פול קלניץ

Implications for the Future of Computational Architecture

This paper describes research into existing artifacts of the work of architect David Yannay, including physical and virtual models, sketches and diagrams, and computer-generated material. It was undertaken to discern his concepts and methods, and to gain a deeper sense of how genetics influenced his design process.

Yannay was an architect in search of a coherent theory of spatial organization. His designs were influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution in combination with a catalog of geometric forms which he distilled. As a solution, he borrowed terms from genetics – the genotype as an organizing code, and the phenotype, the resulting outward form. Reared in the theory of cybernetics, Yannay was an early pioneer in the use of computers as a tool to investigate these ideas.  In his summary monograph, The Presentation, Yannay described a design process that iteratively generated diverse models of increasing complexity, composed of units of space. He devised a matrix of mutation, differentiation, and combination of form from which boundless variation emerged.

Based on an understanding of Yannay’s theory and practice, his methods have the potential to be a foundation for future work in the field of genetic architecture. Current architectural designs, which he may have classified as phenotypic, have been enabled by advanced computation tools and geometry engines. This mode of creating form, known as parametricism, is, according to architectural theorist Antoine Picon, not modulated by traditional rules or codes and is therefore difficult to assess. Through the study of Yannay’s methods – using genetics to modulate outward form – one gains insight into possible solutions to Picon’s dilemma.