Dissertation Report

MORPHOGENESIS AND ARCHITECTURE

SUBMITTED BY:

PARUL PANDEY
(1632781039)

In partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of

Bachelor in architecture

Guided By: -

AR. SHILPA JAIN

SUNDERDEEP COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE

DASNA (GHAZIABAD), UTTAR PRADESH
 SUNDERDEEP COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE GHAZIABAD

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Dissertation titled “MORPHOGENESIS AND

ARCHITECTURE” submitted by PARUL PANDEY as a part of 5 years
Undergraduate Program in Architecture at SUNDERDEEP COLLEGE OF
ARCHITECTURE is a record of bonafide work carried out by her under our
guidance.

The content included in the report has not been submitted to any other University or
institution for accord of any other degree or diploma.

Prof. Rakesh Sapra AR. SHILPA JAIN

(Director) (Dissertation Guide)
 SUNDERDEEP COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE GHAZIABAD

DECLARATION

I, PARUL PANDEY hereby declare that the dissertation entitled

“MORPHOGENESIS AND ARCHITECTURE” submitted in the partial fulfilment of
the requirements for the award of the degree of B. Arch is my original research work
and that the information taken from secondary sources is given due citations and
references.

PARUL PANDEY
8th Semester (B. Arch)
Session 2019-2020
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to acknowledge all those who have helped me in getting this
study to a successful present status.
I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my guide, Ar. Shilpa Jain for
her valuable suggestions and criticism. She made this possible.
I extend my sincere thanks to everyone who have helped me throughout in
successful completion of this project.
I dedicate this work to my parents, friends, faculty etc.
 ABSTRACT

Morphogenesis is concerned with the shapes tissues, organs and entire organisms and
the positions of the various specialized cell types. In contemporary computer-aided
design approach in architecture, morphogenesis holds a decisive role in formation
process, as well as acts as guide in design process. The digital generative processes
are opening-up new territories for conceptual, formal and tectonic exploration,
articulating an architectural morphology focused on the emergent and adaptive
properties of form. The emphasis shifts from the making of form to the finding of form,
which various digitally-based generative techniques seem to bring about intentionally.
This paper explores architectural design in the computational paradigm with using the
morphogenetic knowledge in form-making process. It invites further interaction for this
concept with biology and architecture. This research suggests potentials and
opportunities for knowledge transfer with deriving examples from case studies.
This paper examines methods in which digital media is employed not as a
representational tool for visualization but as a generative tool for the derivation of form
and its transformation - the digital morphogenesis. It explores the possibilities for the
finding of form, which the emergence of various digitally based generative techniques
seem to bring about. It surveys the digital generative processes - the computational
architectures - based on concepts such as topological space, isomorphic surfaces,
kinematics and dynamics, key shape animation, parametric design, and genetic
algorithms.
KEYWORDS: Plant Morphogenesis, Homeomorphic, Parametric Modelling, Splines,
Genetics, Computational-Aided Architecture
 CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE 01
DECLARATION 02
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 03
ABSTRACT 04
CONTENTS 05

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 07
1.1 AIM 08
1.2 OBJECTIVE 08
1.3 HYPOTHESIS 08
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 08
1.5 METHODOLOGY 08
1.6 SCOPE & LIMITATIONS 08
CHAPTER 2: MORPHOGENESIS 09
2.1 WHAT IS MORPHOGENESIS? 09
2.2 MORPHOGENESIS TYPES AND MODELS 09
2.3 MORPHOGENESIS: BIOLOGY TO ARCHITECTURE 12
CHAPTER 3: DIGITAL MORPHOGENESIS 13
3.1 TOPOLOGY ARCHITECTURE 13
3.2 NON-EUCLIDIAN GEOMETRIES 14
3.3 NURBS ARCHITECTURE 15
3.4 ISOMORPHIC ARCHITECTURE 16
3.5 ANIMATE ARCHITECTURE 17
3.6 PARAMETRICS ARCHITECTURE 18
3.7 GENETICS ARCHITECTURE 19
3.8 EVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE 20
CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS 21
4.1 DYNAMICS AND THE FIELDS OF FORCES 21
4.2 EMERGENCE AND THE FIELDS OF INDETERMINATION 22
4.3 MASS CUSTOMIZATION 22
CHAPTER 5: CASE STUDY 23
5.1 DUBLIN LANDMARK TOWER 23
5.2 GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM 29

CONCLUSION 34
BIBLIOGRAPHY 35
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

DESCRIPTION PAGE NO.

