instance, clearly there is no similarity between a building and a living organism. However, if we view them both as the product of communication and exchange processes within their respective systems, as specific attempts by those systems to adapt to local environments and as the basic units of selection within their systems, their equivalence to each another becomes less strange. In other words, while they are not similar to one another, they are ANALOGOUS in terms of their origin, function and hierarchical position in their respective systems. It is on this basis that the concepts and terms of evolutionary theory can be applied to architecture in an appropriate and useful manner.
Equivalence of Terms and Concepts between Architecture and Biological Systems.
a) ‘Representation’ as a Concept in Architecture is Equivalent to the Biological Concept of ‘adaptation’.
Mapping the form of a referent institution into a set of architectural elements produces buildings. These elements are adapted to match the functional and organizational state of the institution, which is the ‘environment’ of the building. They are attempts to model those environments and give them a physical presence in space and time. In both architecture and biology a given set of elements (of form, behavior or genetic information) are combined to match the organizational state of an environment. In one case the result is buildings, in the other the result is organisms.
b) The Architectural Concept ‘style’ is Equivalent to the Biological Concept ‘species’
An architectural style is not a homogenous entity but a statistical one defining a range of formal characteristics shared to some extent by a large number of buildings. The similarity between these buildings is a product of communication and exchange of experience between many architects. This is quite consistent with the biological communication of genetic information during reproduction. In biology for instance, the definition of species is that of a ‘reproductive community’. That is, a group of organisms who are able to interbreed with one another and thus share genetic and physiological characteristics.
c) The Typical Elements of a Style are Equivalent to the Genetic Complement of a Species both Providing the Heredity Mechanism Necessary for a Evolutionary System
In architecture, the generic set of typical elements filtered out of past experience can be described as the language of architecture, which provides a set of options for modeling future environments. In this it acts very much like the genetic pool of a species, which, as a repertoire of possible biological characteristics encoded in the DNA molecule may be combined for potential organisms. In both cases these sets of instructions provide the memory of the successes and failures of the system’s many previous interactions with its environment. These are filtered by natural selection and exchanged and combined within each system into a set of fundamental elements applicable to future encounters.
d) Buildings in Architecture are Equivalent to Organisms in Biological Systems.
The individual organism is the unit of selection for the biological species. The individual building is the unit of selection for architecture. In both cases it is these units that are adapted more or less successfully to their local environments. They are both products of exchange processes taking place within their systems. They are both unique combinations of a generic set of elements to be found in their respective systems. In one case a set of typical architectural elements, in another a set of genetic elements (the genes). Both the building as a particular combination of elements and the organism are both subject to natural selection. That is, they are tested in terms of their success at adapting to their environment
Variety in Biological Systems Corresponds to the Production of Differences in Architecture.
The random process of biological reproduction produces unique individual organisms. The exact genetic combination of the organism cannot be predicted since the particular combination of parents, the genetic shuffling of genes during reproduction and the effect of chance mutations is quite random. The only predictable thing about this process is that it will take place within the gene pool of a particular species. The result is that a variety of genetic traits is continually produced within the species leading to new and potentially viable characteristics. In a similar way each building is unique formed as it is from combining typical forms in many different kinds of buildings whose exact context (size, location, finance, technology, cultural significance) cannot be known beforehand. Equally, the character of the typical set of a style cannot be predicted since it keeps changing as new buildings are built and their experience is incorporated into it. The result in both cases is the continual production of variety in the system whether biological or architectural
Conclusion
Given the complex interaction between the social, cultural, geographical, technological, economic factors which together provide the frame for architectural activity at any point in time, Here we have a phenomenon which in the midst of all the competing forces mentioned above, unifies the characteristics of the buildings produced during each historical period from the scale of their overall form to their decorative detail. The form of thousands of individual buildings built in many different places and constrained by different technological, economic and institutional demands are coordinated by a single stylistic template into a unified physical environment. Here in the phenomenon of the style we have a seemingly ‘spontaneous’ convergence of characteristics – the emergence of a clear-cut order - on a grand scale. Devoid of conscious human intention, one can only take the evolutionary view that the emergence and evolution of architectural styles is a product of the interaction of many thousands of agents taking place over long periods of time.
The development of evolutionary theory from its origins in biology to its current state as means of studying the behavior of all adaptive systems makes it one of our most powerful tools in the search for the laws which underlie the processes of change in the material and social worlds. Yet the key concepts of biological evolution and of evolutionary theory, in particular those of reproduction, heredity, variety, the mechanism of natural selection, the role of the environment and so on are all potentially translatable into equivalent processes in the terminology of social or cultural systems including architecture.
Final CONCLUSION
· History repeats itself, as do ideas. The beginning of the modern era was an episode when collective thoughts culminated to form new movements which would embody the life of industrial society. New materials and methods of construction gave architect and engineer the ability to explore the realities for new ways of building as never before possible. This new way of life also had its affect on artists and poets.
· Modern architecture, as we understand it today, is a series of complex components which when experienced together reward us with a sense of completion.
Thus, the late modern with its decomposing concept has been giving a chance to get practiced after the death of Modern architecture.
This was through a series of changes affected Modern architecture