This book explores the emerging concept of cultural DNA, considering its application across different fields and examining commonalities in approach. It approaches the subject from four different perspectives, in which the topics include theories, analysis and synthesis of cultural DNA artefacts. After an opening section which reviews theoretical work on cultural DNA research, the second section discusses analysis & synthesis of cultural DNA at the urban scale. Section three covers analysis & synthesis of cultural DNA artefacts, and the final section offers approaches to grammar-based cultural DNA research. The book places emphasis on two specific axes: one is the scale of the object under discussion, which ranges from the small (handheld artefacts) to the very large (cities); and the other is the methodology used from analysis to synthesis. This diverse approach with detailed information about grammar-based methodologies toward cultural DNA makes the book unique. This book will serve as a source of inspiration for designers and researchers trying to find the essence, archetype, and the building blocks of our environment for the incorporation of social and cultural factors into their designs.

This book explores the emerging concept of cultural DNA, considering its application across different fields and examining commonalities in approach. It approaches the subject from four different perspectives, in which the topics include theories, analysis and synthesis of cultural DNA artefacts. After an opening section which reviews theoretical work on cultural DNA research, the second section discusses analysis & synthesis of cultural DNA at the urban scale. Section three covers analysis & synthesis of cultural DNA artefacts, and the final section offers approaches to grammar-based cultural DNA research. The book places emphasis on two specific axes: one is the scale of the object under discussion, which ranges from the small (handheld artefacts) to the very large (cities); and the other is the methodology used from analysis to synthesis. This diverse approach with detailed information about grammar-based methodologies toward cultural DNA makes the book unique. This book will serve as a source of inspiration for designers and researchers trying to find the essence, archetype, and the building blocks of our environment for the incorporation of social and cultural factors into their designs.

A fundamental goal of population genetics is to understand how historical events and processes, such as speciation, migration, natural selection, and drift, have contributed to genetic variation among modern individuals. In humans, factors that contribute to genetic variation also include cultural phenomena and practices such as marriage customs and membership in cultural or linguistic groups that act as either barriers to, or catalysts for, contact and mating. Mathematical models of genetic evolution can be applied to make inferences about factors that have influenced genetic variation among populations over time. Analyses of cultural data can enhance these analyses by identifying cultural phenomena that have contributed to contact and isolation among populations and by providing an additional source of information that can be used to infer demographic histories. In this thesis, I first describe work on mathematical modeling approaches that can be used to infer the historical relationships among populations, and to model the effects of these relationships on present-day genetic diversity. Next, I describe empirical analyses of cultural variation that shed light on recent cultural, geographic, and demographic factors that have influenced both cultural and genetic diffusion among populations. The first three chapters focus on mathematical models of genetic variation. In Chapter 1, I apply a coalescent model to reduce the expected error in an existing algorithm (the GLASS method) for inferring the historical relationships among populations or species. The new method I develop provides fast and accurate estimates of the topological and temporal relationships among a set of extant populations. These estimates can be used to obtain accurate null models for downstream analyses, such as comparative genetic studies to identify signals of adaptation. In Chapter 2, I extend the model of Chapter 1 to derive expressions for the theoretical accuracy of algorithms that perform genotype imputation, a key component of many genome-wide association studies of the genetic bases of phenotypic traits. The expressions I derive can be used to guide sampling designs for collecting panels of imputation reference haplotypes, thus improving the power of genome-wide association studies to detect the genetic variants that underlie phenotypic variation. Coalescent models like those presented in chapters 1 and 2 can be computationally difficult to implement on modern genomic data sets with many sampled individuals. The complexity of these computations can be reduced by making use of an approximation to the coalescent model in which the number of ancestral alleles in a population is assumed to change deterministically as time moves backwards. In Chapter 3, I describe general procedures for applying this deterministic approximation to obtain functionally simple and computationally fast approximations to coalescent formulas that are otherwise challenging to compute on data sets with many sampled individuals. In chapters 4 and 5, I present empirical analyses designed to identify cultural factors that can affect genetic variation, as well as factors that can affect both genetic and cultural differences among populations. In Chapter 4, I present an analysis of linguistic and cultural diversity in the United States, with the goal of understanding factors that have contributed to cultural isolation and diffusion among demographic groups over time. In Chapter 5, I present a joint analysis of genetic and linguistic data in Cape Verde, an archipelago near the coast of western Africa with a long history of genetic and linguistic admixture between European and African populations. This analysis sheds light on demographic and geographical factors that affect both genetic and linguistic variation, and on the degree to which linguistic inheritance parallels genetic inheritance. The modeling approaches, theory, and analyses presented in this thesis provide a set of tools that facilitate studies of the factors that affect genetic and cultural variation within and among populations.

This book presents selected papers from the 3rd Cultural DNA Workshop. Contributed by prominent computational design experts in the fields of mechanical engineering and architectural design, they mainly focus on the design process; shape grammars as a valuable tool; and the analysis of cultural values. The book offers readers fresh viewpoints on computational design. and helps researchers in academy and practitioners in industry to learn more evolved cultural DNA knowledge which is newly interpreted and conceptually reinforced in areas of mechanical engineering and architectural engineering.

This book reports research and development that represent the state of the art in artificial intelligence in design, design cognition, design neurocognition, and design theories from the Tenth International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition held in Glasgow, UK, in 2022. The 48 chapters are grouped under the headings of natural language processing and design; design cognition; design neurocognition; learning and design; creative design and co-design; shape grammars; quantum computing; and human behavior. These contributions are of particular interest to design researchers and design educators, as well as to users of advanced computation and cognitive science. This book contains knowledge about the cognitive and neurocognitive behavior of designers, which is valuable to those who need to gain a better understanding of designing.

The papers in this volume are from the Ninth International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC’20) held virtually at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA. They represent the state-of-the-art of research and development in design computing and design cognition including the increasingly active area of design cognitive neuroscience. They are of particular interest to design researchers, developers and users of advanced computation in designing as well as to design educators. This volume contains knowledge about the cognitive behavior of designers, which is valuable for those who need to gain a better understanding of designing.

Shape grammar and space syntax have been separately developed but rarely combined in any significant way. The first of these is typically used to investigate or generate the formal or geometric properties of architecture, while the second is used to analyze the spatial, topological, or social properties of architecture. Despite the reciprocal relationship between form and space in architecture—it is difficult to conceptualize a completed building without a sense of both of these properties—the two major computational theories have been largely developed and applied in isolation from each another. Grammatical and Syntactical Approaches in Architecture: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a critical scholarly resource that explores the relationship between shape grammar and space syntax for urban planning and architecture and enables the creative discovery of both the formal and spatial features of an architectural style or type. This book, furthermore, presents a new method to selectively capture aspects of both the grammar and syntax of architecture. Featuring a range of topics such as mathematical analysis, spatial configuration, and domestic architecture, this book is essential for architects, policymakers, urban planners, researchers, academicians, and students.