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THE FUNCTION OF FORM


Author: Farshid Moussavi

Published by
Actar and Harvard University
Graduate School of Design
www.actar.com
www.gsd. harvard.ed

Distribution
Actar D
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Edited with

office

Daniel L6pez-Perez and


Garrick Ambrose, Ben Fortunato,
Ryan Ludwig, Ahmadreza Schricker

www.actar-d.com

With contributions by
Richard Galbraith
of Sandy Brown Associates
on acoustics;
Jason Guteratne
of Halcrow Yolles
on structures

Copy-editing
Mary Wall

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O of the edition, Actar and
The President and Fellows
of Harvard College, 2009
O of the work, Farshid Moussavi
O of the drawings, their authors

Graphic design
Reinhard Steger, Actar Pro

lsBN 978-84-96954-7s-1
DL B-3'1364-09

Editorial support
Albert Ferre, Actar
Mario Ballesteros, Actar
Anna Tetas, Actar

Digital production
Leandre Linares, Actar Pro
Oriol Rigat, Actar Pro

Printing
lngoprint

Printed and Bound in the


European Union

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engineers, cost consultants, project managers, landscape engineers, construction managers,


acoustic engineers, lighting consultants, and so on.
A new binary process has emerged: architects endow a built form with unique sensorial qualities,
while engineers and technicians address its technical requirements. This disconnect between
needs and desires results in over-specified and over-complicated built forms, and does not
allow the design process to respond effectively to urgent problems which are the outcome of
a variety of causes, or to potentials that may reside in multiple spheres, whether climate change,
urban sprawl, the decompression of the urban industrial city, housing diversity, or digital tools
and technologies.

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as "supramateriality" - liberates built form {rom a dualist approach that separate ideas from
substances, objects from subjects, and production from perception. Today, abstract and
dynamic materials can be precisely measured and visualized with the aid of digital software,
and merged with concrete materials used to produce the design of built forms. lt allows built
forms to address multiple causes and hybrid concerns, and it allows us to redefine the role
of function in built forms, aligning it with the way it is understood in other disciplines.

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Such hybrid concerns cannot be addressed through binary thinking. They require a change in
our approach toward materiality, away from an understanding of material as exclusively physical
and tangible, to include both the physical and the non-physical - climate, sound or economics
as well as wood, steel or glass. This expanded notion of materiality - one could describe it

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an organ, a browser). Multiple inputs or materials (numbers, cells, content) are combined in
a specific way to achieve a single output - a singular form (a specific curve, an organism, a body
of information). lt is the singularity of the resulting form that embeds it with a specific function.
ln architecture, diverse materials (physical elements, context, climate, economy) are combined
to produce a built form, the medium being an assembly of physical elements. Each built form
or assembly of physical elements functions or performs in a specific way as a consequence of the
way in which the diverse materials are combined. That is, the function of each built form consists
in a transversal process in which the production of forms and the performance of forms are
combined, resulting in a singular form.

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to adopt vis-d-vis culture: architecture is either an instrument of culture, or it is an autonomous form.
Drawing on the work of Mies van der Rohe, Hays defined a "third position" in which architecture

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could be used to determine the external appearance of objects and relate them to their context.

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ln the same period, Viollet-le-Duc advanced his theory of structural rationalism, which concerned
itself with functional efficiency and the honest expression of structures and materials as the basis
for the external appearance of forms. For Modern Movement architects such as Walter Gropius,

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the machine aesthetic and the techniques of mass production served as the inspiration for
built forms. Later in the twentieth century Aldo Rossi proposed a system of structural and spatial
typology as another objective basis for style.

