Models, mathematics and materials in digital architecture

Abstract

Today computing power and sophisticated digital tools are changing architectural design. Scripting and new design software is becoming ubiquitous and opens new opportunities for tech savvy designers, in turn computation seems set to fundamentally re-structure design practices. In the field of digital architecture, a number of critical voices have emerged from within its own ranks, vitally engaging with its theory and practice. These critiques universally assume that designers are, in fact, facing a new terrain for design thinking and that there consequently is a need to formulate a rationale for digital design research. If this is so, how can we begin to understand this new digital terrain, and what might its impact be on creativity and cognition? We approach these questions through the lens of Material Engagement Theory, exploring how computers and digital design research are changing the stakes for imaginative and creative thinking in architecture. We find that the potential of digital tools for bringing together vastly heterogeneous worlds might indeed extend the creative capacities of savvy designers, but that this relies on much more than a simple understanding of computation and involves materials, transactions and affect at several levels and temporal scales.