ABSTRACT
The search for new methods of design has been integral to a longer and larger shift, whether it be figured in terms of a period-setting revolution or the immanent production of multiplicity. Although a history of generative architecture has yet to be written, various partial histories in art, philosophy and science may serve to open this field of research. The biological theory of epigenesis came to underpin the theory of autonomy in the human sphere – in art, aesthetics, philosophy, politics and social institutions such as marriage. The recent re-engagement of architecture with generative models from nature, science and technology is itself part of a longer history of architects, engineers and theorists pursuing autopoiesis or self-generation. While its procedures and forms have varied, self-generation has been a consistent goal in architecture for over a century, set against the perpetuation of predetermined forms and norms.
