This book combines theoretical enquiry with practical implementation offering a unique perspective on the use of computers related to architectureal form and design.

The mode of utilizing computers in architecture today is vague, inexplicit, and, often, arbitrary. Designers tend to conceptualize entities or processes and then enter, manipulate and print using computer systems. Often, theories of design and form are translated into computational ones, merely to participate in the digital fashion. This situation creates confusion, misunderstanding, and inconsistency to both students and practitioners over the appropriate use of computers in architecture and design. Challenging these assumptions, this book offers an appropriate theoretical context for...

In design, the problems that designers are called upon to solve can be regarded as a problem of permutations. A permutation is an ordered arrangement of elements in a set. In our case, the set is design and the elements are design components, such as lines, shapes, forms, or spaces. Traditionally, such arrangements are done by human designers who base their decision-making process either on intuition or on random sampling until a valid solution is found. However, in both cases the solution found may be an acceptable one but cannot be labeled as the best possible solution due to the subjective...

Why does the word design owe its origin to Latin and not Greek roots? Where do the limits of the human mind lie? How does ambiguity enter the deterministic world of computation? Who was Parmenides and why is his philosophy still puzzling today? This unique volume challenges the reader to tackle all these complex questions and more.Algorithmic Architecture is not a typical theory-based architectural book; it is not a computer programming or language tutorial book either. It contains a series of provocative design projects, and yet it is not just a design or graphic art book per se. Following...