‘A Building is Not a Butterfly: Culture and Complexity’
Alfredo Brillembourg, Hubert Klumpner, Alexis Kalagas & Diego Ceresuela
Complex Buildings: Generators, Linkers, Mixers & Storytellers (a+t 48)

In the 1990s, the military began to use the acronym V.U.C.A. (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) to describe the dynamic and incredibly complex nature of modern warfare. Since then, the only constant has been an ever-increasing degree of complexity. Complex Buildings, the new series of a+t magazine, identifies different conditions of complexity within architecture. Through classic and contemporary projects grouped into four blocks—Generators, Linkers, Mixers and Storytellers—a+t positions complexity as a positive concept in the design process. The buildings selected are not evidently complex but essentially complex. For Urban-Think Tank’s contribution, we explored the idea of designing for complexity through a focus on our two ‘Fábrica de Cultura’ projects in Barranquilla, Colombia, and São Paulo, Brazil.