ABSTRACT
The description of performative architecture given above is one of many — its paradigmatic appeal lies precisely in the multiplicity of meanings associated with the performative in architecture.3 The increasing interest in performance as a design paradigm is largely due to the recent developments in technology and cultural theory and the emergence of sustainability as a defining socioeconomic issue. Framed within such expansive context, the performative architecture can indeed be defined very broadly — its meaning spans multiple realms, from financial, spatial, social and cultural to purely technical (structural, thermal, acoustical, etc.). In other words, the performative in architecture is operative on many levels, beyond just the aesthetic or the utilitarian.
