Page 48 - META

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ISSN 2309-0103 www.archidoct.net
Vol. 7 (2) / February 2020
In a similar manner to the developments that took place in the 17th century regard- ingmechanics, biology now reinforced a systemic view based on theconcept of the organicas opposed to the machine, and the question was transposed intophilosophy, art and architecture.
As of 1750 until 1900 and beyond, biological concepts became capital tools for inter- pretation and creation (Collins, 1998), and multiple perspectives developed from their notions,based on the empowerment of tectonic aspects and, simultaneously, the per- sistent discourse of the organism. In this regard, the first major contributions emerged around 1800, with Goethe or Schlegel’s nature and architecture approaches, although they never explicitly used the term ‘organic’ to designate any kind of architecture. They were followed by Hirt, Morris or Ruskin.
Renewal of Architectural Concepts
So, the main architectural concepts were revised, now with afocus on logical structure and unitary attributes. The question would arise recurrently, even though the theory was still missing, and the discussion still took place within the framework of existing styles, based on an organicism that was non-stylistic at first and then, later on, one that expressed an analogy of form that reflected a certain style.
Consequently, after a certain point, Euclid’s geometryand Newton’s mechanics were called into question, based on a wider-ranging reflection that brought together previ- ously dispersed disciplines that were now articulated.
Uncertainties that were previously ignored began to be explored, whilst the dual- ist, reductionist and mechanistic foundations were challenged, leading us towards the approaches ofSaccherius, Cantoror, later on,Poincaré. Any former predictability turned out to be false, and thus, mathematics and physics first, followed by biology, the social sciences and psychology, etc., made a stand against the Laplacian demon who ignored the emerging. Based on rigorous but freer interconnections, featuring precision but also leaving space for eventuality, the history of science was identified with the history of thought itself, because even when mathematical results were pre- sented as eternal, they were understood and conveyed in cultural contexts (O’Shea, 2007, pp. 74).
Nonlinear Dynamics and the Impact on Architecture
And, in this manner, at the end of the 18th century, interest in non-linear questions arose: within a deterministic world, when all the details regarding the state of an event are known, things are predictable,but when the number of elements makes the equa- tion more complex, the calculations become unattainable, and then it is essential to make estimations based on statistical methods, taking into account both chance and admissibility.
Society must continue to be founded on reason, but now must “not only deal with what actually occurs, but with the possibility of things happening in thismanner or
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Systemic Considerations. Regarding the Importance of the Pre- in the Post- on the Path Towards the Meta-system
Adolfo Jordán