A Thousand Plateaus - Master of Architecture Thesis

A Thousand Plateaus MICHAEL WEIR

A 120-point thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional)

Victoria University of Wellington Wellington School of Architecture 2022

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ABSTRACT

Scientists theorise that we now exist in the Anthropocene­­— an era when humanity has such an influence on the earth that the geological and ecological repercussions will be detectable indefinitely into the future. Microplastics, nuclear waste, industrial carbon, and other anthropogenic waste products have created a new stratum that envelops the surface of the earth. Anthropogenic interference in natural systems has offset the stability of our biosphere. Ecological destabilisation is omnipresent with anthropogenic climate change, among other symptoms, threatening to bring about a Sixth Mass Extinction. The planetary scale of the Anthropocene confronts humanity with a unique challenge — designing for the future at a temporal scale appropriate for a geological epoch, not the egocentric time scale of a human. The planetary scale impact of the Anthropocene infers a planetary responsibility that falls upon humanity — and the speculative architect.

This thesis proposes the exploration of a speculative architectural future world that acknowledges the ever-transforming conditions of the Anthropocene. The speculative architectural outcomes represent a shift away from anthropocentric thinking, acknowledging the ubiquitous presence of non-humans in the built environment through architectural artefacts that are self-determined participants of an ever-expanding system — reclaiming non-human influence over the flow of anthropogenic waste.

This design-led thesis’s allegorical investigation uses Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus as a literary provocateur.

Deleuze and Guattari advocate for design as a primary tool to achieve their vision of a ‘new earth’. The principal aim of this architectural design investigation is to examine how computational simulation processes and iterative experimentation can propagate architectural artefacts that invoke a shift in thinking away from anthropocentrism. The principal research objectives are to investigate how philosophical, ecological, and systematic approaches can be reconfigured into an integrated framework to achieve this aim.

As a Philosophical Approach, the artefacts engender Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of ‘rhizomatic’ thinking, where systems represent nomadic growth with no clear beginning or end.

As an Ecological Approach, the artefacts address ecological imbalance by constructing themselves out of the very anthropogenic waste products that threaten the stability of our biosphere.

As a Systematic Approach, the artefacts represent parts of a much wider, planetary scale system that systematically transforms in response to continually changing conditions.

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Fig 0.1

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Picture of young Michael with a system of trains. The distortion decenter's humanity from the image.

PREFACE

As a child, I was always interested in creating something new from various pieces in my toy box. I would mix Legos with trains, arts and crafts with figurines, constantly exploring a myriad of playful combinations. These creations would find themselves strewn across a train track, relegated to be actors in a larger narrative system composed of toy assemblages.

me to seek new hierarchies between actors in a system. Coinciding with a global pandemic, the literary discovery encouraged me to re-position my thoughts, seeking new ways to create new assemblages for contemporary problems, but most importantly, to invoke new directions and personal growth in how I view the world.

Early into my MArch(Prof) research, I was shown a paragraph from a philosophy book, A Thousand Plateaus. It challenged my perceptions about creating ‘the new’, and it pushed

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“The self is only a threshold, a door, a becoming between two multiplicities” ― Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus 275

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank all those around me who cared for me and helped me, even as the world was deterritorialising.

Thank you to my loved ones for the unconditional support and love you give me.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract iii Preface v Acknowledgments vii Table of Contents viii

1.0: INTRODUCTION 1.0 - Introduction 1.1 - Problem Statement 1.2 - Research Proposition 1.3 - Research Question 1.4 - Research Aims & Objectives 1.5 - Design Methods and Processes 1.6 - Methodology Diagram 1.7 - Research Scope 1.8 - Thesis Structure

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2.0: PROJECT AND LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 - Introduction 2.1 - Project and Literature Review Stage 1 2.2 - The Anthropocene Introduction 2.3 -The Philosophical Approach 2.4 - The Ecological Approach 2.5 - The Systematic Approach 2.6 - Stage 1 - Critical Reflection

21 23 24 26 32 37 42

Stage 2 - Project and Literature review 2.7 - Introduction 2.8 - Manuel Delanda 2.9 - Greg Lynn 2.10 - Barry Wark

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44 46 50 52

2.11 - Susan Stepney 2.12 - Stage 2 Critical reflection

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3.0: PRELIMINARY DESIGN I Preliminary Design Introduction 63 3.0 - Preliminary Design I Monstering Experiments 65 3.1 - Seed Factory - Involution 68 3.2 - Growth Engine 76 3.3 - Computational Garden 86 3.4 - Monstering System Preliminary Design I 88 3.5 - Chapter 3 Critical Reflection 90 92

4.0: PRELIMINARY DESIGN II 4.0 - Introduction 4.1 - Connection/Heterogeneity 4.2 - Cartography/Decalcomania 4.3 - Multiplicity 4.4 - Asignifying rupture 4.5 - Critical Reflection

97 100 120 140 158 184

5.0: DEVELOPED DESIGN 5.0 - Introduction 5.1 - Deterritorialise/Reterritorialise experiments 5.2 - Developed Design Outcomes 5.3 - Developed Design Critical Reflection

189 191 201 228

6.0: CONCLUSIONS 6.0 - Conclusions and Critical Reflections 7.1 - Bibliography 7.2 - Source of Figures 7.3 - Appendix

232 234 238 240

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FILM PRESENTATION

This design led thesis investigation is accompanied with a 16 minute film presentation.

Click the button below to view the film in its entirety.

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FILM CHAPTER SELECTION Click on thumbnails to navigate to that section of the film.

TRANSMISSION 1: ANTHROPOCENE

TRANSMISSION 2: ADDRESSING SCALE

TRANSMISSION 3: MONSTERING SYSTEM

TRANSMISSION 4: WORLDING EXPERIMENTS

TRANSMISSION 5: TOWER ARTEFACT

FINAL TRANSMISSION?: (RE) WORLDING

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Despite much of humanity living longer and healthier lives than ever before, the negative by-products of our post-industrial-revolution society are having adverse consequences. A thin layer of anthropogenic waste collecting on the earth’s surface is the defining feature of what scientists theorise to be a new geological age — the Anthropocene. This geological feature is one of many characteristics that evidence humanity’s interference with natural systems in the biosphere , leading to immense challenges of our own making. If these challenges are not addressed, the Anthropocene will very likely lead to the Sixth Great Extinction, and the remaining Terran community will have no say.

This thesis proposes the exploration of a speculative architectural future world that acknowledges the ever-transforming conditions of the Anthropocene. The speculative architectural outcomes represent a shift away from anthropocentric thinking, acknowledging the ubiquitous presence of non-humans in the built environment through architectural artefacts that are self-determined participants of an ever-expanding system— reclaiming non-human influence over the flow of anthropogenic waste.

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s book, A Thousand Plateaus, addresses a ‘boiling planet’, with earth ‘deterritorialised’ to the brink of collapse.

They propose design as a primary tool to shift contemporary areas of thought and to reach

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the philosophical goal of ‘new earth’. The thesis investigation seeks to reinterpret the philosophies outlined in the book as architectural systems, to re-contextualise our entire approach to the Anthropocene.

This design-led thesis investigation explores how the speculative architect can help shift our way of thinking away from anthropocentrism by testing iterative design experiments that integrate philosophical, ecological and systematic approaches to our conceptualisation of the built environment.

Fig 1.1

Experimental drawing exploring anthropogenic strata and non-human artefact’s

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1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Scientists theorise that we exist in the Anthropocene — an era when humanity has such an influence on the earth that the geological and ecological symptoms will be detectable indefinitely into the future. Ecological destabilisation in the Anthropocene is omnipresent: climate change, ocean acidification, deforestation, geomorphology, anthropogenic waste and much more. A defining feature of the Anthropocene is the impact of anthropogenic waste on global and ecological systems. Anthropogenic waste, like microplastics, nuclear waste and industrial carbon, has created a new stratum that envelops the surface of the earth. This Anthropogenic interference in natural systems has offset the stability of our biosphere.

Ecological destabilisation is widespread with

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anthropogenic climate change, among other symptoms, threatening to bring about a Sixth Mass Extinction.

Furthermore, the Anthropocene confronts humanity with a nascent temporal challenge.

In an era when we are witnessing extraordinary changes in weather, biodiversity, and geology, the subject of time is increasingly important.

The Anthropocene represents a challenge at a planetary scale, demanding a solution that is appropriate for the time scale of a geological epoch, not the egocentric time scale of a human. The planetary scale impact of the Anthropocene infers a planetary responsibility that falls upon humanity — and the speculative architect.

Since 1950, a “great acceleration” in human activity has left its mark on the planet, including a new stratum of anthropogenic waste.

POPULATION

CARBON DIOXIDE

SURFACE TEMP.

TROPICAL FOREST LOSS

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

METHANE

WORLDWIDE NATURAL DISASTERS Drought Earthquake Extreme Temperature Extreme Weather Flood Landslide

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LIFE ON EARTH TIMELINE

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Proterozoic

Miocene 23.0Ma

(Top) Various graphs emphasising anthropogenic interference in natural systems (Middle) The acceleration of landscape changing natural disasters, brought on by anthropogenic climate change (Bottom) The Anthropocene forces humanity to examine problems at the scale of an epoch. This graph shows how the infantile scale of humanities timeline when compared to previous epoch and

Anthropocene

Oligocene 33.9Ma

Holocene

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EPOCHS

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1.2 RESEARCH PROPOSITION

This design-led thesis investigation proposes a shift in thinking from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism. This reflects the human-centred cause of the Anthropocene, shifting our attention to an ecocentric perspective where the values of the non-human in the biosphere are considered ontologically equal to the values of humanity. To find a balance for all agents in the biosphere and stabilise the ecology, humanity must learn to engage with the non-human realm.

This design-led thesis investigation proposes to use Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus as a literary provocateur. Deleuze and Guattari advocate for design as a primary tool to achieve their vision of a ‘new earth’.

As an Ecological Approach, this thesis investigation looks to construct ecological artefacts that acknowledge the ubiquitous presence of non-humans in the built environment, promoting the ontological power shift from the anthropocentric to the ecocentric. It proposes to construct these artefacts through computational simulation processes that emulate the growth and propagation of non-human agencies. Furthermore, the ecological artefacts will be conceived to help address ecological and ontological imbalance by reclaiming control over the anthropogenic waste flows that define the Anthropocene.

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The thesis investigation proposes to design a speculative new system that reflects reflect the large, planetary and geological scale of the Anthropocene, while being adaptable to the continually changing conditions of the Anthropocene. The speculatively designed artefacts will need to adopt the ‘lifelike’ properties of the non-humans they are modeled after, produced through applications of speculated future ‘agentised’ materials and living technologies that are able to adapt and change with the system.

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1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION

This design-led research investigation asks: How can architectural artefacts that represent a shift in thinking away from anthropocentrism be generated by integrating philosophical, ecological, and systematic approaches into computational simulation processes through iterative design experimentation?

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1.3 RESEARCH AIMS & OBJECTIVES

The principal Research Aim of the investigation is: RA

to examine how architectural artefacts that represent a shift in thinking away from anthropocentrism can be generated by integrating philosophical, ecological, and systematic approaches into computational simulation processes through iterative design experimentation.

The principal Research Objectives of the investigation are: RO1

Philosophical Approach: to explore how speculative architectural artefacts can be generated from Deleuze and Guattari’ s concept of ‘rhizomatic’ thinking, where systems represent nomadic growth with no clear beginning or end.

RO2

Ecological Approach: to explore how speculative architectural artefacts can address ecological imbalance by manipulating the very anthropogenic waste products that threaten the stability of our biosphere.

RO3

Systematic Approach: to explore how speculative architectural artefacts can represent component parts of a much wider, planetary scale system that systematically transforms in response to continually changing conditions.

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1.4 DESIGN METHODS AND PROCESSES This design-led research investigation follows the iterative process shown in figure 1.2 (overleaf). Each research objective and its corresponding theorists/case studies are used to interrogate each iterative stage of this investigation.

Professor of Experimental Architecture Dr Rachel Armstrong proposes that “mature toolsets for ‘wicked’1 challenges’ like the Anthropocene “do not yet exist … they are nascent and being prototyped through the process of experiment” (Armstrong 67). Armstrong argues that “to achieve the necessary paradigm shift in the production of ecological architectures, many visions and strategies must be engaged” (Armstrong 64). Consequently, this thesis will integrate multiple methodologies to maximise experimentation opportunities, addressing how architectural artefacts can be generated by integrating philosophical, ecological, and systematic approaches into computational simulation processes and iterative design experimentation.

1.4.1 A THOUSAND PLATEAUS The framework for the research methodology in the design chapters draws from philosophical concepts laid out by Félix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze in A Thousand Plateaus. Throughout the book, Deleuze and Guattari repeatedly call for a ‘new earth’, which can only be achieved through ‘rhizomatic’ thinking. In the book, Deleuze and Guattari use the philosophical persona of the Artisan and the Sorcerer to help connect philosophy to design.

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1.4.2 RHIZOMATIC THINKING This thesis utilises A Thousand Plateaus ‘ philosophical concept of the ‘rhizome’ as a framework for design. Rhizomatic thinking encourages the creation of ‘the new’ through experimentation of assemblages.

For ‘new earth’ to be achieved, the philosophy of the rhizome must be addressed. This thesis explores a rhizomes 4 main characteristic groups, outlined in the opening chapter of A Thousand Plateaus. Each characteristic is separately explored in Stage 2: Worlding Experiments.

1.4.3 THE ARTISAN AND THE SORCERER The philosophical concepts are translated into design through the ‘artisan’ and the ‘sorcerer’, two conceptual personae outlined in A Thousand Plateaus that embody methods engage philosophical constructs within design processes. The ‘artisan’ is anthropocentric, while the ‘sorcerer’ is distinctly ecocentric.

Examining the ongoing dialectic relationship between human (artisan) and non-human (sorcerer) agents is pivotal for the design methodology in this investigation.

1.4.4 THE SORCERER This thesis examines the philosophical persona of the sorcerer and their negotiation with non-human ‘becomings’. Becomings are the philosophical process of an assemblage transforming and changing. Stage 1 will examine the sorcerers negotiations with non-human ‘becomings’ in relation to project and literature review, as a method of systematically

generating non-human artefacts.

