TEKA KOMISJI URBANISTYKI I ARCHITEKTURY PAN ODDZIAŁ W KRAKOWIE TOM XLV (2017) PL ISSN 0079-3450 s. 95–105 PL eISSN 2450-0038
NIKOS A. SALINGAROS Professor Department of Mathematics, University of Texas at San Antonio, e-mail: [email protected]
KENNETH G. MASDEN II Stopień naukowy/zawodowy Afiliacja e-mail:
THE SCIENCE OF INTELLIGENT ARCHITECTURE NAUKA O INTELIGENTNEJ ARCHITEKTURZE
ABSTRACT This paper introduces a compelling new way to think about the education and practice of architecture. “In- telligent architecture” is founded on the basis of how the human mind perceives and interacts with the ma- terial world. Perhaps surprisingly, this scientifically-conceived process for architectural design and building leads to a more human architecture, one with a renewed respect for traditional systems of architectural de- sign. Scientific insight into architecture’s origins and manner of conception gives us a profound appreciation of useful solutions embedded in our architectural heritage. This development reverses a century-old practice in industrial-modernist architecture, which advocated erasing the past rather than learning from it. By under- standing essential human engagement with the built environment, architects are able to foster greater human wellbeing in the material structures they build. Key words: intelligent architecture
STRESZCZENIE Niniejszy artykuł przedstawia nowy, atrakcyjny sposób myślenia o edukacji i praktyce architektonicznej. „In- teligentna architektura” opiera się na tym, jak ludzki umysł postrzega i współdziała z materialnym światem. Być może zaskakujące jest, że ten naukowo pomyślany proces projektowania architektonicznego i budowania prowadzi do bardziej ludzkiej architektury, z odnowionym szacunkiem dla tradycyjnych systemów architek- tonicznych. Wgląd naukowy w pochodzenie architektury i sposób jej pojmowania daje nam głębokie uznanie dla użytecznych rozwiązań osadzonych w naszym dziedzictwie architektonicznym. Rozwój ten odwraca stu- letnią praktykę w architekturze industrialno-modernistycznej, która opowiadała się za usuwaniem przeszło- ści, a nie uczeniem się od niej. Rozumiejąc zasadnicze zaangażowanie ludzi w budowane środowisko, archi- tekci mogą przyczynić się do większego dobrobytu ludzi w budowanych przez nich materialnych strukturach. Słowa kluczowe: inteligentna architektura
1. INTRODUCTION their immediate users, but also equally from other cultures. It is becoming more and more evident that The global economy directs intellectual and cultural architects today are not the masters of their own pro- exchange throughout the world. Skewed by the in- fession. Architecture has become the near exclusive fluence of media-driven societies, the architectural domain of the so-called “Star Architect” (starchitect stage has become rigidly set by concepts and image- in common usage). As such, today’s architecture no ry. Iconic buildings are disconnected not only from longer conveys the collective richness of culture or
95 regional identity, but instead propagates the singular relationship between ideas, images, texts, and bio- ideals of power and influence. logical forms helps to explain how human culture, These starchitects pretend to know more about consisting of created objects as information, essen- the architecture of a given place than the very peo- tially extends our biological bodies into our environ- ple who were born and raised there. Championed by ment. Architects can employ this process to create powerful extractive global financial interests, they built environments that utilize patterns, spaces, and decide what is best for the rest of the world. More textures that nourish human existence. importantly, how do we combat the aesthetic hegem- ony that such individuals exert over our personal A METHODOLOGY FOR place in the world? ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN In the hands of today’s starchitects the built en- vironment has been aestheticized towards abstract Intelligent architecture is not prescriptive: it does not ideals and idiosyncratic expressions. Yet what the tell you to build transparent glass boxes; nor opaque world needs is a concrete process for developing white cubes with horizontal slit windows; nor buil- regionally-specific built environments conceived dings with curved shiny titanium surfaces, etc. Tho- through sustainable human practices. Our intimate se formal prescriptions are visual expressions of an knowledge of culturally-specific values and beliefs ideology propagated by the architectural mantras of needs to blend with a 21st-Century understanding of modernity as a pseudo-religious belief (Masden & how human intelligence affects the buildings and Salingaros, 2014; Salingaros, 2004). Intelligent ar- places we create. Uncovering the scientific founda- chitecture represents evidence-based results sub- tions of the architectural experience leads us to un- stantiated by science and found throughout the work derstanding the world through science. of several individuals and groups (Alexander, 2001– Human intelligence is a unifying principle for 2005; Kellert et al., 2008; Krier, 1998; Mehaffy & the architectural design process: it can fundamen- Salingaros, 2015; Salingaros, 2005; 2006; 2015). tally restructure architectural education and practice An in-depth summary of several decades of sci- in a manner that negates idiosyncratic or ideological entific research behind intelligent architecture is im- expressions. Efforts by Christopher Alexander (Al- possible in the space of this article, but the following exander et al., 1977) and by Ashraf Salama (Sala- provides a basic idea of how these techniques apply ma, 2015) unfortunately aroused opposition from to the design process. Note the sequence of design the architectural community. Even after trenchant steps: the overall form of the building arises