In the context of the polemic of «formalists» and «functionalistic constructivists», the author’s thoughts are more formal in nature and belong to the field of artistic form generation. Formalism as a phenomenon is rehabilitated in the works of S. O. Khan–Magomedov [25] and the ideas of Zaha Hadid’s colleague Patrick Schumacher [48]. Formalism is harmful if it is the only approach, but it is fruitful to develop it as a significant part of an integrated design method..
Before proceeding to the main thoughts, let us clarify that the established connection between philosophical concepts and architectural categories belong mainly to categorical dialectics – one of the foundations of A. F. Losev’s thinking. A. F. Losev’s philosophy itself is broader, and represents a complex synthesis of dialectics, phenomenology, and other important structural and logical elements. It is his thoughts and works that the author refers to as the most familiar to him.
Revealing the understanding of the cosmos and space among the Greek philosophers, Aleksei Fyodorovich Losev wrote about its heterogeneity4, and on the one hand, contrasted it with «Newton’s space»5, on the other – connected it with «Einstein’s space». For modern physics, the vacuum turned out to be not an absolute void, but a medium with a generative force [71]. According to V. V. Rozanov, space contains the full potential of various forms: «… in every place of space there is a form of each given object; and, moving, it does not move its form with it <…>, but, having left it and thereby having made it potential again, it enters into a new form, identical to the previous one in appearance, but located in a different place in space – exactly in the place where it moved to. Thus, the apparent movement of a form is essentially a continuous concealment and detection of visible spatial forms along the path of a moving substance – concealment and detection accompanying the exit and entry of this substance from one form into another; so that the substance moves, but the forms remain motionless» [17, 162-163]. Space is the actual and potential repository of the whole infinity of all possible forms. With this understanding, the architect, creating a new form, actualizes the potency already contained in the space. It is important here to dwell on the idea that this infinity includes both harmonious and disharmonious forms. Similarly, musical instruments, such as the piano keyboard, contain the full potential of sounds, both euphonious and cacophonous.
New experiences in architectural morphogenesis are numerous, radical, and expanded to include the aesthetics of the ugly. The «lack of freedom» of a new level – dependence on technology – is one of the main reasons for the triumph of the ugly in twentieth-century art»6 (Bychkov V. V.). Reflecting on the role of computer modeling in creative searches, Alexander Ryabushin warned: «Today, «the computer allows you to try everything without building at all»… However, there are objective reasons for concern: each tool generates specific dependencies (and the more sophisticated it is, the stronger it is), and the identical programs from Silicon Valley can lead to an excessive convergence of the things that, by their very nature, should have originality, even in our [architectural – Yu.P.] field. The universality of streamlined whale-like outlines, suspiciously reminiscent of newfangled sports sneakers in their sleekness, is already beginning to confuse [33, 52]. If in the case of the resemblance to sneakers we can talk about an obsessive trend in the morphogenesis, then in the case of the aesthetics of forms resembling insects or internal organs7, it’s time to recall the «Pandora’s box». As I. A. Dobritsyna notes, «the non-linear logic of a computer has made it possible to build models of complex objects.… Gilles Deleuze turned out to be the closest of all other philosophers to non-linear science.… It is known that in his last works he already expressed concern about experiences of non-linear thinking, trying to propose ways out of the fascinating, but unusual and demonically uncomfortable world of non-linearity [italics mine Yu.P.]» [39, 9].