Shapes and Other Things
Name
4_2015_267_ReferencePDF.pdf
Size
426.58 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
f4d13701856797f103d58747c20501b0
Author(s)
Knight, Terry W.
Date Issued
August 2015
Journal
Nexus Network Journal
Publisher
Springer Basel
Citation
Knight, Terry. “Shapes and Other Things.” Nexus Network Journal 17.3 (2015): 963–980.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Shape grammars have offered a unique computational theory of design over the past forty or so years. Although the focus of shape grammar theory has been on shapes and designs, the material objects or things that might comply with shapes have also been considered. In this paper, I trace the history of approaches for specifying material properties and things through shape grammars. I identify early trends and their limitations, and then propose a new possibility. In early approaches, material things were viewed through the lens of shapes. I argue for a new approach in which shapes are viewed through the lens of material things. Shape grammars are adapted to define making grammars for computing things. Shapes are just one of many things that can be made with these grammars. I conclude with a discussion of the relationship of designing and making, and suggest that designing is a kind of making.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00004-015-0267-3