out of criticism that the present system of architectural ed- basic human concerns and becomes clear only to- ucation is mostly irrelevant (Bothwell et al., 2004; wards the end of the design process. Starting with Boyer & Mitgang, 1996), no reforms were ever suc- a pre-conceived form, by contrast, is working from cessfully implemented. a conditioned response, not an intelligent response. Meaning extracted from raw information found in our immediate environment tells us whether a 1. VISION. We start with no preconceptions of place is either healthy and nourishing, or deleterious form, but instead generate a physiologically-nour- and dangerous. Intelligence processes this informa- ishing design of the building from the viewpoint of tion to make it meaningful, and links humans to the the user. Whereas modern studio courses teach ar- physical reality that our eye-brain system perceives. chitects to set what the building looks like in its ex- This is a crucial aspect of our sense of wellbeing. pressed form, we design from the most immediate As sentient beings, we are neurologically driven to dimension of engagement. An intelligence-based look for certain kinds of structure in the information- process of design seeks to incrementally conceive al fields that surround us. Information processing is an organized whole whose interior and exterior are the key element in making decisions such as fight- derived congruently. This envisioning is achieved or-flight, to more complex synaptic engagements, through material color, texture, scale, and/or pat- which render a greater quality to our life. tern, etc., and should include portions of the build- Traditional architecture carries with it the same ing at different scales, including very small details. intrinsic structural order that underlies all physical We sketch (on paper and on a computer) different and biological entities (Alexander, 2001–2005). The aspects of this vision, growing out of the question: mind’s innate need to establish a connection with our “What’s the most satisfying and authentic space that environment relies upon natural and human-made can be imagined to house this activity?” patterns, which serve as the principal conveyance of 2. TRADITION. Thoughtful architects should meaning about the world around us. The symbiotic build up a treasure-store of mental references of the
96 most significantly satisfying buildings from their of sustainability but equally because these materials culture’s traditional (pre-modernist) practice. Such help to extend the mental parameters of the struc- buildings are striking since common people appre- ture into its immediate setting. Whereas modernist ciate them (but not architects). Traditional structures buildings seek to isolate a building to create an in- provide an innate level of detail and ornament nec- tellectual distance between building and user, intelli- essary to effectively engage humans, and must be al- gent architectural design works to situate a structure. lowed to exert their enriching cognitive influence. Creating a cognitive congruency feeds our sense of As a design works its way through the mind of the wellbeing. Structural decisions with local materials architect, it becomes inevitable that the final design, arise out of adaptivity to local climate and social if it is adaptive, will assume some characteristics of customs. Contemporary technology can contribute traditional buildings specific to that locality! to (but not replace) this age-old practice. There is no 3. ORNAMENT. Architecture and ornament (as need to exclude high-tech materials, just as there is ordered detail) is one and the same thing; ornament no need to exclude local materials. But technology being simply architecture on the smaller human alone should not dictate the form or expression of a scales. The appropriate ordered detail supports the building, since the industrial-modernist conception forms on the larger scales. Ornament that is coher- establishes a perceptual distance between humans ent with the larger form makes a unique contribution and the world. to scaling symmetry, which is missing from indus- 7. URBAN. Connect the building design to the trial-modernist environments. Numerous sketches existing urban fabric as intricately as possible. This of the project must be made on all different scales, goal is not to be confused with contextual design from the size of the entire building, to intermediate that aligns itself with the formal aspects of adjacent scales, down to details on the human scales. Full- buildings. Give priority to human scale and nature, size mock-ups of different portions of the building not cars and vehicular streets. Consider approach should be constructed to judge key scaling relation- and transportation that will reinforce adjoining ships among the components. spatial and circulation patterns. The new building 4. TRANSITIONS. The design (i.e. structured should blend seamlessly into the existing complex- form) arises out of individual elements from the ity of nature, built form, and human activity in the user’s optical perspective and physical movement. immediate region. Try to the adaptive form language We design entry-points, circulation, transitions, of adjacent buildings, but only if that is congruent path-connectivity, and working spaces from the us- with the specificity of place. The urban fabric should er’s immediate viewpoint. Every decision comes encourage maximal pedestrian connectivity around from a mental extrapolation of the visceral experi- the building. Blend indigenous plants, natural forms, ence of inhabiting those material spaces, not from and water as much as possible to be used intimately, abstraction. This approach subordinates formal spa- not as decoration or formal appliqué. tial concerns to privilege the connectivity of lived 8. FORM. A final