Fig.2.1: Cell arrangements in plant tissues 11
Fig.2.2: San Francisco bus terminal site plan 11
Fig.2.3: Proliferation of San Francisco bus terminal 12
Fig.3.1 Homeomorphic (topographically equivalent) figures 15
Fig.3.2: Spatial computing with Conformal Geometric Algebra 16
Fig.3.3: A composite curve constructed from Tangent Circular Arcs and Straight Line 17
Fig.3.4: Varying the Degree of NURBS curve will produce Different Shapes 17
Fig.3.5: Isomorphic Surfaces 18
Fig.3.6: Animate Architecture - Lynn’s Port authority bus terminal at New York 19
Fig.3.7: Paramorph by Mark Burry 19
Fig.3.8: Parametric Architecture – Marco’s Nova’s “algorithmic spectaculars” 20
Fig.3.9: L-System by Michael Hansmeyer 20
Fig.4.1: Bernard’s Cache “Objectiles” 22
Fig.5.1: New Czech National Library 24
Fig.5.2: Views of New Czech National Library 25
Fig.5.3: Facade of Czech National Library 27
Fig.5.4: Structural Branching System of Czech National Library 28
Fig.5.5: Branching System in Czech National Library 29
Fig.5.6: Site View of Guggenheim Museum 30
Fig.5.7: River View of the Museum 31
Fig.5.8: Facade of Guggenheim Museum 32
Fig.5.9: Elevations of Guggenheim Museum 33
Fig.5.10: Sections of Guggenheim Museum 33
Fig.5.11: Details of Structure in Guggenheim Museum 34
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
“Architecture is recasting itself, becoming in part an experimental investigation of topological
geometries, partly a computational orchestration of robotic material production and partly a
generative, kinematic sculpting of space.” (Zellner,2000)
The field of architecture is going through a shift where its basic principles are being
challenged by the changes that are happening around us. The abundance of new
techniques and technologies in architectural design, as well as in fabrication and
construction, force us to rethink our design methods and processes. The global changes that
drive us toward an ever-growing need for technology and insulation in our buildings provide
us with the opportunity to search for new holistic solutions. But new solutions cannot be
made with obsolete tools. It was stated that the direct emulation of the past is fruitless, yet it
should be learned from the lessons it provides.
The Information Age, like the Industrial Age before it, is therefore not only challenging what it
is being designed but also how it could be design. The generative and creative potential of
digital media is opening up new emergent dimensions in architecture.
New architectural paradigms are forming with the help of the transition to digital design; new
tools help to find new sources of inspiration and solutions. Parametric design software has
already established itself and it is now common that designs incorporate computer
modelling. But these tools only mimic old design processes and do not themselves any new
possibilities or inspiration for design. It is stated that they offer the benefits of
computerization but not the over whelming opportunities of computing.
The predictable relationships between design and representations are abandoned in favour
of computationally generated complexities. Models of design capable of consistent, continual
and dynamic transformation are replacing the static norms of conventional processes.
Complex curvilinear geometries are produced with the same ease as Euclidean geometries
of planar shapes and cylindrical, spherical or conical forms. The plan no longer generates
the design; sections attain a purely analytical role. Grids, repetitions and symmetries lose
their past raison, as infinite variability becomes as feasible as modularity, and as mass-
customization presents alternatives to mass-production.
As digital infrastructures are being inscribed into cities and buildings, new forms and
methods of spatial organizations are emerging (Mitchell 1995). Technological architectures
are being replaced by computational architectures.
Procedural, parametric and generative computer-supported techniques in combination with
mass customization and automated fabrication enable holistic manipulation and the
subsequent production of increasingly complex architectural arrangements. By automating
parts of the design process, computers make it easier to develop designs through versioning
and gradual adjustment.
1.1 AIM
Understanding the basic principles behind architectural computation, which forms a huge
chunk of this new emerging field.

1.2 OBJECTIVE
1. Exploring architectural design in the computational paradigm with using the
morphogenetic knowledge.
2. Interaction between biology and architecture and how it helped in form-making
process of architecture.
3. Comparing computational modelling of morphogenesis in biology with techniques in
architectural designing.

1.3 HYPOTHESIS
This digital process opening a way to generate infinite number of alternatives of form
creating. An architectural morphology focusing on the emergent and adaptive properties of
form. Emphasizes shifting from the “making of form” to the “finding of form”.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Is digital morphogenesis supporting the development of complex shapes (organic) in
architecture?
2. In computer-aided design process, does morphogenesis holds a decisive role in
formation process?
3. Is digital media being used not only as a representational tool but as a generative
tool for the derivation of form and its transformation?
4. Is digital morphogenesis leading the design process of architecture towards a
computer-aided design process?

1.5 METHODOLOGY
1. First, the research defines the meaning of the generative design and the role of the
computer as a part of the design process which could be named as morphogenesis.
2. Second, defining the collaboration between biology and architecture to generate the
bio design approach of designing by the collaboration of nature, science and
creativity, defining the differences between the biological morphogenesis and the
digital morphogenesis.
3. Third, studying the digital morphogenesis and various digitally generative-based
techniques.

1.6 SCOPE
This research will be discussing the new and digitalised processes of creating complex and
dynamic forms with ease.

1.7 LIMITATIONS
This research will discuss about the techniques of digital morphogenesis in architecture but
not the algorithms and processes of digital morphogenesis used for form-making or design
process.
 CHAPTER 2
MORPHOGENESIS
2.1 WHAT IS MORPHOGENESIS?
Morphogenesis is a concept which is used in a number of disciplines including biology,
geology, engineering, crystallography, urban studies art and architecture. This multiple
usage of this term is caused variable understandings involve figurative meaning and true
meaning of the word. The original usage depends on biology science and in etymology is
defined as; “Morphogenesis came from the Greek word “morphe”; shape and “genesis”;
creation, literally, “beginning of the shape” is the biological process that causes an organism
to develop its shape.”
Morphogenesis is one of the major outstanding problems in the biological sciences. It is
concerned with the shapes tissues, organs and entire organisms and the positions of the
various specialized cell types and the fundamental question of how biological form and
structure are generated.
Morphogenesis encompasses a broad scope of biological processes. It concerns adult as
well as embryonic tissues, and includes an understanding of the maintenance, degeneration,
and regeneration of tissues and organs as well as their formation. It also addresses the
problem of biological form at many levels, from the structure of individual cells, through the
formation of multicellular arrays and tissues, to the higher order assembly of tissues into
organs and whole organisms. While related to the field of developmental biology with its
traditional emphasis on the control of gene expression and the acquisition of cell fates,
morphogenesis investigates how this regulation of cell fates contributes to the form and
structure of the organism and its component parts.