1.4.5 THE ARTISAN The ‘artisan’ is engaged in Stage 2. As a philosophical framework, the artisan is representative of human-centered thought and represents the technological advancements that accelerated the symptoms of the Anthropocene.

1.4.6 STAGE 1: MONSTERING EXPERIMENTS Stage 1 of the research method engages the Experimental Architecture Group’s (AEG) contemporary toolset of ‘Monstering Experiments’ (Armstrong et al.). Monstering is a transdisciplinary toolset to “generate new kinds of bodies” by “transgressing natural interfaces” to “negotiate our ongoingness within a constantly transforming world” (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong 62). These monstering experiments will establish the limits of a ‘monstering’ system, looking to create non-human artefacts that are represent the ubiquitous presence of non-humans in the built environment.

1.4.7 STAGE 2: WORLDING EXPERIMENTS Stage 2 utilises the architectural research methodology of ‘Worlding Experiments’ as outlined in the book The Art of Experiment: Post-pandemic Knowledge Practices for 21st Century Architecture and Design (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong). Worlding Experiments

“facilitate the construction of ecological prototypes [to] generate ecological myths [for] (re) making our worlds [through an] assemblage of concepts, contexts, material expressions and emergent propositions” (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong 55). These ‘ecological prototypes’ will be represented through a series of ecocentric artefacts.

The Worlding Experiments will be structured by the philosophical framework of the ‘rhizome’.

Consequently, the preliminary design chapter is sectioned into the four defining features of a rhizome: 1) cartography and decalcomania, 2) connection, 3) heterogeneity and multiplicity, and the final rhizomatic characteristic of 4) ‘asignifying rupture’ will combine the characteristics of the three previous rhizomatic characteristics into one stage of design experimentation (Deleuze and Guattari 9). Exploring each component of the rhizome separately ensures that architectural experimentation aligns with Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy that is concerned with achieving ‘new earth’ and shifting dogmatic anthropocentrism in the Anthropocene.

Armstrong borrows from Timothy Morton’s use of ‘wickedness’ in “Dark Ecologies” (Morton 36). The defining symptom of the Anthropocene, global warming, has become a super wicked problem: one we can see clearly, but for which there is no rational solution. According to Harris et al, Wicked problems are irreducible in their complexity and size, unverifiable in the true extent of their danger, interminable in that we do not know when we have solved them, alogical in that the solutions are not right or wrong but good or bad, and irreversible in that there are no “trial runs” or attempts.

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1.5 METHODOLOGY DIAGRAM 2/plateau

Asignifying Rupture

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Connection/heterogeneity

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A plateau is always in the middle, not at the beginning or the end. A rhizome is made of plateaus.

- Deleuze and Guattari p21

5/plateau

developed design

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Asignifying Rupture

KEY: intensities plateau new lines of flight Fig 1.5

Methodology Diagram. This design led-thesis investigation exists within a ‘continuum’ as postulated by Deleuze and Guattari. This diagram displays design sections as ‘plateaus’, mimicking Deleuze and Guattari’s use of ‘plateaus’ in lieu of chapter in A Thousand Plateaus.

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1.6 - RESEARCH SCOPE

This thesis is investigating a current problem, whose future impact on the earth represents an interminable scope. Consequently, proposed solutions will of necessity speculate about future technologies not yet invented or even technologically possible. As a future-driven speculative architecture investigation, cost, structural analysis and programme are outside the scope of this thesis investigation.

The Anthropocene exists at a planetary scale, whose symptoms affect life in the biosphere at both macro and micro scales. The Anthropocene is measured against a geological timescale with climatic symptoms that far exceed egocentric timescales. For these reasons, the scope of the investigation will be highly speculative and future-driven

Fig 1.6

Simulation constructed in Side FX Houdini, exploring a rhizomatic continuity, fluidly changing through different timescales.

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1.7 - THESIS STRUCTURE

1.7.1 CHAPTER 1 Chapter 1 introduces the investigation’s problem statement, proposition, aims and objectives, design methods and processes and the scope of design research. This will articulate the thesis investigation’s focus, structure and direction.

1.7.2 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE AND PROJECT REVIEW Chapter 2 is divided into two stages. Stage 1 has three sections of literature review, each covering one of the three principal research objectives. Section one analyses the philosophical concepts that underline the thesis. Section two explores the ecological component of the Anthropocene. Section three addresses how systems may be explored to address the fluid conditions of the Anthropocene. Stage 2, builds iteratively from Stage 1, examining literature and projects that focus on processes for generating ecocentric artefacts.

These theories and case studies are used as a foundation for the preliminary design experiments that follow.

the thesis investigations aim and objectives.

1.7.4 CHAPTER 4: PRELIMINARY DESIGN — II Chapter 4 is the second stage of preliminary design. It is a continuation of chapter 3, iteratively building on the critical reflections and system created during chapter 3. Chapter 4 invokes ‘rhizomatic’ thinking as a philosophical framework. Consequently, chapter 4 will be sectioned into the four defining features of a rhizome: cartography and decalcomania, connection and heterogeneity and multiplicity.

The final rhizomatic characteristic of ‘asignifying rupture’ will combine characteristics of the three previous stages of design into one stage of design experimentation.

1.7.5 CHAPTER 5: DEVELOPED DESIGN Chapter 5 is the developed design. Here, the outcomes and critical reflections of the previous chapters will be developed into a final outcome.

1.7.3 CHAPTER 3: PRELIMINARY DESIGN — I Chapter 3 is the first stage of preliminary design. In this section a series of ‘monstering experiments’ are conducted, built upon literature and project from Chapter 2. The final outcome will be an speculative 'monstering system' that generates artefacts that reflect

1.7.5 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS AND CRITICAL REFLECTIONS Chapter 6 critically reflects on the design experiments in relation to the Research Aim and Objectives.

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2.0 - PROJECT AND LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION

The research aim and objectives of this thesis focus on generating architectural artefacts that represent a shift from anthropocentric thinking to ecocentric thinking. The Literature and Project Review builds an iterative foundation for exploring the three principal research objectives.

The Literature and Project Review is divided into two stages. Stage 1 focuses on the three Research Objectives. Stage 2 will iteratively build on the findings in Stage 1, focusing on processes for generating artefacts.

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2.1 - PROJECT AND LITERATURE REVIEW STAGE 1

Stage 1 of Chapter 2, the Project and Literature Review, focuses on exploring the theoretical context of the three Research Objectives.

• The Philosophical Approach • The Ecological Approach • The Systematic Approach Section 2.2 of the Literature Review begins with a brief contextual analysis of the Anthropocene. It examines Giacomo Pala’s 2021 article, “Anthropocene, architecture, and modernity”, to understand architectures contemporary relationship to architecture.

Section 2.3 discusses the principal theorists investigated in relation to Research Objective 1, the Philosophical Approach : Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Roy Scranton, Hannah Stark and Arun Saldanha, Dr Craig Lundy, Dr Jason Parry.

Section 2.4 discusses the principal theorists in relation to Research Objective 2, the Ecological Approach. The principal theorists are Timothy Morton and Etienne Turpin.

Section 2.5 discusses the principal theorists investigated in relation to Research Objective 3, the Systematic Approach: Etienne Turpin, Sanford Kwinter, Michael Pawlyn, Neil Leach and Dr. Philip F Yuan, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari.

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2.2 THE ANTHROPOCENE INTRODUCTION

2.2.1 ANTHROPOCENE CONTEXT

2.2.2 ANTHROPOCENE & ARCHITECTURE

We currently exist in the era of the Anthropocene. While the term is yet to be formally adopted by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), it is widely agreed that we are in an age where humans significantly impact on the earth’s ecosystems (Hubert).

Geologically, the Anthropocene signifies human’s “terraforming” of the earth’s strata.

Anthropogenic layers of radiation, industrial carbon, micro plastics, and waste will be identifiable in the earths crust indefinitely into the future. This stratigraphic layering is a post-traumatic indicator of the greater anthropogenic interference of natural systems.

“The Anthropocene remains a conceptual work in progress, argued about by human beings who are, in what is also taken to be indicative of the novel age of the Anthropocene, the first species to be self-consciously aware of their power in having transformed the earth”. (Kelly 1)

Anthropogenic imbalance in natural systems is omnipresent: ocean acidification, deforestation, losing species’ diversity through extinction, changes to the earth’s surface because of population migration and alterations to geomorphology, global warming and much more (Saldanha and Stark 428). Anthropogenic climate change has altered the earth’s biosphere, increasing the frequency and magnitude of volatile natural events. Categorising these climatic changes under the Anthropocene epoch acknowledges human’s planetary responsibility, which inevitability entails ethical responsibility for its consequences (Hubert).

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Architecture’s response to the Anthropocene is also a “conceptual work in progress” (Giacomo Pala 145). It has emerged through a variety of topics: the simulation of natural processes, interest in material study and their provenances, as well as new urban theories (Giacomo Pala 145). As Giacomo Pala states in his 2021 article, “Anthropocene, architecture, and modernity”, the single shared aim between these topics is in “finding common points between nature and the built environment, or even the desire of looking at architecture as if it were a natural object”(Giacomo Pala 145).

This design-led investigation proposes to explore the relationship between “nature and the built environment” . It will seek to generating artefacts to appear“as if [artefacts] were a natural object”.

Fig 2.1

Anthropogenic intervention in the biosphere upsetting natural systems.

Fig 2.2

Anthropogenic waste layered into the strata in landfill.

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2.3 THE PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH

2.3.1 PHILOSOPHICAL CONTEXT

2.3.2 PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY

Philosophy is a discipline that is interdisciplinary and scalable to the complexity of the Anthropocene (Saldanha and Stark 428). In his book Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization, award winning author Roy Scranton proposes a confronting viewpoint of humanity’s apocalyptic end in the Anthropocene.

He challenges learned perspective and ingrained priorities, when considered against the backdrop of civilization's end. He begins by questioning:

Associate Professor in English, Dr Hannah Stark and Professor of Geography, Environment and Society, Dr Arun Saldanha nominate philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychotherapist Félix Guattari to be philosophical guides through the Anthropocene (Saldanha and Stark 427). In their article “A New Earth: Deleuze and Guattari in the Anthropocene”, Stark and Saldanha highlight how Deleuze and Guattari’s work presaged the concept of the Anthropocene, not only in “sustained challenges to humanism, anthropocentrism and capitalism, but also through their interest in geology and the philosophy of time” (Saldanha and Stark 428).

By examining using philosophy (Philosophical Approach) to examine the natural world (Ecological Approach), and systems of time (Systematic Approach) Deleuze and Guattari can be considered when addressing all three Research Objectives.

How do we make meaningful decisions in the shadow of our inevitable end? These questions have no logical or empirical answers. They cannot be graphed or quantified. They are philosophical problems par excellence… we have entered humanity’s most philosophical age, for this is precisely the problem of the Anthropocene. (Scranton 20) Scranton invokes philosophy as the discipline to address the ’unquantifiable’ challenges posed by the Anthropocene. As Scranton queries, “how do we make decisions in the face of the end… we have entered humanities most philosophical age”(Scranton 20). Without a dramatic shift in the thinking, we face the Sixth Great Extinction in the Anthropocene (Morton, Dark Ecology 8).

Unfortunately, Deleuze and Guattari did not have the terminology of the Anthropocene at their disposal when writing their seminal book series Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Yet, we find ingredients of the Anthropocene throughout the series.

They discuss a future gripped by ‘crazy parameters’, a failure of collective imagination to address a ‘boiling planet’, earth itself ‘deterritorialised’ to the brink of collapse (Guattari and Lotringer 307).

To address a deteriorating planet, Deleuze and Guattari repeatedly call for “a new earth”. As a ‘geophilosophy’, new earth acts as Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophical proposition to the

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A philosophy is never a house; it is a construction site. — Georges Bataille,11

deteriorating planet (Parry 109). In Anti-Oedipus (the first volume in Capitalism and Schizophrenia), they describe new earth as a world “where desire functions according to its molecular elements and flows” (Deleuze et al. 319). In A Thousand Plateaus (the second volume in the series) the new earth is the “material through which human beings tap cosmic forces.” As Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, Dr Craig Lundy evaluates, the ‘eclectic’ meaning of new earth ‘is not immediately clear’ (Lundy 3). New earth is the philosophical goal set by Deleuze and Guattari to ‘reterritorialise’ a deteriorating planet. New Earth can only be achieved if we invoke the philosophies within Capitalism and Schizophrenia. In A Thousand Plateaus, Lundy argues Deleuze and Guattari advocate for visual arts as the primary tool to invoke the new earth (Lundy 10). Deleuze and Guattari’s call for new earth in A Thousand Plateaus is akin to this investigation’s aim. Both this thesis and A Thousand Plateaus aim to shift dogged anthropocentrism through design.

Deleuze and Guattari’s invocation of the new earth presents not only a philosophical challenge, but a design challenge as well. Philosophy must encounter non-philosophy, they claim; and it is in the encounter with design that the practical dimensions of Deleuze and Guattari’s project are perhaps brought into starkest relief (Parry 109).

Parry argues that the grounds for connecting philosophy to design was developed in the A Thousand Plateaus by “two conceptual personae that embody distinctly non-philosophical modes of engagement with the earth: namely, the sorcerer and the artisan” (Parry 111). Due to its invocation of the visual arts to call on new earth, A Thousand Plateaus will be used as a literary provocateur in this design-led research investigation.

Dr Jason Parry affirms Lundy’s position, connecting the philosophies in A Thousand Plateaus to design. In his article “Philosophy as Terraforming”, Parry outlines a proposition by Deleuze and Guattari’s in their final collaboration, What is Philosophy? They postulated for new earth to be created, “The philosopher,” they write, “must become non-philosopher so that non-philosophy becomes the earth and people to come of philosophy (Deleuze et al. 109)”. Parry argues that:

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2.3.3 SORCERER + ARTISAN CONTEXT Dr Jason Parry contends that the grounds to connect philosophy to design are established in A Thousand Plateaus through the conceptual personas of the ‘sorcerer’ and the ‘artisan’.

