emergent construction

A demonstration of complexity in Dubai

Mathieu Helie — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:49:29 +0000

Dubai's suburban development is often criticized for its poor taste and gigantism. While the products of Dubai megadevelopment are often crude, the engineering feats achieved in producing them are astonishing.

Recent pictures of the progress of the Burj Dubai tower, the tallest skyscraper ever built, demonstrate this contradiction in a single frame. The tower itself, while monstrously tall, is nothing very interesting. It consists of speculatively-stacked concrete floors waiting for someone to do something on them. But take a look at what is happening on the ground.

Complex geometry and structured chaos part II

Mathieu Helie — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:29:52 +0000

Complexity, to employ the definition proposed by Jane Jacobs in the final chapter of Death and Life of Great American Cities, is a juxtaposition of problems. This implies that a complex solution is a juxtaposition of solutions: fractal geometry.

How does the way we build arrive at complex solutions to complex problems without driving the builders to madness? How can we solve problems which exist at every scale in space, but also exist at every scale in time? Let's take a look at St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London.

Architecture without design

Mathieu Helie — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:37:46 +0000

Just eccentric ordinary people making it up as they go along.

Architecture should be abolished

Mathieu Helie — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:24:36 +0000

Just what exactly does this have to do with constructing buildings and cities? When you can just as easily make jewelry as boats, you are not an architect. You are someone who draws shapes.