A Return to Techne: On Cecil Balmond

Balmond's work is an open-ended visual application of theory. His principle that "structure as conceptual rigour is architecture" has become a compelling force, changing the face of architecture, art and engineering. Balmond’s dynamic and organizational approach to structure is informed by the sciences of complexity, non-linear organization and emergence. Recognizing that the universe is a constantly changing array of patterns, he draws on ancient wisdom and non-western mathematical archetypes as sources. Through his research, Balmond investigates mathematical concepts and their influence on natural forms and structures, interrogating algorithms, fractals, rhythm and cellular structure. “Peerless in his exploration…Balmond remains truer to the ancient philosophic meaning of techne than any of his contemporaries.


Books

No 9, The Search for the Sigma Code (Prestel 1998)
Translations: Portuguese, Japanese, Hebrew
His first book, Balmond travels into a semi-mystical world to unlock a secret realm of numbers.

informal: the informal in architecture and engineering (Prestel 2002)
Translations: Japanese, Korean and Chinese
The definintive account of Balmond’s investigative approach to structure and form. It earned him the Banister Fletcher prize for the best book of the year on architecture (2005). Deyan Sudjic of The Observer says,“ its glimpses of a hidden order of things, of the occult properties of numbers and shapes, suggest it could be the next Brief History of Time, but with pictures” [11]

The book invites the reader to enter the dialogues between Balmond and the architects he works with, sharing the intimacies of the design process. Projects range from a Villa in Bordeaux to a large Transport Interchange in Arnhem, from a canopy in Lisbon to the V&A spiral in London and an Exhibition Centre in Lille, highlighting his collaborations with Ben van Berkel, Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas, Alvaro Siza and Peter Kulka with Ulrich Konigs. The design, realised with Jannuzzi Smith, is inspired by mathematics books and children’s fiction.

Element (Prestel 2007)
Balmond looks through drawing and composition at a perception of space that has interconnected narratives. The narrative unfolds in three conceptual chapters - elements, pattern, nature - linked by two conceptual bridges, digital 'tectonics' and numbers.