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Conversely, approaches that focused on the intellectual processo rather than the practical result
include much of the literature on disegno, which was elaborated by Leon BattistaAlberti in
Florence and was later taken up by Vasari. Disegno meant more than the practice of "drawing"
and more than the modern notion of "design" (in the sense of composition or pattern), although
both words have been used to translate it. Crucial lo disegno was the intellectual idea or
concept present in the mind of the artist. The principles of perspective enabled artists and
architects such as Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea Palladio to create their own ideal visualization
of an object or scene, as distinct from its actual appearance, and to place it in a harmonious
relationship with human beings. Discussions of architectural character, led in the seventeenth
century by PerraultT and in the eighteenth by Boullee, Ledoux and others, sought to establish
a new language of forms - a "speaking architecture" (architecture parlante) based on simple
geometrical forms - that would enable people to grasp the purpose and character of buildings.
ln the twentieth century Le Corbusier, in line with these earlier ideas, advocated the use of
simple geometric objects that could be easily grasped. His use of the Modulor as a universal
system of proportion for the elements of a built form, conceived in relation to the human form,
and the tracds r6gulateurs - the outlines of existing buildings that he drew in search of the rules
of their visual harmony - reflected his interest in the way forms would be perceived rather than
the way they were produced. Later in the twentieth century, the CIAM group, including Siegfried
Giedion, Josep Lluis Sert and Fernand L6ger, and others such as Alison and Peter Smithson
(New Brutalism) and Aldo van Eyck (Structuralism), were more concerned with collectivity
than the production of the object, and attempted to incorporate a humanistic approach into the

design of built forms.


Deconstruction, promoted in the 1980s by architects and architectural critics such as Bernard
Tschumi, Mark Wigley and Philip Johnson, aimed to supplant purely object- or subject-oriented
systems by creating a direct confrontation between them. The technique of collage was proposed
as a way of acknowledging the differences - and the disjunctions - between object and subject
that were being exposed in the post-modern era. ln this approach, Wigley wrote, "forms are
disturbed and only then given a functional program . . . lnstead of forms following function,
function follows deformation."s Such deformations, however, when uninformed by a functional
program, ultimately resulted in a disconnect between objective and subjective concerns.

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milk or cream as well as sweeteners, Starbucks can make your coffee in 70,000 different ways,
Denim jeans, once a ubiquitous uniform, have been diversified into cuts, wash-types and designs.
Now they can be low-rise or ultra-low-rise, stone-washed, black, blue or white, flare-leg,
boot-leg or straight-leg, with front pockets, back pockets or both, with or without studs, with
or without colored stitching, branded or not, etc. ln the automobile industry, sensorial qualities
are being incorporated into the design of cars to multiply the options available to consumers.
The appearance of a Fiat 500 can be customized in over 500,000 differeni ways by the addition
of accessories or interior and exterior colors. Volkswagen cars, whether you are considering
a Polo Maich, a Polo Blue Motion or a Polo SE, may all be pretty much the same as technical
systems, but they can be differentiated by endless options, including color, upholstery, internal
lighting, sound system, or the shape of the rear lights. Such variations may not change the
way ihe car functions technically, but they diversify the perception and sensation of driving it.

lndustry crossovers have created another genre of differentiation, from internet caf6s and
music store caf6s to crossovers between different fashion categories. ln traditional tailoring
and sportswear, decorative motifs, inscriptions, humor, textures and patterns which are typical
of one have been transferred to and merged with the other. This interaction between two
very different areas of fashion has not only introduced decorum to sportswear and comfort
to traditional tailoring, but has fostered a multitude of novel fashion identities. Differentiation
has also played an important role in the sciences and in the engineering of new structures
and materials. All proteins are constructed from only twenty simple molecules of amino acid.
However, the number of molecules and the sequences in which they are assembled determine
the different proteins, each wiih a different function, enabling an organism to function in
different ways. The multicolored flash of an opal is created by the organized self-assembly of
identical building blocks. ln this case, the difference in size of small spheres of quartz crystal
that measures only in thousandths of a millimeter determines the wavelengths, and therefore
the colors, of the reflected light. Similar principles underlie the design of photonic materials
that direct the communications signals in the bundles of optical fibers that form the backbone
of the internet. Even more intriguing, millimeter-scaled metal rings and other shapes are being
assembled into special cloaking devices, whereby different orientations and slight variations of
these elements can make the objects placed inside them invisible to the outside world. Finally,
in the emerging multidisciplinary field of supramolecular chemistry a new family of molecular
structures is being created from a small set of molecular building blocks, or sub-units.
Designed with special connecting points on their ends, these sub-units have a unique structural
outline and set of electrostatic charges which enable them to link up with complementary
points on other sub-units. The way these connections are made can be altered by a change in
the chemical environment, making it possible to create a variety of "supramolecular" structures
Oppos te page; nflatable dresses from AW03 Kinship Journeys by Hussein Chalayan. Photos courtesy

o1

Hussein Chalayan.

