The algorithms are capable of regulating the inherently non-linear processes found in chemical manufacturing. The research has not only succeeded in abstracting the computational principles inherent in the reflex, but has also uncovered its rich hierarchically layered structure. Developments and extensions of this research provide the basis for the kinds of complex control strategies that would be required to regulate the processes contained within architectural biomaterials and to integrate a series of them into a functioning higher-level entity. Embodiment is the mechanism by which symbolic systems develop meaning and allow for the shared grounding of representations as a precursor for the developmemt of cognition as a cultural process. Biological materials have much to offer in terms of producing an embodiment conducive to the development of intelligence in architectural structures.
Current materials are hard, dry and inert.
We must begin working wet. Within the context of intelligent materials and structures and interactive environments, functioning biological materials have much to offer. They can be a source of inspiration, the cheat sheet that is desperately needed when working with complex systems. The recent interest in biomimetics distributed across many fields suggests that living processes are a compendium of solutions to complex problems that defy traditional analytic methods. This paper is not a wholesale dismissal of human cultural production in favor of the biological, a rejection of the designed for the found, but a recognition that each covers a different territory and represent radically different methods.