2.2 MORPHOGENESIS TYPES AND MODELS

“Plant morphogenesis is the formation is the formation of shape and structure by
coordination of cell shape, growth, and proliferation by mitosis.” Computational and
mathematical models are used as a tool in biology field because of complex mechanism of
morphogenetic growing.
Each cell has own parameters (contains morphogen levels, growth rate etc.) and a boundary
which define its limits. All the situations; state or transformation status is determined in these
parameters in mathematical formula. Architecture is used these computational models as a
generative tool in form-making process.
According to T. Rudge and J. Hasseloff morphogenesis can be categorized in four according
to their transformation types which are; proliferation, coordinated growth, cell lineage, and
cell position specification.
“Proliferation: Simple cell colonies were generated from initial conditions of a single unit
square cell. All cells were grown at the same rate and divided when their volume doubled.
Cell growth was isotropic.”
Coleochaete scutata (a simple green alga) Arabidopsis thaliana root meristem
Fig.2.1: Examples of cell arrangements in plant tissues (Tim Rudge, Jim Haseloff, A
Computational Model of Cellular Morphogenesis in Plants)
There is an example of proliferation type of morphogenesis in architecture design field. Tom
Wiscombe designed “San Francisco Bus Terminal” with using same logic. During design
process, they use diagram which is showing the proliferation of cells. “Algae technology”
which produces biofuels and oxygen by proliferation of algae is also applied for this project.

Fig.2.2: San Francisco Bus Terminal Site Plan

“Coordinated Growth: “Coordinated Growth: There are several examples of processes in

plants in which a zone of proliferating cells is established within a mature or slowly growing
region. Growth was polar, and all cells divided on doubling their initial volume.”
“Cell Lineage and Positional Information: The relative roles of cell lineage or inheritance, and
cell-cell signalling mechanisms and their interactions are important in understanding plant
development. The morphogen was used to trigger growth and division in 1-dimension. This
maintained an active cell at the end of a line of in active cells, in a similar manner to a plant
root- or shoot meristem”
Fig.2.3: Proliferation San Francisco Bus Terminal
2.3 MORPHOGENESIS: BIOLOGY TO ARCHITECTURE
While as disciplines, architecture and biology share some similarities like:

 Both deal with entities operating in context

 Both use computational models
The differences are in Goals, Epistemology, Knowledge Base, Methods, Discourse and
Institutional Organization are significant. These differences are making communication and
collaboration difficult.
Despite the differences and difficulties, direct collaborations between biology and
architecture are necessary not only in the narrow context of the present discussion but also
because they can help to orient designing towards ecologically compatible outcomes.
In architecture, morphogenesis often used as an inspiration for built form as a group of
methods in digital media. It works not also representational tools but also generative tool for
derivation and transformation of the form (Roudavski, 2009).
Understanding of morphogenesis in biology and architecture with comparing them; helps to
conceive similarities and differences for these fields. It indicates potentials and advantages
for the two research communities (Roudavski, 2009).
A better understanding of biological morphogenesis can usefully inform architectural
designing because:

 Architectural designing aims to resolve challenges that have often already been
resolved by nature.
 Architectural designing increasingly seeks to incorporate concepts and techniques,
such as growth or adaptation that have parallels in nature.
 Architecture and biology share a common language because both attempt to model
growth and adaptation (or morphogenesis).
In a reverse move, architecture and engineering can inform the studies in biology because:

 Components of organisms develop and specialize under the influence of contextual

conditions such as static and dynamic loads or the availability of sun light.
 In biology as in architecture, computational modelling is becoming an increasingly
important tool for studying such influences.
 Architecture and engineering have developed computational tools for evaluating and
simulating complex physical performances (such as distribution of loads, thermal
performance or radiance values).
 Such tools are as yet unusual or unavailable in biology.
According to advocates of morphogenetic design, they not only focus on study of the existing
situation but the consideration of possibilities of nature.
 CHAPTER 3
DIGITAL MORPHOGENESIS
In contemporary architectural design, digital media is increasingly being used not as a
representational tool for visualization but as a generative tool for the derivation of form and
its transformation and that is called with the digital morphogenesis. In a radical departure
from centuries old traditions and norms of architectural design, digitally-generated forms are
not designed or drawn as the conventional understanding of these terms would have it, but
they are calculated by the chosen generative computational method. Instead of modelling an
external form, designers articulate an internal generative logic, which then produces, in an
automatic fashion, a range of possibilities from which the designer could choose an
appropriate formal proposition for further development.
The predictable relationships between design and representations are abandoned in favour
of computationally generated complexities. Models of design capable of consistent, continual
and dynamic transformation are replacing the static norms of conventional processes.
Complex curvilinear geometries are produced with the same ease as Euclidean geometries
of planar shapes and cylindrical, spherical or conical forms. The plan no longer 'generates'
the design; sections attain a purely analytical role. Grids, repetitions and symmetries lose
their past raison d'être, as infinite variability becomes as feasible as modularity, and as
mass-customization presents alternatives to mass-production.
The digital generative processes are opening-up new territories for conceptual, formal and
tectonic exploration, articulating an architectural morphology focused on the emergent and
adaptive properties of form. The emphasis shifts from the 'making of form' to the 'finding of
form' which various digitally-based generative techniques seem to bring about intentionally.