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of novel forms, culture will become stagnant and homogeneous. The fundamental challenge for
architects and other producers of culture is io imbue the production of forms with a diversity
of goals and causes which are not solely market-driven, thereby contributing to an environment
that connects individuals to multitude of choices.

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Though practicing in very different stages of the capitalist era, Mies van de Rohe and Rem
Koolhaas are two architects who have succeeded in diveriing market-driven causes towards
architectural goals. Mies, who witnessed the advent of Fordism, recognized its huge potential
for the building industry. Modern steel-frame construction enabled built forms to be liberated
from the solidity and opacity of premodern construction, allowing for the development of a new,
freer relationship between the interior and exterior of a building. Adopting the elements of Fordist
building culture - the repetition of prefabricated steel components - Mies created careful
architectonic assemblages, embedding spaces with an opennesst transparency and tranquility
that would contrast with the chaotic nature of the city. ln each of his buildings, Mies dissected the
tectonics of the frame (slab, rolled angles, channels, l-beams, and H-columns) and the enclosing
skin differently. For example, in some of his long-span structures, the beam is placed inside
the space, while in others it is above the roof. These beams could be part of a system based
on a one-way frame, a two-way frame or a space frame; the exterior skin, almost always made
of glass, would fill the spaces between the frame, which in turn could be left as raw structure
or embellished with additional columns attached to it, in order to embed it with an affect of
verticality. Mies sometimes used l-shaped columns, and cruciform columns at others; the junction
between the columns and the beams or slabs was detailed in different ways, but always revealing
the difference between the two elements. Such variations were internal to the frame, however,
and did not alter its form. According to Mies, form was abstract, devoid of building problems
that he was interested in. Mies believed that "it was not the task of architecture to invent form
. . . it was a question of truth"le directed "towards a spiritual purpose"'2o And, with regard to the
similarities between the Bacardi building and the National Gallery in Berlin, he said he refused
"to design a new architecture every Monday morning. The Greeks needed hundreds of years
to complete the Doric Column, and it's all to do with completion." lnstead, Mies focused on
creating ideal spaces through the repetition and variation of the steel-frame system. The success
of this approach, he believed, was to be measured by its "beauty" and truth.

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ln his essay on the Ugly, Mark Cousins has written that, "from antiquity and massively reinforced
by Christianity, we inherit a philosophical trinity of the Beautiful, the Good and the True" and
this trinity has survived in the grouping of the negative of these terms - Ugly, Evil and Error which "produces the theoretical basis for persecution and stigmatization".2l "True", for Mies,
meant building according to the logic of materials; "good" meant serving the purpose for
which the building was intended. Accordingly, a building made in this way would be "beautiful".
Given the multiplicity of contemporary culture, it seems inevitable that the idea of truth or beauty

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other, albeit in different ways.23 ln order to explore forms as multiplicities, designers need to
focus on their affective funciions.

We are very familiar wiih the affects Mies pursued: rationality, order, lightness, disappearance.
It is also well known that he was interested in more than merely the raiional assembly of
architectonic elements, or the most efficient means of assembling a structural system. Rather,
he sought the appearance and experience of rationality. He saw in the steel frame an opportunity
to create ideal, free spaces which avoided both the "chaotic" affects of the modern metropolis
and the heayiness and representational figuration of classical architecture. Mies well understood
the affective potential of architectural forms, and in his works these affects are finely tuned and
directed at eliciting a singular and clearly defined experience. The simple repetiiion of the steel
frame contributes to the appearance of rationality. The way the elements are combined is always
visible and the different elements of the forms remain distinct. Columns never merge with slabs,
the mullions of the frame never merge with the infill panels. There is always a connecting element

-G
f,
I
--

or a change in color or material.


