Nikos A. Salingaros: PAPERS ON ARCHITECTURE, PATTERNS, AND URBANISM.
- Manifesto
- Architecture
- Urbanism
- Biology and Computer Science
- Oriental Carpets
- Letters and Reviews
- Some background
MANIFESTO
The wonderfully rich complexity of the universe has been denied then suppressed by twentieth-century architectural dogma. Society has been robbed of its multidimensional structure ever since people have been induced (or forced) to live in modernist planned cities. Our entire world is now shaped by a simplistic anti-scientific philosophy, which is supported by the architectural establishment. This goes far beyond architecture itself, because decades of indoctrination by our schools and media could be diminishing people's capacity for scientific and mathematical thinking. It is time to reverse this catastrophic erosion of mankind's intellectual evolution.
The most exciting scientific developments of the past decade, such as fractals, complexity theory, evolutionary biology, object-oriented programming, and artificial intelligence, give us an idea of how human beings interact with their environment. Organisms, computer programs, buildings, neighborhoods, and cities all embody the same general type of ordered, 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.
I became involved in architecture through my friendship with the brilliant architectural theorist Christopher Alexander. A new, human-oriented architecture that we propose combines the best qualities of traditional architecture while utilizing the latest technological and scientific advances. The best architecture is complex and coherent, but neither random, nor simplistic. New design rules derived by Alexander can drastically improve buildings and cities. My contributions try to give architecture and urbanism a scientific basis. Recent results concern visual images, and applying pattern languages to grasp complexity in organizational structures (for example, in a business or company).
ARCHITECTURE
The Laws of Architecture from a Physicist's Perspective
Physics Essays 8 (1995), pages 638-643.
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.
[Also available in LaTeX, DVI and Postscript formats]Life and Complexity in Architecture From a Thermodynamic Analogy
Physics Essays 10 (1997), pages 165-173.
A visual model computes numerical estimates for the comparative degree of organized complexity, or "life" of buildings, and contrasts this with the disorganized complexity.A Scientific Basis for Creating Architectural Forms
Journal of Architectural and Planning Research 15 (1998), pages 283-293.
A scaling rule is proposed for architectural elements based on the scaling factor e = 2.718, the base for natural logarithms, and this is compared to the Fibonacci sequence.Architecture, Patterns, and Mathematics
Nexus Network Journal 1 No. 2 (1999) (available on-line)
The elimination of visual patterns in twentieth century architecture could be handicapping people's capacity for mathematical thinking, which works strictly in terms of patterns.Hierarchical Cooperation of Architectural Scales, and the Mathematical Necessity for Ornament
Journal of Architectural and Planning Research (to appear)
Integrated structures follow the theory of hierarchical systems, developed in computer science and biology, showing how architectural ornament on the scales 1cm - 2m is necessary for coherence.
[The Journal of Architectural and Planning Research does not permit posting before the Issue appears in print, so the link is to an early version]Ecology and the Fractal Mind in the New Architecture: A Conversation (co-authored with Victor Padrón)
Covers topics such as how our fractal mind influences fractal qualities in man-made structures such as buildings and artworks. Touches on Jungian archetypes, and analyzes how the Modernist anti-fractal attitude is antithetical to ecological thinking.
An Absolute Measure of Design: the Architectural Temperature
Journal of Architectural Education (submitted)
The architectural temperature T measures the degree of detail, curvature, and color in a design; we argue that human beings connect only to objects that have a high value of T .
URBANISM
Theory of the Urban Web
Journal of Urban Design 3 (1998), pages 53-71.
Graph theory is used to show that a living city depends on an enormous number of different paths, and how the evolution of an urban region from "dead" to "alive" is sudden.
[Contact the author for a paper reprint. Link is to an earlier version published electronically by Resource for Urban Design Information]Urban Space and its Information Field
Journal of Urban Design 4 (1999), pages 29-49.
