Whitelaw, Mitchell, ‘Space Filling And Self-Constraint: Critical Case Studies in Generative Geometry’, Architectural Theory Review, 15 (2010), 157–165. [pdf]

This paper proposes a methodology for the critical analysis of generative systems and their applications in design and architecture. This approach focuses on the characteristics of the formal model: the set of entities and relations defined in the generative system. More specifically, this paper considers space filling—a generative strategy that is both widely used and culturally evocative—and its counterpart, spatial self-constraint. Examples from recent practice in architecture and design are analysed, demonstrating the methodology as well as offering new critical interpretations of this practice. Examples from the author’s own creative practice are used to illustrate the potential of generative self-constraint.

A web-friendly excerpt from this paper is also available over on the blog.

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