diputació de Barcelona, Colección Estudios, Serie Territorio No. 1, Barcelona, 2007, páginas 481-498. Online version published in Archile.cl (May 2007). Republished by Gestión Urbana (February 2008). Spanish version of Compact City Replaces Sprawl.Architecture: Biological Form and Artificial Intelligence (with Kenneth G. Masden II)
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.
Restructuring 21st Century Architecture Through Human Intelligence (with Kenneth G. Masden II) [PDF]
Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research Vol 1, Issue 1 (March 2007), pages 36-52. Reprinted (HTML version) by Greekarchitects.net (19 February 2008).
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.Architectural Cannibalism in Athens
Orthodoxy Today (20 November 2007). Republished with minor revisions in Greek Architects (28 November 2007). Included as part of the Third Edition of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, Germany, 2008.
The New Acropolis Museum designed by Bernard Tschumi is threatening two historic buildings with demolition. And yet, by their design cohesion and elegance, these architectural gems from 1890 and 1930 far overshadow the banal museum building in cultural value.Urbanism for Life: Let Children Help Design our Cities
Raise the Hammer (27 November 2007).
Here is a simple criterion for human design: Shape a city around our children. Modern cities have become terribly child-unfriendly. Even American suburbs, ostensibly built to give a better life to our families, are hostile to children in an insidious way because of the urban geometry.
Growing Sustainable Suburbs: An Incremental Strategy for Reconstructing Sprawl (with Michael W. Mehaffy and Lucien Steil)
Chapter in the book: New Urbanism & Beyond: Designing Cities for the Future, Tigran Haas, Editor, Rizzoli, New York, 2008. Excerpt from full paper was earlier posted online by Raise the Hammer (April 2006). Reprinted by Portland Peak Oil (July 2006)
A new way of understanding the growth of urban form leads to practical suggestions for reconstructing a more sustainable suburbia. Combining "top-down" controls with "bottom-up" processes offers guidelines for implementing small-scale changes that eventually lead to large-scale improvements.
Comments on this article.Respect for the Human Scale
NEXT AMERICAN CITY, Issue 18: Living Under Peril (Spring 2008)
Lakis Polycarpou interviews James Howard Kunstler and Nikos A. Salingaros.Architettura Sacra Contemporanea: Religione o Nichilismo? (in Italian)
Il Covile, No. 427 (January 2008). Republished under the new title C'era una volta il bello: Il culto del nichilismo nell'architettura contemporanea in Il Domenicale, No. 12 (22 March 2008), pages 1, 6 & 7.
New, innovative forms seen in the current trend of religious architecture are influenced by nihilistic philosophies. Philosophical relativism and the media have programmed contemporary society to accept disconnection and architectural nihilism.
*This is the article that sparked the architectural revolution in Italy on 25 March 2008.Intelligence-Based Design: A Sustainable Foundation For Worldwide Architectural Education (with Kenneth G. Masden II) [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.Neuroscience, the Natural Environment, and Building Design (with Kenneth G. Masden II)
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.
BOOK REVIEWS
Review of Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language" for amazon.com (May 1998), approx. 1 page.
Review of Anthony Vidler's "Warped Space. Art, Architecture, and Anxiety in Modern Culture", Journal of Urban Design 6 (2001), pages 332-334. Reprinted as Part 5 of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition 2007.
Review of Steven Pinker's "The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature", Katarxis No. 3, September 2004. Summary published on amazon.com in December 2002.
Review of Christopher Alexander's "The Process of Creating Life: The Nature of Order, Book 2". Published on amazon.com (November 2003), approximately 2 pages.
Review of "The Nature of Order", and an interview with Christopher Alexander (in french and english), VOGUE HOMMES INTERNATIONAL 15 (Printemps-été 2004), pages 116-119. Part 12 of ANTI-ARCHITECTURE AND DECONSTRUCTION, Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2004; Second Edition 2007.
Review of Léon Krier's "Architecture: Choice or Fate" for amazon.com (October 2004), approx. 1 page.
Review of Christopher Alexander's "The Luminous Ground: The Nature of Order, Book 4" (with Kenneth G. Masden II), The Structurist, No. 45/46 (2006), pages 39-42.
INTERVIEWS
Entretien en français avec Archicool -- Paris, Janvier de 2001.
Guest on WBUR Boston -- National Public Radio Forum "Preserving Modern Architecture", October 18, 2002. The full program can be heard on the Internet.
A Week With Nikos Salingaros
Interview with 2Blowhards.com (New York City), May 2003. Text-only version (without photos and the numerous reader's comments) is available as a 20-page document in PDF and WORD formats.PERSIAN VERSION of A Week With Nikos Salingaros -- Interview with 2Blowhards.com (New York City), originally published on May 2003 [PDF]. Complete translation into Persian. An incomplete version of portions of A Week With Nikos Salingaros was published earlier on Bahram Yousefi's online architectural magazine (Tehran).
Interview with ORF Vienna -- Austrian National Broadcasting Corporation, "Connecting the Fractal City", May 2003. Interview was taped and broadcast in English -- German summary is posted on the web.
Les gratte-ciel ont un effet destructeur sur la cité
SCIENCES ET AVENIR No. 691 (Septembre 2004), page 63 (in french).
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