The Rules of Architecture

DWK|Architecture explores a new architectural language that is built from complex geometries that can be discovered, analyzed, and manipulated by the power of computing. Meanwhile, the old rules of architecture remain as pertinent as ever. 

The Classic Rules of Architecture:

1. Employ proportion, symmetry, hierarchy, unity and harmony, contrast, order, clarity, procession to create compositions that stir the spirit.

2. Give form and function a happy marriage.

3. Respect the nature of materials.

4. Follow organic principles - do more with less. Organic forms tend towards complexity, efficiency, and miniaturization.

5. Treat sustainability as just a means, not an end. The sustenance of the body is not for its own good, but for the good of the soul.

6. Make architecture belong to its time and place.

7. Incorporate a deep understanding of human nature, one informed by the sciences of sociobiology/evolutionary psychology. Humans are not a blank slate.

8. Appreciate how complex patterning (like fractals) occurs throughout the natural world. Architecture is richer when it lets nature’s patterning inspire its design.

9. Respect architectural history, maybe even borrow from it, but don’t mimic it blindly. Architecture only thrives when it grows.

10. Let the philosophical underpinnings of architecture live freely in uncertainty. There is no worse crime than forcing architecture to conform to contrived precepts. See internationalism, Post-modernism and Deconstruction. The motto of every architect should be: “There are more things in heaven than earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy”. Be humble, wise, and practical. And imaginative.