2.3.4 SORCERER Chapter 10 of A Thousand Plateaus, titled “1730: Becoming-Intense, Becoming- Animal, Becoming-Imperceptible…” introduces the sorcerer and their negotiation with ‘becoming’s’. In its simplest form, any tendency towards change will pass through ‘becoming’s’. According to Deleuze and Guattari, the process of ‘becoming’ is not one of imitation or analogy, but generating new concepts based on influences rather than resemblances. ‘Becoming’s’ only begin “under the condition of heterogeneous alliances’ and propagate under conditions of contagion” (Adkins 144). Deleuze and Guittari use the example of a pack of wolves. Someone cannot “become” a wolf by resembling or imitating a wolf. They become a wolf by becoming part of a pack. A ‘pack’ is an assemblage of agencies that is heterogeneous, whole and multiplicitous. An entity cannot tend towards change and ‘become’ something else without first being influenced by its context. ‘Becoming’s’ occur in a zone of “deterritorialisation” a space where organisation and context are altered, mutated or destroyed. The zone of “deterritorialisation” is occupied by an anomalous figure that can negotiate between human and non-human ‘becoming’s’. Deleuze and Guattari explicitly invoke the figure of the sorcerer: “Sorcerers

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have always held the anomalous position at the edge of the field or woods” (Deleuze and Guattari 246). The sorcerers role is to help enable non-human ‘becoming’s’ in zones of detteritorialisation. The volatile conditions of the Anthropocene have created a zone of detteritorialisation, one in which the figure of the sorcerer may thrive.

Dr Jason Parry invokes a contemporary interpretation of the sorcerer, connecting the sorcerer to design through “intentional engagement with biosemiotics” (Parry 112). Specifically, Parry affirms “The sorcerers’ power stems directly from their capacity to negotiate with other agents in such non-human bio-semiotic systems” (Parry 112). Exploring bio-semiotics systems through the sorcerer creates a connection between the Philosophical Approach in RO 1, the Ecological Approach in RO2 and the Systematic Approach in RO3. This engagement with bio-semiotic systems, in processes of ‘becoming’s’ makes the sorcerer an ideal provocateur to address all three Research Objectives. This thesis investigation will explore the philosophical concept of ‘becoming’s’ as a philosophical framework to construct ecological artefacts.

2.3.5 ARTISAN Parry also proposes using the conceptual persona of the artisan as a mode to connect philosophy in A Thousand Plateaus to design.

The artisan is described by Deleuze and Guattari as a designer, invoking multiple design professions. The artisan, the stonemason, the metallurgist — all these professions share the ability to create technology that is reactive to material conditions. Artisans are open to fluid exchange of feedback and altercation to design ideas, suggested by the altered “matter” around them (Mike Hale 112). The transitioning between states spurs on innovation into the artisan’s creative process.

The artisan creates innovative technologies with human-agency at the center of thought.

Artisans “mediate between human needs and material tendencies” in creating new technologies and assemblages (Parry 15). Janae Sholtz connects this characteristic to humanity’s technological revolution. Sholtz claims that the “artisan is linked to the advances of technology and capitalist deterritorialisation of the mid-twentieth century” (Sholtz 200). The ability to engage in the process of technological innovation places the artisan in a powerful position. As Sholtz proposes, the artisan is both a “destroyer and creator of worlds” (Sholtz 220). This is evidenced by the Anthropocene, accelerated by anthropocentric advancement of technology in the post-industrial revolution.

Humanity’s post industrial-revolution technology boom is also reflected in the artisan work method. The artisan builds iterative technological linages, assisted by the transdisciplinary sharing of information. Artisans frequently

operate between two distinct types of spatial organisation that Deleuze and Guattari call the “striated space” of sedentary peoples and the “smooth space” of nomads (Deleuze and Guattari 474). Like modern globalisation, the transfer of knowledge between different peoples invokes technological innovation.

The artisans’ human-centerd characteristics are akin to the anthropocentric characteristics that caused the Anthropocene. Human centered technological innovation has created a technologically enlightened period for society. Unfortunately, this innovation has had unintended consequences, accelerating the negative symptoms of the Anthropocene, like climate change.

To address Research Objective 1, the Philosophical Approach, this thesis proposes to create a new assemblage at the intersection of the artisan and the sorcerer. The assemblage will include anthropogenic relics informed by the provocateur of the artisan, and non-human components informed by the provocateur of the sorcerer. The artisans anthropogenic components will be represented through ‘relics‘, representative of humanities technological era. The sorcerers non-human components will build upon the ‘relics’ reflecting a new era, a ‘new earth’, where there is a shift from anthropocentrism to eco-centrism. As the sorcerers components changes through ‘becoming’s’, the artisans relics will respond, ‘open to fluid exchange of feedback’ (Mike Hale 112).

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2.3.6 SMOOTH + STRIATED CONTEXT The artisan operates between the smooth space of the nomads and the striated space of the sedentary people. Smooth and striated space is first described in Chapter 14 of A Thousand Plateaus, “1440: The Smooth and the Striated” Deleuze and Guattari assert that every ‘assemblage’ tends towards a complex mixture of these two conceptual tendencies. Consequently, it is important to consider both the artisan and the sorcerer in relation to smooth and striated spaces.

Smooth space is non-Euclidean “a continuous variation that exceeds any distribution of constants and variables… a plane that does not proceed by parallel and perpendicular lines” (Deleuze and Guattari 488). It considers “intensity” so that we can only analyse it qualitatively.

Deleuze refers to seas, deserts and steppes as displaying characteristics of smooth space, with total freedom of movement and continuous variation (Deleuze and Guattari 474).

Comparatively, striated space is quantifiable, conforming to Euclidean geometries, where space is metrically defined by ‘extensive’ quantities such as length, area and volume (Deleuze and Guattari 484). Striated space is a state of control, which segments space areas to regulate the passage of people and materials between delimited areas. In architecture, the wall is the signature gesture of striated space, restricting movement and creating an order (Parry 121).

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The erratic and changing landscape of the Anthropocene is predominantly smooth.

Furthermore, the sorcerer’s artefact must be created from a smooth space. Smooth space is the space of creativity, of creating the new (Adkins 242). To achieve the research aim of generating architectural artefacts that represent a shift in anthropocentrism, the ideas invoked cannot be created from a striated space. Being born in a striated space would not invoke new ideas and would closely resemble the striated built environment that heavily reflects post-industrial anthropocentrism.

However, Deleuze and Guattari argue no one space should be entirely smooth or striated.

While smooth space can be a breeding ground of creation and experimentation, “Never believe that a smooth space will suffice to save us” (Deleuze and Guattari 500). Any assemblage needs to have a tendency towards smooth and striated space. Consequently, the artisan, who designs with human agency at the center of thought, will design with striation. This will provide balance and prevent further ‘destabilisation’ in the Anthropocene. Fig 2.3 explore striated spaces and smooth spaces through experimental thumbnail sketchs.

2.3.7 RHIZOME The opening chapter of A Thousand Plateaus introduces us to the book’s overarching concept, the rhizome. Deleuze and Guattari propose rhizomatic thinking in the propagation of new concepts. For ‘new earth’ to be achieved, the salient philosophy of the rhizome must be addressed. Deleuze and Guattari derived the idea of the rhizome from botany, observing potato roots and grass fields. In philosophy, rhizomes do not propagate through clear hierarchies like trees, but through root systems that shoot upwards, downwards, and laterally.

A rhizome has no definitive end or beginning. It is always in the middle (Adkins 23). Deleuze and Guattari wrote A Thousand Plateaus intending to make a rhizome out of a book. This means that any ‘plateau’ (they used plateaus instead of chapters) “can be read starting anywhere and can be related to any other plateau” (Deleuze and Guattari 22). They provoke the reader to construct a rhizome out of any form of matter.

To begin creating a rhizome, Deleuze and Guattari offer six rhizomatic principles, categorised into 4 sections:

They emphasise an assemblage’s proclivity for change, helping to generate new concepts through rhizomatic thinking, rather than fit things into pre-existing forms (Adkins, p22).

The plateau that occurs when the artisan meets the sorcerer will construct a rhizome, forming something new while reaching the primary philosophical goal set in A Thousand Plateaus; constructing a rhizome and achieving “new earth”.

1.Connection and Heterogeneity 2.Cartography and Decalcomania 3.Multiplicity 4. Asignifying Rupture In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari focus on the concept of assemblages.

Fig 2.3

Experimental thumbnail sketches by author, exploring smooth and striated spaces.

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2.4 THE ECOLOGICAL APPROACH

The Sixth Mass Extinction Event: caused by the Anthropocene, caused by humans. Not jellyfish; not dolphins; not coral.

(Timothy Morton, Dark Ecology p13)

2.4.1 ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT The Anthropocene is a direct consequence of anthropocentrism. Human intervention into natural systems has destabilised the biosphere.

The concept of anthropocentrism is centred around humans. It elevates human needs above any other entity within the biosphere.

2.4.2 ECOLOGICAL THOUGHT Professor at Rice University, Timothy Morton understands the Anthropocene as an “anthropocentric concept because it enables us to think of the human species not as an ontically given thing I can point to, but as a hyperobject that is real yet inaccessible”(Morton, Dark Ecology 25). Morton invokes the ‘hyperobject’, a term he coined in his book The Ecological Thought. A hyperobject “refers to things that are massively distributed in time and space relative to humans” (Morton, The Ecological Thought 28). By considering our world at the large scale of a hyperobject, it forces a perspective shift away from egocentric anthropocentrism. At earth magnitude, anthropocentric distinctions don’t matter anymore (Morton,

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Dark Ecology 32).

Philosopher Etienne Turpin asserts our anthropocentric stance over earth, questioning “Is the Anthropocene not just another assertion… of the ascendancy of man over nature?” (Turpin 3).

He believes the Anthropocene affords contemporary scholars and designers a unique opportunity to re-evaluate the terms of theory and practice that we have inherited from ‘modernity’ (Turpin 3). One of these inherited practices is the assumption of an ontological distinction between humanity and nature. By acknowledging the direct impact of anthropogenic change to our planet and the subsequent affects it has on our societies, the Anthropocene fractures our ‘epistemic illusion’ of a distinct line between human culture and nature.

Eco-centrism is non-anthropocentric. It views the world as a hyperobject and dissolves the distinction between human culture and nature. In their 2015 article “Organising in the Anthropocene”, Heikkurinen et al acknowledged the importance of ecocentric theorising as a response to anthropogenic ecological

problems. They concluded: To organise human activities in a sustainable manner in the new geological era, a new ontology is needed that not only includes materiality and non-humans in the analysis, but also leads to an ecologically and ethically broader understanding of ecospheric beings and their relationships. (Heikkurinen et al.)

Unlike anthropocentrism and biocentrism, which categorise earth’s components into hierarchies, eco-centrism considers the status of the biosphere like a hyperobject. The status of earth’s natural systems has a higher moral status than humanity alone. While humanity is a participant of eco-centrism, it is placed at the same ontological level as biotic and abiotic parts of the biosphere (Haydn et al.).

2.4.3 WASTE FLOWS When we consider ‘nature’ as Morton and Turpin do, there is no separation of nature and humanity. Nature is not “an object ‘over

there’—a pristine wilderness beyond all trace of human contact” (Morton, Ecology without Nature 125). Humanity and nature fall under the same biosphere as a hyperobject. This is emphasised in Morton’s 2013 book Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World. He re-asserts that an ‘earth magnitude’ event like the Anthropocene does not afford us with the concept of humanity being ‘away’ from nature. There is no ‘away’ after the end of the world (Morton, Hyperobjects 34). It is no longer sustainable to just send objects ‘away’. We cannot burn, throw or flush things away without them coming back to us in some form, such as harmful pollution. Morton uses the metaphor of the “ontological u-bend”.He remarks that when we flush the toilet, we imagine the U-bend taking away our waste into some “ontologically alien realm” (Morton, Hyperobjects 115). Regulating flows of material out of our sights is just “window-dressing substances of ontotheological nihilism” (Morton, Hyperobjects 110). Unfortunately, material “flows are often eventually shunted into some less powerful group’s backyard” (Morton, Hyperobjects 125).

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01

02 03

04

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“Rejecting mechanized waste, the world offers itself as sacred victim” (Batilles Peak p144).

Humanity’s current methodology for controlling, regulating and monitoring waste flows is directly tied to the Anthropocene.

Currently, anthropogenic industrial flows intake natural material in one end and outputs anthropogenic goods at the other (Morton, Hyperobjects 113). Once these goods are no longer useful for humans, they enter a waste flow. This flow may ultimately end up accumulating in the earth’s strata. During its life cycle, the newly formed waste matter was initially taken from the earth, anthropogenically altered, and then returned to the earth’s biosphere in a non-natural state. This waste may settle in the earth, creating a layer of anthropocentric waste that defines the geological epoch of the Anthropocene (Crutzen). The architecture sector alone contributes to 23% of air pollution, 50% of the climatic change, 40% of drinking water pollution, and 50% of landfill wastes (Initiafy, 2017 add ref). Our discharge of waste into the atmosphere and chemicals leaching into the ground is “not relating to non-humans” (Morton, Hyperobjects 110). Morton proposes “It would make more sense to design in a dark ecological way, admitting our co-existence with toxic substances we have created and exploited” (Morton, Hyperobjects 109). Figure ... is a

conceptual drawing exploring anthropogenic waste settling on earths surface. It is examined alongside smooth and striated spaces, as every assemblage is complex mixture of these two conceptual tendencies. When explored in relation to anthropogenic waste, new ‘lines of flight’ emerge.

To address Research Objective 2, the Ecological Approach, artefacts generated in this thesis’s design stages will seek to ‘reclaim control’ over the anthropogenic waste flows that define the Anthropocene. They will redistribute and repurpose anthropogenic waste, “in relation to non-humans” (Morton, Hyperobjects 110).

