Design in the past 15 years has been profoundly altered by the advent of computation and information technology. Design software and numerical fabrication machinery have recast the traditional role of geometry in architecture and opened it up to the wondrous possibilities afforded by topology, parametric surface design and other areas of mathematics. From the technical aspects of scripting code to biomorphic paradigms of form and its association with genetics, the impact of computation on the discipline has been widely documented. What is less clear, and has largely escaped scrutiny so far, is the role mathematics itself has played in this revolution.

While our design culture has firmly embraced the innovations of computing and their impact on individual creativity, it has decidedly less time for the formulated thinking lying at the root of the breakthrough. There are several reasons for this: as subject matter goes mathematics is technical and often misunderstood. At a personal level it is likely to summon memories of hard work, frustration--perhaps even failure. And in today's software-saturated design environments, formulated thought is all too easily amalgamated with the functionality of digital tools, which it enables--but predates by hundreds of years.

Strangely neglected since the onset of the digital era, the contribution of mathematics to contemporary creativity may be now explored in its own terms.

At this one-day event, five leading scholars and practitioners will debate the instrumentality of mathematics from a historical and epistemological point of view, sharing insights on themes ranging from formulated thought, spatial intuition, and geometry; the mathematical implications of materiality; mathematics' relationship to the natural, and the historical foundations of our present obsession with software parametrics.

Presentations will followed by a roundtable. Speakers include

Amy Dahan-Dalmedico, professor and writer, University of Paris and CNRS France,
Antoine Picon, Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology, Harvard GSD,
George L. Legendre, GSD design critic, architect and author, IJP London, and
Keynote Lecture by Bernard Cache, architect and author, Objectile Paris.

Convened by George L. Legendre

For event details contact: Brooke King (bking@gsd.harvard.edu)