"Algorithmic Sustainable Design: The Future of Architectural Theory"
A series of 12 one-hour Lectures by Nikos A. Salingaros.
During the Spring semester of 2008, Dr. Nikos A. Salingaros presented a course on Algorithmic Sustainable Design. This course was broadcast live to participating institutions around the world, and the videos were later archived for permanent free access. Most of the material used in the course is original, and includes topics that are introduced into architecture for the first time. Topics covered include fractals, cellular automata, emergent phenomena, symmetries, scaling, codes, and networks. This innovative research program ties complexity theory to architectural and urban patterns. The high degree of organized complexity found in the greatest creations of humanity -- buildings, cities, artworks, and artifacts -- depends on both content (information) and relationships (organization). Biological algorithms such as fractal generation, cellular automata, and structure-preserving transformations lead to vernacular and traditional architectural and urban forms, which are therefore the genuine product of evolutionary development.
ARCHIVED VIDEOS AND SLIDES OF THE LECTURES
Click below to access the streaming video and the web slide presentation. The videos of the lectures are made available by the UTSA Distance Learning Center in either of two distinct formats: RealPlayer or Windows Media Video.
1. Recursion and the Fibonacci sequence. Universal scaling. Biophilia. SLIDES
1. Recursion and the Fibonacci sequence. Universal scaling. Biophilia. RealPlayer VIDEO
1. Recursion and the Fibonacci sequence. Universal scaling. Biophilia. WindowsMedia VIDEO
2. Geometric Recursion and Fractals. The Sierpinski gasket. Perforation, bending, and folding. Anti-gravity anxiety. Architecture of the horizontal. RealPlayer VIDEO
2. Geometric Recursion and Fractals. The Sierpinski gasket. Perforation, bending, and folding. Anti-gravity anxiety. Architecture of the horizontal. WindowsMedia VIDEO
3. Universal distribution of sizes. Fractal design, ornament, and biophilia. Sustainable systems. SLIDES
3. Universal distribution of sizes. Fractal design, ornament, and biophilia. Sustainable systems. RealPlayer VIDEO
3. Universal distribution of sizes. Fractal design, ornament, and biophilia. Sustainable systems. WindowsMedia VIDEO
4. Cellular automata. Sierpinski carpets and sea-shells. Design in hyperspace and connection to the sacred. RealPlayer VIDEO
4. Cellular automata. Sierpinski carpets and sea-shells. Design in hyperspace and connection to the sacred. WindowsMedia VIDEO
5. Harmony-seeking computations. Architectural harmony. Alexander's theory of centers. Design as computation. Computational reducibility. RealPlayer VIDEO
5. Harmony-seeking computations. Architectural harmony. Alexander's theory of centers. Design as computation. Computational reducibility. WindowsMedia VIDEO
6. Alexander's 15 Fundamental Properties. Three laws of architecture. SLIDES
6. Alexander's 15 Fundamental Properties. Three laws of architecture. RealPlayer VIDEO
6. Alexander's 15 Fundamental Properties. Three laws of architecture. WindowsMedia VIDEO
7. Biologically-inspired computation. Genetic algorithms. Computation versus memory retrieval. Evolutionary regression. RealPlayer VIDEO
7. Biologically-inspired computation. Genetic algorithms. Computation versus memory retrieval. Evolutionary regression. WindowsMedia VIDEO
8. Emergent systems. Examples from Artificial Life. Inhuman experiments. Architectural education. SLIDES
8. Emergent systems. Examples from Artificial Life. Inhuman experiments. Architectural education. RealPlayer VIDEO
8. Emergent systems. Examples from Artificial Life. Inhuman experiments. Architectural education. WindowsMedia VIDEO
9. Symmetry production. Symmetry breaking. Classical moldings. Elementary particle symmetries. Binding energy. RealPlayer VIDEO
9. Symmetry production. Symmetry breaking. Classical moldings. Elementary particle symmetries. Binding energy. WindowsMedia VIDEO
10. Generative codes and their application to building and urban morphology. Secularization destroys public space. Spiritual architects. Legalizing codes. RealPlayer VIDEO
10. Generative codes and their application to building and urban morphology. Secularization destroys public space. Spiritual architects. Legalizing codes. WindowsMedia VIDEO
11. Duany-Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) codes. The New Urbanism. Stephen Mouzon's project. Tall buildings. SLIDES
11. Duany-Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) codes. The New Urbanism. Stephen Mouzon's project. Tall buildings. RealPlayer VIDEO
11. Duany-Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) codes. The New Urbanism. Stephen Mouzon's project. Tall buildings. WindowsMedia VIDEO
*Tall Buildings -- part D of lecture 11 pertains to Expo 2015 in Milan. Available from GoogleVideo.
12. Implementation of generative codes in design. Urban plazas. Designing for children. Favelas and social housing. RealPlayer VIDEO
12. Implementation of generative codes in design. Urban plazas. Designing for children. Favelas and social housing. WindowsMedia VIDEO
In the lectures, reference is made to the monograph "Harmony-seeking computations" by Christopher Alexander, to be published in a special issue of the International Journal of Unconventional Computing, Volume 4, 2008 (available online).
Dr. Nikos A. Salingaros (HOME PAGE) is a professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is a world-famous Urbanist and Architectural Theorist. He is affiliated with the architecture faculties of the Universities of Delft, Holland, Rome III, Italy, and Querétaro, Mexico, and supervises thesis students from all around the world on architectural and urban topics. Dr. Salingaros is one of the founders of the new discipline of “Biophilic Design”, which investigates how the design of buildings creates more healing environments. He is a member of the International Network for Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU) College of Traditional Practitioners, the Institute for Classical Architecture, and is on the INTBAU Committee of Honor. He was selected as one of UTNE's "50 Visionaries who are changing your world" in November 2008.