decision must be made as to spaces. It is essential that structures built primarily the overall form of the building. We usually leave to make connections are just as accommodating to the large-scale form unspecified as long as possible, human sensibilities as the spatial nodes themselves. though it may have occurred in the architect’s initial 5. PARTICIPATION. We devote energy and vision. Even if the architect had some clear vision time to conducting in-depth collaborative design of the building’s form, all the above design consid- sessions with the eventual users of the building, erations should have invariably adapted that form to from the people who will be using it full-time, to accommodate human needs, as outlined here. Thus, occasional future users. Ask them: “What is your VI- in intelligent architecture, no initial form can sur- SION of the most satisfying and appropriate build- vive unchanged during an adaptive design process. ing to achieve this task? Please describe your sense If a building is built as originally conceived on the of the approach, entry, working area, light, trees, computer screen, then it negates the complexity of recreation area, etc. of this building as you would human dimensions, and the architect (and the users) ideally like to experience.” Give the users priority in must recognize this failure. the design process over and above any formal con- cerns, and even the architect’s initial ideas. Make While this series of design considerations might sure especially to include the viewpoints and spatial seem, at first glance, to outline methods familiar to experience of children and the elderly. practicing architects, the sequence redirects the de- 6. MATERIALS. We explicitly encourage the sign process away from any preconceived or prema- use of indigenous materials. Not only for reasons turely-fixed expression. The human mind establishes
97 the needed neurological connections that provide in- GENERAL CRITERIA FOR nate levels of design, effectively responding to hu- AN INTELLIGENT ARCHITECTURE man engagement. Designers will begin to see these dimensions revealed in their work and will, with Intelligent architecture is responsive to human needs practice, come to manage connective elements with and sensibilities through adaptation to existing buil- great effect. dings and nature. This is a new way of viewing the The above method is akin to how buildings used world – a way of connecting to it, and to ourselves – to be designed and constructed in all traditional cul- yet it is very much the same as the most ancient ways tures. Those buildings are the most valued today by of connecting (Alexander, 2001–2005). Intelligent common people the world over. It is through intelli- criteria provide a way of judging whether a building, gent awareness that such structures speak to us and or piece of urban environment, is good or bad for our seem to touch our soul. We don’t however advocate emotional health. Yes, a building can be either good a gratuitous return to traditional design methods, or bad to different degrees (Salingaros, 2006). People since the values, beliefs, and physical context for don’t need experts to tell them whether a building the underlying elements of design are always chang- is good or bad; they are fully capable of judging for ing. Our method relies on recent scientific results, themselves [Alexander’s “Mirror of the Self” Test]. yet remarkably, these investigations have led to an Here’s the method – just ask yourself this question: increased understanding of the intrinsic value of “Does this building make me feel more alive, or religious and traditional practices for humankind’s less alive?” development. Note the specific nature of the question. It does During the second part of the twentieth centu- not ask: “Do you like this building?” or “Does this ry, people were told that creativity depended upon building make you feel excited?” since those an- throwing off any preconceptions one might have. swers lead to ambiguous conclusions. Likes and dis- This is a false and misleading concept. Creativity is likes are due to individual preferences overlaid with intelligent only when we have general working prin- educational conditioning (exploited by the media ciples to build upon. Unguided design only leads to and those with an agenda). Exposure to propagan- frustration, which in turn forces designers to copy da influences our decision. Similarly, emotional ex- something already realized, or make something up citement could be due to either pleasure or alarm, arbitrarily. Today’s architects are psychologically and again, it is often difficult to distinguish between conditioned to turn away from traditional-looking these two physiologically opposite responses. The solutions, yet are not given the design tools to cre- above question instead digs deep into the subcon- ate purposeful human environments. What is left, scious networks that constitute human intelligence, for most, is to copy what the currently fashionable and identifies a building with our own living struc- starchitects are designing. With such a frustrated ture. Intelligent architecture uses our evolved neural mind, you inevitably copy, or unintelligibly emulate, circuits to connect us to our environment. what is assumed to be originality in others. In so do- A second question examines the coherence of a ing, the quest for originality turns either into mind- building. This is a very easy method for judging the less conformity or pure flight of fancy. coherence of highly complex visual structures. Pick There is more at stake here than architecture any identifiable sub-unit of the building, some ob- alone. The very fabric of culture and society de- vious component (such as a wall, column, doorway, pends on how human beings conceive the built en- window, cornice, etc.), and ask