2008

AD: this third ad by the guest-editors of the highly successful emergence and techniques and technologies in morphogenetic design titles shifts the morpho-ecological design project into the realm of performance.

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2007

AD: this issue of ad extrapolates current design tendencies and brings them together to present a new type of architecture, one that is seamlessly tying processes, space, structure and material together with a self-assured beauty. ‘elegance’ here is cast with a new contemporary meaning as it is applied to work that is effortlessly complex. it is analogous to an elegant algorithm that uses a small amount of initiative code to great effect. in a structure elegance may be expressed by a complex surface that retains its continuity and integrity even when punctured. in many ways, elegance marks a coming of age for, ‘digital architecture’, as architects become more adept at producing complexity and integrating digital design technologies, production and assembly systems producing elegant solutions.

includes essays by manuel delanda, greg lynn, un studio, zaha hadid architects, preston scott cohen, and hani rashid.

2006

AD: emergence requires the recognition of architectural structures not as singular and fixed bodies, but as complex energy and material systems that have a lifespan, exist as part of the environment of other active systems, and as an iteration of a series that proceeds by evolutionary development.

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2004

AD: emergence, or evolutionary optimisation, is an important new concept that in recent years has been applied to artificial intelligence, information theory, digital technology, economics, climate studies, material science and biometric engineering. in an architectural context it involves harnessing evolutionary processes for not only the design of buildings, but also the composition of new materials and structural design. in so doing, architecture is aspiring to a new level of complexity as it seeks to match the restless perfection of systems in the natural world.

includes interviews with frei otto; farshid moussavi and alejandro zaera polo of foreign office architects (foa); and charles walker, leader of the advanced geometry unit (agu) at arup.