in a recent experiment, researchers from japan and england have constructed a similar layout to japan’s highly efficient rail system using slime mold.   the mold was presented to oak flakes arranged in a pattern similar to that of japanese cities around tokyo and was left over a 26 hour period.  during this time the single celled slime mold constructed networks of nutrient channel tubes with a striking resemblance to the japanese rail system.  this model based on the simple rules of the slime mold behaviour has the potential to lead to more efficient design models for constructing complex networks.

this is however is not something new.  the use of such emergent systems has been discussed within the field of architecture/ engineering for quite some time.  steve johnson speaks eloquently on the subject of connectivity in rule based systems and the growth of collective intelligence with examples of early emergent software, swarm logics and mold simulations in his 2001 book emergence:  the connected lives of ants, brains, cities and software.  also worth watching is his ted talk where he briefly discusses the disruption of NY in the days following 9/11 and the web as a city.

these principles have been strongly advocated with a large body of work and research from the likes of the emergence design group by which the idea of emergence is the scientific mode in which natural systems can be explored and explained in contemporary contexts.  In their 2004 guest edited AD publication they describe emergence as ‘both an explanation of how natural systems have evolved and maintained themselves, and a set of models and processes for the creation of artificial systems that are designed to produce forms and complex behaviour, and perhaps real intelligence’.

as we explore and develop new forms of design techniques and processes that are only possible through advanced computational tools allowing us to deal with complex behaviour and relationships the potential to create more efficient methods of designing only increases.  when applying this methodology to designing built form the idea that it can be described as a series of simple rules at various scales from its relationship to its direct infrastructure and environment to its material and programmatic makeup, its life span and energy use which are highly specific to its location, the potential to design accurately within the constraints that have been set  can be achieved.

although the article pushes the idea of efficiency through in this case connectivity, what is also interesting in the experiment is the residual slime with its broken connections dead ends, the zones which continue to operate despite their lack of efficient branches. this is often the case in the built environment where the highly efficient is not always the most desirable.

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Tags: design efficency, emergence, networks

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 7:48 pm and is filed under design culture, techniques, theory, we like. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.