Intelligence-Based Design
Encyclopedia
Intelligence-Based Design is the purposeful manipulation of the built-environment to effectively engage humans in an essential manner through complex organized information. Intelligence-Based Theory evidences the conterminous relationship between mind and matter, i.e. the direct neurological evaluations of surface, structure, pattern, texture and form. Intelligence-Based Theory maintains that our sense of well-being is established through neuro-engagement with the physical world at the deepest level common to all people i.e. "Innate Intelligence."
These precursory readings of the physical environment represent an evolved set of information processing skills that the human mind has developed over millennia through direct lived experience. This physiological engagement with the world operates in a more immediate sense than the summary events of applied meaning or intellectual speculation. It is through this direct neurological engagement that humans connect more fully with the world. Many of mankind's early religious associations with physical structures were informed by an intuitive understanding that structure and materials speak to our deeper self, i.e. the human spirit, the soul. Intelligence Based Theory reveals this effectual dimension of the built-environment and its relationship to human cognitive development, mental acuity, perceptual awareness, spirituality, and sense of well-being. It is within this realm that the mind's eye connects, or fails to connect, with the world outside. The degree of neuro-connectivity which occurs at these intervals serves to render the built-environment either intelligible or un-intelligible. The study and theory of this occurrence is known as "Intelligence-Based Design."
contributed early on to the scientific approach to design, by proposing a theory of design in his book Notes on the synthesis of form
. Those were the years when Artificial Intelligence
was being developed by Herbert Simon
, and Alexander was part of that movement. His later work A Pattern Language
, although written for architects and urbanists, was picked up by the software community and used as a combinatorial and organizational rubric for software complexity, especially Design patterns (computer science). Alexander's most recent work The Nature of Order
continues by building up a framework for design that relies upon natural and biological structures. Entirely separate from this, E. O. Wilson
introduced the Biophilia hypothesis
to describe the affinity of humans to other living structures, and to conjecture our innate need for such a connection. This topic was later investigated by Stephen R. Kellert and others, and applied to the design of the artificial environment. The third and independent component of the theory is the recent developments in mobile robotics by Rodney Brooks
, where a breakthrough occurred by largely dispensing with internal memory. The practical concept of "Intelligence without representation" otherwise known as the Subsumption architecture
and Behavior-based robotics
introduced by Brooks suggests a parallel with the way human beings interact with, and design their own environment. These notions are brought together in Intelligence-Based Design, which is a topic currently under investigation for design applications in both architecture and urbanism.
These precursory readings of the physical environment represent an evolved set of information processing skills that the human mind has developed over millennia through direct lived experience. This physiological engagement with the world operates in a more immediate sense than the summary events of applied meaning or intellectual speculation. It is through this direct neurological engagement that humans connect more fully with the world. Many of mankind's early religious associations with physical structures were informed by an intuitive understanding that structure and materials speak to our deeper self, i.e. the human spirit, the soul. Intelligence Based Theory reveals this effectual dimension of the built-environment and its relationship to human cognitive development, mental acuity, perceptual awareness, spirituality, and sense of well-being. It is within this realm that the mind's eye connects, or fails to connect, with the world outside. The degree of neuro-connectivity which occurs at these intervals serves to render the built-environment either intelligible or un-intelligible. The study and theory of this occurrence is known as "Intelligence-Based Design."
Antecedents
Several distinct strands of design thinking, in parallel development, lead towards Intelligence-Based Design. Christopher AlexanderChristopher Alexander
Christopher Wolfgang Alexander is a registered architect noted for his theories about design, and for more than 200 building projects in California, Japan, Mexico and around the world...
contributed early on to the scientific approach to design, by proposing a theory of design in his book Notes on the synthesis of form
Notes on the Synthesis of Form
Notes on the Synthesis of Form is a book by Christopher Alexander about the process of design.-Design:Alexander defines design as "the process of inventing things which display new physical order, organization, form, in response to function..."....
. Those were the years when Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
was being developed by Herbert Simon
Herbert Simon
Herbert Alexander Simon was an American political scientist, economist, sociologist, and psychologist, and professor—most notably at Carnegie Mellon University—whose research ranged across the fields of cognitive psychology, cognitive science, computer science, public administration, economics,...
, and Alexander was part of that movement. His later work A Pattern Language
A Pattern Language
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction is a 1977 book on architecture, urban design, and community livability. It was authored by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein of the Center for Environmental Structure of Berkeley, California, with writing credits also to...
, although written for architects and urbanists, was picked up by the software community and used as a combinatorial and organizational rubric for software complexity, especially Design patterns (computer science). Alexander's most recent work The Nature of Order
The Nature of Order
The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe is a four-volume work by Christopher Alexander published in 2003-2004. In his earlier work, Alexander attempted to formulate the principles that lead to a good built environment as patterns, or recurring design...
continues by building up a framework for design that relies upon natural and biological structures. Entirely separate from this, E. O. Wilson
E. O. Wilson
Edward Osborne Wilson is an American biologist, researcher , theorist , naturalist and author. His biological specialty is myrmecology, the study of ants....
introduced the Biophilia hypothesis
Biophilia Hypothesis
The biophilia hypothesis suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book entitled Biophilia.- Love of living systems :...
to describe the affinity of humans to other living structures, and to conjecture our innate need for such a connection. This topic was later investigated by Stephen R. Kellert and others, and applied to the design of the artificial environment. The third and independent component of the theory is the recent developments in mobile robotics by Rodney Brooks
Rodney Brooks
Rodney Allen Brooks is the former Panasonic professor of robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 1986 he has authored a series of highly influential papers which have inaugurated a fundamental shift in artificial intelligence research...
, where a breakthrough occurred by largely dispensing with internal memory. The practical concept of "Intelligence without representation" otherwise known as the Subsumption architecture
Subsumption architecture
Subsumption architecture is a reactive robot architecture heavily associated with behavior-based robotics. The term was introduced by Rodney Brooks and colleagues in 1986...
and Behavior-based robotics
Behavior-based robotics
Behavior-based robotics or behavioral robotics is the branch of robotics that incorporates modular or behavior based AI .- How they work :...
introduced by Brooks suggests a parallel with the way human beings interact with, and design their own environment. These notions are brought together in Intelligence-Based Design, which is a topic currently under investigation for design applications in both architecture and urbanism.