Hidden Patterns: Visualizing Networks at Barabasi Lab

On Albert-László Barabási and CCNR’s pioneering research into the growth of networks, from protein interactions and COVID-19 to the spread of fake news

The Center for Complex Network Research (CCNR) at Northeastern University, Boston, directed by Professor Albert-László Barabási (bestselling author of The Formula, Linked and Network Science), has a simple objective: think networks. The center's research focuses on how networks emerge, what they look like and how they evolve; and how networks impact on understanding of complex systems.

Barabási’s research has changed the way the world understands networks. For 25 years, he and his colleagues at the Barabási Lab have been developing the visual vocabulary of complexity, inspired by his pioneering research on everything from protein interactions to the spread of fake news. Their 2-D visualizations and 3-D data sculptures have enabled us to see how the complex systems that govern our lives actually function.

Hidden Patterns documents the evolution of the Barabási Lab’s visual language. Published on the occasion of a retrospective exhibition of the Barabási Lab’s work, which debuts at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest and then travels to ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany, this large-scale, richly illustrated compendium features dozens of full-color visualizations together with commentary and curatorial insights by leading voices in the worlds of art and design.