Mies's interest in controlling the perception of rationality in his buildings is illustrated by the Seagram
building in New York (p. 74). He designed this building to be viewed from Park Avenue as a pristine,
slender, vertical tower. ln fact, considerable effort was required to embed these affects. The tower
has an irregular volume. The three modules that, viewed from Park Avenue, appear to make up the
depth of the tower were in fact extended at the back by a further three bays to house ancillary uses.
These were introduced by stepping the volume in to preserve the slender, three-by-five-module
extrusion facing Park Avenue. Had Mies simply added the ancillary spaces as an extension of the
bays on the Park Avenue frontage, the tower would have entirely different proportions, being six
bays deep, with only five bays on Park Avenue. Not only would this have transmitted an affect of
stumpiness rather than slenderness, it would also have changed the orientation of the tower away
from its entry plaza on Park Avenue. Mies disguised the functional requirements of the building
in order to produce a simple, extruded form, Even though he varied the tectonic elements of
the steel frame - its "ornaments" (joints, seams! shapes, colors, depth) - the combinations were
systematically controlled in the interest of conveying the sensation of rationality.

Certain parallels could be drawn between the way Mies's forms work and gym equipment, The
typical piece of gym equipment is fixed and one-track-minded, developing a single muscle at a time
through linear or isolated patterns of movement. A bench-press works your arms, a butterfly-press
works your pecs, over and over again. The exercises require no coordination or concentration
Opposite page: History Flow, designed by IBM's Watson Research Center, is a tool for creating images of the evolution oJ a text and
the interactions of mu iiple authors. The iliustration above shows the Wik pedla entries on abortion and chocolate. The vertical llnes
tTack new vers ons and lhe colors track the contr butions of rndividual edltors. The form o{ the resulting pattern is intrjnsic to the material
being combined at a g ven moment, reflectlng lhe transversal nature o{ Wik pedia as an information forum. Credits; Fernanda Viegas
and Martin Wattenberg, Vlsual Communication Lab, IBM Research

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of interior- exterlor'
uses the frame in a non-repetitive manner, resisting a simple delimitation
The WTC tower complex uses the frame in a non-extruded manner to create an "upside-down
(p' 76) stacks tower
figure" with a stepped profile which is reminiscent of art deco. 111 First Street
at a series
blocks on top of one another. Looking up at the tower, you wonder if you are looking
you
of
top
on
fall
to
about
- or,
boxes
pile
heavy
of
of weightless towers, floating towers, or a
and
torso
legs,
the
resembte
blocks
three
indeed, if this is a giant looking down at you' since the
of
result
or
the
cosmetic
head of a human being. For Rem Koolhaas, "coherence . . . is either
or that design
self-censorship".zs ,n of course does not mean that forms do not need coherence
"of censorship (selection). The work of Koolhaas/OMA questions the image
is by nature not an act
of coherence in order to avoid limiting the building's affective possibilities.
is the
Other projects that perform as a multiplicity are documented in this book. One example
Breuer
Marcel
by
Abbey
John's
(p.
St'
Although
392).
Yokohama lnternational Port Terminal by FOA
they
plate
structure,
(p.
folded
a
use
386) also
(p. 352) or the Air Force Academy Chapel by SOM
percept,
a
single
simply repeat it to produce a single, undifferentiated space and, consequently,
system of
triggering the same affects of pleating, axiality and uniformity throughout. The material
yokahama lnternational Port Terminal is a hybrid composed of steel folded plates and pairs of steel
length
girder bridge systems, which together make it possible for the form to vary along both its
requirements
services
and
structural,
circulatory,
programmatic,
and its width to cater for varying
bridge systems allow
as well as those of the predetermined asymmetrical foundation piles. Girder
order
to accommodate
in
to
shift
the orientation, geometry and length of the circulation system
and sectional
folding
of
disparate requirements, while the folded plates shift in orientation, scale
of this
nature
profile to accommodate different spans and changes to the girders. The hybrid
percepts
and
material system results in a complex form providing spatial variety as well as multiple
and ef{iciency,
affects. The parking 1evel transmits affects of flatness, pleating, openness and axiality,
and
purposefulness'
and
asymmetry
diagonality,
pleating,
while the terminal level transmits arching,
perambulation'
and
mountain
valley,
landscape,
the roof plaza transmits undulaiion, smoothness,
ship deck,
These diverse affects contribute to a variety of percepts - origami' landscape; a whale,
meaning'
or
interpretation
pier or wave and ensure that ihe terminal is not reducible to a single

