Jellyfish    Shapes in Nature

Anthony Lumsden

Anthony Lumsden     Interview with Volume5 

Quantitative System

I believe in quantitative systems.

I believe that the world is based on quantitative systems.  The evolution of extraordinary things has to do with mutation. If you think about a realization of physical elements based not on creativity, not anesthetics, not vision, but you think about architecture in terms of systems of analysis, basically the environmental system that selects things that may carry on to the final product, it makes architecture extraordinarily interesting because it is like being an objective creator.  You would say, ok, I'm going to set these systems going and eventually it might make an alligator, it might make a butterfly, it might make one of 30 million insects that I understand there are.

Frank Gehry in some respects in so important in architecture because he basically mutates. Mutations are not an arrival - they're a variation that may be added to the existing system. People don't understand that when they look at his work. He is special because he is different because everybody else is bound by the traditional aesthetic system. If you just think Frank Lloyd Wright is a pioneer over here in this direction, Le Corbusier is working over here, Mies over there - and you think, ok, they're mutations that may be added to where architecture is going. Those incremental things are very important. It doesn't make Mies better, it doesn't make Aalto better, it just means that they're adding to the system. They're important because they're variations, not because they're better than the established system, but they are mutations that add to the system.

Basically, that's the interest I have - how can you follow information objectively and then add a system of variation that's not implied by the quantitative system. It could be anything. It's just added, and then you must say, ok, does it destroy any of the existing quantitative systems? That's the whole secret in architecture. You don't break your leg doing something interesting. A lot of architects are saying, ok, I've got one good leg and I'm going to break it and then that makes it something different. The basic thing is how do you allow all of these existing systems to be retained and add something to them that's extraordinary that doesn't depend on those systems. Like butterfly wings or butterflies' colors, or birds beaks, or giraffe spots that do not depend on the system that's underlying them. They make extraordinary variations that add to that system.

To me, it's just like going through that [in architecture] and developing a particular species. That's endlessly interesting. Crossword puzzles, chess - forget it. It's something you would do for nothing if someone would just build the damn thing. You'd do it for nothing if someone would take any notice! And you nearly do it for nothing anyway!