yourself: vironment. Critics who dismiss intelligence-based “Does the overall life of the building diminish if architecture do so out of ignorance or as a mindless I could move this piece or change it in any way; or defensive gesture. Our effort to help construct/con- even remove it altogether?” ceive a better world exposes the vested power and In a good building the answer would be yes for interests of an élite: the culture of the starchitect. It each piece, regardless of size. Every piece belongs is unfortunate that those unscrupulous individuals exactly in its place, and its shape and materials re- participate in a process that has been slowly erod- inforce the overall coherence of the whole. This is ing humankind’s architectural conscience (Masden system-based coherence, which contributes to unity & Salingaros, 2014). Worst of all, generations of ar- and adaptivity and is not to be confused with a com- chitects the world over have been misled to do the positional/formal model. In a lesser building, piec- same thing. Students from the traditional world have es are seen as irrelevant and hardly belonging to the returned to their countries as unwitting agents of a whole. They have become decoration (i.e. structure destructive Western form of aesthetic hegemony. that has no meaning or purpose, and is added solely
98 for fashion). Removing them or drastically changing in turn, has been guiding architecture for millennia. them does not alter the overall coherence, since that This powerful repository of what we know about our is nonexistent. Why, then, are those components in- responses to environmental structure can be as trivi- cluded? Style is not an honest justification; it is so al as a particular ornament, a color, a space of certain superficial and trivial a reason as to be meaningless. proportions, or the texture of a wall. If you as the user can envision a portion of a building Socio-geometrical patterns embedded in tradi- improved – making it more adaptive in its use and in tional architecture and urbanism complement the its direct positive physiological impact on you – then inherited knowledge encoded in texts and oral lit- the architect has not done his/her job of seeking co- erary traditions throughout the world. These exter- herence, but has instead imposed arbitrary forms or nalizations of brain functions encode information a formal compositional bias. derived from experience over the entire course of The brain, being capable of highly-sophisticat- human evolution (Salingaros, 2005; 2006). Collec- ed computations, instantly evaluates the geometrical tive memory thus provides the foundation of culture coherence of any structure. Neurologically-derived and civilization. It is only recently that the patterns sensations are linked to a physiological state, to de- observed in traditional cultures, coming from innate grees of alarm or calm. To profit from this physio- human preferences, were found to have a genetic ba- logical mechanism we need to cast off the industri- sis (Kellert et al., 2008; Salingaros, 2015). al-modernist paradigm and the myopic/idiosyncratic Built knowledge (represented in the built envi- vision of others. Contrary to what starchitects claim, ronment) is both complex and irreducible, making our technology does not dictate any particular archi- it very difficult to simplify and transfer into writ- tectural style. We discover an informational content ten text. Christopher Alexander attempted to do that in traditional architectures that speaks to us on a hu- in his Pattern Language (Alexander et al., 1977). man level. Empirically, through its materiality and Maligned by the architectural establishment, Alex- design, traditional architecture provides appropriate ander’s classification has nevertheless gained sup- scaling, structural patterning, complex textural in- port and high regard from the computer science formation, and a sensibility towards construction, community, and his visionary results are now used proportion, and human nature. to organize software complexity. When we begin to see the traditional built environment as an extension CLUES FROM BIOLOGY, AND THE IM- (an external repository) of human memory, we real- PORTANCE OF EXTERNAL MEMORY ize just how intricately biology is linked with archi- tecture. This explains why humanist architects are Consider the basic building blocks of how humans sensitive to feedback from their design and respect interface with the material world (and by extension, traditions from which they can benefit. the built environment). We find genetic algorithms, The clearest, most useful statements of architec- Darwinian processes, emergence, capillarity, fractal tural theory have always drawn upon epistemology, structure, membrane interfaces, information com- being concerned with language and logic (although pression, small-world networks, inverse power-law much of contemporary theory wanders off into mean- scaling, etc. playing a central role in how the built ingless directions). Even so, the enterprise of episte- environment functions. We now offer these concepts mology is generally detached from human emotion in an architectural language that practitioners might and physiological processes. Sensations and visceral use to improve their work (Alexander, 2001–2005; states are essential to knowledge, however, and pat- Salingaros, 2005; 2006). tern recognition helps to generate our identity. Truth Knowledge from biology, robotics, and artificial and reality both have biological and social origins. intelligence applied to architectural design extends A state of mental understanding is inseparable from human experience (Salingaros & Masden, 2006; the neurobiology of emotions and complex bodily 2008). At the top of the evolutionary ladder lies the responses. Brain-based reality is thus emotional; a brain’s complex neuronal system that makes intel- marked difference from its impersonal philosophi- ligence possible. In addition to storing knowledge cally-based counterpart. in our brains’ neural circuits, human beings also ha- bitually use their built environment as an extension CULTURE AS A MANIFESTATION OF HU- of biological memory. Books, artifacts, song, orna- MAN INTELLIGENCE ment, and socio-geometric patterns represent the “collective memory” of a particular culture. Rep- Organisms merge their physical and psychological resented memory encoded in traditional buildings, needs. Human beings are unique in that they accom-
