From Goethe's Urpflanze to a combinatorics of styles
Some ideas about espressing aesthetic styles in a combinatorial fashion, from Goethe, through Georges Cuvier to Gottfried Semper.
In 1790 Goethe published a paper on The Metamorphosis of Plants, describing the idea of an archetype (a sort of theoretical plan) for all possible plants, in the form of a combinatorial system that he maintained capable of represent all the varieties of existing and immaginary plants.
[image from Plant Talk, vol. 19, 1999]
Goethe's approach is particularly interesting since it tries to transform a classification system into a generative mechanism, capable of generating new forms. During the 19th century, a number of taxonomical systems for categorizing living beings were developed; most notably, the french anatomist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) was the first to propose a classification system for the features of animals, based on functional resemblance rather than resemblance of form.
The architect Gottfried Semper (1803-1879) was intrigued by these combinatorial generative approaches, and maintained that the same scheme could have been applied to art, and specifically to architecture:
In 1790 Goethe published a paper on The Metamorphosis of Plants, describing the idea of an archetype (a sort of theoretical plan) for all possible plants, in the form of a combinatorial system that he maintained capable of represent all the varieties of existing and immaginary plants.
What pleases me most at present is plant-life. Everything is forcing itself upon me, I no longer have to think about it, everything comes to meet me, and the whole gigantic kingdom becomes so simple that I can see at once the answer to the most difficult problems. If only I could communicate the insight and joy to someone, but it is not possible. And it is no dream or fancy: I am beginning to grow aware of the essential form with which, as it were, Nature always plays, and from which she produces her great variety. Had I the time in this brief span of life I am confident I could extend it to all the realms of Nature – the whole realm. [from a letter to Charlotte von Stein, 1786]
[image from Plant Talk, vol. 19, 1999]
Goethe's approach is particularly interesting since it tries to transform a classification system into a generative mechanism, capable of generating new forms. During the 19th century, a number of taxonomical systems for categorizing living beings were developed; most notably, the french anatomist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) was the first to propose a classification system for the features of animals, based on functional resemblance rather than resemblance of form.
The architect Gottfried Semper (1803-1879) was intrigued by these combinatorial generative approaches, and maintained that the same scheme could have been applied to art, and specifically to architecture:
A method, analogus to that which Couvier followed, applied to art, and especially to architecture, would at least contribute towards getting a clear insight over its whole province and perhaps also form the base of a doctrine of style and a sort of topic or method, how to invent.
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