The artefacts’ dominion over waste flows will invoke a disruption in the anthropogenic control over waste flows around the biosphere. The artefacts will seek to reflect ecocentric thinking, provoking a shift away from anthropocentrism. This will be enforced by the previously established frameworks of the ‘artisan’ and the ‘sorcerer’. Elevating the sorcerer over the artisan will promote shifts in ontological balance in the bio-sphere, dethroning humanity’s ontological claim, placing them on the same ontological level as non-humans.

Image Key 01 - Anthropogenic Waste Strata 02 - Striated Space 03 - Smooth Space 04 - New ‘lines of flight’.

Fig 2.4

Author’s conceptual drawing, exploring anthropogenic waste with smooth and striated space

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2.5-THE THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH Plateaus on Continuity (Deleuze + Guattari) nodes + intensities (Kwinter)

Scale Distortion over time

2.5.1 SYSTEMATIC CONTEXT In his book Architecture in the Anthropocene Encounters Among Design, Deep Time, Science and Philosophy Architectures, Etienne Turpin questions architecture’s relationship with time in the Anthropocene. Reflecting on contemporary architecture, he states: Architecture is often, and for readily apparent reasons, considered through spatial perspectives, but its intersection with the Anthropocene—what the Anthropocene demands—is nothing less than a reconsideration of architecture’s temporal qualities. In an era where we see intense changes in weather, species and geology at an unprecedented rate, the question of time is increasingly impinging on us.

(Turpin 129) Fig 2.5

Figure ... is a conceptual digital sketch that explores temporal distortions, changing through ‘becoming’s’. Reflecting on the Anthropocene’s temporal distortion, Turpin gives an example of how the anthropogenic climate change is distorting our know relationships between time and architecture. With climate changes escalation, the time between volatile natural events is shrinking. Therefore, architecture has increasingly less time to react and rebuild with dramatic changes in climate. …we live in an era where the obsolescence of buildings is increasingly expedited, even as their accumulation, sedimentation and transformation into landfills becomes a contributor to what we have come to know as the Anthropocene. (Turpin 129)

Conceptual digital sketch exploring time, scale and systems.

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Turpin emphasises how architecture’s life cycle can no longer be anthropogenic. In contemporary society, a building’s life is scaled against the life of a human, lasting roughly 85 year (Lanchenko et al.). This leads to a high turnover of construction waste, becoming “a contributor to what we have come to know as the Anthropocene” (Turpin 129). As Timothy Morton proposes, we need to view the symptoms of the Anthropocene as a hyperobject at an ‘earth magnitude’. Consequently, we must also shift the life cycle of architecture from an anthropogenic scale to a geological scale. This shift in scale requires an architecture to be adaptive to the physical and temporal changes that occur over the large geological scale.

a system may withstand a shift in ‘temporal scales’, such as evidenced in the Anthropocene. Furthermore, the system would be able to adapt to the physical changes that would occur over a geological time span. The auto-poetic feeding of “information back into themselves” invokes a context related architecture that is adaptable to its physical surroundings.

2.5.2 SYSTEMATIC THEORY

•This outside information will ‘destabilise; the system, catalysing change as the system seeks stability’.

Professor of Theory and Criticism at the Pratt Institute, Sanford Kwinter is a proponent of Deleuze and Guattari. Across his wide range of literature, he re-evaluates Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophies and ‘semiotic systems’ in relation to architecture. Kwinter proposes instead of measuring architecture’s lifespan against humans, architecture may be part of a systematic model where time is the primary actor. For Kwinter, time is the “communication middle-term” across systems, permitting “phenomena at great distances, or at radically different ‘temporal domains’” (Kwinter, Architectures of Time 46). For Kwinter, time is not “a novel or superadded variable; it is that agency which multiplies all variables by themselves” (Kwinter, Architectures of Time 47). The proposed system model must “perpetually feed information back into themselves”, information “available only in time… and across temporal scales, never within a single temporal plane” (Kwinter, Architectures of Time 26). Incorporating a continual flow of temporal information,

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Kwinter can link time and flows by placing them within the structure of a system. A dynamic system that considers time and flows is ensured by two overarching concepts: •The system must be continually fed “information from outside the system to pass to the inside”.

Kwinter outlines two distinct variables to create a system that is adaptable to the temporal and physical traits of the Anthropocene. First, he proposes utilising exteriority to allow the flows of information inward into the system. A system closed off to its context will not undergo a becoming, as dictated by the sorcerer. Second, he proposes using the information to “destabilise; the system, catalysing change as the system seeks stability” (Kwinter and Boccioni 59). For Kwinter, these moments of change “imply a spatio-temporal generation of objects, forms, spaces and events that exhibit unstable states in a system” (Kwinter 101).

In his essay, “Landscapes of Change: Boccioni’s “Stati d’animo” as a General Theory of Models”, Kwinter elaborates on the physical characteristics of a speculated architectural system.

Broken down into its components, a system is comprised of ‘nodes’ may be connected along

the continuity by graduations of ‘intensities’.

Kwinter borrows from Deleuze’s’ definition of intensities, using them as the ‘evolutionary force’, similar to continuity theory.

2.5.3 ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM To achieve this research investigation’s aim of shifting anthropocentric perspectives, the proposed speculative system needs to be considerate of non-human agencies. Its development cannot succumb to the anthropogenic technophilia that accelerated the Anthropocene. As previously established by Giacomo Pala in his 2021 article, “Anthropocene, architecture, and modernity”, the common contemporary theme to address the Anthropocene is the analysis of nature and humanity as a pairing — specifically, the “desire of looking at architecture as if it were a natural object” (Pala 145). Kwinter discusses nature, modernity and systems in his 2007 book, Far from Equilibrium: Essays on Technology and Design Culture.

He states “No computer on earth,” he writes, “can match the processing power of even the simplest natural system” (Pala 146). By modeling such systems, however, computers could, like microscopes and telescopes in the past (Pratt 3), extend “the exploratory, evolutionary process of differentiation and refinement by inventing new levels of order and shape.”

By using natural evolutionary systems as a provocateur, speculative systems developed by computation could shift anthropocentric thought by promoting natural systems and shifting dogmatic anthropocentrism through “new levels of order and shape” (Pala 145).

first published” (Pratt 2). This is evidenced by advancements of bio-architecture alongside developments in computational capabilities.

In his 2019 book Biomimicry in Architecture, Michael Pawlyn notes a shift away from the early mid 2000s ‘biomimicry’, towards the interdisciplinary definition of “bio-inspired design”. He states, “‘biomimicry’ and ‘biomimetic’ imply copying, whereas ‘bio-inspired’ is intended to include the potential for developing something beyond what exists in biology” (Pawlyn 2). The aesthetic outcomes of computational architectural systems have moved beyond ‘mimicking’ the aesthetics of nature. Instead, the outcome may be ‘inspired’ by nature, and develop something ‘beyond what exists in nature’. ‘Bio-inspired’ methods utilise trans-disciplinary practices to examine components of nature to develop design processes. As Kwinter affirms, “Nature is first and foremost process” (Kwinter, Far from Equilibrium 73).

According to Parry, this is analogous to the philosophical figure of the sorcerer, who “does not so much learn about non-human entities as from them” (Parry 113). Furthermore, it relates to the sorcerers negotiations with non-human ‘becoming’s’ which generates new concepts based on influences rather than resemblances.

In his 2008 review of Far from Equilibrium, Kevin Pratt notes that the concept of natural intelligence in architectural systems “has been probed more deeply in both architecture and the natural sciences in the ten-plus years that have passed since Kwinter’s essay was

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2.5.4 DIAGRAMMING SYSTEMS Deleuze and Guattari propose the use of diagrams to quantify and experiment with complex ‘semiotic systems’. In A Thousand Plateaus, diagrams are known as ‘abstract machines’. An abstract machine “is diagrammatic (it knows nothing of the distinction between the artificial and the natural either). It operates by matter, not by substance; by function, not by form” (Deleuze and Guattari 156).

For Deleuze and Guattari, “the diagrammatic or abstract machine does not function to represent, even something real, but rather constructs a real that is yet to come, a new type of reality” (Deleuze and Guattari 142). This aligns with this design-led investigations highly speculative and future-driven scope. Figure 2.7 is a diagram Deleuze uses when referring to abstract diagrams (Deleuze and Hand 120). In this design-led research investigation, diagrams are intended to be used as a preliminary tool for experimentation. As Deleuze exclaims “Experiment, don’t signify and interpret!” (Deleuze and Guattari 153). Diagrams are not representative of a final form. Instead, they represent a hierarchy of ‘nodes’ and ‘intensities’ that influence the creation of new ideas ‘independent of the forms and substances, expressions and contents it will distribute” (Deleuze and Guattari 156). In their 2017 book, Computational Design Professor Neil Leach and Dr. Philip F Yuan reflect on

Fig 2.5

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Sketch of Bus Station by Berkel and Bos

Deleuze and Guattari’s impact on diagramming in computational design. “For digital designers, diagrams were meant to capture not only the active relations between forces vested with shaping power but also the process leading to the emergence of architectural form” (Leach and Yuan 96). They note upon reflection, in “practice, diagrams seldom fulfilled this ambition (Leach and Yuan 96)”. In reality, supposed proponents of the “abstract machine diagram” like Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos created diagrams that were more akin to Beaux-Arts “partis”, as evidenced in figures2.5 and 2.6.

Leach and Yuan conclude that diagramming systems should fall somewhere in the middle “between the forces and fields that animate the physical world and trends followed by human actors, an agency that the task of the diagrams is precisely to help identify” (Leach and Yuan 96).

This design-led investigation will utilise diagramming as a preliminary tool for experimentation, exploring relations between nodes and intensities, ‘independent of the forms and substances, expressions and contents it will distribute’, represented in a way that is identifiable to human actors. As evidenced by Berkel and Bos, these diagrams will be akin to BeauxArts “parti” diagrams.

Fig 2.6

Sketch diagram from “Plant, Bus Station by Berkel and Bos

Fig 2.7

Michel Foucault’s Diagram and the Topology of the Fold (Deleuze and Hand 120).

2.5.5 SYSTEMS: DELEUZE + GUATTARI In A Thousand Plateaus, temporality is a key theme, explored through the philosophy of “continuity” (Adkins 14). An important theme in A Thousand Plateaus, continuity ensures that new ideas are not stagnant, and can be scaled infinitely. For Deleuze and Guattari, any given thing lies on a continuum. Continuities are driven by ‘intensities’, continuous graduations that influence a continuity. This is evidenced in Deleuze and Guattari’s uses of “plateaus instead of chapters. Each plateau is assigned a date. The dates themselves have no order along the continuum, but their numbering signifies their position as a notable point in the continuum. They describe plateaus as significant points along a greater continuity. They are moments when “circumstances combine to bring an activity to a pitch of intensity that is not automatically dissipated in a climax” (Deleuze and Guattari, Foreword). Plateaus are temporary, signifying a moment where intensities have coagulated into a stable state (Adkins 15).

Plateaus within a continuum are mailable to manipulated temporal conditions, “existing on

different spatial and temporal scales” (Adkins 15). As Adkins outlines, “The intensities of tectonic movement that stabilise into mountain ranges exist on a vastly different temporal and spatial scale compared to the intensities that stabilise into a person’s mood” (Adkins 15).

Deleuze and Guattari’s engagement of continuities on different temporal scales, aligns with temporal system invoked by Kwinter in section 2.5.2.

To address Research Objective 3, the Systematic Approach, this thesis investigation proposes using ‘continuity’ as a framework to adequately represent the Anthropocene’s fluid scale, while being achievable through a one-year, design-led research investigation.

Each design outcome will represent an equivalent type of ‘plateau’ on a greater ‘continuity’. This will help ensure that the outcomes are tangible pieces of the built environment, while acknowledging their existence at a planetary and geological scale.

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2.6 STAGE 1 - CRITICAL REFLECTION

2.6.1 R01:THE THE PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH In their book A Thousand Plateaus Deleuze and Guattari repeatedly call for a ‘new earth’, a philosophical goal that is remarkably similar to the aim of this thesis investigation.

The sorcerer, as a being who uses systems to negotiate ‘becoming’s’, with ecological entities, is an ideal philosophical provocateur to address all three Research Objectives. Consequently, this thesis will place more emphasis on using the use of the Sorcerer as a provocateur toolset . Case studies and theory in relation to the sorcerer’s characteristics, their intersection with systems and ‘becoming’s’ will be examined in Stage 2 of the Project and Literature Review.

The artisan, who innovates technologies with humans at the centre of thought, will be used to represented in the initial design experiments as an anthropocentric entity. As a provocateur toolset, they will represent a human presence in the artefacts, as every assemblage needs a balance of tendencies, and humanity is still an actor within ecocentric thought.

The intersection of the artisans anthropocentric components and the sorcerers non-human artefacts can be interpreted in the initial design experiments relating to R01 as representing a rhizomatic artefact. Each of the four sections of Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizome will be separately examined through experimental design, exploring how the philosophy may be applied to design.

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In Stage 2 of the Project and Literature Review, the sorcerer will be centered as the primary provocateur in the generation of non-human artefacts.

THE ECOLOGICAL APPROACH 2.6.2 R02:THE The theory of the hyperobject closely resembles ecocentric thought, where the status of earth’s natural systems has a higher moral status than humanity alone. This thought is emphasised by Morton, who asserts there is no ‘away’ from nature. This is evidenced by the anthropogenic waste flow that, does not disappear, but returns as pollution or settles and create a new artificial waste stratum. Morton proposes accepting existence with inescapable waste flows. The dissolution between humanity and nature may also be explored through the dialogue between the artisan (anthropocentric) and the sorcerer (non-human).

Theory explored in this section will be examined through experimental design, constructing design-led research artefacts that will represent a future-vision proposition to reclaim anthropogenic waste flows, invoking a disruption of anthropocentric thought. Building iteratively on The Philosophical section of the Literature Review, iterative design experiments relating to RO2 will explore artefacts that elevate the sorcerer over the artisan, to promote a shift in the ontological balance in the

biosphere, as a way to implicate the ecological approach to a final developed design outcome.

Stage 2 of the Project and Literature Review will further examine eco-centrism in architecture, and how architecture can promote ecocentric thought.