99 plish this through culturally-conceived expressions, many cultural traditions grew. And yet, those simple making complex objects ranging from hand-held ar- pleasures are the result of an incredibly complex set tifacts and ornament, to buildings and cities. Tra- of interactions. Turning away from nature and hu- ditionally, those created forms stem from innate ur- manity’s relation to the physical world is a regres- ges. More than just seeking to provide basic shelter, sion to an overly simplistic and unintelligent con- architecture throughout the ages has expressed this ception of the world. life-affirming practice. Human intelligence produ- Cynics observe destruction of the built envi- ces all cultural elements: dance, music, song, sculp- ronment (coupled with a breakdown of human val- ture, and painting. Trying to separate artifacts from ues) with detachment, by not getting emotionally the greater context of culture – defined by religion, involved. They accept a turning away from com- mythology, and social patterns – goes against the na- plex inherited values as an inevitable simplification ture of humanity. of contemporary humanity. The more intellectu- Nevertheless, the fragmentation and loss of in- al among them come up with arguments involving telligence stored in the artifacts of a culture does oc- “novelty”, “progress”, and “expressiveness”, which cur. This is exactly what happened during the past serve only to justify their own insensitivity (Salinga- several decades, with the propagation of 20th-Cen- ros, 2004). Those among us who see a tragic loss for tury Western architectural forms around the world. civilization, and try to reverse it, are branded as con- The problem is that any cultural element separated servative, nostalgic, and romantics. Yet people who from its human connection loses meaning and rel- value human qualities embedded in cultural artifacts evance. In this condition of “not belonging”, the are in fact exhibiting a greater sense of intelligent anchor points of human culture seem out-of-place, awareness. and are replaced by meaningless images of indus- Circumventing the illogical but self-reinforcing trial consumption. Once removed from its cultural nature of anti-humanist practices requires a com- context, the real reason for an object’s survival as plete restructuring of architecture, its education, and an isolated entity is strictly ideological (that is, not application (Alexander, 2001–2005; Salama, 2015). obviously practical). So pervasive are the expressions of this inhuman Creativity driven by human intelligence has contemporary condition that no logical argument been the source of the incredible richness of cultures can redirect its maddening forms. To date, architec- throughout history. Human beings ceaselessly strive ture students and practicing architects throughout to give form to their advancing intelligence in the the world have to submit to the dictates of a seduc- complexity and organization of their greatest cultur- tive globalized diktat. Despite the efforts of a grow- al expressions. Unfortunately, in the last century of ing minority, the confusing proposals of 20th-Centu- human development, social, political, and econom- ry architectural theory continue to lead us down the ic dynamics eroded both culture and identity. Direct wrong road (Salingaros, 2004; 2006). engagement has been supplanted by ego and avarice (Masden & Salingaros, 2014). While industriali- MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS AND ADAPTIVE zation may lead to technical advancement in a so- DESIGN ciety, it does not advance culture. Objects that are mass-produced to universal standards cast off deep An intelligent system is one that is able to solve pro- inner needs (biological, physical, and mental) in hu- blems. It finds different relationships that lead to so- mans. Yet, in the rush to clear away what were seen lutions, each solution being a network of connections. as useless relics of the past, the significance and There is no SINGLE solution to a complex problem, purpose of genuine cultural expressions was over- but instead a set of related solutions. Systems usu- looked. To this day people continue to mindlessly ally have available many alternative pathways, le- throw away some of humankind’s most valuable ading to alternative but equally valid configurations. artifacts, buildings, and traditions as if they were Biology is marked not by rigid conformity, but by cleaning out accumulated junk. adapting a complex template to changing conditions. Equally troubling is the modern practice of Consider the genetic coding for an organism. Siblin- twisting human intelligence into a negation of itself gs of more complex animals, which share genetic in- and of humanity. Some people reject the natural, the formation, turn out to have somewhat different cha- adaptively simple, and the unaffected as belonging racteristics. It is only in the lowest levels of design to the past (and thus, to a certain way of thinking, complexity that we find genuine organismic modu- inappropriate for modern times). They reject tradi- larity: for example, the same virus in a billion iden- tional sources of basic human pleasures upon which tical copies.
