Frank O. Gehry, born in 1929, founded his own architectural firm in Los Angeles in 1962, and since the building of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, he is undoubtedly among the ranks of international architecture superstars. His buildings are complex constructions, with curves and distortions, skilful plastic shapes which never cease to surprise with their breath-taking spatial effects. To create these daring designs, Gehry makes extensive use of the latest electronic tools, physical models are transformed into digital models using software and hardware which has been adapted from the space industry and medical research. This book provides a colourful insight into Gehry's design methods and the creative process behind his fantastic buildings. Bruce Lindsay studied at the Yale School of Architecture; he is now Associate Head at the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (USA).

Big Data, Code and the Discrete City explores how digital technologies are gradually changing the way in which the public space is designed by architects, managed by policymakers and experienced by individuals. Smart city technologies are superseding the traditional human experience that has characterised the making of the public space until today. This book examines how computers see the public space and the effect of algorithms, artificial intelligences and automated processes on the human experience in public spaces. Divided into three parts, the first part of this book examines the notion of discreteness in its origins and applications to computer sciences. The second section presents a dual perspective: it explores the ways in which public spaces are constructed by the computer-driven logic and then translated into control mechanisms, design strategies and software-aided design. This perspective also describes the way in which individuals perceive this new public space, through its digital logic, and discrete mechanisms (from Wi-Fi coverage to self-tracking). Finally, in the third part, this book scrutinises the discrete logic with which computers operate, and how this is permeating into aspects of city life. This book is valuable for anyone interested in urban studies and digital technologies, and more specifically in big data, urban informatics and public space.