2.6.3 R03:THE THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH

fluid scale, while being achievable through a design-led research investigation. Each design outcome will seek to represent a ‘plateau’ on a greater ‘continuity’, ensuring a tangible outcome that acknowledges their existence at a planetary and geological scale.

Stage 2 of the Project and Literature Review will investigate ‘bio-inspired’ systems in architecture, and how theses system may generate artefacts.

Turpin outlines the Anthropocene’s problematic distortion of time scales, where the obsolescence of buildings is increasingly expedited.

This is addressed by Kwinter, who proposes a systematic model of architecture. This systematic model could adapt to physical changes that occur over a geological scale, as well as scalable to the Anthropocene’s distortion of time.

Kwinter proposes systems comprised of ‘nodes’ and ‘intensities’ that connect the system together. To address this investigation’s aim and objectives, the proposed speculative system will be ‘bio-inspired’, generating an initial set of design-led experimental artefacts that moves ‘beyond what exists in biology’.

These systems-related experiments addressing R03, will be explored through diagramming, communicating ‘nodes’ and ‘intensities’ that are ‘identifiable to human actors’.

This thesis investigation builds upon Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy of ‘continuity’. As a framework to represent the Anthropocene’s

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2.7 STAGE 2 - PROJECT AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter 3 Stage 2 examines literature and projects that focus on generating ecocentric artefacts.

Stage 2 of Literature and Project Review will iteratively build on the findings in Stage 1, engaging projects and literature that represent architectural design-related interpretations of the theories explored in the Literature Review in relation to the thesis investigation’s Aims and Objectives.

The first theorist, Manuel DeLanda explores ’bio-inspired systems explored by R03, the Systematic Approach. DeLanda will also explore RO1, the Philosophical by using Deleuzian philosophy from A Thousand Plateaus as a framework for his ‘bio-inspired systems’. His essay “Deleuze and the use of the Genetic Algorithm in Architecture”, proposes a transdisciplinary” (exploring biology, mathematics and thermodynamics) approach to generate form, taking bio-inspiration from evolution.

Greg Lynn focuses on ‘becoming’s’ - the sorcerers method of transforming entities from one state to another. Lynn examines ‘becoming’s’ through Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy of

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the ‘pack’, a philosophy that invokes the non-human realm. He proposes the pack should propagate form through the laws of Evolution and Involution.

Barry Wark investigates ecocentric architectures and the manifestation of the non-human in the built environment. He does this through architectural artefacts that acknowledge the ubiquitous presence of non-humans to propagate ecocentric thought.

Susan Stepney and colleagues investigate a “cyber-physical system” capable of ‘growing’ artefacts. This explores ‘bio-inspired’ systems and will provide a sequential process that DeLanda, Lynn and Warks theory can be cross-referenced against, in order to generate ecocentric artefacts.

PROJECT AND LITERATURE REVIEW - ITERATIVE PROGRESSION

STAGE 1

Eco-centrism

STAGE 2

RO2 - Ecological

Wark

Fig 2.8

RO1 - Philosophical

The Sorcerer

Lynn

DeLanda

RO3 - Systematic

Bio-inspired System

Gro-CyPhy

Authors diagram outlines the links established through critical reflection between Literature Review Stage 1 and Stage 2. The dotted line implies a partial link between ‘Sorcerer’ to DeLanda, who explores bio-inspired systems through philosophy

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2.8 MANUEL DELANDA DELEUZE AND THE USE OF THE GENETIC ALGORITHM IN ARCHITECTURE, 2001

Manuel DeLanda is a Professor at Pratt Institute, a DeLeuzian Scholar and proponent of the genetic algorithm. His 2001 essay “Deleuze and the use of the Genetic Algorithm in Architecture” critically reflects upon the intersection between the ecological, the systematic and the philosophical. DeLanda uses DeLeuzian philosophy to propose an algorithmic system, inspired by ecological processes. DeLanda’s essay closely aligns with ‘bio-inspired’ processes, as outlined by Pawlyn in section 2.5.3. Instead of mimicking of the aesthetic or physical characteristics of nature, DeLanda is inspired by the natural process of embryology and evolution.

In the essay, DeLanda adopts a Deleuzian philosophy of form generation, promoting the use of population thought, intensive thinking, and topological thinking as necessities in using genetic algorithms. He relates population thinking to the work of a biologist and geneticist, intensive thinking to that of a thermodynamicist, and topological thinking to the work of a mathematician. DeLanda believes the only scientist that uses all three disciplines is an ecologist, which relates to RO2, the Ecological Approach. (DeLanda 2011). He proposes using these three modes of philosophical thinking as a framework for creating new architectures through ‘genetic algorithms’.

DeLanda outlines that the primary benefit of genetic algorithms is their ability to ‘discover’ previously unconsidered problem solutions.

Discovery through experimentation is an

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important method for this thesis, as the design toolsets to tackle the Anthropocene “do not yet exist.… [Instead] they are nascent and being prototyped through the process of experiment” (Armstrong 67).

DeLanda proposes the use of ‘virtual evolution’ to develop the ‘genetic algorithm’. This proposal affirms Kwinter’s invocation of computers as a way to model natural systems. Computers may act as an isolation chamber, to propagate ‘bio-inspired’ systems through ‘virtual evolution’.

2.8.1 POPULATIONAL: (EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY + GENETICS)

2.8.2 TOPOLOGICAL: (MATHEMATICS)

Population thinking looks through an evolutionary lens. Derived from biology, populational thinking examines how any plant or animal evolves slowly through the propagation of genes. These genes are influenced by organism’s contexts, ultimately creating a new form within the larger productive community.

With traditional artistic critique, once a few interesting forms have been generated, the “evolutionary process seems to run out of possibilities” (DeLanda 11). DeLanda compares this to the wide variety of animals that exist on our planet. Animals represent a vast array of different architectural forms, while all beginning from a single embryotic egg. This vast variation is all due to minute folds and curls that occur during embryogenesis (Delanda 11).

For the designer, once the relationship between the ‘virtual genes’ (algorithmic code) and ‘virtual bodily traits’ (the morphological outcome of the algorithm) is established, a population of varying parameters should be ‘unleashed’ onto the outcome. These parameters will force the architecture to ‘evolve’ and ‘mutate’ towards a developed form. Points of difference should be added into the iterative process to encourage spontaneous mutations to occur. These mutations will propagate and interact collectively over many generations (DeLanda 10).

Consequently, different parameters will be applied though ‘virtual evolutions’ in order to propagate mutations.

In order to connect and analyse the wide range of forms proposed above, DeLanda uses Deleuze’s identification of topological invariants — such as dimensionality of space or its connectivity — as the commonality between related forms. Topological invariants are distinct physical characteristics that change between virtual evolutions, such as ‘folds and curls’ This allows a framework for critical comparison between the outcomes of ‘virtual evolutions’. DeLanda emphasises the importance of the initial “seed germ” and the rules and factors that dictate the outcome of the genetic algorithm process.

Consequently, the critique and observation of topological invariants will be used as the framework to critique the outcomes of the ’virtual evolutions’.

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2.8.3 INTENSIVE: (THERMODYNAMICS)

2.8.4 DELANDA: REFLECTIONS

‘Intensity’ is a word continually used throughout A Thousand Plateaus. While extensive properties have metric and Euclidean values like length, volume and mass, intensive properties like temperature, pressure or speed are non-divisible. For example, halving a cup of water at 90 degrees does not equate to two cups at 45 degrees. Its architectural definition by Deleuze refers to a “difference in intensity quantities, which spontaneously cancels itself out and, in the process, drives fluxes of matter and energy” (DeLanda 10). In this definition, intensive quantities can be fuel to drive new entities. DeLanda re-interprets Deleuze, arguing that different intensities (forces) will output different architectures in relation to structure. The resulting architecture should represent the distributions of stress, or the building will not evolve. This may lead to an auto-poetic structural system that can actively adapt to stress based upon site conditions. This means the final outcome of the ‘virtual evolution’ has not lost consideration to structural concerns. This structural automation allows the designer to consider the outcomes on an aesthetic level, without worrying about structural systems.

This investigation will utilise population thought, intensive thinking, and topological thinking as a framework during the design in Chapter 3. This will ensure an ecological system that is ‘bio-inspired’ in relation with literature from Chapter 2 Stage 1, addressing RO2, the Ecological Approach and RO3, the Systematic Approach.

Consequently, the design-led research artefact will have a speculative structural system that can adapt to the stresses the site exudes on the architecture.

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Computation will be used as a tool in the design stages to propagate ‘virtual evolutions’, experimenting and ‘discovering’ new architectural artefacts. Chapter 3 will represent the initial “seed germ” (see section 2.8.2) as an algorithm that drives ‘virtual evolution’. The outcomes of these experiments will be critically reflected on through ‘topological invarients’.

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2.9 GREG LYNN FOLDS, BODIES & BLOBS 1998

Greg Lynn is an award-winning professor at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, and founder of the innovative design firm FORM. He specialises in context-based architectures.

2.9.1 PHILOSOPHY: BECOMING ‘THE PACK’ Lynn advocates for philosophy from A Thousand Plateaus’ “1730: Becoming-Intense, Becoming-Animal, Becoming-Imperceptible…” as a methodology for context-based architectures. As discussed in section 2.3.4, the sorcerer is a being who negotiates with non-humans in the process of ‘becoming’s’. Deleuze and Guattari argue that someone cannot ‘become’ a wolf without being in a pack. When there is a mutation within the pack, each individual element defers “its internal structure to benefit, by alliance, from the fluid movements of the pack” (Lynn 44). Lynn describes how several agents in a pack may work together to become a more ‘intensely involved’ with their context. He argues that in a pack: each individual defers its internal structure to benefit, by alliance, from the fluid movements of the pack. As the proper limits of individual elements are blurred, the pack begins to behave as if it were itself an organism. The pack itself is not regulated by or reducible to any single structure, as it is continually, dynamically and fluidly transforming itself in res­­ponse to… the external forces of its context and the internal

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forces of its members (Lynn 44).

Using Deleuze and Guattari’s multiplicitous metaphor of the ‘pack’, Lynn describes how one element in a system (pack) must be encouraged to mutate alongside the other members of the pack, so that the body may evolve without the risk of becoming unsuitable for its context.

For example, an individual within a pack may be influenced by its external conditions to mutate, yet its evolution may not be suitable for its context. The remaining entities within the pack will allow the individual to mutate, while keeping the pack a heterogeneous whole, sustaining the pack in its context. This is explored through experimental sketches in figure 2.9. This principle is analogous to topological thinking, where DeLanda proposes to use individual ‘mutations’ (topological invarients) as a framework for critique (DeLanda 11) .

2.9.2 HOW A SYSTEM CHANGES: EVOLUTION + INVOLUTION Lynn proposes it is important “that the boundaries between figures and grounds become blurred” to invoke a body’s mutations and evolution (Lynn 106). Lynn uses the analogy of the pack to consider how bodies may change.

For an entity to tend towards change, it may be influenced from inside the pack, or influenced from outside of the pack (Adkins 144).

For this dual influence to occur, there must be what Lynn refers to as ‘two-fold deterritorialisation’. Derived from A Thousand Plateaus, Lynn

describes two-fold deterritorialisation as “the loss of internal boundaries allow [ing] both the influence of external events within the organism and the expansion of the interior outward” (Lynn 44). This loss of boundary occurs when the “motion of diffusion and fusion continuously redefines the boundaries between interior and exterior” (Lynn 143). Lynn invokes the

= contextual influences

= changing boundary

= hard boundary

= artefact

Evolution

Individual

Fig 2.9

laws of Involution and Evolution to categorise how a body may change in relation to external influences. Lynn argues, “Evolution is the external selection of internal mutations. Involution is the “internal selection of mutations due to intensive alignments with external forces” (Lynn 143) (see fig 2.9).

Involution

Evolution + Involution

Pack

Author’s concept design sketches exploring involution, evolution and the process of ‘becomings as a pack’.

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2.10 BARRY WARK HOUSE BY THE SEA,2020 LYNSTED FOLLY,2020

Barry Wark is an architect and designer who combines practice with research and teaching activities at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Co-founder of the academic atelier Biophile, his work explores the manifestation of ‘nature’ in architecture, reflecting an ecological sensibility and humankind's place within the Anthropocene. Wark’s work strives for eco-centrism, rejecting the separation of the human and the natural world. Building on the works of Timothy Morton in Ecology without Nature and Hyperobjects, Wark contends that ‘nature’ is a societal construct to separate us from our environment. We are constantly surrounded by the natural environment. ‘Nature’ is not a concept bound to forests and mountains. Ecology is everywhere. Therefore, Wark contends we should encourage and acknowledge the ubiquitous presence of non-humans in our built environments regardless of our ontological claims over nature. It is this position that makes Wark an advocate for eco-centrism.

2.10.1 ECOCENTRIC ARTEFACTS To acknowledge nature’s ubiquitous presence in the built environment, Wark constructs a series of architectural interventions he describes as artefacts (see figures 2.12-2.16 overleaf). The architectural artefacts explore permissible forms of co-existence between humans and non-humans within the built environment. The artefact’s “qualities emerge not from a controlled and highly maintained external planting but from the effects of the artefact’s interconnectedness with non-humans” (Wark, “Barry Wark: Ancientness and Future

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Forms of Coexistence”).

Compared to the traditional relationship of biophilia and architecture, Wark’s artefacts reject the ‘green washing’ that has become so common in the architectural industry. He asserts that our current relationship between natural environment and architecture is often positioned as control, and not co-existence.

Nature is an anesthesia to ignore greater environmental problems, that somehow, “if we have plants on our facades, that we are dealing with the environmental crisis” (Wark, “Barry Wark: Ancientness and Future Forms of Coexistence”). Green washing comes from a position of power over nature, which does not align with Wark’s advocation of eco-centrism.

