*I bet somebody could compile an an entire book of architects and architecture critics complaining about parametrics. That would be an interesting book. It reminds me of 19th century critic John Ruskin complaining about the evil fluidity of cast iron.
*This guy seems to feel that computer-generated designs aren't divine enough. They're divorced from mystical notions of cosmic proportional unity. That's a new one.
*No reason you couldn't do, say, Christian Fundamentalist Parametrics, though. Ideal for megachurch construction.
http://generativedesign.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/an-ancient-dream/
(...)
"The ancient dream of finding some magic formula continues today. But it seems to have left its Euclidian shell. Euclidian geometry seems to excite no one. Mathematics has evolved and we have made the great discovery in this century – that nature is not based on Euclidian geometry – which forms the central pillar of European aesthetics rationality. The reaction to Euclidean word it gave birth to is the profusion of curvy shapes that we see generated today. To the general public these contorted shapes appear to allude to nature.
"But in this curvy space there is a crisis :
"there is no dream
"…no illusory links to higher order. Architects are increasingly unable to link their own theories of design to theories of science – which has now disowned its ancient understanding of order. There are now, new theories of chaos, fractals, flocking and emergence. The phenomenal possibilities to mimic procedural aspects of order using computers now allow us to understand the nature of natures order better than ever before. New manufacturing abilities allow us to build previously unimaginable complexity. Generative design is able to unburden the architect of with the labours of complex creation. But it seems that we are heading into an intellectual vacuum, unable to explain, rationalize or even enjoy the complexity that is now feasible...."
(((In another post, it gets worse for this poor critic, who apparently was in on the ground crew for the original Tower of Babel:)))
"Architecture has now become very confusing. It seems every one has their own theory. The more famous ones have more difficult ones.
“…promiscuous proliferation of events in a single container….[organizing]…independence and interdependence within a larger entity in a symbiosis that exacerbates rather than compromises specificity “ – Rem Koolhaas (((You probably get it now, why I love that Koolhaas guy... really, Rem is a moral leader. It's true)))
"I guess, when you read them you get the feeling that you don’t understand what’s going on. Perhaps that’s their purpose. Gone are the days when architects had a singular role of glorifying their client often the emperor or a religion. It was much simpler. There were theories to go by and grammars to follow. Now we are lost. Every architect seems to be inventing their own theories and speak in languages that we cannot comprehend.
"This worries me. If generative design is to support their style should they not at least speak in a language that we understand ?"
Written by Sivam Krish
August 11, 2010 at 12:03 pm
http://generativedesign.wordpress.com/category/architecture/
