Computational Design Thinking Computation Design Thinking

This anthology will provide a unique collection of seminal texts on Computational Design thinking by authors, who have either provided a significant starting point through which a computational approach to design can be pursued or have played a considerable role in shaping the field. An important aspect of the book will be the way that it connects adjacent fields and historical texts, introducing the original thinking that has been influential in the formation of today's computational design discourse. Emerging from the field of science, principally the subjects of evolution and mathematics, selected texts will provide a historical basis for a reconfigured mindset of processes that generate, arrange and describe form. Juxtaposed against more contemporary statements regarding the influence of computation on design thinking, the book will offer translations of such fundamental texts to the particular purpose of establishing novel thought processes for architecture, theoretically and practically. Classic texts will encompass those by Goethe, D'Arcy Thompson, Christopher Alexander, Gordan Pask, William Mitchell, Sanford Kwinter and Manuel DeLanda. They will be complemented by a limited number of new writings by leading contemporary academics and practitioners, such as Mark Burry and Peter Trummer, commissioned specifically for this book. In addition, the editors will contribute a substantial introduction and editorial notes to each text in order to embed all writings in a coherent overall framework.

Professor Achim Menges is Director of the Institute for Computational Design at Stuttgart University. Currently he is also Visiting Professor in Architecture at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and Visiting Professor for the Emergent Technologies and Design Programme at the Architectural Association in London. Sean Anlquist is a research associate at the Institute for Computational Design at Stuttgart University. He has taught at the University of California Berkeley and California College of the Arts and founded the design firm, Proces2. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the Emergent Technologies and Design Programme at the Architectural Association in London.