The implementation of the mathematical field of topology in the form-finding process via computational methods has led to a shift in the way that architecture verges on the question of form. Topological geometry imparts a new dynamism to the design practice since it allows its realization in an enviroment that embodies the concept of time and movement. The once inert and a priori deterministic form becomes a virtual entity that emerges through constant change towards the novelty, otherness and uniqueness of its instant formation. Revisiting the organic, the form becomes “operative”, a living body that is capable of transforming, mutating, evolving according to intrinsic and external parameters.

This new body, both a singularity and a cohesive assemblage, acquires a renewed plasticity and fluid adaptivity following the dictates to integrate the complexity of the contemporary social field. Architecture then becomes more and more smooth, escaping from the logics of linearity, deterministic thought, typology and fixed rules. Thereafter, a topological tendency in architecture attempts to create smooth spaces not only via the complexity of form but also via establishing a new kind of freedom of lived experience for the user. The affect relations between the subject and the object of design are translated in an analogical way according to Massumi to mutual relations of influence between the real space (interactive or not) and its inhabitant. The question of form is now traversed from what a form signifies to what these animated bodies can do and offer both in the research for novelty and the virtuality of our material living existence.