Autopoiesis of Architecture, Volume II

This is the second part of a major theoretical work by Patrik
Schumacher, which outlines how the discipline of architecture
should be understood as its own distinct system of
communication. Autopoeisis comes from the Greek and
means literally self-production; it was first adopted in biology in
the 1970s to describe the essential characteristics of life as a
circular self-organizing system and has since been transposed into
a theory of social systems. This new approach offers architecture
an arsenal of general comparative concepts. It allows architecture
to be understood as a distinct discipline, which can be analyzed in
elaborate detail while at the same time offering insightful
comparisons with other subject areas, such as art, science and
political discourse. On the basis of such comparisons the book
insists on the necessity of disciplinary autonomy and argues for a
sharp demarcation of design from both art and engineering.
Schumacher accordingly argues controversially that design as a
discipline has its own sui generis intelligence - with
its own internal logic, reach and limitations.

Whereas the first volume provides the theoretical groundwork for
Schumacher's ideas - focusing on architecture as an
autopoeitic system, with its own theory, history, medium and its
unique societal function - the second volume addresses the
specific, contemporary challenges and tasks that architecture
faces. It formulates these tasks, looking specifically at how
architecture is seeking to organize and articulate the complexity
of post-fordist network society. The volume explicitly addresses
how current architecture can upgrade its design methodology in the
face of an increasingly demanding task environment, characterized
by both complexity and novelty. Architecture's specific role
within contemporary society is explained and its relationship to
politics is clarified. Finally, the new, global style of
Parametricism is introduced and theoretically grounded.

Auteur

Patrik Schumacher is partner at Zaha Hadid Architects. He
joined Zaha Hadid in 1988. In 1996 he founded the 'Design
Research Laboratory' with Brett Steele at the Architectural
Association School of Architecture in London, and continues to
serve as its co-director. He studied philosophy and architecture in
Bonn, Stuttgart and London. In 1999 he completed his PHD at the
Institute for Cultural Science, Klagenfurt University. His
contribution to the discourse of contemporary architecture is also
evident in his prior writings (Digital Hadid, London 2004)
as well as in his work as a curator (Latent Utopias, Graz
2002). Currently he is working on an exhibition showcasing
Parametricism.

Résumé

This is the second part of a major theoretical work by Patrik Schumacher, which outlines how the discipline of architecture should be understood as its own distinct system of communication. Autopoeisis comes from the Greek and means literally self-production; it was first adopted in biology in the 1970s to describe the essential characteristics of life as a circular self-organizing system and has since been transposed into a theory of social systems. This new approach offers architecture an arsenal of general comparative concepts. It allows architecture to be understood as a distinct discipline, which can be analyzed in elaborate detail while at the same time offering insightful comparisons with other subject areas, such as art, science and political discourse. On the basis of such comparisons the book insists on the necessity of disciplinary autonomy and argues for a sharp demarcation of design from both art and engineering. Schumacher accordingly argues controversially that design as a discipline has its own sui generis intelligence with its own internal logic, reach and limitations.

Whereas the first volume provides the theoretical groundwork for Schumacher's ideas focusing on architecture as an autopoeitic system, with its own theory, history, medium and its unique societal function the second volume addresses the specific, contemporary challenges and tasks that architecture faces. It formulates these tasks, looking specifically at how architecture is seeking to organize and articulate the complexity of post-fordist network society. The volume explicitly addresses how current architecture can upgrade its design methodology in the face of an increasingly demanding task environment, characterized by both complexity and novelty. Architecture's specific role within contemporary society is explained and its relationship to politics is clarified. Finally, the new, global style of Parametricism is introduced and theoretically grounded.

Contenu
Introduction to Volume 2 1 6. The Task of Architecture 5

6.1 Functions 7

6.1.1 Functions versus Capacities 11

6.1.2 Substantial versus Subsidiary Functions 17

6.1.3 Tectonics 19

6.1.4 The Categorization of Function-types 22

6.1.5 Problem-types (Function-types) vs Solution-types (Archetypes) 24

6.1.6 Patterns of Decomposition/Composition 30

6.1.7 Functional Reasoning via Action-artefact Networks 32

6.1.8 Limitations of Functional Expertise 39

6.2 Order via Organization and Articulation 42

6.2.1 Organization and Articulation: Historical and Systematic 47

6.2.2 Architectural Order 52

6.2.3 A Definition of Organization for Contemporary Architecture 57

6.2.4 Complicated, Complex, Organized, Ordered 61

6.3 Organization 70

6.3.1 Relating Spatial to Social Organization 72

6.3.2 Territorialization and Integration 77

6.3.3 Systems, Configurations, Organizations 80

6.4 Supplementing Architecture with a Science of Configuration 88

6.4.1 Set Theory 88

6.4.2 Harnessing Network Theory 93

6.4.3 Excursion: Network Theory 99

6.4.4 A City is not a Tree 106

6.4.5 Space Syntax: Concepts and Tools of Analysis 112

6.4.6 Space Syntax: Theoretical Claims 125

6.4.7 From Organization to Articulation: Taking Account of Cognition 131

6.5 Articulation 134

6.5.1 Articulation vs Organization 134

6.5.2 The Problem of Orientation and the Problematic of Legibility 137

6.5.3 Articulate vs Inarticulate Organization 138

6.5.4 Articulation as the Core Competency of Architecture 139

6.5.5 Generalizing the Concept of Function 140

6.6 The Phenomenological vs the Semiological Dimension of Architecture 142

6.7 The Phenomenological Dimension of Architectural Articulation 145

6.7.1 The Perceptual Constitution of Objects and Spaces 147

6.7.2 Cognitive Principles of Gestalt-Perception 153

6.7.3 Parametric Figuration 165

6.8 The Semiological Dimension of Architectural Articulation 167

6.8.1 The Built Works of Architecture as Framing Communications 171

6.8.2 Analogy: Language and Built Environment as Media of Communication 176

6.8.3 Signs as Communications 181

6.8.4 Territory as Fundamental Semiological Unit 183

6.8.5 Saussure's Insight: Language as System of Correlated Differences 189

6.8.6 Extra-Semiological Demands on Architecture's Medial Substrate 193

6.8.7 Syntagmatic vs Paradigmatic Relations 196

6.9 Prolegomenon to Architecture's Semiological Project 200

6.9.1 The Scope of Architecture's Signified 201

6.9.2 The Composite Character of the Architectural Sign 206

6.9.3 Absolute and Relative Arbitrariness 210

6.9.4 Natural and Artificial Semiosis 215

6.9.5 Designing Architecture's Semiological Project 222

6.9.6 Cognitive and Attentional Conditions of Architectural Communication 229

6.9.7 Speculation: Expanding the Expressive Power of Architectural Sign Systems 232

6.10 The Semiological Project and the General Project of Architectural Order 238

6.10.1 The Semiological Project in Relation to the Organizational and the Phenomenological Project 239

6.10.2 Relationship between Architectural Lang…