Animate Form

by Tuğrul Yazar | December 5, 2011 12:34

Here are some paragraphs from the famous book[1] by Greg Lynn, Animate Form. I still find these ideas interesting and relevant today.

“There are three fundamental properties of organization in a computer that are very different from the characteristics of inert mediums such as paper and pencil: topology, time, and parameters. These three properties should be discussed, beginning with the principles of topological entities, continuing with the implications that topological forms raise for the relationship between time and shape, and concluding with a discussion of statistics and parameters that can be stored in these timed surfaces.”

“The concept of an envelope of potentials either a single or a series of instances can be taken is radically different from the idea of a fixed prototype that can be varied.”

“A multiplicity is a collection of components that is neither reducible to a single entity nor to a collection of multiple entities. A multiplicity is neither one nor many, but a continuous assemblage of heterogeneous singularities that exhibits both collective qualities of continuity and local qualities of heterogeneity. In the use of topology in design, these multiplicities imply a very different approach to location, as there are no discrete points along a spline.”

Lynn, G. 1999, “Animate Form”

The majority of contemporary computational design theories seem to be reflections of modern Western philosophy[2]. These theories have shaped and influenced the intellectual landscape of design, with Lynn’s observations from years ago still holding true today. Lynn’s astute observations highlighted the defining characteristics of the intellectual infrastructure that continues to shape the field.

However, as the global landscape of design and technology continues to evolve, there is increasing recognition of the need to broaden the perspectives and voices contributing to computational design theories.

Source URL: https://www.designcoding.net/animate-form/

---