Bound Volume Number
Volume I
Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-2016
Capstone Advisor
Brian Lonsway
Capstone Major
Architecture
Capstone College
Architecture
Audio/Visual Component
no
Keywords
informal settlement growth
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Creative
Subject Categories
Architecture
Abstract
The position of the architect when designing is to arbitrate which information is relevant and which is not, and to do so across a broad spectrum of fields. Considering this, Christopher Alexander claimed as long ago as 1964, that “design problems are reaching insoluble levels of complexity.” This thesis focuses on informal settlement growth and how architects can investigate growth as a part of master-planning new housing. Drawing on case studies of settlements, video game logics, and existing architectural tools, a tool was developed to study the growth of settlements. This tool is based on cellular automata, a spatial and algorithmic method of computer modeling based on specific rules. The rules themselves have been developed to model settlement growth from both single house and neighborhood level as accurately as possible. The final result is a visual representation of hypothetical additions to homes over a period of time. The information produced can be used by architects to more wholistically understand planning effects on settlement growth, and then to plan settlements with that informal growth in mind.
Recommended Citation
Anderson-Nelson, Benjamin, "Algorithmic Settlements" (2016). Honors Capstone Projects - All. 920.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/920
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
