Reconsidering Fluidity in Architectural Design in the Digital Era: A Conceptual Review of Scientific Articles from the Past Three Decades (1995–2025)

This study critically explores theoretical concepts of fluidity in architectural design, addressing its positioning, challenges, and evolving role within digital-era developments in scientific research over the past three decades. The aim of this article is to critically review the fluidity research gap in architectural design, shifting the concept away from ambiguous and inconsistent formal metaphors toward recognizing its importance within the interdisciplinary context of digitization and networking. The research method employs a four-level content analysis based on a deductive approach. The development of an interdisciplinary conceptual framework of fluidity is examined, alongside its changing scope, meanings, and positioning within the field of architectural design research. The study employs the definition and systematization of key terms and spatial aspects to trace the transformation of fluidity. This is achieved through the analysis of a selected corpus of peer-reviewed scientific articles, structured along cultural and technological lines of thought. The results reveal (1) the manner in which fluidity is situated within the domain of architecture in relation to adjacent scientific fields, along technological and cultural lines, and (2) the manner in which corresponding spatial aspects and demands for new forms of knowledge in architectural design have emerged and transformed from predominantly formal and expressive interpretations and metaphors towards a more operational and methodological role. This paper contributes to architectural design research through the development of a structured conceptual and analytical framework that positions fluidity within architectural inquiry. The study addresses the opportunities and challenges of conceptualizing the continuous variability of the notion of fluidity and the spatial aspects it is based on in architectural design processes in response to cultural and technological transformations. Furthermore, the study extends fluidity beyond its role as a design language for articulating complex spatial formations and their experiential implications by establishing a conceptual bridge between digital notions of fluidity and constructural design thinking, thereby reframing fluidity as a performative condition that structures access, movement, and exchange within evolving socio-technical flow systems.