Towards a Rhizomatic Design Model

Over the past three decades, as multiple layers of complexity, sustainability aspirations, innovative design and manufacturing methodologies emerged, the need for novel integrated design processes has become crucial. While the widespread introduction of computational design, building information modeling, and robotic fabrication has brought significant advances in the AEC industry, traditional linear models limited the potential of these tools. On the other hand, rethinking design models as a rhizome (ῥίζωμα, rhízōma, “mass of roots”) can accomplish a non-hierarchical network that “connects any point to any other point” (Deleuze and Guattari), where digital tools can provide a powerful platform to carry out a truly interdisciplinary collaboration. Two aspects are particularly illustrative of this model: sustainability, where the organic embedment of sustainable measures in the design process yields more meaningful results and a higher-level functionality throughout an object's lifecycle, and fabrication, where the integration of digital and robotic technologies generates efficiencies in terms of production and data management, but it also fosters innovative material explorations and architectural expressions.