Autopoiesis: the self-generating system of architecture

(Review of: Patrik Schumacher, The Autopoiesis of Architecture. A New Framework for Architecture, vol. I, John Wiley & Sons, 2011)

Patrik ^Schumacher1 is a partner architect at Zaha Hadid Architects and founding director of one of the most successful postgraduate programs in digital design, the Design Research Laboratory (DRL) at the Architectural Association in London. In short, he is a leading 'avant-garde' name in architecture today.

With this work, which the author claims to have worked on for about 10 years, he proposes a total project: an "all-encompassing theoretical systematization", a "theoretical unification"² - in other words, a new theory of architecture. The book formulates a list of "theses", expressed as laws. It is a very affirmative work, with clear and trenchant assertions. It is a show of strength from a position of power in our discipline.

Read the full text in issue 2 / 2011 of Architecture Magazine.