Nikos Salingaros

Nikos A. Salingaros (* in Perth ) is a Greek- Australian physicist and Universalist, known for his work as an architecture and design theorist. He was a close collaborator of the architect and architectural philosopher Christopher Alexander, whose harsh criticism of the conventional modern architecture he shares. As Alexander suggests Salingaros an alternative approach to the architecture and urban planning before, which are more adaptable to human needs, and combines rigorous scientific analysis with empirically derived intuition.

Salingaros published substantial research in the fields of algebra, mathematical physics, electromagnetic fields and thermonuclear fusion before the turning to architecture and urban planning. Since 1983 Salingaros teaches mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He also taught at faculties of architecture in Italy, Mexico and the Netherlands. Salingaros is winner of several awards.

Caused a stir in 2006 to be published in Germany basis book A Theory of Architecture.

2008 Salingaros was included in the list of the 50 VISION ARIE S who are changing your world, published in the November -December 2008 issue of Utne Reader.

Life

Salingaros was born as the only child of Greek parents. His father is the popular composer Stelios Salingaros, his uncle the opera baritone Spyros Sali (s) garos. After school he began to work as a painter, but then studied physics at the University of Miami, where the earned the Bachelor. It was followed by the Master ( 1974) and Ph.D. (1978 ) in physics at the State University of New York. Since 1982 he collaborates with Christopher Alexander. Most recently, he served as editor of Alexander vierbändigem magnum opus The Nature of Order. Since 1983 he has been Professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Effect

Architecture and urban planning

The work of Salingaros devote himself mainly two key concepts: architecture and cities be construed both as fractals and the other as networks. Furthermore Salingaros stands in the tradition of thinking of Christopher Alexander has or has a long-time employee, partner and guide, sponsored or helped to shape its concepts.

Writings

Salingaros writings help two important concepts in the discussion of urban morphology embed: Fractals and networks. His book, Principles of Urban Structure was compared to Michael Batty and Pierre Frank Hauser's idea of cities as a giant fractal; as well as that of Paul Drewe and Gabriel Dupuy of cities as giant networks. Salingaros work combines the urban form with concepts such as the small -world network and scale- free network. Michael Batty, a professor at the Bartlett, University College London, wrote the following about Salingaros scientific contribution:

He shows how networks evolve from the bottom up Which lead to ordered ( scaled ) did hierarchies are Both efficient and well adjusted. [ ... ] This theory of the small world, but contained within, there is the germ of an idea Which Has barely been exploited. In connecting elements in cities, there is a natural ordering from many short left Which sets to a lesser number of longer left Which, in my view, could be linked to small worlds, to scale - free networks, to power law distributions and, more Significantly, to changes in transportation technology. Salingaros is the first to hint at this.

Computer science

Although Salingaros never published directly on software, two of his articles in the computer science have been discussed intensively.

In The Structure of Pattern Languages ​​, he argues that loose pattern collections do not meet the requirements for a pattern language. For this, the Validation of internal and external pattern references is required.

In The Information Architecture of Cities (jointly with L. Andrew Coward, 2004) he describes cities as information architectures in which higher structure functions the system in communication modules.

Complexity Theory

Salingaros represents a model of complexity in analogy to the thermodynamic quantities in physics, partly developed by the computer scientist Allen Klinger. This work adapts the notation of Herbert Simon and proposes a simple method of analysis. Christopher Alexander discusses this model in Volume 1 of his work The Nature of Order.

Philosophy

Saligaros is a harsh critic of deconstructivism in architecture, as well as the uncritical application of the philosophy of post-structuralism. In his essay The Derrida Virus, he argues that an uncritical application of the ideas of Jacques Derrida lead to viral disassembly of knowledge and logical thinking. This Salingaros used, introduced by Richard Dawkins model of memes, although he also in this key points - such as the classification of religion as a meme - not follow.

Articles (Selection )

• The Derrida Virus - an essay.

• Anti- Architecture and Deconstruction (2004), ISBN 3-937954-08-2
• Principles of Urban Structure (2005), ISBN 90-8594-001- X
• A Theory of Architecture ( 2006), ISBN 3-937954-07-4 ( with a foreword by Prince Charles)