3.1 TOPOLOGY ARCHITECTURE

The notion of topology has particular potentiality in architecture, as emphasis shifts away
from particular forms of expression to relations that exist between and within an existing site
and the proposed program. These interdependences then become the structuring,
organizing principle for the generation and transformation of form.
“According to mathematical definition, topology is a study of intrinsic, qualitative properties of
geometric forms that are not normally affected by changes in size or shape.”
It means, which remain invariant through continuous one-to-one transformations or elastic
deformations, such as stretching or twisting. A circle and an ellipse, for example, or a square
and a rectangle, can be considered to be topologically equivalent, as both circle and square
could be deformed by stretching them into an ellipsoid or rectangle, respectively.
A square and a rectangle have the same number of edges and the same number of vertices,
and are, therefore, topologically identical, or homeomorphic. This quality of homeomorphism
is particularly interesting, as focus is on the relational structure of an object and not on its
geometry ñ the same topological structure could be geometrically manifested in an infinite
number of forms. Topological transformations, first and foremost, affect the relational
structure, and, thus, the resulting form(s). For example, a rectangle could be transformed
into a triangle with a single topological operation of deleting one of its vertices.
 Fig.3.1: Homeomorphic (topologically equivalent) figures
3.2 NON-EUCLIDIAN GEOMETRIES
“Euclid’s Elements proposed five basic postulates of geometry, of which all were considered
self-evident except the fifth postulate of “parallelism,” which asserts that two lines are
parallel, i.e. non-intersecting, if there is a third line that intersects both perpendicularly.”
The first four postulates, as articulated by Euclid, are considered postulates of absolute
geometry. It was this fifth postulate that opened the realm of non-Euclidean geometries.
Such a design is based on parameters and statistics, and enables a spatial morphogenesis
in a non-Euclidean 'environment'. Through the use of calculus-based tools, architectural
design may become more abstract and less representational, at least in comparison to its
traditional and standard types of predecessors.
Non-Euclidian geometries are used to argue for its potential use in morphogenetic research
and experimentation. Figures created using non-Euclidian geometries in interactive software
for generating organic forms and environments.
 Fig.3.2: Spatial computing with Conformal Geometric Algebra
3.3 NURBS ARCHITECTURE
“The highly curvilinear surfaces in the architecture of the digital avant-garde are described
mathematically as NURBS, which is an acronym that stands for Non-Uniform Rational B-
Splines.”
NURBS are a digital equivalent of the drafting sp-lines used to draw the complex curves in
the cross-sections of ship hulls and airplane fuselages. Those sp-lines were flexible strips
made of plastic, wood or metal that would be bent to achieve a desired smooth curve, with
weights attached to them in order to maintain the given shape. The term sp-line actually has
its origin in shipbuilding, where it was used to refer to a piece of steamed wood shaped into
a desired smooth curve and kept in shape with clamps and pegs. Mathematicians borrowed
the term in a direct analogy to describe families of complex curves.
The main reason for their widespread adoption is the ability of NURBS to construct a broad
range of geometric forms, from straight lines and Platonic solids to highly complex, sculpted
surfaces. From a computational point of view, NURBS provide for an efficient data
representation of geometric forms, using a minimum amount of data and relatively few steps
for shape computation, which is why most of today's digital modelling programs rely on
NURBS as a computational method for constructing complex surface models and, in some
modelers, even solid models.
Bothnian Bay cultural center project designed by Toni Österlund is an example for creates
transformations in NURBS-based surfaces through the translation of their respective control
point matrices. Using this tool, he analyzed several different data that is the starting point for
the evolutionary process. He used natural phenomena as the basis of its architectural
morphology and implements it to his design.
Fig.3.3: A composite curve constructed from Tangent Circular Arcs and Straight Line
Segments

Fig.3.4: Varying the Degree of NURBS curve will produce Different Shapes

3.4 ISOMORPHIC ARCHITECTURE

Isomorphic surfaces represent another point of departure from the Euclidean geometry and
the Cartesian space. Blobs or meta-balls, as isomorphic surfaces are sometimes called, are
amorphous objects constructed as composite assemblages of mutually inflecting parametric
objects with internal forces of mass and attraction. They exercise fields or regions of
influence, which could be additive (positive) or subtractive (negative). The geometry is
constructed by computing a surface at which the composite field has the same intensity -
hence the name - isomorphic surfaces.

Fig.3.5: Isomorphic Surfaces

Isomorphic surfaces open up yet another formal universe where forms may undergo
variations giving rise to new possibilities. Objects interact with each other instead of just
occupying space; they become connected through logic where the whole is always open to
variation as new blobs (fields of influence) are added or new relations made, creating new
possibilities. The surface boundary of the whole (the isomorphic surface) shifts or moves as
fields of influence vary in their location and intensity. In that way, objects begin to operate in
a dynamic rather than a static geography.

