Architecture's newfound formal exuberance is gradually becoming indebted to
factors other than new computational methods. In design research, there is a
major technological trend toward finding guidance from nature - both its
products and processes - likely a result of expanding scientific knowledge in
fields from biology to genetics. Recent important developments are "genetic
algorithms" and "artificial life" programs - computer-based design processes
that imitate biological evolution or organic growth processes. Science and
nature magazines in the United States and Europe regularly report on the vast
research in "biomimesis" being conducted in biology and chemistry laboratories
alike, attempting to understand the deep logic of nature. Extending this
research, interdisciplinary teams of computer scientists, engineers, and
material scientists are exploring building materials that use the molecular
structure and behavior of organic matter as models to achieve higher structural
performance and efficiency.
http://www.architecturemag.com/dec99/spec/shape.asp
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