Architectural Realization of Divergent Evolution: Phenomena of Phenotypic Variations

Abstract

Evolution of form in any organism is not only a product of its own internal genetic makeup but is inflected by the field in which it is modeled. It is a depiction of the effects, of its developmental field and dynamic environment surrounding it during morphosis. Divergent evolution is a natural phenomenon that happens when the species of similar genetic makeup are left to evolve in different and varied environmental conditions. Resultantly, new diverged species are unique yet better adapted to their environmental and surrounding conditions. This complex process in some cases expresses several highly morphologically distinct results; in other cases, a continuous norm of reaction describes the functional interrelationship of a range of environments to a range of phenotypes. This research is an attempt to study this phenomenon called ‘divergent evolution’ and express it as an architectural solution by designing architectural prototypes in the form of pavilions. The interest of this research lies within the realm of utilizing inspiration found from nature and translating the acquired information into an architectural solution. The process lends itself into an architectural discourse of experimentation and investigation, which is addressed at the scale of a pavilion design.