The digital: From complexity to simplicity: And back

Abstract

At the beginning of the digital turn, in the early 1990s, digitally intelligent architecture was generally perceived as curvilinear, smooth, and streamlined. Why? Computers are extraordinarily versatile machines, and they do not express aesthetic preferences. It is evident that this is not what Peter Eisenman, who was among the inventors of the first digital style in the 1990s, then had in mind. And why is it that today the style of digitally intelligent architecture appears to be changing again? These are (some) issues addressed in this short paper questioning why and how the digital as a tool engages, masters and produces complexity.