You Could Call Him Mr.

Softee
By RICHARD LACAYO

There are architects who love the Parthenon. Greg Lynn has a thing for the lo . This wo!l" not only e the #$%s sci&fi thriller a o!t a elligerent wa" of 'elly. The lo s that eg!ile hi( are any )iso(or*hic *olys!rfaces+) (eaning sha*es that are+ well+ lo s. Architect!re is a *rofession in which the c! e an" s*here are still the literal !il"ing loc,s. -hat Lynn *refers re(in"s yo! of a(oe as an" !n"le" foa(. In the (ost *liant for(s of nat!re+ in very irreg!lar geo(etry+ he sees the f!t!re.

)Architect!re has een nostalgic forever for a ygone era+) he says. Lynn isn#t. At .$+ he#s alrea"y a (!ch "isc!sse" theorist who teaches at oth !cla an" the /i"gen0ssische Technische Hochsch!le in 1!rich+ 2wit3erlan"+ where he is nothing less than *rofessor of s*atial conce*tion an" e4*loration. At for(+ his Los Angeles ase" architect!re fir(+ he *ractices what he *reaches.

-hen an online ho(e&f!rnishing co(*any+ Prettygoo"life.co(+ chose hi( to "esign its showroo(s+ it as,e"+ he says+ for )a lo that can (!tate !t (aintain its asic i"entity.) 5Thin, of Li3 Taylor in the #6%s.7 Lynn gave the( swelling wall syste(s that can e easily (an!fact!re" in "iffering config!rations. An" in the 8ew Yor, City Pres yterian ch!rch that Lynn "esigne" with Do!glas Garofalo an" 9ichael 9cInt!rf+ (etal stairway enclos!res co!rse along the e4terior in "yna(ic+ rolling stri"es.

9ost architects (a,e *a*er "rawings+ then !se "esign software to vis!ali3e those as wal,&thro!gh i(ages. B!t Lynn#s )*a*erless) *ractice rings co(*!ters in (ore ra"ically an" fro( the start. :sing *rogra(s "evelo*e" for a!to "esigners an" fil( ani(ators+ Lynn can fin" his way into twisting for(s. )Yo! "efine s*ace in the co(*!ter with c!rves+) he says. ):s!ally an architect wo!l" "raw *oints+ an" connect lines an" *lanes with the(. -ith these *rogra(s+ we#ve shifte" to thin,ing of s*ace as the sheltere" enclos!res of a fle4i le han",erchief.) One thing that (a,es Lynn new is that he ,nows why they call that st!ff software.