IF ONE THING, MORE THAN ANY OTHER, distinguishes a real neighborhood from the corporate machine-architecture of the 20th-century developer, it is the fact that real people have — together — conceived it, planned it, and built it. It is this human reality which makes it worth living in, pleasant to be there, and valuable. –… Continue reading
Searched for "Salingaros"
Reductionism Undermines Both Science and Culture
By Ramray Bhat and Nikos Salingaros. Original text here. Introduction Reductionistic thinking, which is the philosophy of contracting complex systems in science and society to smaller or single causalities, is dangerous. With this contraction comes an indifference towards uncovering and appreciating complex explanations and the variability contributed by the context. In the sciences, reductionism leads to… Continue reading
From Industrial to Artisan: Modernism’s Sleight-of-Hand
By Nikos A. Salingaros. Original article here. I post this as a response to a former post about William Morris and 3D-printing, as I hope new technology combined with the scientific theory developed by Salingaros can help making Morris’ visions into reality. Figure 1. On the left, mass-produced Art Nouveau silver jewelry box by P. A…. Continue reading
Ten New Findings that Will Revolutionize Architecture
By Nikos Salingaros and Michael Mehaffy. Read the full article at Arch Daily. 1. Complex Adaptive Systems A key lesson for designers of all kinds is that product design can’t really be separated from environmental design. We are all, in some sense, environmental designers, working in the human environment. Since every system is only partially… Continue reading
Gail Tverberg vs. John Michael Greer
I think a major difference between John Michael Greer and Gail Tverberg is that while Greer sees the economy as fractal, Tverberg sees it as a dome made up of Leonardo Sticks: Dome constructed using Leonardo Sticks. Is this a correct model of our economy? In a fractal structure consisting of lots of nodes many of… Continue reading
CRIME!
In his famous essay of 1908, “Ornament and Crime,” the Austrian writer/architect Adolf Loos presented an argument for the minimalist industrial aesthetic that has shaped modernism and neo-modernism ever since. Surprisingly, he built this argument upon a foundation that is accepted today by almost no one; the cultural superiority of “modern man”, by which he… Continue reading
Design for a Living Planet: Settlement, Science, and the Human Future
By Michael W. Mehaffy and Nikos A. Salingaros In this brief, accessible volume, the authors — an urban philosopher and a mathematician-physicist — explain the surprising new findings from the sciences that are beginning to transform environmental design in the modern era. Authors Michael Mehaffy and Nikos Salingaros explore fractals, networks, self-organization, dynamical systems and… Continue reading
Nesting Instinct, by Vera Bradova
A brilliant piece by my alexandrian friend Vera Bradova! Her essay clearly shows the advantages of the Representative In-Group Democracy, which is proposed by the human ecologist Terje Bongard. Bongard’s model would have created the ultimate commons, but his research project MEDOSS was brutally rejected by the ignorant and anonymous referees of the Research Council of… Continue reading
Biourbanism: Rethinking the Science of Space
by Anna Bergren Miller, originally published by Shareable Biourbanist Marco Casagrande helped reshape Treasure Hill, near Taipei, into a sustainable urban community. (David Chu / Flickr) The International Society of Biourbanism (ISB) is an international network of scholars and design professionals dedicated to transforming architecture and planning practice through the application of scientific theory. The ISB’s annual summer school will take place… Continue reading
Neuroergonomics, Urban Design, Sociogenesis by Stefano Serafini
“What if, instead of breaking them, the design of cities could naturally feed social ties? There must be a way for urban planners to make cities more human-centred and livable, by focusing on how the built environment affects sociality.” ABSTRACT The International Society of Biourbanism (ISB) is organizing a Summer school in neuroergonomics and sociogenesis,… Continue reading
Tolfa in Italy: A Future Hub for the Commons in Europe?
Tolfa is a beautiful town in Italy, in the Tolfa Mountains, with 95 percent of its surrounding land owned as a commons by the people. Here’s a brand new video giving an overview of the place: Tolfa is hosting the italian-norwegian study center, Centro studi italo-norvegese di Tolfa. The town also hosts the Norwegian writer and… Continue reading
Life and Complexity in Architecture From a Thermodynamic Analogy
Nikos A. Salingaros Original article here. To appear in Physics Essays, March 1997 issue, volume 10 Number 1. Posted by permission of Physics Essays Publications Table of Contents Introduction Detail and Temperature in Architectural Design Randomness and Harmony in Architectural Design Estimating the Architectural Harmony Architectural Harmony and Pattern Recognition Raising the Harmony by Lowering… Continue reading
Interview: Petros Travelling Norway in Search of the Commons
I have the pleasure to host Petros at Freelab from Lublin in Poland. He is travelling Norway in search of positive and inspirational commons projects of all kinds. People warned me he might be a fortune seeker, but I’ve come to learn he’s a true, and not at least a very important evangelist of the commons. When… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Unified Architectural Theory
“what his book is all about: answering “the old and very disturbing question as to why architects and common people have diametrically opposed preferences for buildings.” * Book: Unified Architectural Theory. Nikos Salingaros. Introduction Nikos Salingaros: ‘The book itself arose from a lecture course on architecture theory I taught last year. Students were presented with… Continue reading
Toward Resilient Architectures 5: Agile Design
by Michael Mehaffy, Nikos A. Salingaros, originally published by MetropolisMag.com Courtesy Steve Slater As humanity progresses into an increasingly technological 21st century, we are confronted with a historic and alarming paradox. Over the last two and a half millennia, our species has made historic progress in achieving (partially but substantially) ancient ideals of democracy, human rights, justice,… Continue reading
Intelligence-Based Design: A Sustainable Foundation for Worldwide Architectural Education (publication)
by Nikos A. Salingaros & Kenneth G. Masden II – INTELLIGENCE-BASED DESIGN: A SUSTAINABLE FOUNDATION FOR WORLDWIDE ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION (download the publication, pdf, 59 pages) Originally published in IJAR (International Journal of Architectural Research), vol. 2- Issue 1: Intelligence-Based Design: A Sustainable Foundation for Worldwide Architectural Education. Description: “Architectural theory as currently taught in modern universities throughout… Continue reading