Conference Theme:

This conference attempts to shed light on a particular issue that lies at the core of architectural design theory and practice: "what are the sources of form?" At the beginning of any design process the architect possesses only a random collection of information, program requirements, intentions, and assumptions. The generation of a concept is a central question in the design of all building types. For architects in general, this key issue is foundation for building practice. Hence, this conference focuses on the process in which an architectural form is generated, the things that influence its shape, and the sources of these influences.

Faced with a frustrating task of imagining a building form, should one first study the functional and program requirements, or manipulate a geometrical system, or give expression to some inner intuition, or maintain a particular trend and identity? During this critical stage of creating something from scratch, architects have intuitively sought a set of norative theories for guiding their activities. Many theories about the sources of form were developed chiefly for the benefit of architectural practice, and much practice was subsequently shaped from these theories.

Current technological revolution allowed architects to use computers and digital tools for generating, recording, and interpreting information. Other architects use it for construction and production purposes. This has completely revolutionized the ethos that drive architecture and design. This conference targets architects and researchers in this field in order to shed light on high-end digital techniques incorporated in the field of design today. Now that this technological revolution has arrived, its yet to scrutinize the integrity of such an architectural practice.

The search for the sources of building forms is not limited to architectural practice, but rather is a central issue to theories and practices in other fields ranging from art to anthropology. Although practitioners in these other fields are not concerned with creating building forms themselves, many pursue such issues to explain physical, social, cultural, and historical phenomena, which are manifested in the built environment. For example, one could ask why do some buildings clearly reflect the cultural values of their builders? Many theories about cultural stability, change, and replication point to the built form as evidence, and this in turn demands some examination of how the designer created these forms.

Design theories often utilized theories of knowledge, or epistemology of the mind and its processes. The relationship between theories of knowledge and theories of creation is fundamental. Thus, this conference will attempt to explore important theories, practices, and techniques that have been used to interpret architectural form. Some of these theories have been well scrutinized by different theorists. Others are either relatively new or have not long been associated with architectural form. In addition to exploring some of the known theories of architectural form, new theories relating to this topic will also be discussed.

The premise of this meeting is to explore recent and emergent practices and theories that transgressed the boundaries between architecture and other deciplines to create form. In addition to more formal and academic categories and distinctions that often frame the discussion of "sources of architecture form," this conference hopes to engage a broader discussion that include: local and international viewspoints; political issues that help to frame these categories; the idea that globalization and resource shortage are profoundly affecting how we view these diciplines that contribute to form; and a discussion of new technologies and media that expand and delimit our ways of making, thinking, and seeing architecture.


Conference Topics

I. Computational Sources II. Intuitive sources