The sustainable cybernetics of formal language in Islamic cities

Abstract

Sustainable development is not a process to reach an end state but rather an ongoing process. Sustainability is the self-evident term for the dynamic equilibrium between man and nature and for the co-evolution of both within the Gaia mega-system. The complementary system in nature in its profusion of formal language is expressed in infinite multidimensional patterns. Approaches to form generation that operates without employing a priori categories of form have required a new definition of the concept of form. Here the distinction between form and formation becomes significant. If we study architecture as the history of meaningful form, we will discover man, nature and we will know how God gave us the tools for real creativity. Creativity involves the development of original, imaginative ideas, usually for a particular purpose and can be situated in both cognitive and social domains. For the purpose of cultural heritage presence, we shall be dealing with the cybernetics theory, especially the second-order cybernetics that can contribute to symbiotic dialogues between societies, at a side, and art, architecture and urbanism on the other side. In this regard, we shall try to reach an understanding for the sustainable creative process considering changes in human faculties in Islamic cities. This paper tries to discover the ability of historic cities to become a source of inspiration which enables a society to innovate by re-interpreting the past, overcoming the dichotomies resulting from a single-minded pursuit of a narrow vision of progress. It will also try to identify the way in which a creative exploration and a careful evolution of historic cities can give birth to cultural continuity that can re-establish an organic link with the past, for the sake of re-integrating human wholeness and for motivations that goes beyond the rationality of these cities. © 2013 WIT Press.