ABSTRACT
Movement in architectural design has been considered from the viewpoint of the observer/occupant. It is they who are expected to move through the synthesised environments contrived by the architect. This chapter examines the issues through two interrelated research projects developed at the centre for information technology and architecture (CITA) as part of a broader enquiry at the intersection between architecture and digital technologies. The two projects consider some challenges and opportunities of design practices and the resulting constructs when material dynamics is taken as the main design driver. Enlisting mechanical material behaviours to induce non-anthropocentric spatial movement requires design tools that support an investigation of scalar dependencies. The project demonstrates a design-led probing of the relationship between representation and the represented. The notion of persistent modelling might be understood as a familiar activity to architectural design if considered as describing an active and iterative engagement with design concerns.
