Theories represent the highest type of knowledge used within architecture. They provide specific knowledge that is distinct from the knowledge captured within methodologies or styles. Theories are used to build meaningful relationships between building forms and existing visions of the world. The values that underlie a significant portion of architectural design today have been undeniably shaped by general system theory. In the 1950s, system theory fundamentally changed the understanding that architects had of the world. The change was significant because it led architects to question concepts of space, structure, and time. Concepts of 'rationality' were also challenged.

As a mechanism, architects discovered that feedback could be incorporated directly into buildings via the use of responsive systems and that these systems would enable spaces and people to enter into a dynamic relationship. With this shift the tradition of modernism within architecture was slowly eroded, until in the mid 1960s, responsive systems became a favorite topic of the discipline. Unfortunately this movement was short lived. It came to an end in the mid 1970s as architects struggled to build the computational and structural systems needed to implement their new architectures. By the 1980s the idea for using responsive systems within buildings had completely transferred from architecture into the domain of engineering.

Engineering precedents for the use of adaptive structural systems are varied and include now commonly known systems such as mass dampeners, piezoelectric structures, actuated tensegrity systems and deployable structural systems. References for the use of actuated tensegrity systems can be found within aeronautical, marine, space, and civil applications. Namesake works for other types of adaptive structures also exist with Chuck Hoberman's spheres providing one example. These precedents form an important part of the practical knowledge currently available for the development of shape control within architecture. It is worth quickly mentioning that this practical wisdom is encapsulated within methodological knowledge. Methodologies provide designers with ways to attack design problems and realize solutions against higher-level goals. Within architecture, methodologies typically constitute inside-out or outside-in approaches to design. Within engineering, methodologies constitute approaches for calculating how a particular element will perform within a larger system. Because shape controllable structures and building envelope systems are currently unsupported by architectural design methodologies, engineering methods provide an important starting point for the development of new types of architectural knowledge.