2.10.2 TEMPORAL AMBIGUITY Eco-centrism in the built environment creates a philosophical by-product beneficial to the thesis investigation. By dissolving the distance between natural systems and the humanbuilt environment, ruination occurs. Buildings become overgrown, lichen grows, and weather begins to penetrate inside buildings. Over a scale of time, without human intervention, ruins form. The process of nature reclaiming the built environment causes a point of reflection on our humanity. Reflecting on ruins, we consider the vulnerability of architecture in nature and, by extension, humans’ mortality in nature. “Ruins destabilize the human sense of privilege, and they could offer fertile ground for promoting ecocentric thought” (Wark, “Barry Wark: Ancientness and Future Forms of Coexistence”). Wark extends this thought through

Jonathan Hill’s book, The Architecture of Ruins: Designs on the Past, Present and Future. Hill outlines how contemporary ruins, in comparison to ancient ruins, invoke a more potent reaction for reflecting on humanity. Unlike ancient ruins, which are the products of the far past, contemporary ruins force humanity to reflect on a more imminent demise.

Wark proposes to artificially replicate the experience of both ancient and modern ruins by creating ‘temporal ambiguity’. This temporal ambiguity will replicate the anthropogenic destabilisation created by ruins, further promoting an ecocentric thought. Through temporal ambiguity “a part space architecture could be perceived as both under construction and ruination simultaneously” (Wark, “Barry Wark: Ancientness and Future Forms of Coexistence”).

2.10.3 CREASES & NON-HUMAN PROPAGATION Wark also promotes eco-centrism by invoking Lundholm’s ‘urban cliff hypothesis’. The urban cliff hypothesis argues that our cities are often akin to the habitat templates of cliffs. This is based upon the similarities in their physical composition where both have a lack of soil

Fig 2.10

Case study showing Warks proposal for the Glasgow School of Art Extension. Its facade has multiple folded geometries and seams to propagate plants.

and rooting space with moisture ranges from dry to waterlogged due to hard and impervious surfaces (Lundholm et al). Yet in these conditions, plants will grow in the gaps of cliffs and facades where moisture may be retained.

Wark builds on this hypothesis, constructing his artefacts like the Glasgow School of Art Extension shown in figure ..., with seams and gaps to propagate plants, lichens, and other non-human agencies. Intentionally creating and leaving seams and gaps grants non-human agencies like wind, rain and dust the potential to propagate the artefact, in accordance with non-human agencies.

2.10.4 DATUMS & LINEAR REPETITIONS Wark’s artefacts embody orthogonal “human geometries” to create creases and pockets through ‘linear repetitions, orthogonal datums, vertical surface and apertures’(Wark, “Barry Wark: Ancientness and Future Forms of Coexistence”). By building the artefacts based on “human geometries”, the artefacts are relatable and understandable to humans. Without the Euclidian grid that structures much of human society, humans will not be able to reflect on the artefacts, and in turn, reflect on humanities’ relation to the artefacts.

Fig 2.11

Case study showing the My Son temples in Vietnam dated from the 4th-14th centuries AD, an ancient ruin that has become over run by vegetation propagating in it gaps and creases.

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2.10.5 HOUSE BY THE SEA In the case study “House by the Sea” Wark intentionally uses a familiar typology to invoke a strange familiarity. As seen in figure 2.12, the artefact has a gable-style roof and openings that resemble doors and windows. Its material qualities are homogeneous and derived from its surroundings, embedding within its ‘biome’ as seen in figure 2.14. The “highly textural and pocketed building envelope” of the structure creates “opportunities for non-humans to colonise its boundaries” (Wark, “House by the Sea”).

According to Wark:

Fig 2.12

Fig 2.14

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Elevation

Case study showing House by the Sea’s jagged materiality is derived from its biome

“The project aims to move beyond the sweetness of the current architecture- nature dialogues commonly implemented as green planted facades. It instead considers the wider natural and atmospheric actors that comprise our environment and how they manifest in our buildings, ultimately attempting to move from an aesthetics of nature to an aesthetics of ecology” (Wark, “House by the Sea”).

Fig 2.13

Fig 2.15

Plan

Case study showing master bedroom of House by the Sea

2.10.6 LYNSTED FOLLY In this case study architectural artefact, Wark works with textures and pockets to allow for vegetation and moss to grow. This artefact’s sole purpose is in the propagation of flora in the Kent countryside (Wark, “Lynsted Folly”).

According to Wark:

Fig 2.16

“Follies occupy many landscapes across Europe with their motivations for construction wide and ranging. Here, the interest is in their inherent material and tectonic qualities as textural masses. These conditions allow them to adopt the flora and other natural phenomena of the context in which they sit” (Wark, “House by the Sea”).

Lynsted Folly propagates fauna and other vegetation

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2.11 SUSAN STEPNEY GRO-CYPHY, 2012 Professor of Computer Science at the University of York, Susan Stepney and colleagues present the conceptual Gro-CyPhy architecture. This case study, a computational framework, defines “construction by directed growth” generating “cyber-physical artefacts” (Susan Stepney et al. 89).

They propose computational simulation as a precursor to nascent assembly technologies such as nanobots and protocells. This aligns with this design-led research investigations highly speculative and future-driven scope. Reflecting on Kwinter, DeLanda, and Lynn’s theories, Gro-CyPhy’s “cyber-physical artefacts [will be] responsive and adaptive to their environments” (Susan Stepney et al. 90). Their proposed artefacts are aligned with Barry Wark’s theory of ‘temporal ambiguity’ as there is “no distinction between the ‘building phase’ of the artefact, the ‘functional phase’ or the ‘repair and maintenance’ phase” (Susan Stepney et al. 92). Furthermore, ‘cyber-physical artefacts’ generated Gro-CyPhy’s computational framework utilise“a combination of traditionally engineered and growing parts in the final artifact” (Susan Stepney et al. 97). This reinforces the ecocentric artefact’s didactic relationship with the artisans technological relic, as outlined in Chapter 2 Stage 1.

Gro-CyPhy’s framework is comprised of three major components:

2.11.1 SEED FACTORY High-level phenotype (grown) specifications are input; the search process develops the relevant seeds (subsystem genomes); it uses the Growth Engine to grow candidate seeds into phenotypes, which it evaluates against the specification, and feeds the information back into its search process (Susan Stepney et al. 90).

The Seed Factory is similar to Lynn’s theory of ‘Involution’. Involution focuses on ‘internal selection of mutation’. This is also similar to DeLandas invocation of embryology in section 2.8.2. Seed Factory, Involution, Topological embryology — all three are concerned with the development of a system precursory to its growth.

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2.11.2 GROWTH ENGINE A Growth Engine provides the computational mechanisms to grow a seed. This might be required to grow in simulation a seed intended for a physical device, or to grow the seed of a virtual component such as a software control system (Susan Stepney et al. 90).

Growth Engine is similar to Lynn’s theory ‘Evolution’. Evolution focuses on “external selection of internal mutations” (Lynn 143).

This is also similar to DeLanda’s invocation of ‘virtual evolution’ through computational processes. Gro-CyPhy specifically proposes computational simulations to speculate on the growth of an artefact in lieu of nascent technologies like nanobots and protocells.

2.11.3 COMPUTATIONAL GARDEN

2.11.4 CONCLUSIONS

The computational garden is where the various seeds are planted and grow together, responding to their environment, into the resultant artefact (Susan Stepney et al. 90).

The Computational Garden is the final step of the Gro-CyPhy framework. It proposes an assemblage of artefacts, growing simultaneously. This intersection of artefacts will strengthen its ‘rhizomatic’ nature.

candidate genome

candidate phenotype fitness

candidate phenotype fitness

phenotype specification

environment

genome

physics engine

growth engine

growth engine

growth engine growth engine

candidate phenotype fitness

environment multi-organism cyber-physical artefact

Diagram of Gro-CyPhy’s frame work (left) and the proposed framework speculating how other theory from Chapter 2 Stage 2 may be applied to the adapted to Gro-CyPhy’s frame work (right).

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SEED FACTORY

growth engine

candidate genome growth engine

GROWTH ENGINE

physics engine

growth engine

growth engine

growth engine

multi-organism cyber-physical artefact

INTENSIVE

COMPUTATIONAL GARDEN

growth engine

growth engine

Fig 2.17

geno

environment

candidate genome

growth engine

growth engine

growth engine

phenotype specification

INVOLUTION

candidate genome growth engine

candidate phenotype fitness

genome

growth engine

EVOLUTION

physics engine

growth engine

growth engine

growth engine

growth engine

multi-organism cyber-physical artefact

physics engine

multi-organism cyber-physical artefact

COMPUTATIONAL GARDEN

multi-organism cyber-physical artefact

genome

growth engine

EVOLUTION

environment

environment

GROWTH ENGINE

physics engine

growth engine

growth engine

growth engine

INVOLUTION

INTENSIVE

growth engine

growth engine

genome

growth engine

phenotype specification

phenotype specification

SEED FACTORY

multi-organism cyber-physical artefact

phenotype specification

2 Adapted framework

candidate phenotype fitness

1 Gro-CyPhy’s framework

Figure 2.17 diagrams the process of the Gro-CyPhy computational framework. There is a significant overlap between key ideas explored in Chapter 2 stage 2, and the Gro-CyPhy computational framework. Conceptuality, Gro-CyPhy’s framework may be used to structure DeLandas invocation of ‘Intensive’ thinking and ‘embryology’ and Lynn’s theories of ‘Involution and ‘Evolution’.

multi-organism cyber-physical artefact

2.12 STAGE 2 - CRITICAL REFLECTION

Stage 2 of the Project and Literature Review iteratively built on Stage 1. It demonstrates how the research aim and objectives, contextualized and evaluated in Stage 1, can be achieved through the collaborative approach of theorists and case studies.

Figure 2.18 outlines how Stage 2 of the Project and Literature Review progressed from Stage 1. The bottom of figure 2.18 outlines how this theory will be arranged into a structured design process to be explored in Chapter 3.

With Lynn and DeLanda using philosophy as a framework for generating from , there was some overlap in their theory. The Gro-CyPhy framework was a viable method for structuring similar ideas explored in Chapter 2 Stage 2, into an established framework for artefact generation.

Not all theories explored by DeLanda, Lynn and Wark were compatible to the Gro-CyPhy framework. As Warks case studies and theory did not speculate at frameworks for growth generation his work did not apply to the Gro-CyPhy framework. Warks case studies may instead be applied as reference for DeLandas invocation for 'topological thinking' as a method of critiquing forms generated computationally.

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PROJECT AND LITERATURE REVIEW - ITERATIVE PROGRESSION RO2 - Ecological

RO1 - Philosophical

RO3 - Systematic

Bio-inspired System

The Sorcerer

STAGE 1

Eco-centrism

STAGE 2

Aesthetics Based

Process Based

Wark

Lynn

DeLanda

Gro-CyPhy

Temporal Ambiguity

‘Pack’

Topological

Seed Factory

Orthogonal + Linear Repetitions

Involution

Populational

Growth Engine

Creases/non-human propagation

Evolution

Intensive

Computational Garden

MONSTERING EXPERIMENTS STAGE 1

Constructing Artefact Generation System

CHAPTER 3 PROCESS

Involution

/

Seed Factory Orthogonal + Linear Repetitions

‘Pack’

STAGE 2

STAGE 3

Testing Artefact Generation System Evolution

/

Computational Garden

Topological

Populational

Growth Engine

Intensive

Key: Investigation Section Key Idea Grouping

Fig 2.18

Artefact Generation System

Authors diagram showing how theory and projects explored in the project and literature review will be iteratively translated into a computational design process in Chapter 3

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60

61

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PRELIMINARY DESIGN INTRODUCTION

Preliminary Design is divided into Preliminary Design I and Preliminary Design II. Chapter 3, Preliminary Design I, focuses on constructing a 'Monstering system' for generating non-human artefact’s. It will engage ‘Monstering’ a toolset used by Dr Rachel Armstrong and her architecture collective, Experimental Architecture Group (AEG) to “generate new bodies” (Armstrong, Experimental Architecture 62) that “engage with a world in constant flux” (Armstrong et al. 1).

Chapter 4, Preliminary Design II , will focus on iteratively experimenting with the artefacts output by the 'Monstering system', in relation with anthropogenic ‘relics’. It will engage ‘Worlding Experiments’, proposed by Armstrong to ‘(re)make our world’ through experimentation.

‘Monstering’ in Preliminary Design I, will act as a precursory methodology to ‘Worlding Experiments’, by creating “new bodies’.entangled with the geostory of the earth” (Armstrong et al. 2). They will represent ‘avatars’ reflective of a ‘new earth’, ‘(re)made’ to imagine a world where perspectives have shifted away from anthropocentrism.

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Monsters ... on one hand ... help us pay attention to ancient chimeric entanglements; on the other, they point us towards the monstrosities of modern Man. Monsters ask us to consider the wonders and terrors of symbiotic entanglement in the Anthropocene.

(Tsing et al., 2017)

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3.0 - PRELIMINARY DESIGN I MONSTERING EXPERIMENTS

3.0.1 CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION Integrating key learnings from Chapter 2, Chapter 3 focuses on creating a computational ‘Monstering system’, able to generate non-human artefacts.

3.0.2 MONSTERING TOOLSET CONTEXT Preliminary design experimentation in chapter 3 will invoke the Experimental Architecture Group’s (AEG) toolset of monstering. Lead by Dr Rachel Armstrong, the AEG is a collective whose work has been published, exhibited and performed at many international biennales. The group focuses on ‘living architecture’, examining the built environment’s intersection with the non-human realm.

The term ‘monstering’ is derived from Carl Linnaeu’s 1735 book Systema Naturae. The book outlines thousands of animal species, dividing them into specific categories. Monstering derives from the Animalia Paradoxa, a category of mythical creatures that Linnaeus could not categorise into natural systems. Creatures like the Hydra, Phoenix or Draco “defy normal rationalisation or categorisation, and refuse to submit to notions of fitness, suitability or utility of purpose” (Armstrong, Monstering 2). The mythical creatures categorised as Paradoxa Animalia were not a product of scientific inquiry, but of allegory, “entangled with geostory of the earth” (Armstrong et al. 2). Monstering explores areas of inquiry missed by the scientific gaze that neglects “the transformative

space of ‘speculative’ research - where there are no guarantees, only the exploration of limits” (Armstrong et al. 2).

