ABSTRACT
For architecture, iteration is a process of inquiry and testing, at once multiplicitous and contingent, but with a coherence whose full character can never be known. The contention that architectural iteration does not necessarily seek optimization is strongly tied to the idea of iterative interdependence. The three built iterations of the Museum of Unlimited Extension share a largely consistent structure of visibility. These are: the Sanskar Kendra in Ahmedabad, India, the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, India, and the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, Japan. The Museum of Unlimited Extension triggers a constant play between the ideal form and the specific iterations. Optimization engages iteration as a means of identifying best possible outcomes—that is, as the cyclical production of alternatives with the goal of reaching an optimal solution. Iteration is obviously central to optimization, that is, as a means of incrementally approaching maximum satisfaction of the criteria.
