Exaptation in Transitional Urban Morphologies: First Notes on the Dynamics of Urban Form Read through the Theories of Natural Evolution

Abstract

Studying the dynamics of urban form means questioning the processes of evolution of the form in general. The current discussion on the architecture of buildings and urban spaces has drawn the concept of adaptation from theories of natural evolution. These notes propose a reflection on the opposite and controverse concept of exaptation as it was proposed by the biologist and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould in 1982. Through some examples (the different transformations of some Roman amphitheaters of the imperial age and the metamorphoses that occurred in the 20th century to some Chinese urban fabrics, originally made by courtyard houses), it is possible to extend to urban forms the idea of the casual co-optation for new uses of organs and anatomical parts developed for other reasons. This kind of reflection opens up innovative considerations on the potential of transitional urban analysis and its repercussions on evolutive urban transformation processes.