Exaptation in Transitional Urban Morphologies: First Notes on the Dynamics of Urban Form Read through the Theories of Natural Evolution

Studying the dynamics of urban form means questioning the processes of evolution of the form in general. The current discussion on the architecture of buildings and urban spaces has drawn the concept of adaptation from theories of natural evolution. These notes propose a reflection on the opposite a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLand (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 74
Main Author Trisciuoglio, Marco
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.01.2024
Subjects
Adaptation
Analysis
Architecture
Courtyards
Darwin, Charles
Darwin, Charles (1809-1882)
Design
dynamics of urban forms
Evolution
exaptation/adaptation
Morphology
transitional morphologies
Urban areas
Urban planning
China
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Summary:Studying the dynamics of urban form means questioning the processes of evolution of the form in general. The current discussion on the architecture of buildings and urban spaces has drawn the concept of adaptation from theories of natural evolution. These notes propose a reflection on the opposite and controverse concept of exaptation as it was proposed by the biologist and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould in 1982. Through some examples (the different transformations of some Roman amphitheaters of the imperial age and the metamorphoses that occurred in the 20th century to some Chinese urban fabrics, originally made by courtyard houses), it is possible to extend to urban forms the idea of the casual co-optation for new uses of organs and anatomical parts developed for other reasons. This kind of reflection opens up innovative considerations on the potential of transitional urban analysis and its repercussions on evolutive urban transformation processes.
ISSN:2073-445X
2073-445X
DOI:10.3390/land13010074