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Three highly important yet radically overlooked bodies of work are examined here: those of the Italian architect and artist Vittorio Giorgini (1926–2010), the Israeli architect, engineer, and geometer Michaël Burt (b. 1937), and Sri-Lankan-born, London-based engineer and theorist Cecil Balmond (b. 1943). Giorgini was a trailblazer in incorporating surface topology into architectural thinking with a considerable level of scientific self-awareness. Burt’s body of work proves to be one of the earliest, most thoroughgoing investigations into the discovery and visualization of three-dimensional models for the subdivision of space based on patterns of configurational continuity. Balmond pioneered the translation of aspects of nonlinearity into design moves of significant architectural consequence as well as the application of design frameworks thus initiated to the conception of entire buildings.
By combining granular historical analysis of these bodies of work with advanced theoretical investigation, this volume substantially expands the distinct dispositional possibilities for architecture enabled by the deep scientization of design that unfolded across the West over the course of the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. In so doing, it addresses the urgent need to extend the boundaries of architectural thinking in a fundamental fashion—beyond conventional models of three-dimensional articulation—and it contributes not only a new mode of thought to the history of architecture, but also novel critical and design frameworks to today’s discourse and practice culture.
“[H]istory is deployed as a rigorous instrument for theoretical investigation, and […] theory, sharpened by historical grounding, reciprocates . . . For Aragüez’s discursive recovery of an alternate history does not merely look back; it aims to resonate with the contingencies of present-day architectural production by stimulating new avenues for spatial creativity at the intersection of rationality and imagination.” —World Architects
“Rarely does the encounter between design theory and architectural history make for a well-matched pair whose union surpasses the sum of its parts. The new book by theorist and architect José Aragüez is one of those rare exceptions … [A] whole repertoire of original ideas [in the book], without doubt, enriches the design discourse surrounding architecture and its structures.” —Arquitectura Viva
“In his book ‘Dispositional Intelligence’, architect and theorist José Aragüez brings us the third installment of his decade-long research into an alternative chapter to post-modernism, a history of architecture that critiques and moves beyond modernism [...].” As Aragüez rightly notes, the vast majority of buildings designed today can be distilled to the form of Corbusier’s 1914 maison domino — and what this book lays out are perhaps some ways for architects to move beyond the hegemony of this modernist form.” —Bauwelt
"This large format (7.9 x 1.3 x 9.5 inches, 2.25 pounds) hardcover edition of "Dispositional Intelligence in Architecture" by Jose Araguez is profusely illustrated, exceptionally well organized and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in presentation, making it an ideal selection for personal, professional, academic, and college/university library Architectural Criticism & Studies collections, as well as for Architecture Theory & Practice curriculum studies lists." —Midwest Book Review
"[...] This volume substantially expands the distinct dispositional possibilities for architecture enabled by the deep scientization of design that unfolded across the West over the course of the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. In so doing, it addresses the urgent need to extend the boundaries of architectural thinking in a fundamental fashion—beyond conventional models of three-dimensional articulation—and it contributes not only a new mode of thought to the history of architecture, but also novel critical and design frameworks to today’s discourse and practice culture.” —El Croquis
“‘Dispositional Intelligence’ presents a compelling and highly original contribution to contemporary architectural theory, offering a new lens through which to understand spatial organization … [I]ts intellectual rigor and bold repositioning of architectural history make it an essential read for scholars, theorists, and advanced practitioners seeking to expand the disciplinary boundaries of design. Ultimately, ‘Dispositional Intelligence’ does more than excavate overlooked trajectories in architecture—it proposes a fundamental rethinking of how design intelligence operates … It is a book that challenges, provokes, and inspires—precisely what the field urgently needs.” —Efi Michalarou, dreamideamachine ART VIEW
“The question of architectural form is more often a point of contention than the subject of serious theoretical inquiry. In Dispositional Intelligence, author José Aragüez adroitly approaches architectural form through the side door, by analyzing the work of three astonishingly original engineers, Vittorio Giorgini, Michaël Burt, and Cecil Balmond. Yet this book is much more than the historical tracing of a fascinating trajectory in engineering. Aragüez architecturally theorizes that corpus to posit a way of looking at form through formulation rather than formalism. In doing so, he bypasses debates that foreground autonomy and authorship, and dives into a science-based approach to process that offers an innovative theoretical argument for embracing form … perhaps even unconditionally.” —Sunil Bald, Yale University
“In this brilliant book, Aragüez deftly upends well-worn narratives about the two cultures of architecture and engineering, and through that counter-history he develops a radical theory of form. Generally linked to bureaucratic operations and infrastructural values, the figure of the engineer has operated within conventional historical narratives to safeguard form as an attribute of the architect and as a natural byproduct of his genius, mastery, and authorial control. Through careful attention to an alternative genealogy of experimental architect/engineers, Aragüez reconstitutes form as a phenomenon that is neither autonomous and expressive nor merely a residual effect of systems of production but rather a specific type of material reorganization computed by hybrid modes of intelligence. The book will be of great interest to readers in the history and theory of architecture, aesthetics, and materialist philosophy as well as in the history of science and computation.” —Sylvia Lavin, Princeton University