Urban space is characterized by the information field generated by surrounding surfaces, and this in turn determines where paths and local nodes develop in the open space.Inverse Power-Law Scaling as a Universal Multiplicity Rule (co-authored with Bruce J. West)
Environment and Planning B, submitted for publication.
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 grossly violates this rule.Complexity and Urban Coherence
Journal of Urban Design (submitted)
The theory of complex interacting systems, developed in biology and computer science, is applied to urban design. Coherence results from intense local couplings, and long-range connections that reduce disorder.The Geometry of Urban Boundaries
(in preparation)
Urban boundaries in living cities have fractal dimension ranging between 0.5 for arcades, up to 1.5 for undulating walls that accommodate activity nodes. Contemporary cities limit their boundaries to fractal dimension exactly one.
BIOLOGY AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
*Please note that, since these topics lie outside my specialty, I welcome offers from possible co-authors.
The Structure of Pattern Languages
(submitted for publication)
Patterns encapsulate information about recurring solutions; here we discuss techniques for linking observed patterns to create a language that brings all the patterns together.
[Link is to an earlier version]A Pattern Measure for Arrays (co-authored with Allen Klinger)
Submitted for publication.
A quantitative model for computing a measure of organized complexity is developed, and is applied to distinguish between 6X6 arrays with four different types of entries.Pattern Languages: Connecting Design Patterns to form Solutions (co-authored with Clinton L. Jeffery)
(in preparation)
Describes how to connect software patterns to generate coherent large-scale objects; this procedure is illustrated by examples in C++.Complexity Measures in Computing (co-authored with Thomas W. Lynch)
(in preparation)
Discusses how both software and hardware complexity can be better understood by a new measure, and applies it to a ripple carry adder.
ORIENTAL CARPETS
In Defense of Alexander
HALI: The International Magazine of Antique Carpet and Textile Art 78 (1995), pages 67-69.
Proposes that a quantitative analysis based on interlocking elements, and the similarity of designs on different scales, can predict the emotional appeal of a carpet.The "Life" of a Carpet: an Application of the Alexander Rules
Oriental Carpet and Textile Studies V (1999), edited by M. Eiland, Jr. and R. Pinner (Danville, California: International Conference on Oriental Carpets), pages 189-196.
Derives a checklist of design criteria, including the correct use of local contrast, scaling, similarity, detail, and randomness, that distinguish a carpet with "life".
LETTERS AND REVIEWS
An interview entitled "Mathematician Sums Up Laws of Architecture" appeared in the Road Runner magazine, November 1995.
Letter to the AIA Newsletter, entitled "Mathematics and 21st Century Architecture", June 1997.
Book review of Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language" for amazon.com, May 1998.
Letter to the Editor of D Magazine summarizes how Dallas has been destroyed by Modernist architecture, October 1998.
SOME BACKGROUND
Reading Christopher Alexander's Notes on the Synthesis of Form and the Pattern Language as a student convinced me that contemporary design is driven by irrelevant fashions and opinions. Twentieth century architectural thought is confused, and is embracing an increasingly nebulous vocabulary in an effort to shield itself from scrutiny. Architecture at present lacks any connection to other disciplines that define structured human thought, relating only to an anti-scientific de-constructivist philosophy.
The necessity of introducing logical analysis and scientific thinking into architecture has become increasingly clear to both of us. Not only is the world being covered by ugly buildings, but their underlying structural order may be adversely affecting the way people live and think. Cities are shaped on whims, which have irreversible negative consequences on society for decades afterwards. The ideas behind contemporary architecture could be damaging the thought processes that allow us to understand the physical world through science and mathematics.
For the past decade or more, I have been learning from Alexander in the process of helping him finish his monumental book The Nature of Order. I have advised him on the presentation and flow of ideas. The publication of his book on Oriental Carpets (see my article In Defense of Alexander) led me into the fascinating world of textile designs. Countless discussions on this material has taught me the profound meaning of geometry in the built environment, and how man is willfully damaging it.
This site was included in the Guest Section of Internet Architecture Zone for April 1997, and by Web Architecture Magazine for January 1998.