The evolution of architectural form

The concept of form in architectural design has been a highly debated and important topic since prehistoric times. In its simplest meaning, form can be expressed as the shape of the structure, the volume in which one lives. The aim of this study is to analyze the changes and evolution of form throughout history in order to discover new meanings and potentials it can acquire. In this study, form is researched in conjunction with form design and form-making techniques. It is believed that form informs form design and making, and these practices, in turn, shape the form through a dual relationship that can be explained by the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The study is structured into two main parts. The first stage consists of comprehensive literatüre research and mapping to analyze the evolution of form. The second stage proposes a new term that explains the evolution of form. The stages can be summarized as follows: In the first stage, which can be seen as an evolutionary narrative, the events that transform form and the practices of design and making are discussed chronologically using a designed mapping. Through this stage, it is understood that form is no longer a final product represented in drawings or made statically in a physical model, but rather a subject discussed on a spatiotemporal level that includes process and dynamism. The concepts and approaches analyzed in the mapping demonstrate form's new dynamic, autonomous, generative, and interactive nature. In the second stage, a new term, ‘vital form’, is introduced to express form's new characteristics. While form represents the static or stationary, vital form represents the dynamic and ever-evolving one. While form represents what is symbolically designed or created from the top-down by the designer, vital form represents what is created from the bottom-up through the influence of agents involved in its design or making, expressing autonomy. This study, which examines the historical transformation of form and defines it as an evolving, changing, and transformative process through the introduction of the newly coined term vital form, holds the potential to highlight the emerging possibilities that form can possess and foster critical thinking within architectural design. By analyzing the dynamic nature of form and its continual evolution, this study aims to shed light on the inherent potentials of form and inspire further exploration and development in the field of architectural design.