Architecture is a wonderful means of representing, imposing or arousing states of human nature.(Eurozine, 2011) OverviewMy work establishes how the innate potency of the material world may be applied to architectural design practice.I aim to identify experimental models to test this hypothesis and set out the principles that underpin the proposed modes of action that may be practically applied in an architectural design context, through the production of collaborative drawings, models and prototypes.My literature search, therefore, explores the overlapping fields of chemistry, which may be regarded as the 'language' of matter, and architecture, which is concerned with the tactics for developing spatial programs.In juxtaposing these disciplines to find synergies between them, my research aims to identify gaps in the knowledge canons and therefore establish the research opportunities.Omar Khan observes the many historic technological and cultural instances where chemistry is entangled with architecture to create something new in the production of new materials, such as concrete, steel, plastics, rubber, crystals and fluids with mutable structures (Khan, 2011).Architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart combine architecture and chemistry in their 'Cradle to Cradle' manifesto, which proposes that more efficient management and better design of the production process may achieve ecologically intelligent design (McDonough and Braungart, 2002).While I share the material concerns of McDonough and Braungart, my research is not focused on the transformation of industrial processes or 'upcycling' through the cultural (re)usage of waste materials, but in the direct empowerment of matter.Rather, I use an alternative framework to the industrial worldview by applying design principles that are expressed through process philosophy and whose operations are embodied in complexity science.My literature survey therefore establishes a roadmap of connections between the disciplines of architectural design and chemistry, with the purpose of understanding what kinds of matter may be sufficiently lively to produce effects that can be designed and measured at the human scale.Material systems are identified that embody the principles of vibrant matter and applied in an architectural setting.My reading also draws from a wide range of disciplines such as philosophy, ecology, complexity, origins of life sciences, sociology and physics, to more fully characterize any apparent knowledge 'gaps'.Taking a processes-oriented rather than object-centred perspective, also allows experiments to be described without invoking machine metaphors.A rich range of terms and ideas are invoked that embody the term 'vibrant matter' and collectively shape my approach to developing a unique portfolio of design operations (see Fig. 3.1).