3.5 ANIMATE ARCHITECTURE

Greg Lynn (1999) was one of the first architects to utilize animation software not as a
medium of representation, but of form generation. According to Lynn, the prevalent
“cinematic model” of motion in architecture eliminates the force and motion from the
articulation of form and reintroduces them later, after the fact of design, through concepts
and techniques of “optical procession.” In contrast, argues Lynn, “animate design is defined
by the co-presence of motion and force at the moment of formal conception.” Force, as an
initial condition, becomes “the cause of both motion and particular inflections of a form.”
According to Lynn, “while motion implies movement and action, animation implies evolution
of a form and its shaping forces.”
In his projects, Lynn has utilized an entire repertoire of motion-based modelling techniques,
such as key-frame animation, forward and inverse kinematics, dynamics (force fields) and
particle emission. Kinematics is used in animation in its true mechanical meaning: to study
the motion of an object or a hierarchical system of objects without consideration given to its
mass or the forces acting on it. As motion is applied, transformations are propagated
downward the hierarchy in forward kinematics, and upward through hierarchy in inverse
kinematics. In some of Lynn’s projects, such as the House Prototype in Long Island,
skeletons with a global envelope are deformed using inverse kinematics under the influence
of various site induced forces.
 Fig.3.6: Animate Architecture - Lynn’s Port authority bus terminal at New York
In contrast to kinematics, the dynamic simulation takes into consideration the effects of
forces on the motion of an object or a system of objects, especially of forces that do not
originate within the system itself. Physical properties of objects, such as mass (density),
elasticity, static and kinetic friction (or roughness), are defined. Forces of gravity, wind, or
vortex are applied, collision detection and obstacles (deflectors) are specified, and dynamic
simulation computed. Greg Lynn’s design of a protective roof and a lighting scheme for the
bus terminal in New York offers a very effective example of using particle systems to
visualize the gradient fields of “attraction” present on the site, created by the forces
associated with the movement and flow of pedestrians, cars, and buses on the site.

3.6 PARAMETRICS ARCHITECTURE

“Parametrics can provide for a powerful conception of architectural form by describing a
range of possibilities, replacing in the process stable with variable, singularity with
multiplicity. Using parametrics, designers could create an infinite number of similar objects,
geometric manifestations of a previously articulated schema of variable dimensional,
relational or operative dependencies.”
Parametrics are useful for modelling infinitely variable potentialities of geometries from
biological forms. “Paramorph” by Mark Burry is an exploration of morphogenetic design
using biological parametrics in a digital media as a speculative design tool.

Fig.3.7: Paramorph by Mark Burry

Parametric design often entails a procedural, algorithmic description of geometry. In
algorithmic spectaculars, algorithmic explorations of “tectonic production” using
mathematical software, Marcos Novak had constructed mathematical models and generative
procedures that are constrained by numerous variables initially unrelated to any pragmatic
concerns. Each variable or process is a ‘slot’ into which an external influence can be
mapped, either statically or dynamically. In his explorations, Novak is concerned less with
the manipulation of objects and more with the manipulation of relations, fields, higher
dimensions, and eventually the curvature of space itself. The implication is that the
parametric design doesn’t necessarily predicate stable forms. As demonstrated by Burry,
one can devise a paramorph - an unstable spatial and topological description of form with
stable characteristics.

Fig.3.8: Parametric Architecture – Marco’s Nova’s “algorithmic spectaculars”

3.7 GENETICS ARCHITECTURE
Kolarevic make the definition of genetics: “The “rules” that direct the genesis of living
organisms that generate their form, are encoded in the strands of DNA. Variation within the
same species is achieved through gene crossover and mutation, i.e. through the iterative
exchange and change of information that governs the biological morphogenesis.” Biological
growth and codes can be applied in generative process of architecture. John Frazer is also
argues in his book “Evolutionary Architecture” which advocates genetics of living organisms
can encode in digital format.
Michael Hansmeyer uses “L-System”, which the biologist Aristid Lindenmayer proposed in
the late 1960's, simplified plant genetic and their growing duration. He claims that L-System
can be used in architecture as a production of form, organization of space or development of
structural system.

Fig.3.9: L-system by Michael Hansmeyer

3.8 EVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE
Evolutionary architecture proposes the evolutionary model of nature as the generating
process for architectural form (Frazer 1995). In this approach to design, according to Frazer,
“architectural concepts are expressed as generative rules so that their evolution and
development can be accelerated and tested by the use of computer models. Concepts are
described in a genetic language which produces a code script of instructions for form-
generation. Computer models are used to simulate the development of prototypical forms
which are then evaluated on the basis of their performance in a simulated environment. Very
large numbers of evolutionary steps can be generated in a short space of time and the
emergent forms are often unexpected.”
The key concept behind evolutionary architecture is that of the genetic algorithm, “a class of
highly parallel evolutionary, adaptive search procedures,” as defined by Frazer. Their key
characteristic is a “a string-like structure equivalent to the chromosomes of nature,” to which
the rules of reproduction, gene crossover, and mutation are applied. Various parameters are
encoded into the “a string-like structure” and their values changed during the generative
process. A number of similar forms, “pseudo-organisms,” are generated, which are then
selected from the generated populations based on predefined “fitness” criteria. The selected
“organisms,” and the corresponding parameter values, are then crossbred, with the
accompanying “gene crossovers” and “mutations”, thus passing beneficial and survival-
enhancing traits to new generations. Optimum solutions are obtained by small incremental
changes over several generations.
In the process of genetic coding, the central issue is the modelling of the inner logic rather
than external form. Other equally important issues are the definition of often ill-defined and
conflicting criteria and how the defined criteria operate for the selection of the “fittest”.
Equally challenging is the issue of how the interaction of built form and its environment are
transcribed into the morphological and metabolic processes.
 CHAPTER 4
IMPLICATIONS
Digital morphogenesis in architecture links it to a number of concepts including emergence,
self-organization and form-finding (Hensel, Menges, & Weinstock, 2004). Among the
benefits of biologically inspired forms, their advocates list the potential for structural benefits
derived from redundancy and differentiation and the capability to sustain multiple
simultaneous functions (Weinstock, 2006). In contrast to homogenized, open-plan interior
spaces produced by modernist approaches, the implementation of locally-sensitive
differentiation, achieved through morphogenetic responsiveness, can produce more flexible
and environmentally sound architecture.

