Analogical Thinking in Architecture

This book provides an in-depth exploration of the rich and persistent use of analogical thinking in the built environment. Since the turn of the 21st century, "design thinking" has permeated many fields outside of the design disciplines. It is expected to succeed whenever disciplinary boundaries need to be transcended in order to think "outside the box." This book argues that these qualities have long been supported by "analogical thinking"-an agile way of reasoning in which think the unknown through the familiar.The book is organized into four case studies: the first reviews analogical models that have been at the heart of design thinking representations from the 1960s to the present day; the second investigates the staying power of biological analogies; the third explores the paradoxical imaginary of "analogous cities" as a means of integrating contemporary architecture with heritage contexts; while the fourth unpacks the critical and theoretical potential of linguistic metaphors and visual comparisons in architectural discourse.Comparing views on the role of analogies and metaphors by prominent voices in architecture and related disciplines from the 17th century to the present, the book shows how the "analogical world of the project" is revealed as a wide-open field of creative and cognitive interactions. These visual and textual operations are explained through 36 analogical plates which can be read as an inter-text demonstrating how analogy has the power to reconcile design and theories.>

Préface
A comprehensive introduction to analogical thinking in architecture.

Auteur

Jean-Pierre Chupin

Contenu

List of Analogical Plates
List of Figures
Acknowledgements

Introduction: Analogy Beyond Resemblance
A Spectrum of Definitions
A Canonical Example
A Paucity of Theories for a Plethora of Facts
Design Process, Repertories, Cities and Theories

1 Reflecting on Design Thinking
The Design Process as an Object of Research
Cybernetic and Methodological Analogues
Analogy as Creative Technique
Toward a Cognitive Approach to Design
The Rise of Design Thinking

2 The Cyclical Case of Biological Analogies
The Intertwined Fates of Architecture and Biology
Peter Collins and the Biological Analogy
Philip Steadman and the Evolutionary Design of Artefacts
George Hersey and the Biological Roots of Architecture
Analogical Reasoning and the Burden of Proof
Life Cycles of Biological Analogies

3 In the Labyrinth of Analogous Cities
The Città Analoga as a Visual Enigma
The Critical Misfortune of a Hypothesis
Climbing the Analogical Mountain
Back to Square One with Aldo Rossi

4 From Linguistic Metaphors to Critical Analogies
Classical Regimes of Resemblance
Post-modern Metaphors of the Column
Critiques of Linguistic Analogy
Colin Rowe's Method of Analogical Pairing

Conclusion: Connecting Design and Theory in the Built Environment
The Analogical World of the Project
Analogy as Inclusive Device
Snakes and Ladders
Digital Analogues and Artificial Imagination
Cognitive Leaps are the Order of Things

Bibliography
Index