100 This variability is an important component of INTELLIGENCE AS A MODEL FOR GOOD adaptive architecture. A building designed in an in- ARCHITECTURE telligent manner can replace some of its own com- ponents without reducing the effectiveness of the Nature has evolved an enormously complex neuro- whole. It is not “unique”. It can change itself, just nal system in our body that enables the formation of as an organism continually replaces most of its cells thoughts, which execute the results of the intelligen- as they age, wear out, or die. It can evolve to adapt ce mechanism. Input to the human intelligence sys- to changing circumstances without mutating into a tem comes both from our sensory system (connec- totally distinct (identifiably different) typological ting us to the external world) and from internal me- entity. A similar intelligent solution is certainly pos- mory. When the neuronal system is active (which is sible, so that parts of the building could be changed all of the time, even in sleep), connections are made, to shift the overall design to one of its many close patterns formed, and new links and conclusions equivalents. Historical buildings have been adapted emerge. This system has enabled us to successful- to changing needs over the centuries, and yet they ly lead our lives over millions of years, adjusting re- retain a high level of intelligence (Brand, 1995). markably to changing circumstances and habitats. A reader might get the wrong impression of a “per- Human adaptability linked to intelligence is one of fect” building in which nothing can be changed. In an the marvels of nature. intelligently-designed building, each component sup- People build traditionally according to what their ports overall coherence by making an observable con- mind tells them consciously and subconsciously, un- tribution to the whole. The building can be modified less they are copying an explicit image. The brain by replacing components, as long as those continue to guides the hand and eye in an intelligent, self-cor- support the overall coherence (analogous to the whole- recting process. Emergent forms, spaces, structur- ness of an organism). It is the systemic continuity that al elements, ornamentation, etc. are just as much a is important – the end result of an intelligent process reflection of the human mind as they are products of solution. Any successful adaptation to changing cir- of utilitarian functions. That, at least, was the case cumstances and uses preserves a high degree of inter- until the twentieth century, when iconic formalism nal relationships that characterize coherence. was forcibly substituted for physical and emotional Adaptivity is impossible without intelligence, needs. By dismissing the expression of innate pat- however. The system has to respond to a multitude terns in the mind, industrial-modernist architecture of forces in the environment (for buildings these are effectively detaches itself from human intelligence. human needs and sensibilities, surrounding build- Let’s not confuse intelligence with intellectu- ings, natural features and forces, etc.). The design alization. Intelligent architecture gives unaffected process must compute a set of valid solutions, which form to what the human mind needs to allow it to satisfy those forces, otherwise a coherent whole will engage with the material world. Once constructed never emerge. The extra-adaptive constraints im- in these terms, the mind transfers ordered informa- posed on the problem (such as budget, availability tion to a mental extrapolation of this experience. If of materials, building regulations, etc.) choose from instead this becomes an intellectualized conception, among the possible good solutions. All of these de- then the experience is illusory (fictitious). In the lat- cisions are based upon interactivity and reasoned ter case our mind simply does not engage on a human choice from among many alternatives, each of which level. Unfortunately, architects pride themselves on has to be evaluated using criteria of adaptivity. creating some of the most intellectual and thus in- Formal design, by contrast, is restrictive. The human spaces ever conceived – but to what avail? opposite of an intelligent design imposes a precon- Since those places are so unsettling that no one wish- ceived scheme based on some formal criteria (such es to occupy them, they have become nothing more as a fixed compositional method of simplistic or than symbols of this intellectualized condition. arbitrary geometries). Formality and adaptivity are Industrial-modernist architecture remains a mys- incompatible. In a formal, iconic building, each tery to most people, just the way magical thought component has to conform to a singular fixed (in- was a powerful mystery during the Dark Ages of hu- tellectualized) abstraction, so it may be impossible man existence. This lack of an intelligent relation- to change or substitute a single new piece. An iconic ship between people and architecture is the preferred building usually cannot adapt to changing circum- terrain of starchitects (Masden & Salingaros, 2014). stances. It was non-adaptive to existing forces when Human beings today are smarter than our species has it was conceived and built, and remains non-adap- ever been; therefore, it is unacceptable that archi- tive to all new forces developing in the future. tecture continues to be rendered in a semi-mystical
101 fashion. Architects may still be necessary to guide and when it reinforces their place in the world. It is and mediate the design process to help the client, but a joy to look at, and everyone engages with it as an non-architects need to re-assert their right to access equal participant, since it establishes a fundamental the body of architectural knowledge. When they do, parity between user and architect. they will demand a far greater clarity of understand- By contrast, an architect seeking only to garner ing than architects accept today. public attention hopes that everyone will revere his/ Thus far, the powers that lead society have not her building for iconic reasons, as spectacle, with been very intelligent about creating the contem- the user subjugated to the self-important architect. porary built environment. By willfully sticking to The “star” system of design makes a building the a narrow set of images, they perpetuate the same achievement of a single individual based on his/her “dumb” typologies that architects have been follow- personal whim (Masden & Salingaros, 2014). The ing ever since the 1920s. Even more astonishing is public might still seem to admire such a building, how vast technological power is now applied to con- but only because some so-called “expert” declares it tinue producing these “dumb” typologies in an ev- to be a great work of architecture. This manufactured er-narrowing spectrum of variations. Here, certain- admiration does not arise naturally. Personal whims ly, is a misapplication of technology to support an and stylized expressions only distance the everyday obsolete stylistic “machine look” instead of generat- user from architecture, because they negate innate ing an infinite variety of new adaptive possibilities. neurological connections. Technology is susceptible to such misuse because it Science has been co-opted by this industri- lacks an innate mechanism for selection. Whoever al-modernist process, utilized in a superficial manner applies the technology can either use it for progress to generate non-adaptive iconic expressions (Salin- or to arrest progress. garos, 2004; 2006). Young architects today are con- Extremely expensive high-tech buildings are stantly frustrated, finding themselves in a career that erected, which turn out to be perfectly “dumb” as places a greater value on imageability than upon in- far as providing an intelligent and sensual treat to herent human qualities. While pretending to uncover the user. Their form and surface offer no complex new architectural