Gene

With the continuous evolution of computer technologies from past to present, everyday life practices are constantly changing and evolving. In this period where technology and digital information systems are easily accessible, thought systems differ from existing ideas and practices. The rapid development of digital technologies directly affected and took hold of many disciplines. With this development, the design field is one of the disciplines that are in a process of transformation.

With the change in technological, biological, and environmental sensitivities, the design began to move towards a different point in this period of transition to the information age rather than the production age. The architecture discipline is one of the most important disciplines affected by the transformation within the design area. In this period when the information is spreading rapidly, the architectural processes are changing and evolving at the same speed. In the new understanding of architecture, the task of architecture is now shifting towards an interdisciplinary field rather than the building design that can be built. This interdisciplinary architectural environment is reshaped with the change of technology and information systems. Biology is one of the most important disciplines in which this new concept of architecture makes use of various disciplines. Through evolutionary systems and genetic algorithms developed through advances in biology, architecture is now moving towards a different mode of production, becoming more sensitive to science and the environment. Genetic algorithms that use rules such as mutation, natural selection, crossing, recombination in biology allow the use of the gene, which is the smallest unit of inheritance in the chromosomes in the cell nucleus, which determines all the characteristics of living things. These algorithms, which are digital imitations of chromosomes, are being used as an intermediary for design solutions to be produced in architecture with the development of digital technologies and molecular biology.

Although architecture is often associated with the built environment, it is essentially a part of evolution and an expression of its place in the natural system of man. With this new design methodology, architecture can now cope with numerous complex parameters, just as it is in nature at the same time. Inspired by the mechanisms of biological evolution that enable a species to survive in a complex environment, this methodology explores possible space solutions of random solutions.

John Frazer, who sees the genetic algorithm as one of the most important components of evolutionary architecture, argues that the built environment can be balanced by using the principles of nature through genetic algorithms. There is no single optimal solution in evolutionary methods and there is a continuous experimental process. Instead of the best solution, as in the case of evolutionary systems, in the understanding of this architecture where multiple solution populations are used, the process is progressively multi-faceted, not linearly. In this way, the ideas that come up are constantly compared with each other and the basis for the production of new ideas. So, in fact, the design is no longer a result product and it becomes a produced information.

In evolutionary architecture, the problem is solved by determining the values of several parameters, each representing a chromosome at the same time. The codes used to determine the values of each parameter are called genes. The system used in the evaluation of parameters is based on the principle of compatibility in nature. The compatibility principle is essentially looking for holistic best solutions. Solutions are evaluated at the same time instead of being evaluated one by one, and a multi-faceted process is running. Solutions with high compatibility are transferred to the next generation of solutions, while those with low levels of compliance are eliminated based on the principle of natural selection.

At this point, genetic algorithms are looking for a solution considering many options. Like a random flow of ideas in the initial phase of a project, a genetic algorithm also treats, compares, migrates, re-assembles, replaces, resolves thousands of solutions, and always scans a wide range of designs for better ideas. Here the process is always targeted. As the project matures, it can be thought that the criteria can evolve. The genetic algorithm can be guided by the criteria that even the designer can find difficult to express. Given the solutions proposed by the genetic algorithm, the designer can also develop a new perspective through the proposed design solutions.

In summary, evolutionary architecture is a morphogenetic paradigm based on the principles of the evolutionary system in nature and based on productive architecture. It is an information-theoretical approach to information dissemination and research that underlines the principle of genetics. In a way, it is an attempt to accept that architecture is based on an evolutionary logic.

* This text was produced within the context of 6391311 coded “Context Of Theory-Practice On Architectural Design” lecture given by Assoc. Prof. Adnan Aksu at Gazi University, Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Architecture.