Project: Computational Morphogenesis
Principal Researcher: Prof. Achim Menges AA Dipl (Hons) RIBA II
Research Period: 2002 -
Research Status: ongoing
Result: Various prototypes and publications

Natural morphogenesis, the process of evolutionary development and growth, derives polymorphic systems that obtain their complex organisation and shape from the interaction of system intrinsic material capacities and external environmental influences and forces. The resulting, continuously changing, complex structures are hierarchical arrangements of relatively simple material components organized through successive series of propagated and differentiated sub-assemblies from which the system’s performative abilities emerge. One striking aspect of natural morphogenesis is that formation and materialisation processes are always inherently and inseparably related. In stark contrast to these integral development processes of material form, architecture as a material practice is mainly based on design approaches that are characterised by a hierarchical relationship that prioritises the generation of form over its subsequent materialisation.

This research aims for developing alternative approaches to architectural design that unfold morphological complexity and performative capacity from material constituents without differentiating between formation and materialisation processes. Based on concepts of developmental biology and biomimetic engineering the core of such a morphogenetic approach is an understanding of material systems not as derivatives of standardized building systems and elements facilitating the construction of pre-established design schemes but rather as generative drivers in the design process. Extending the concept of a material system by embedding its material characteristics, geometric behaviour, manufacturing constraints and assembly logics in parametric, open computational models allows for deriving and elaborating a design through the system’s intrinsic performative capacities. This promotes an understanding of form, materials and structure not as separate elements, but rather as complex interrelations in polymorphic systems resulting from the response to varied input and environmental influences and derived through the logics and constraints of advanced manufacturing processes.