principles, charismatic starchitects organized information, no anticipation of discovery, instead cultivate media attention and political con- and no variation from certain expected stereotypes. nections, court the influential critics, and assume an Recent industrial-modernist buildings even falsely aura of aesthetic refinement. This is how they con- claim to be biophilic by design. But these are just tinue to reap the most significant architectural com- more examples where science is intellectually ap- missions of our time, not from any real concern for propriated, without understanding, to support mod- civilization (Masden & Salingaros, 2014). ernist imagery. These contemporary buildings still The global business-industrial complex has follow the minimalist typology in some way or an- identified itself with a narrow architectural style. other. They are either unrepentantly and intentional- Ensnared in the western paradigm where the per- ly boring or they try to distinguish themselves with ception of architectural novelty is mistaken for pro- an initial shock. Observers may receive a thrill (a gress, many countries have fallen victims to this surge of adrenaline) from an unexpected, shiny, ex- image-based architecture, further encouraging the aggerated, or unbalanced form. After this initial ex- commodification of form. The official media im- change there is nothing further for these designs to ply that this is somehow better than what is deemed communicate. non-modern. As each new architectural frenzy fades, its imprints continue to oppress those who must live ICONIC VERSUS HUMAN ARCHITECTURE and work in the shadow of its products. Contrary to “signature” architecture’s claims of giving greater Building in a way that utilizes scientific ideas and significance to “place”, it actually subverts a true knowledge can once again make architecture a great sense of place through a loss of identity. Cities with HUMAN achievement. A new building constructed “signature” buildings are made of images, not the according to an intelligent methodology benefits all people and places that constitute the real culture of its users in a direct, nourishing, and visceral manner. these localities. If they wish, architects can now utilize this knowled- An extractive global economy is undoing the ge to align their designs positively to human physio- magnificent expressions of 5,000-year-old cultures logy. The public loves a great building (be it a histo- in the rest of the world. Western interventions ne- ric building, or a new building that exhibits this visi- gate the identity and values of people, in effect cut- ble intelligence) when they feel in harmony with it, ting them from their sense of belonging in the world.
102 Human architecture is informed by its material pres- tects claim to be genuinely interested in humanity, ence, not by image, yet our technological resources so what they say cannot be used to judge either the- are focused on replacing civilization with superficial ir intentions or their products. Ashraf Salama made imagery. Larger economic interests are using starchi- a perceptive comment about this: “I wish I could see tects as part of their drive to colonize and exploit the famous architects able to solve a housing problem rest of the world, displacing cultural and religious in a village or in a dense urban region, or able to values in the process. Rather than helping civiliza- introduce change in a poor community, or a squat- tion toward the ultimate expression of our own time ter settlement. While famous architects are immer- and place, this application of advanced technology sing themselves in exploring new innovations to fo- serves only the global élite’s interests (Masden & ster their fame, two-thirds of the world’s population Salingaros, 2014). lacks shelter or lives in substandard houses.” (Sala- Everyday people intuitively perceive contempo- ma, 2003). Champions of adaptive architecture are rary architecture and urbanism to be disconnected actively involved in designing urban settlements and from, and opposed to, traditional human values that social housing, whereas starchitects have been con- they hold sacred. Many see the destructive process spicuously absent. of 20th-Century architecture as a combative gesture Since early European modernism, the Western towards all traditional cultures, values, and beliefs expression of architecture has been on a roller coast- (Salingaros, 2006). Such practices present an affront er. Minimalist modernism reduced expressions to a to religions and cultures, by negating the forms of single typology, severely reducing freedom of archi- their architectural expressions. Industrial-modernist tectural expression – a statement that can be math- forms counteract the basic principle of connecting an ematically proven (Salingaros, 2006). The point individual to the universe – hence to God – by deny- where we find ourselves today is different, but not ing the traditional incorporation of color, sculpture, much better. Everyone is caught up by the Western and calligraphy. Temples, mosques, and churches phenomenon wherein starchitects promise a fash- conveying meaning via polychrome sculptures, tile ionable architecture hyped by the global media. work, reliefs, frescoes, and mosaics are deemed by The legitimization of form over content, seen in modernist designers to have no place in the “indus- pedagogical positions going back to the Bauhaus, trial” world order. serves only to validate an architecture of appear- Governments that seek international recognition ances. Detached from the world of lived experience, by hiring starchitects are complicit in negating the architecture as image reveals itself as nothing more inherent values and knowledge of their own citi- than a fashionable commodity. As such, it is subject zens. Architecture as a “will to form” was never con- to the rules of constant change characteristic of the cerned with engaging the user in a positive manner. fashion marketplace. This type of architecture can- It is an architecture of spectacle, purged of meaning not respect the physiological needs of human beings. and context, which has been allowed to construct its Looking around us verifies that architectural culture own reality. Its existence erases other forms of sen- has effectively erased the design and building tra- sory perception necessary for the human dimension ditions of the past, and with them the vital web of of a lived experience. Developing countries, in an urban culture in society. Introducing such abstrac- effort to maintain their place in this era of globali- tions during the twentieth century had catastrophic zation, will instead find the source of their new ar- consequences for our cities’ urban fabrics, and for chitecture within arm’s reach: in the materials and the human qualities of individual buildings (Salinga- practices of their region. Hopefully, they will come ros, 2005). With each vernacular structure removed to recognize the capacity of intelligence–based de- to make way for the modern world, intelligence em- sign, and its generative devices, which evolve with bedded in the built environment is lost. an uncanny similarity to the rich vernaculars of their Left unchallenged, this phenomenon continues local traditions. to perpetuate itself by way of its global imageabil- ity. Following closely in its wake is the endless and EXPECTATIONS OF PERPETUAL empty rhetoric of contemporary architectural theo- NOVELTY rists. Desperately looking outside architecture as a means to garner greater validity, their speculations How does one distinguish between contemporary have run the full gamut from misunderstood mathe- architects who will likely have a positive or nega- matics, to the poorly-conceived postulates of French tive effect on the environment? Who is egotistical/ philosophers, to the loosely-construed intimation of iconic, and who is humanistic/adaptive? All archi- linguistics into the domain of architectural design.