3.0.3 MONSTERING FRAMEWORK Monstering is defined by its experimental and trans-disciplinary approach to design in the non-human world. The Armstrong states: … monstering generates new kinds of bodies by provoking informal hybridisations through collisions between different fields, energies and gradients that challenge established boundaries (Armstrong, Experimental Architecture 62).

This chapter will invoke monstering, generating artefacts that are ‘new bodies’, by designing an ‘Monstering system’, generating non-human artefacts that are able to “engage with a world in constant flux” (Armstrong et al. 1) . Derived from ‘bio-inspired’ systems, the artefacts generated will be represent an imaginary 'geostory' where earth has entered a new age that has shift anthropocentrism from the center of thought.

Chapter 3 is divided into three stages, based on the Gro-CyPhy framework. Stage 1 focusses on creating a system for generating non-human artefacts. Stage 2 focuses on “the exploration of limits” testing the system speculated in Stage 1 (Armstrong et al. 2). Stage 3 intersects

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CHAPTER 3 - STRUCTURAL DIAGRAM RO2 - Ecological

RO1 - Philosophical

RO3 - Systematic

Bio-inspired System

The Sorcerer

STAGE 1

Eco-centrism

STAGE 2

Aesthetics Based

Process Based

Wark

Lynn

DeLanda

Gro-CyPhy

Temporal Ambiguity

‘Pack’

Topological

Seed Factory

Orthogonal + Linear Repetitions

Involution

Populational

Growth Engine

Creases/non-human propagation

Evolution

Intensive

Computational Garden

MONSTERING EXPERIMENTS STAGE 1

Constructing Artefact Generation System

CHAPTER 3 PROCESS

Involution

/

Seed Factory Orthogonal + Linear Repetitions

‘Pack’

STAGE 2

STAGE 3

Testing Artefact Generation System Evolution

/

Computational Garden

Topological

Populational

Growth Engine

Intensive

Key: Investigation Section Key Idea Grouping

Fig 3.1

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Diagram showing the structure and key areas of investigation for Chapter 3

Artefact Generation System

simulations simultaneously, to create a more complex artefact.

structural system that is adaptable to its context.

Stage 1 focuses on the “Seed Factory” (see section 2.11.1), creating a ‘genome’ algorithm.

This examines Lynn’s application of ‘the pack’ to a generative system, and how the system may internally develop through the law of ‘involution’ (see section 2.9.2). Stage 1 seeks to create an algorithm that generates bio-inspired, non-human artefacts.

The physics engines within SideFx Houdini’s computational simulations explore “hybridisations through collisions between different fields, energies and gradients” (Armstrong, Experimental Architecture 62).

Stage 2 focuses on the “Growth Engine”, based on section 2.11, to develop and test the limits of the algorithm speculated in Stage 1. Stage 2 examines Lynn’s invocation of the law of ‘Evolution’ (see section 2.9.2) as a method of developing the system. Computational simulations using SideFX Houdini will be utilised as a tool, creating a ‘Growth Engine’ to propagate ‘virtual evolutions’ (see section 2.8), and in this way, experimenting and ‘discovering’ new architectural artefacts. A series of ‘population parameters’ (see section 2.8.1) are ‘unleashed’ upon the simulation, forcing new ‘topological invariants’ (see section 2.8.2) to emerge. The ‘topological invariants’ are then critiqued against the physical characteristics of Barry Wark’s ecocentric architectures.

This chapter investigates RO1, the Philosophical Approach by exploring philosophical frameworks for generating form, as proposed

by DeLanda (see section 2.8) and Lynn (see section 2.9). The provocateur toolset of the sorcerer is investigated through Lynn’s invocation of ‘the pack’ as a method for exploring ‘becoming’s’.

This chapter investigates RO2, the Ecological approach, by critically reflecting on Barry Wark’s ecocentric case studies. The physical characteristics of his ecocentric artefacts, such as creases and seams, are used as a framework for critiquing the non-human artefacts generated in Chapter 3.

This chapter explores R03, the Systematic approach, by constructing a system of generation will be able to continually transform to continually changing conditions.

Stage 3 focuses on the "Computational Garden". This explores the assemblage of multiple simulations, running simultaneously and homogenised into a single artefact. The ‘Computational Garden’ explores DeLanda’s theory of ‘intensive thinking’, exploring how an artefact may be able to generate a speculative

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3.1.1 STAGE 1 - SEED FACTORY INVOLUTION

Section 3.1 will investigate key characteristics that will define how the non-human artefact may generate. Section 3.1.1 will determine the boundary the artefact may generate within.

Section 3.1.2 will examine how the artefact will generate within the boundary.

Evolution

Fig 3.3

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Involution focuses on the on the internal processes of a system. The internal processes are defined by that system’s key characteristics.

Figure 3.2 establishes core characteristic that may define systems involutionary processes, based on literature from Chapter 2.

= contextual influences

= changing boundary

= hard boundary

= artefact

INVOLUTION

ketches from section 2.9, exploring the laws of Involution and Evolution

Evolution + Involution

Site data

Scatter

CORE CHARACTERISTICS OFcollection INVOLUTIONARY PROCESS Density: greater need

Volume Radiation

Growth simulation

for ecological intervention

Site Context

To“continuously redefine the boundaries between interior and exterior” (Lynn 143), there need to be a continuous set of new context to influence involution.

Fig 3.2

Fig 3.4

Hard boundary

responsive boundary

“the loss of internal boundaries allow[ing] both the influence of external events within the organism and the expansion of the interior outward” (Lynn 143, see section 2.9.2)

flow of context inforSite Changes mation According to Kwinter,for a system to adapt and scale to its context, “information from outside the system to pass to the inside” destabilising the system forcing it to adjust and re-stabilise (see section 2.5.2).

Diagram icons examining key theories from Chapter 3.

Authors early notebook explorations of involution systems

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I Outcome

INVOLUTION GROWTH SYSTEM DESIGN LOGIC

Site data collection

Scatter Density: greater need for ecological intervention

Volume Radiation

Growth simulation

Explored in Chapter 4

Site Changes

Artisan Intervention Outcome

Fig 3.5

Speculated Involution growth logic diagram, based on theory by Lynn and Kwinter.

The diagram above places the systems key characteristics, explored in figure 3.2 , within a speculative system logic. This system logic aims to addresses RO3, the Systematic Approach, by continually transforming in response to changing conditions.

Figure 3.5 proposes a system that begins by interpreting relevant site date, such as ecological and environmental data. The data is then aggregated across the landscape in terms of hypothetical importance. For example, areas

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that require the most ecological balance from the artefact (e.g., a toxic chemical pool of pile of waste) will have a higher density of points.

These points act as genius loci for a soft boundary, created by converting the data points into a volume cloud. This volume cloud will define the boundary that the ‘virtual evolutions’ may propagate within.

“spatial bodies...are brought into affiliations with systems outside of their boundaries, where their determinacy at any point in time is dependent upon influence by external events.”

-Greg Lynn p42

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TESTING GROWTH BOUNDARY LOGIC

06

VOLUME BOUNDARY

SCATTER

04

06 05 04 03

‘Virtual evolutions’

x+1

GROWTH SIMULATION

02

Site Data Collection

Site Changes*

MESH

‘virtual evolution’

Fig 3.6 This diagram shows an artefact developed for Section 4.3.3, to represent how the trail lines from the growth simulation translate into a mesh, as the meshing process was not yet developed at this stage of the design-led research investigation.

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3.1.2 - SEED FACTORY TESTING SYSTEM DESIGN LOGIC 3.1.2.1 INVOLUTION SYSTEM TESTING

3.1.2.2 INVOLUTION SYSTEM REFLECTION

Figure 3.6 shows the speculative system design logic from figure 3.5 tested within SideFX Houdini. The system goes through a series of 170 ‘virtual evolutions’. Each ‘virtual evolution’ equates to one frame within computational simulation. By using ‘frames’ within the computational simulation, the system builds on Kwinters proposal to use time as a primary actor in a system (see section 2.5.2.)

While testing the speculative system logic, it was discovered that data points existing outside the immediate context of the ‘virtual evolution’ broke the system as they created a disjointed volume boundary (see fig 3.7). Therefore, the system will exclude points not within a close proximity to other points in the ‘virtual evolution’ . This was a limit to the system.

Because this design-led investigation is highly-speculative and future-driven, this system is unable to utilise real environmental data. In lieu of future-driven data, this system test used a random number generator to generate data points. It is important to note that figure 3.6 does not include site changes from the artisan, which will be developed in Chapter 4.

Fig 3.7

Authors diagrammatic sketch exploring how data to distant from the origin of generation, breaks the system.

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3.1.3 SEED FACTORY - ALGORITHM

“Orthogonal Datums “ (Wark)

“Pack Evolution” (Lynn)

“Linear Repetitions” - (Wark)

“single embryotic egg” (DeLanda)

Fig 3.8

Authors diagrammatic sketches, exploring physical characteristic and mathematics that may define the artefact system

3.2.2.1 GENERATING THE ALGORITHM This section will explore an algorithm, that defines how the artefact will generate. The algorithm will generate artefacts that to replicate the physical characteristics of Barry Warks ecocentric artefacts, such as creasing, linear repetitions and orthogonal datums. The artefact will also utilise Lynn’s invocation for ‘pack’ evolution (see section 2.9.1). Consequently, this thesis proposes to use a participle simulation, in an attempt to replicate the philosophical ‘becoming's’ the occur in a pack, as seen in exploratory sketches in figure 3.8. The collective paths left by multiple particles will help to create ‘linear repetition’ within the artefact.

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Designing the algorithm was accomplished predominately through visual scripting.

However, some manual coding was required to explore characteristics specific to this design-led investigation, such as normalising the vectors of the simulation path. Normalising the vectors helped to create the ‘orthogonal datums’ proposed by Wark. Page 75 shows the raw VEX code algorithm from SideFX Houdini.

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3.2.1 GROWTH ENGINE - PARAMETERS

POPULATIONAL PARAMETERS

MICRO SCALE VARIABLE PARAMETERS

MACRO SCALE VARIABLE PARAMETERS

(a) pt.num (b) pt.radius (c) linelength (d) dilate (e) iteration (f) smooth

(a) freq.x (c) freq.y (a) freq.z (c) amplitude (d) roughness (e) attenuation (f) turbulence (g) tend. y (h) frame =f

TOPOLOGICAL INVARIANTS REFLECTION

PARAMETER ALTERCATIONS NON-HUMAN ARTEFACT

Fig 3.9

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Populational parameters to be ‘unleashed’ upon the system, forcing change and evolution.

3.2.2 GROWTH ENGINE - CRITIQUE FRAMEWORK

Figure 2.9 outlines a series of ‘Populational The limit of the populational parameters is parameters'. Postulated by DeLanda in section measured against the physical characteristics 2.8.1, altering these parameters in the ‘Growth of Barry Warks ecocentric architectures. ‘TopoEngine’ will force evolutions, creating ‘topolog- logical invarients’ will be observed in each iteraical invarients’. tion of the section 3.2.4. ‘Topological invarients’ are any morphological novelty that may define In an “exploration of limits” (Armstrong et al. 2), an artefact. ‘populational thinking’ will be applied in section 3.2.3, evaluating the surface condition of arte- Key Physical characteristics from Barry Warks fact, and in section 3.3.4, in evaluating ‘topolog- ecocentric artefacts : ical invariants’. Both sections aim to explore the ‘limits’ of the populational parameters.

• linear repetitions Section 3.34 will establish a parameter range.

Creating a parameter range will give the designer freedom to explore the generation system in Chapter 4 through adjustable parameter values, while still generating artefacts that represent the design-led research investigation's aim and principal research objectives.

Fig 3.10

Wark Case Grotto Facade, examining creases, seams at a scale legible to humans.

• creases • seams • orthogonal datums • human legible

Fig 3.11

Wark Case Study House by the Sea, with a range of creases, linear repetitions and orthogonal datums

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3.2.3 - GROWTH ENGINE - SURFACE CONDITIONS These experiments examine the meshing process, converting the particles from the simulation, into a primitive mesh. This will define the surface characteristics of the artefact. Presenting the limits of the system as definitive numbers and not a range, ensures each artefact has similar ‘ecocentric’ surface qualities as Barry Warks case studies. Below are critiques corresponding to the tests conducted in figure 3.13.

01

LINE DENSITY (SCATTER)

02

DATUM TRANSITION (LINE POINT RESAMPLE)

1a: Different densities across form, able to propagate creases

2a: Linear repetitions of orthogonal datums with subtle deterritorialisation in the transition between angles

1b: Too discrete, parts are not related

2b: Striated

1c: Too discrete, parts are not related

2c: Lines will not align to create creases

1d: Too dense lack of differentiation

2d: Lines will not align to create creases

03

CREATING DENSITY (VOXEL RADIUS)

3a: Different densities across form, able to propagate creases 3b: Too sparse 3c: Too specific, no formal blending 3d: Too specific, no formal blending

05

HOMOGONISE PARTS (VOXEL SMOOTH)

04

DENSITY EDITING (VOXEL EXPANSION)

4a:Balance of defined repetitions 4b: Linear repetitions not defined 4c: Too specific, no formal blending 4d: Dilated surface begins to lose creased qualities

06

CREATE MESH (SMOOTH)

1a: Different densities across form, able to propagate creases. Good result.

2a: Different densities across form, able to propagate creases. Good result.

1b: linear repetitions appear segmented

2b: Too specific, no formal blending

1c: Linear reparations and creases too smoothed

2c: Linear reparations and creases too smoothed

1d: Too smoothed, loses all creasing and linear repetitions

2d:Too smoothed, loses all creasing and linear repetitions

Fig 3.12

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Case Study Lynsted Folly from Barry Wark creates seams and creases to propagate plants, dirt, grime and other non-human entities.

