The early seventies was an explosive time of new ideas and rapid change with London being one of the main centres of activity and innovation. In the midst of this, and as an already established architect of some repute, caught up in this wave of novel thought, Basil Al Bayati began to take an interest in the creative process itself and in particular, its relationship to architecture and the genesis of architectural form. It was, at the time, undiscovered territory. Creativity was, for the most part, viewed as an elusive gift, the exclusive possession of artists and inventors and little progress had been made in unravelling its mysteries and presenting them in a logical manner for the critical evaluation of others. In this, Basil Al Bayati was something of a trailblazer and his investigations led ultimately to the publishing of his first book, Process and Pattern, published by aarp in 1981. In it, he developed the ideas of the excitor apparatus as a means for explaining how information is processed and the nature of its interaction with a memory surface which can be taken to include anything that can give and receive impressions whether that be the human brain and nervous system, a landscape or a design plan. This book contains his first thoughts on these themes, taken from early notes and essays originally written in the early seventies, and as such must be considered within the context of the time and place in which they were developed. Although some of the psychological principles may seem out-dated by modern standards, we feel that the value of this text as a pioneering study is too great for it to be withheld from the public domain. It is with great pleasure that we present it here for the first time.
Basil Al Bayati was born in the old quarter of the city of Baghdad and began his architectural studies there in the College of Engineering before opening his own practice in the late 60s. In the early 70s, he moved to London to continue his studies, first at University College London, where he studied planning, and then at the Architectural Association School of Architecture where he studied Architectural Psychology. After this, he continued his research into structural engineering at the Polytechnic of Central London. Later, after several years practicing in a variety of architects offices throughout London, he began researching art, architecture and archaeology at London University and became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects as well as a number of other professional bodies. In the late 70s he opened his own practice in Knightsbridge, London. From here, he designed and built numerous projects in both the Middle East and Europe, fusing the magic of the East with the logic of the West. He has published a number of books on architecture as well as fiction and psychology and now continues to practice architecture based out of his centre in Malaga.
