ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the concepts of matter and form found in architectural design and biological theories of evolution. In biological evolution, we might say that form is the external characteristics of an organism and is produced as a result of an evolving matter. These contrasting concepts of form and matter are particularly evident in architectural design that attempts to work with both modernist and scientific criteria of matter. More recently, developments in molecular biology have shown that Darwin's principle of incrementally changing matter is an incomplete form of evolution it is not the only evolutionary process at work. Animal Architecture and Building Behaviour considers the relationships that link diverse groups of organisms. Memes also be linked and replicate together, the two memes of 'matter' and 'form' in design have been shown to have an intimately related genealogy in the chapter. In particular, it explores the value attributed to material constituents of architectural form that uses principles of biological evolution.
