Contents Preface 8 Achim Menges and Sean Ahlquist Introduction Computational design thinking 10 Sean Ahlquist and Achim Menges Formation and transformation 30 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe On the theory of transformations, or the comparison of related forms 32 D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Variational evolution 42 Ernst Mayr The meaning of general system theory 50 Ludwig von Bertalanffy Systems generating systems 58 Christopher Alexander The architectural relevance of cybernetics 68 Gordon Pask Towards a humanism through machines 78 Nicholas Negroponte A new agenda for computer-aided design 86 William J Mitchell Algorithmic form 94 Kostas Terzidis Architecture and practical design computation 102 Mark Burry An introduction to creative evolutionary systems 120 Peter J Bentley and David W Corne Constrained generating procedures 131 John H Holland Real virtuality 142 Manuel DeLanda A natural model for architecture 149 John Frazer Morphogenesis and the mathematics of emergence 158 Michael Weinstock Philosophy of mathematics for computational design : spatial intuition versus logic 168 Jane Burry Associative design : from type to population 179 Peter Trummer Integral formation and materialisation : computational form and material gestalt 198 Achim Menges The computational fallacy 211 Sanford Kwinter. Select Bibliography 216 Index 218