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This article, by Michael Mehaffy and Nikos Salingaros, originally appeared in Metropolis Mag as “Science for Designers: The Meaning of Complexity.“ http://www.archdaily.com/391794/designers-don-t-get-science-and-that-s-a-dangerous-thing/

http://www.katarxis3.com/Alexander_Architecture_Science.htm

http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/can_architecture_shape_science/

Today’s designers seem to love using new ideas coming from science. Science, in particular, has profoundly influenced architects, informing their knowledge of materials, geometries, volumes and natural forms. The purpose of a scientific view of architecture is to generate startling new designs, and that means more satisfying design, more eternal forms, more valuable places, more beautiful buildings. Newer structures often have an obvious analog in elements of the natural sciences, For environmental designers and planners, knowing this phenomenon of “emergence” is the key to getting things right. In recent years, architects have also been called upon to devise new buildings, in which scientists will research, experiment, theorize, discuss, reevaluate and present findings. Some scientists shy away from the notion that nature “aims” for anything. . How architecture and science will define each other through this encounter is still to be seen, but it begins a dialogue that places architecture in a position to enable science to reach further into the unknown and come up with answers to life’s mysteries