103 Each new “theory” offers yet another invented way architecture once again our highest cultural expres- to conceptualize architecture in the absence of an in- sion. Architecture that emerges out of an intelligent telligent basis, thus failing to provide everyday ar- process of interactive thinking naturally develops to- chitects with any intelligent tools for architectural wards a design adaptive to human beings. The result innovation. is better fit for human habitation because, coming In a market driven by the architectural media, from what is human, it nourishes our sensory needs starchitects have set unattainable standards (because and sensibilities. these rely on unrealistic expectations and/or idio- To survive rampant globalization, our civiliza- syncratic posturing). Practicing architects, expecting tion must be grounded in an intelligent understand- this work to elevate our profession, are beginning to ing of “place”. The powers that shape our countries sense that it only serves to propel the starchitects. allow international designers a free hand to make a And in the process, it has made the job of real-world spectacle of a region’s place in the world, thus de- architects working with real budgets and real clients stroying it. Tremendous knowledge can be gained in- impossible. stead through cross-cultural collaboration with those It is incredible that teachers of architecture give who have an understanding of intelligence-based ar- their students incomprehensible texts written by chitecture. They can help local architects create new starchitects (and by architectural academics who adaptive forms that re-establish a vernacular specific wish to bask in the light of those starchitects) as to their own culture; i.e., an architectural language something useful to study. In a frenzy that idolizes that speaks to the citizens of each country. Restruc- anyone promising “new” forms, students are com- turing architecture to resonate from within the rich pelled to read this stuff. One prominent starchitect history of human societies provides a greater mean- today uses pornography to sell his otherwise nonsen- ing in people’s lives and a sense of belonging to their sical books. Yet he, and other individuals like him, collective spirit. are continually rewarded by lucrative commissions, The main obstacle we see facing us is that of choice administrative and faculty appointments at institutions (organizations, governments, councils, our most prestigious universities, gold medals, and etc.) validating anti-humanist architecture. Seduced major architectural prizes. The students get the mes- by the latest fashion, they are eager to commission sage: copy these dishonest tactics and you too can the current crop of starchitects. Whether this choice become a starchitect. is due to a misguided conviction about High Art, or Ideas of style have a stranglehold on architecture clever global marketing that preys upon hidden feel- culture. Pursuing the deceptive “theoretical”, which ings of cultural insecurity, the result is disastrous. has obsessively driven the architectural world since The international press will repay their expense with early modernism, gives us little that strengthens the praise for the “enlightened” country sponsoring the human lived experience via the built environment. latest “signature” building, as part of the marketing Despite all the rhetoric declaring that this architec- strategy. It’s a token reward to the sponsor’s ego. ture was responding to profound social, political, The long-term reality is far darker. Many precious and scientific discoveries, it in fact was driven by a (and irreplaceable) commodities are sacrificed for a very narrow agenda. The imposition of an identifia- brief moment of publicity, beginning with the sensi- ble (signature) style becomes the road to recognition bilities of that country’s architects, and ending with and power. This has nothing to do with human needs the country’s historic culture. and sensibilities, but everything to do with success- ful marketing. Its phenomenal success is due to the ACKNOWLEDGMENT continuous mutation of the original industrial style so as to keep its practitioners comfortably in control An earlier version of this article entitled “Restruc- of both architectural practice and education. turing 21st-Century Architecture Through Human Intelligence” was published in: ArchNet-IJAR: In- CONCLUSION ternational Journal of Architectural Research, Volu- me 1, Issue 1 (March 2007), pages 36-52. Portions A creative revolution could transform the built reproduced with permission. environment in wonderfully human ways. A new intelligence-based architecture can impart a greater sense of humanity to the city, and to the world. It is up to world architects to set into motion some of the greatest scientific ideas of our times, and make
104 LITERATURE 10. Salama, A. (2003) “Why are Famous Architects Fa- mous?”, ArchNet Discussion Forum
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