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Blobs, or irregularly-shaped organic forms (generally complex and computer generated), allow for the formal relation between the homogeneous or general to the heterogeneous or particular. Blobs reconcile the gaps in representation that traditional forms are sometimes unable to alleviate. They “suggest alternative strategies” and provide different, innovative solutions to difficult architectural situations.

Blobs can’t be reduced, each is unique, and they are simultaneously alien to context while being able to be directly and dynamically informed by it. Lynn introduces “blobbiness” by likening them and their forms to the actions of blob-creatures in horror films, by philosophical definition of like surfaces, and by contemporary design techniques.

Blobs are like horror film creatures in the way they behave as a surface. They’re forms behave like liquids with fluid movements, and a sort of surface tension and viscosity. They can also absorb object and interact with their environments in this liquid sense. And finally they appear as matter that is singularly connected but can be infinitely multiplied and distributed.

These fluid entities are often described as “quasi-solid.” These have been developed digitally as isomorphic polysurfaces often called blob models. These are defined in relation to other objects or forces that have fields of influence, which the models react to. They can mutually redefine their respective surfaces based on the quality of influence in a given situation.

Blob construction fights the notion that structures must stand upright as a reaction to human structure, and therefore fights the notion that buildings should automatically stand vertically. This was based on an early belief and ease of design on behalf of architects who were expected to be “simple, crude and upright in their approach” to designing surface and structure. With today’s technology, many architects are investigating alternative solutions Cartesian volumetric spatial identities. Shoei Yoh is one such architect whose recent work exhibits an approach to enclose a diverse set of programs under one roof with innovative techniques. Using blob tectonics, formal repetition is still used, but elaborated upon and made to interact with programmatic forces more creatively.

Work such as Yoh’s masks the distinctions essentially between the Cartesian and blob methods of design through the creation of a new approach that utilizes elements of both, such as “blobular” form and repetitious, Cartesian construction methods. This combination manifests itself as a new unique identity incorporating both, referred to as the blob.