The work of the American architect Greg Lynn is devoted to the study of the possibilities of digital technologies in the creation of architectural projects. Developing the paradigmatic foundations of folded architecture, he has singled out the strategy of smooth mixing, which, according to Lynn, is capable of combining a new kind of non-linear architecture with topological geometry (Lynn, 2013). Digital architecture pioneer Greg Lynn has outlined the principles of shaping architectural curvilinearity that has later become the basis for other research.
The theory of folded mixture, offered in 1993 by Greg Lynn, should be considered the basic architectural ideology of non-linearity. It shifted the focus of the design art of architecture from the finished object to the stage of maturation of the architectural form (Lynn, 2013). The folding theory, despite a number of its shortcomings, has become a turning point in the construction of a new vision of an object. However, in the second half of the 1990s, while mastering digital technologies, new theories appeared that entered into a dispute with the concept of the fold.
In Architectural Curvilinearity: The Folded, the Pliant and the Supple, Lynn offers to master two concepts, smoothness and flexibility. They align the new strategy of architecture with topological geometry and therefore connect it with the catastrophe theory (Lynn, 2013). So, the strategy of smooth mixing consists of imposing a homogeneous network on a heterogeneous base. In other words, it is a mixture of various kinds of structures and forms to generate new objects that are potentially possible for implementation.
The architecture of the last decade of the 20th century focused on new, super-powerful computer technology, and demonstrated a striving for an unprecedented, essentially avant-garde breakthrough in the field of shaping. Any previously unthinkable form, for example, curvilinear, is now relatively easy to calculate by a computer. The variety and uniqueness of elements cease to be an obstacle for construction products based on new technologies. Architectural objects and installations that unfold in a virtual space that is not subject to the laws of gravity lead to the idea of a completely relaxed form.
Reference
Lynn, G. (2013). Architectural curvilinearity: The folded, the pliant and the supple. Constructing a New Agenda. Architectural Theory 1993-2009, 30-62.