forms' Since the


Similar explorations of the diagrid by oMA and FoA have generated other novel
they
triangular members of a diagrid can distribute gravitational loads as well as lateral forces,
more
allowing
perimeter,
building
on
the
columns
vertical
obviate the need for the conventional
of
tower
examples
Two
forms.
tubular
complex
of
freedom in the floor plan, and the construction
(p
the
and
120)
Axe
Mary
30
St,
are
diagrid
forms that explore the characteristic elasticity of the
(swiss
Re)
uses
MaryAxe
st.
Hearst Headquarters (p. 102), both by Fosterand Partners.30
varies in size
the diagrid as part of the main load-bearing system, and the diameter of its floors
affects of
to produce a tower with a conical profile. The diagrid is carefully designed to transmit
A-frames
latticing and twisting. The cross-bars - composed of a series of two-story-high triangular

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oql

between
Modernism sought a new approach, a rational system for determining the relationship
production' Mies van
whole and its parts, based on principles derived from the processes of mass
modern industrialized
der Rohe's Seagram headquarters is an example of a building based on
as mentioned earlier,
Although,
construction.
frame
building technology, using glass and steel
Mies pursued the
system,
frame
steel
the
from
any number of silhouettes could have been derived
period
Le corbusier,
the
same
During
simplest option in order to achieve the image of rationality.
relating the
of
system
proportional
with his idea of the Modulor,2s sought to establish a universal
sections
modules,
different elements of a building, from three-dimensional space to structural
rather
height,
predetermined
and elevations. This system relied on the human eye, posilioned at a
Thus the Modulor was also
than the intrinsic dimensional requirements of its constituent parts'
control'
essentially an idealized system of visual
lslamic architecture' in
A very early example of the bottom-up approach to form can be found in
figures to produce
geometrical
of
which a system of mathematical formulae governed the repetition
(Dutch
structuralists
whole surfaces. ln the 1g60s and 1970s, functionalism, as proposed by CIAM
the
and
Team 10
such as Aldo van Eyck, Herman Hertzberger and Piet Blom), and later by
produce an architectural
Metabolists, advocated the use of "modules" that could be repeated to
this approach'
exemplifies
Kurokawa,
Kisho
Metabolist
the
by
whole. The capsule Hotel in Tokyo,
a central
around
stacked
capsules
articulated
The fourteen-story tower conlains 140 individually
of flexibility
idea
this
However,
replaceable.
and
core, with each capsule designed to be detachable
of
an
addition
is
essentially
whole
is limited to the possibility of replacing the capsules and the
the
same
During
needs.
identical parts, As in other bottom-up systems, it cannot respond to specific
spatial
in
which
period, Louis Kahn and Robert Le Ricolais produced alternative modular systems
this topological approach
and structural requirements were related topologically. The intention of
Bui, because such
properties'
the
same
retaining
while
was to enable the parts to change shape
isomorphic wholes'
in
resulted
they
system,
the
to
internal
changes were limited to needs that were

were based on essentialist'


Both the top-down and bottom-up approaches to the genesis of form
typology, the Modulor,
idealized views of the world. Geometric systems of proportion, perspective,
based on a priori, ideal
the geometrical tiling of lslamic architecture, and functionalism were all
concerns
principles that either repeated the parts or subdivided the whole, in response to
were
wholes
the
and
parts
the
since
Furthermore,
given
system.
that remained internal to the
other'
each
modify
to
combine
not
could
they
conceived as fixed geometric aggregates,

Transversal systems
ln a transversal system'
This book proposes a transversal approach to the production o{ forms'
supramaterial whole
a "base unit" assembles a variety of causes and concerns into a complex
is not
- an amorphic rather than hylomorphic whole; that is, the way the elements combine

oql^q pocnpold

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slq] oI o.rnlxr+ lueuer-ured e oLuecoq ,{;;enluene ueOro eq1 'oLun;on e6re1 e qcns llU o1 rnepuetO pue
remod luetct;]ns qlrM }uoLr.rnjlsur {;uo eqt se 'puv 'eLUr} uor}eroqrenor 6uo; oq} ro} relec o} po^lo^o
{1;enper6 se;r{1s ;ecrsnr-u peced-,r,ro;s roq}o pue crsnu-r leroL.lc '6ur1ueq3 'qclnqc oq} }o uot}n}t}su!
eq1 ur pe6reLue sluer.udo;e,rop ,Lo souos oloq^ e 1co,Lle lecrlsnoce srql 1o ecuenbesuoc e sV 'crsnu
pue qceeds 1o {1ue1c oLll parnosqo LlcrqM suorle.roqro^er punos 6uo; ur po}lnsor Lue1s,{s crq}oe

