Evolutionary design and the economy of discourse

Technoetic Arts 8 (1):67-76 (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Combining genetic algorithms that produce complex, fluid, biomorphic shapes with probabilistic systems that incorporate randomness, the designers attempt to mimic adaptive systems in natural evolution in order to arrive at intelligent design solutions. The design processes are said to be interactive and sensitive to varying conditions, behaving like an exceptionally perceptive and adaptive organism during an evolutionary process (Somol 2004: 8687); this process can be compared to the recent attempt by the architectural avant-garde to move beyond the semiotic interests of deconstructionism and tap into the authority of the natural sciences. In some sense, an analogy can be drawn to natural evolution. In the natural world, adaptation and change result from an iterative progress, from one generation to the next, driven by mutation, recombination, and the survival of the fittest in the sense of selection. Following the model of nature in architecture, as proposed by some proponents of parametricism, should not be expected to make buildings more precisely adapted to particular circumstances and optimally functional. Evolutionary theory is used in contemporary architecture as a form of legitimization. It can also cast light on ethical issues, not reducing the human mind's creative intelligence to some sort of genetic determinism, developing in the free market of social choice. Therefore, searching for better ways of managing resources should be at the core of an adaptive concept of architecture.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 92,574

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The evolution of evolutionary systems design.Alexander Laszlo & Kathia Laszlo - 2002 - World Futures 58 (5 & 6):351 – 363.
Design and Political Economy in the UK.Guy Julier - 2009 - Knowledge, Technology & Policy 22 (4):217-225.
Basic political writings.Jean-Jacques Rousseau - 2011 - Cambridge: Hackett Pub. Co.. Edited by Donald A. Cress.
Innovative design and the language of struggle.J. Thorpe - 1995 - AI and Society 9 (2-3):258-272.
The economy and Pocock's political economy.Ryan Walter - 2008 - History of European Ideas 34 (3):334-344.
Evolutionary guidance system: A community design project.Judith Bach - 2002 - World Futures 58 (5 & 6):417 – 423.

Analytics

Added to PP
2014-01-26

Downloads
24 (#662,338)

6 months
1 (#1,478,830)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references