4.1 DYNAMICS AND THE FIELDS OF FORCES

Greg Lynn’s work on “animate form” was very much inspired by D’Arcy Thompson “On
Growth and Form” (1917), in which Thompson argues that the form in nature and the
changes of form are due to the “action of force.” With his work on using motion dynamics to
generate architectural form, Lynn has compellingly demonstrated what Nicholas Negroponte
(1970) had only hinted at in his seminal work from some thirty years ago, “The Architecture
Machine,” also acknowledged in Lynn’s writing:
“Physical form, according to D’Arcy Thompson, is the resolution at one instant of time of
many forces that are governed by rates of change. In the urban context the complexity of
these forces often surpasses human comprehension. A machine, meanwhile, could
procreate forms that respond to many hereto un-manageable dynamics. Such a colleague
would not be an omen of professional retirement but rather a tickler of the architect’s
imagination, presenting alternatives of form possibly not visualized or not visualizable by the
human designer.”
Lynn argues that “traditionally, in architecture, the abstract space of design is conceived as
an ideal neutral space of Cartesian coordinates,” but that in other design fields, “design
space is conceived as an environment of force and motion rather than as a neutral vacuum.”
He makes an argument that “while physical form can be defined in terms of static
coordinates, the virtual force of the environment in which it is designed contributes to its
shape,” thus making the forces present in the given context fundamental to the form making
in architecture. Lynn attributes to this position the significance of a paradigm shift “from a
passive space of static coordinates to an active space of interactions,” which he describes
as “a move from autonomous purity to contextual specificity.” Instrumental to this conceptual
shift is the use of digital media, such as animation software, which he uses as “tools for
design rather than as devices for rendering, visualization, and imaging.”

Fig.4.1: Bernard’s Cache “Objectiles”

4.2 EMERGENCE AND THE FIELDS OF INDETERMINATION
Topological space opens up a universe where essentially curvilinear forms are not stable but
may undergo variations; giving rise to new possibilities, i.e., the emergent form. Designers
can see forms as a result of reactions to a context of “forces” or actions, as demonstrated by
Lynn’s work.
There is, however, nothing automatic or deterministic in the definition of actions and
reactions; they implicitly create “fields of indetermination” from which unexpected and
genuinely new forms might emerge. The capacity of computational architectures to generate
“new” designs is therefore highly dependent on designer’s perceptual and cognitive abilities.
Their generative role is accomplished through the designer’s simultaneous interpretation and
manipulation of a computational construct (topological surface, isomorphic field, kinetic
skeleton, field of forces, parametric model, genetic algorithm, etc.) in a complex discourse
that is continuously reconstituting itself - a ‘self-reflexive’ discourse in which graphics actively
shape the designer’s thinking process.

4.3 MASS CUSTOMIZATION

The numerically controlled production processes of the past decade, which afforded the
fabrication of non-standardized repetitive components directly from digital data, introduced
into architectural discourse the “mass-customization” (Mitchell 1999) and the new logics of
“seriality,” i.e., the local variation and differentiation in series. In process, building
construction is being transformed into production of the differentiated components and their
assembly on site, instead of the conventional manual techniques. This transformation of
building design and construction into digitally driven production processes was famously
manifested in Frank Gehry’s buildings, with his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao being the
most dramatic recent example.
For Bernard Cache (1995), in parametric design “objects are no longer designed but
calculated,” allowing the design of complex forms with surfaces of variable curvature that
would be difficult to represent using traditional drawing methods, and laying “the foundation
for a nonstandard mode of production.” His objectiles (figure 4.1) are non-standard objects,
mainly furniture and panelling, which are procedurally calculated in Microstation and
industrially produced with numerically controlled machines.
For Cache, it is the modification of parameters of design, often random, that allows the
manufacture of different shapes in the same series, thus making the mass-customization,
i.e., the industrial production of unique objects possible. In other words, it is now possible to
produce “series-manufactured, mathematically coherent but differentiated objects, as well as
elaborate, precise and relatively cheap one-off components,” according to Peter Zellner
(1999), who argues that in the process the “architecture is becoming like ‘firmware’ the
digital building of software space inscribed in the hardwares of construction.”
 CHAPTER 5
CASE STUDY
The aim of this part is to illustrate how directly used biological knowledge in
architecture field and how biology concretize this discourse on morphogenesis in
architecture with examining case studies.

