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SERIES ONE: Architectural Language Research_Part Five NATURAL SELECTION “The reality and reliability of the human world rests primarily on the fact that we are surrounded by things more permanent that the activity by which they were produced”. Natural selection is not purposive in the sense that human endeavor is; it has neither foresight nor intent. Natural Selection does not cause the disparity... read full post
FACETED GEOMETRY One of the key conceptual design strategies informing the work of our office, Stephen Alton Architect is what we loosely call Faceted Geometry.  In distinction to contemporary architectural trends in fractal geometry where complex form is derived from the triangulated subdivision of a surface using modeling algorithms, our approach is one grounded in elegant simplicity, the tilting of planes, and a material palette that evokes ephemeral plays of transparency and dimensionality.  Examined through a series of projects of varied scale with different programmatic focus, the conceptual richness of Faceted Geometry provides for engaging spaces and provocative form.  As a continuation of an earlier post on the Chelsea Condominium, the conceptual process for this st... read full post
SERIES ONE: Architectural Language Research_Part Four ARCHITECTURE AND ADAPTATION If one considers the ecological term adaptation applied analogously to contemporary culture, to adapt, it can be argued is the reconstitution of individual identity in a hypertrophic cultural ambivalence.     Put another way, adaptation concerns the negotiation of memory as much as space. Buildings and shared spaces can be a condition in which different groups come together through shared experience.  As such, collective identities are forged and traditions invented.  One rationale is that a sense of place is created through experience.  This argument is gounded in the notion that urban memory is derived from an intuitive relationship to events. ... read full post
SERIES ONE: Architectural Language Research_Part Three EXAMPLES OF ADAPTATION MOLLUSCS Primary Concepts:   Survival demands innovation and great variation of body plan New weapons prompt adaptive counter-measures   Adaptation Types In the Abalone: A Biomechanical Foot is used to outrun enemies as well as for locomotion. The foot can stretch out to crawl while holding on at the same time. In all shelled mollusks, generate spiral growth which produces layering of shell through a thickening process. Growth and repair of the shell from within from the mantle. The outer layer is thick and continuously developing. The shell possesses a thick layer of cross crystals for tensile strength. A sub layer that looks like a cross-hatch pattern prevents cracks deepening. Strengthening is only a... read full post
SERIES ONE: Architectural Language Research_Part Two ADAPTATION IS EVOLUTION BUT EVOLUTION IS NOT ADAPTATION In nature it is understood that adaptation is a concept of population dynamics.  This is to say that it is expressed at the scale of the individual rather than the specificity of the individual.  Where adjustments are made by individuals in response to specific environmental conditions, they reflect only a facet of the adaptation of populations and as a result are not necessarily representative. All living things can make physiological adjustments that enable them to cope with fluctuations in their immediate environments.  These adjustments themselves are also known as adaptation. ... read full post
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