Evolution of Designs : Biological Analogy in Architecture and the Applied Arts

Steadman, Philip

ISBN 10: 0415447534 / ISBN 13: 9780415447539

Published by Routledge, 2008

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 5386700-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Evolution of Designs : Biological Analogy in Architecture and the Applied Arts
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415447534
• ISBN 13: 9780415447539
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This book tells the history of the many analogies that have been made between the evolution of organisms and the human production of artefacts, especially buildings. It examines the effects of these analogies on architectural and design theory and considers how recent biological thinking has relevance for design.

Architects and designers have looked to biology for inspiration since the early 19th century. They have sought not just to imitate the forms of plants and animals, but to find methods in design analogous to the processes of growth and evolution in nature.

This new revised edition of this classic work adds an extended Afterword covering recent developments such as the introduction of computer methods in design in the 1980s and ‘90s, which have made possible a new kind of ‘biomorphic’ architecture through ‘genetic algorithms’ and other programming techniques.

About the Author

Philip Steadman is Professor of Urban and Built Form Studies at The Bartlett School (Faculty of the Built Environment), University College London, UK