5.1 NEW CZECH NATIONAL LIBRARY

Fig.5.1: New Czech National Library

New Czech National Library is, located in Prague, designed by OCEAN NORTH and
Scheffler + Partner International Competition Entry

CONCEPT OF DESIGN
General concept of the architectural design of Czech Library is based on “Lípa”, lime tree or
linde (tilia). The reason is applying biological references of Lípa, national tree of the Czech
Republic, reflecting the myth of queen Libuše as the female founder of the Czeque nation.
Perpetual growth and evolution of the tree is considered as a source for conceptual and
development process.
The proposal deploys the evocative image of the lime tree in a threefold manner:
- to provide a sensous image of cultural and literary evolution, growth and proliferation
engendered by Czech literary tradition and production;
- to embrace the breathtaking landscape of Prague and the Moldau valley so as to extend
and interweave it smoothly into the built fabric of the city;
- to evolve a unique tectonic that mediates between urban fabric and living nature. In doing
so, the design takes inspiration from the late gothic Vladislav Hall (1493-1502) with its
unique and immaculate starshape rip vault by Benedikt Ried, which fuses the tectonic and
the organic in a spectacular and stately manner.
They implement this information to the design in this way; “The building is organized in three
distinct, but interconnected volumes that together form a very large tree-like form. The
central volume constitutes the “trunk”, which organizes a smooth connection between Milady
Horákové Avenue and Letenské park. The cantilevering volumes provide “the treetop” that
enables the unique spatial experience of inhabiting a vast tree space.”

Fig.5.2: Views of New Czech National Library

LOCATION OF LIBRARY ON DESIGNATED SITE

The orientation of the elongated volumes that make up the scheme is generally north-south,
connecting the urban edge of Milady Horákové Avenue smoothly into the vast landscape of
Letenské park. The volumes shift, however, so as to organise the directions of approach and
circulation that are anticipated by the competition brief, to and from the centrally located
entrance and reception area, as well as to frame key views across the site and the city.

The library and office volumes are cantilevered such that a continuous public landscape is
provided on the ground floor level, west of the National Library volume. Moreover, the two
cantilevering volumes pertrude beyond the central supporting volume along Milady Horákové
Avenue in order to provide the experience of buoyant monolithic volumes that form the edge
of an urban block, while maintaining the continuous landscape on ground level.

DESCRIPTION OF OPERATIONAL AND SPATIAL RELATIONS INSIDE THE

NATIONAL LIBRARY

The tree-like spatial and tectonic scheme is reflected in the programmatic and circulatory
organisation of the National Library. Two cantilevering volumes are supported by the building
volume that contains the national archive. This organisation delivers architectural expression
to the notion that the national archive is the foundation of Czech literary production.
Contemporary literature originates and extends from its shelves.

The trunk of the abstract tree is formed by the national and parliamentary libraries from
which the internal functions of the libary branch out as cantilevering volumes. Public space is
articulated both as a continuous public landscape around the trunk of the tree, sheltered by
its branches, and as a treehouse at the highest point of the tree, granting spectacular views
of the surrounding landscape, as well as Prague’s historical centre and monuments.

The continuous landscape on the ground floor level provides for 24 hour public activities
such as exhibitions, public literature readings, book shopping and the cafe, which are
smoothly distributed on the articulated datum. Moreover, the terrain articulation serves to
effectively guide visitor flows to the main public core(s), while enabling universal accessibility
of the continuous landscape throughout the site.
Public functions that are of urban character, the bookshop and the exhibition space are
located to the north of the landscaped ground floor, addressing the intended boulevard
character of Milady Horákové Avenue. The cafe is located to the south, benefiting from the
presence of the park.

Library functions and offices are clearly separated by the volume of the National Library,
each into their own cantilevering volume. The library functions in the cantilevering volume
are predominantly oriented towards the west and the south, including the main library hall
and the reading rooms, thus taking advantage of the views of the park and the national
monuments in the centre of the city. This principle reaches its climax with the restaurant,
panorama terrace and lecture theatres on the top floor, providing spectacular views of
Prague above the high tree-line of Letenské Park.

The National Library volume is conceived of as an opaque shrine of knowledge that provides
selected and highly controlled glimpses of the activities it houses to the public, in the form of
a ramped episodical pathway along the western edge of the volume that faces the public
part of the building.

The office block houses from bottom to top the Acquisition Division, the Collections
Management and Preservation Division and the National Bibliography and Cataloguing
Division. Offices are organised with the intention to provide for a generous space that
accommodates changes in the workflow and arrangement of activities.

TECHNICAL DISCRIPTION OF STRUCTURAL DESIGN

The cantilevering volumes are supported by the volume that contains the national archive.
The library and office volumes are cantilevered from it, supported by five large frames that
are arranged in a fan-shape. The unique branching structure that envelopes and supports
the cantilevering volumes reinforces the image of the vast tree-space of the library. The
form-generation of the branching structure evolved from a digital analysis of the force flow
that resulted from the load-case of cantilevering the two volumes. The load vectors are
articulated as a branching system, which gradually becomes thinner towards the edges of
the cantilevers. The self-similar character of the branching system enables a simultaneously
differentiated yet rationalised tectonic that deploys a range of profile families for the structure
of the scheme.

Fig.5.3: Facade of New Czech National Library

Fig.5.4: Structural Branching System of Czech National Library
 Fig.5.5 Branching System in Czech National Library

CONCLUSION
In this project entry of New Czech National Library biological features of the tree are
transferred to the building form and also organizing scheme. They also get the advantage of
form-generation of the branching structure of the tree to calculate digital analysis of the force
flow to the cantilevers and facade generation.
This example shows that how biological information can be conducted as a digital design
tool for morphogenetic architecture. It shows how is biology entails alternative understanding
of form finding in architectural practice.

5.2 GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, BILBAO

The Guggenheim Museum is located in Bilbao, Spain, designed by Gehry Partners in 1997.