This split began with Plato, for whom abstract, intelligible ideas (Forms) inhabited the world of
pure reason, while sensible and physical things (forms) were a refleciion and imitation of these
archetypal Forms. The question of whether the physical or the non-physical has priority has

preoccupied succeeding generations of philosophers.


From the seventeenth century onward philosophers began to challenge the transcendental
tradition in philosophy. However, despite their disagreements over whether the physical or the
non-physical provided identity and meaning to forms, all of these critiques maintained, in one
way or another, the fundamental distinction between ideas and matter. Every form was a replica,
and identity remained singular, complete and atemporal. The idea of repetition was therefore
controverstal, since a form that represents a pre-existing ideal lacks the capacity to evolve
or to generate a new identity. Deleuze offers a solution to this problem with his conceptual
framework of the virtual and the actual. According to Deleuze, nothing exists outside the world
we live in; there are no transcendental ideals. Our world is composed of virtual forms and actual
forms. Virtual ideas are differences in themselves, and these differences are like intensities that
differentiate them from one another. Virtual forms are therefore not ideals detached from reality,
but abstract ideas not yet actualized. Owing to their abstractness, they can be interpreted in a
variety of ways to produce a variety of sensible forms, a process that Deleuze has referred to
as differentiation. There are therefore two types of difference: an intensive difference that relates
to difference in kind between abstract ideas, and an extensive difference that relates to the
degree to which one sensible form is different to the other. This degree of difference is explicated
as a simulacrums2 that in turn affects us in specific ways. A simulacrum is not, however, the
representation of another thing (for example, the representation of an ideal form), but an image
whose identity depends precisely on the difference between the virtual and the actual.

We therefore need abandon the polarity of simple v. complex repetition, which considers
simple repetition as mere replication. Difference is to be measured noi only in spatial extensity
- that is, the way a form is spatially varied - but also in the intensity of a form and according
to the specific way it affects us. Architects can embed the environment with difference in two
ways: by producing different kinds of ideas for built forms and by exploring dif{erent ways of
actualizing ideas as built forms, Current architectural investigations are mostly focused on
internal geometrical variations of forms, rarely focusing on how the ideas they embed differ from
other ideas or on how the built forms they produce differ from other built forms. Yet two forms
that actualize an idea differently but involve no internal variation can embed the environment with
a greater degree of difference, by affecting us in very different ways, than two forms that are
internally differentiated but actualize an idea in the same way, thus transmitting identical affects.
This book explores the idea of architecture as a continuous process of creating novel forms
and ideniities through the repetition and differentiatron (tessellation) of virtual forms. ln doing

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environment where they are to be actualized to produce novel forms. Forms in this way motivate
the generation of other forms and they perform transversally, addressing locally multiple criteria
and concerns which may belong to different geographies or time in history.

We no longer need to think in terms of irreconcilable oppositions - mind v. matter, people


v. objects, production v. perception, raiional v. sensorial, old v. new, difference v. repetition.
Our environment includes all of these and this necessitates an "ecosophical"33 practice that
considers all forms of ecology together, whether environmenlal, mental or social. This calls for
a transversal design process that bypasses the traditional top-down or bottom-up approach.
A transversal approach, in which causes and concerns that are immanent in the environment are
combined to generate forms, enables us to harness the transformative power of contemporary
reality. Moreover, it enables us to incorporate greater levels of complexity within built forms,
allowing multiple inputs to interact simultaneously on the same plane to generate a multitude
of novel forms, each with unique expressions, sensations and affects. Because such affects
and sensaiions are conditioned by individual experience, their reception is inevitably different
in each case, and therefore multiple. Thus the environment acts as a social matrix in which
built forms provide a link between individuals with different views. Given the increasingly plural
nature of society, the affective character of buili forms can play a powerful role by embedding
the environment with multiplicity, providing society with the means to conduct an autocritique.

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