Fig.5.6: Site View of Guggenheim Museum

Set on the edge of the Nervión River in Bilbao, Spain, the Guggenheim Museum is a fusion
of complex, swirling forms and captivating materiality that responds to an intricate program
and an industrial urban context. With over a hundred exhibitions and more than ten million
visitors to its recognition, Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao not only changed the
way that architects and people think about museums, but also boosted Bilbao's economy
with its astounding success.
In fact, the phenomenon of a city’s transformation following the construction of a significant
piece of architecture is now referred to as the “Bilbao Effect.” Twenty years on, the Museum
continues to challenge assumptions about the connections between art and architecture
today.
In 1991, the Basque government proposed to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation that
it fund a Guggenheim museum to be built in Bilbao’s dilapidated port area, once the city’s
main source of income. Appropriately, the museum became part of a larger redevelopment
plan that was meant to renew and modernize the industrial town. Almost immediately after
its opening in 1997, the Guggenheim Bilbao became a popular tourist attraction, drawing
visitors from around the world.
The riverside site is on the northern edge of the city center. A road and railway line is to the
south, the river to the north, and the concrete structure of the Salve Bridge to the east.
Making a tangible physical connection with the city, the building circulates and extrudes
around the Salve Bridge, creates a curved riverside promenade, and forms a generous new
public plaza on the south side of the site where the city grid ends. The building alludes
landscapes, such as the narrow passageway to the main entrance hall reminiscent of a
gorge, or the curved walkway and water features in response to the Nervión River.

Fig.5.7: River View of the museum

Although the metallic form of the exterior looks almost floral from above, from the ground the
building more closely resembles a boat, evoking the past industrial life of the port of Bilbao.
Constructed of titanium, limestone, and glass, the seemingly random curves of the exterior
are designed to catch the light and react to the sun and the weather. Fixing clips make a
shallow central dent in each of the 38mm titanium tiles, making the surface appear to ripple
in the changing light and giving an extraordinary iridescence to the overall composition.

Fig.5.8: Facade of Guggenheim Museum

Because of their mathematical intricacy, the twisting curves were designed using a 3-D
design software called CATIA, which allows for complex designs and calculations that would
not have been possible a few years ago. Essentially, the software digitizes points on the
edges, surfaces, and intersections of Gehry’s hand-built models to construct on-screen
models that can then be manipulated in the manner of animated cartoons.
The building’s walls and ceilings are load-bearing, containing an internal structure of metal
rods that form grids with triangles. CATIA calculated the number of bars required in each
location, as well as the bars’ positions and orientations. In addition to this structure, the walls
and ceilings have several insulating layers and an outer coating of titanium. Each piece is
exclusive to its location, determined by the CATIA software.
The large, light-filled atrium serves as the organizing center of the museum, distributing
11,000 square meters of exhibition space over nineteen galleries. Ten of these galleries
follow a classic orthogonal plan that can be identified from the exterior by a limestone finish.
The remaining nine galleries are identified from the outside by swirling organic forms clad in
titanium. The largest gallery is 30 meters wide and 130 meters long and houses a
permanent installation called “The Matter of Time” by Richard Serra.
Fig.5.9: Elevations of Guggenheim Museum

Fig.5.10: Sections of Guggenheim Museum

Fig.5.11: Details of Structure (Guggenheim Museum)
 CONCLUSION

The result reported here suggests that biological knowledge is a generative tool in
formation process and is a potential in design process. Understanding similar knowledge
between biology and architecture can create a new guide for finding possible futures in
digital morphogenesis in architecture.
There are several opportunities that come from nature to the digital architecture field.
Thus digital morphogenesis is an opening which can manipulate formation process with
infinite variables in architecture.
The computational architectures necessitate certain design strategies that provide for a
dynamic manipulation of the designs with a high degree of indeterminacy. The existence
of such strategies is not seen as a limiting factor in design-unpredictability, uncertainty,
and indeterminacy are still present, as are the possibilities for the “finding of form,” which
the emergence of these computationally based generative techniques seem to engender
intentionally.

KEYWORDS: Parametric Designs, Topological Spaces, Genetic Coding, Animate

Architecture, NURBS, Spatial Computing, Digital Modelling, Morphogenetic Designs,
Form-Making Techniques
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCE 1
Morphogenesis from Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_morphogenesis
REFERENCE 2
Tim Rudge, Jim Haseloff, A Computational Model of Cellular Morphogenesis in
Plants, University of Cambridge, 2005.
REFERENCE 3
Stanislav Roudavski, Towards Morphogenesis in Architecture, University of
Melbourne, 2009.
REFERENCE 4
Branko Kolarevic, Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing, Digital
Morphogenesis, 2003.

REFERENCE 5
http://www.idrarchitects.com/dt/readings/02DigitalMorphogenesis.pdf

REFERENCE 6
https://www.ocean-designresearch.net/index.php/design-mainmenu-39/architecture-mainmenu-
40/prague-library-mainmenu-93

REFERENCE 7
http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=4452

REFERENCE 8
https://issuu.com/sivakumar.1/docs/digital_morphogenesis

REFRENCE 9
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1260/147807709789621266

REFERENCE 10
https://www.academia.edu/5041153/Digital_Morphogenesis_in_Architectural_Design

REFERENCE 11
https://www.archdaily.com/422470/ad-classics-the-guggenheim-museum-bilbao-frank-gehry