1A

1b

(a) pt.num = 2000 (c) pt.num = 500

2b

1c

2c

1d

2d

(b) pt.num = 100 (d) pt.num = 5000

3A

a 2A

3b

(a) linelength = 0.05 (c) linelength = 0.5

(b) linelength = 0.01 (d) linelength = 1 4b

4a 4A

(a) pt.radius = 0.005 (c) pt.radius = 0.01

3c

4c

3d

4d

(b) pt.radius = 0.001 (d) pt.radius = 0.04

5A

5b

(a) iteration = 2 (c) iteration = 4

(a) dilate = 1 (c) dilate = 2

(b) dilate = 0.3 (d) dilate = 5

6A

6b

5c

6c

5d

6d

(b) iteration = 0 (d) iteration =10

(a) smooth = 10 (c) smooth = 100

(b) smooth = 1 (d) smooth = 1000

Final Micro scale Parameters pt.num = 2000 linelength=0.05 Fig 3.13

pt.radius=0.005 dilate=1

iteration=2 smooth=10

The images above display the six primary stages of converting the particle simulation into a mesh. Multiple settings were explored to get the most appropriate parameters.

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3.2.4 - GROWTH ENGINE - TOPOLOGICAL INVARIENTS

These experiments will examine larger topo- experiments will all share a similar design logical characteristics of the non-human arte- language. They will be refined through obserfact. Bound by the same ‘soft boundary’ system vation of ‘topological invariants , produced by explored in sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2, the following changes in the ‘populational parameters’.

EACH EXPERIMENT IS AN EQUIVALENT TYPE OF ‘PLATEAU’ ON A GREATER ‘CONTINUITY’ (SEE SECTION 2.5.5).

TOPOLOGICAL INVARIANTS

PLATEAU E-1X0

KEY TOPOLOGICAL INVARIENTS

PARAMETERS

SIMULATION FRAME NUMBER

F=15

F=30

VIRTUAL EVOLUTIONS F=45

F=60

F=75

TOPOLOGICAL INVARIENTS CALLOUT

80

F=90

(a) freq.x = 0.8

(c) attenuation = 1

(c) freq.y = 0.9

(a) turbulence = 3

(a) freq.z = 0.9

(c) tend.y = 0.021

(c) amplitude = 3

(a) pt.num = 2000

(a) roughness = 8

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

PLATEAU E-1X0

PLATEAU BR-45

02

PLATEAU 3HO-S

03

TOPOLOGICAL INVARIANTS

01

(a) freq.x = 0.8

(c) tend.y = 0.021

(a) freq.x = 0.5

(c) tend.y = 0.021

(a) freq.x = 0.9

(c) tend.y = 0.021

(c) freq.y = 0.9

(a) pt.num = 2000

(c) freq.y = 0.5

(a) pt.num = 2000

(c) freq.y = 0.9

(a) pt.num = 2000

(a) freq.z = 0.9

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(a) freq.z = 0.5

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(a) freq.z = 0.3

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 3

(a) linelength = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 3

(a) linelength = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 3

(a) linelength = 0.005

(a) roughness = 8

(c) dilate = 1

(a) roughness = 5

(c) dilate = 1

(a) roughness = 5

(c) dilate = 1

(c) attenuation = 1

(a) iteration = 2

(c) attenuation = 1

(a) iteration = 2

(c) attenuation = 1

(a) itteration = 2

(a) turbulence = 3

(c) smooth = 10

(a) turbulence = 3

(c) smooth = 10

(a) turbulence = 3

(c) smooth = 10

F=15

F=30

F=45

F=60

F=75

F=90

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PLATEAU U-W0M

PLATEAU Q-MFJ

05

PLATEAU 8F3-V

06

TOPOLOGICAL INVARIANTS

04

(a) freq.x = 0.9

(c) tend.y = 0.21

(a) freq.x = 0.7

(c) tend.y = 0.21

(a) freq.x = 0.4

(c) tend.y = 0.2

(c) freq.y = 0.9

(a) pt.num = 2000

(c) freq.y = 0.7

(a) pt.num = 2000

(c) freq.y = 0.4

(a) pt.num = 2000

(a) freq.z = 0.3

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(a) freq.z = 0.7

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(a) freq.z = 0.4

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 1

(a) linelength = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 2

(a) linelength = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 2

(a) linelength = 0.005

(a) roughness = 1

(c) dilate = 1

(a) roughness = 1

(c) dilate = 1

(a) roughness = 1

(c) dilate = 1

(c) attenuation = 1

(a) iteration = 2

(c) attenuation = 1.4 (a) iteration = 2

(c) attenuation = 1.4 (a) iteration = 2

(a) turbulence = 3

(c) smooth = 10

(a) turbulence = 2

(a) turbulence = 4

F=15

F=30

F=45

F=60

F=75

F=90

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(c) smooth = 10

(c) smooth = 10

07

PLATEAU H7-56

08

PLATEAU H7-856

09

PLATEAU 8-8NN

(a) freq.x = 0.4

(c) tend.y = 1

(a) freq.x = 1

(c) tend.y = 1

(a) freq.x = 0.5

(c) tend.y = 1

(c) freq.y = 0.7

(a) pt.num = 2000

(c) freq.y = 0.1

(a) pt.num = 2000

(c) freq.y = 0.5

(a) pt.num = 2000

(a) freq.z = 0.4

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(a) freq.z = 1

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(a) freq.z = 0.5

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 2

(a) linelength = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 2

(a) linelength = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 1

(a) linelength = 0.005

(a) roughness = 2

(c) dilate = 1

(a) roughness = 2

(c) dilate = 1

(a) roughness = 3

(c) dilate = 1

(c) attenuation = 1.4 (a) iteration = 2

(c) attenuation = 1.4 (a) iteration = 2

(c) attenuation = 1

(a) iteration = 2

(a) turbulence = 3

(a) turbulence = 3

(a) turbulence = 3

(c) smooth = 10

(c) smooth = 10

(c) smooth = 10

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10

PLATEAU JN78-5

11

PLATEAU 7-1X0

12

PLATEAU E35-H

(a) freq.x = 0.2

(c) tend.y = 1

(a) freq.x = 0.3

(c) tend.y = 0.25

(a) freq.x = 0.3

(c) tend.y = 0.25

(c) freq.y = 0.5

(a) pt.num = 2000

(c) freq.y = 0.1

(a) pt.num = 2000

(c) freq.y = 0.1

(a) pt.num = 2000

(a) freq.z = 0.2

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(a) freq.z = 0.3

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(a) freq.z = 0.3

(c) pt.radius = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 1

(a) linelength = 0.005

(c) amplitude =1

(a) linelength = 0.005

(c) amplitude = 1

(a) linelength = 0.005

(a) roughness = 3

(c) dilate = 1

(a) roughness = 3

(c) dilate = 1

(a) roughness = 3

(c) dilate = 1

(c) attenuation = 1

(a) iteration = 2

(c) attenuation = 1

(a) iteration = 2

(c) attenuation = 1

(a) iteration = 2

(a) turbulence = 3

(c) smooth = 10

(a) turbulence = 3

(c) smooth = 10

(a) turbulence = 5

(c) smooth = 10

F=15

F=30

F=45

F=60

F=75

F=90

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3.2.5 - GROWTH ENGINE - TOPOLOGICAL INVARIENTS - REFLECTION

3.2.5.1 REFLECTIONS This set of monstering experiments within the ‘Growth Engine’ resulted in a greater understanding of the speculated artefact generation system. Upon analysis of the ‘topological invarients’, the limits to the populational parameters are as follows:

freq.x : 0.1-0.9

frame:

10-240

(a)

freq.y: 0.1-0.9

pt.num: 2000-3000

freq.z: 0.1-0.9

pt.radius: 0.003-0.005

amplitude: 1-3

linelength: 0.005

roughness: 2-3

dilate: 0.8-1.1

attenuation: 0.1-0.9

iteration: 2

turbulence: 1

smooth: 5-15

tend. y: 0.01-2

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3.3 COMPUTATIONAL GARDEN INTENSIVE THINKING

SIMULATION X (UPWARD GROWTH)

ARTEFACT SUPPORTS SIMULATION Y (DOWNWARD GROWTH)

Manuel DeLanda invokes ‘intensive thinking’ as a framework to generate structure. This process will invoke the “Computational Garden”, outlined by Gro-CyPhy in section 2.11.3. One simulation will grow upward. Another simulation will be programmed to grow downward. It will grow through the anthropogenic stratum,

ARTEFACT FOUNDATIONS

anchoring the artefact deep into the ground.

By growing through the earth’s strata, the artefact will have access to a large domain of natural and artificial matter. This will provide more control over waste flows, strengthening Research Objective 2, The Ecological.

Fig 3.14 Artefact diagram representing two components in a non-human artefact , created through two separate simulations

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SIMULATION X (UPWARD GROWTH)

SIMULATION Y (DOWNWARD GROWTH)

Fig 3.15

Section of experiment from section 4.3.5, showing how one artefact may be comprised of multiple simulations in its overall assemblage.

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3.4 MONSTERING SYSTEM PRELIMINARY DESIGN I OUTCOME

Fig 3.16

88

This non-human artefact an output of the speculative 'Monstering system' designed in Chapter 3. This artefact was created using parameters within the ‘parameter limit’ (see section 3.2.5).

Orthogonal datums

Linear Repetitions help form creases

Creases

Adaptive feet that shift across the site Adaptive structure that supports the artefact

Fig 3.16 Elevations and plan of artefact

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3.5 CHAPTER 3 CRITICAL REFLECTION

The methodology explored in Chapter 3 tested a speculative 'Monstering system', generating artefacts using a random number generator to allocate data points across the surface of a landscape. If the methodology had utilised a different data set, the involutionary system would have created different ‘soft boundaries’ and the artefacts’ output by computational simulation would look different. The surface texture of the artefacts would look similar because virtual evolutions at the micro-level (see section 3.2.1) are only affected by the meshing process and the artefact algorithm (see section 3.1.3).

Design agency was a particularly interesting area of investigation in this chapter. The system developed in Chapter 3 was ‘bio-inspired’, exploring evolutionary growth frameworks from DeLanda and Gro-CyPhy. Consequently, the computational simulation adopted a ‘bio-inspired agency’. This meant that the exact outcome of virtual evolutions was indeterminate, as they had an agency programmed into the artefact that extended beyond the author.

Creating a ‘range’ of ‘populational parameters’

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(explored in section 3.2.5) gave the author some agency to alter the parameters of the algorithm, while still creating artefacts that represent the thesis's aim and principal research objectives.

Interestingly, the role of the speculative architect shifted to a breeder of forms, propagating growth by manipulating generations of artefacts to explore their topological characteristics.

Chapter 4, Preliminary Design II will introduce the provocateur tool set of the artisan, introducing an anthropogenic agency to design. This may give more agency back to the author to manually manipulate the artefact’s, instead of forcing changes through propagation of virtual evolutions.

Chapter 3 explored RO1, the Philosophical Approach through philosophical frameworks

by DeLanda and Lynn. Their theory was used as the contextual framework for constructing and testing the algorithm. Consequently, every artefact moving forward will in part represent a Philosophical Approach to the generation of

speculative architectural artefacts. Chapter 4 may examine how artefacts can explicitly represent ‘rhizomatic’ thinking.

RO2, the Ecological Approach, was explored through Barry Wark’s ecocentric case studies. Using Warks ecocentric case studies as a reference for critiquing the virtual evolutions and topological invariants in section 3.2.3 and 3.2.4, appeared to be successful. The artefacts generated demonstrate ‘ecocentric’ characteristics, like creases and seams, to propagate non-human agents. This elevates non-humans, addressing ontological imbalance by acknowledging their ubiquitous presence in the built environment. Chapter 3 demonstrated how a non-human artefact's aesthetic surface qualities address ecological imbalance,Moving forward, chapter 4 may explore how the artefacts manipulate anthropogenic waste.

This chapter explored RO3, the Systematic Approach, through a speculative system for generating non-human artefacts. Able to transform in response to its context, the system strongly reflects RO3. Consequently,

every artefact explored moving forward will represent in part the Systematic Approach, because part of the artefact will be produced through a systematic generation process.

Moving forward, Chapter 4 will explore the artefacts as components of a larger, planetary scale system.

Populational Parameter Limits freq.x : 0.1-0.9 freq.y: 0.1-0.9 freq.z: 0.1-0.9

frame: 10-240 (a) pt.num: 20003000

amplitude: 1-3

pt.radius: 0.0030.005

roughness: 2-3

linelength: 0.005

attenuation: 0.1-0.9

dilate: 0.8-1.1

turbulence: 1

itteration: 2

tend. y: 0.01-2

smooth: 5-15

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Fig 3.17

Experimental drawing, recontextualising an artefact created with the 'Monstering System' back into the digital interface it was derived from

93

94

95

DE-ANTHROPOMORPHISE

0210

The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born...

-Armstrong, The Art of Experiment, p51

Fig 4.0,1 This speculative drawing by the author seeks to shift anthropocentrisms ontological focus. The centered portrait of the figure represents a misguided sense of comfort and stability, afforded by modernity. The glitch-distorted eyes infer a looming yet potent destabilisation, caused by anthropogenic technologies. The system of intensities and nodes 96 overlayed, imply the schematic for a new world, constructed from ‘present and future knowledge’.

4.0 - PRELIMINARY DESIGN II WORLDING EXPERIMENTS 4.0.1 WORLDING EXPERIMENTS CONTEXT Dr Rachel Armstrong proposes that “mature toolsets” for challenges like the Anthropocene “do not yet exist. ... [Instead] they are nascent and being prototyped through the process of experiment” (Armstrong 67). Armstrong argues, “to achieve the necessary paradigm shift in the production of ecological architectures, many visions and strategies must be engaged” (64). In their book The Art of Experiment: Post-pandemic Knowledge Practices for 21st Century Architecture and Design, and Gullström-Hughes propose ‘Worlding Experiments’ as a framework for experimental architecture to address contemporary and future challenges like the Anthropocene.

Armstrong begins chapter five, “Extending Knowledge” with the provocation “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born... A revolution in the way we world our worlds is needed to counter the terrifying decline implicit of the Anthropocene” (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong 51). Armstrong references Anna Tsing’s book Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet. Tsing proposes we reflect on how we may “re-purpose the tools of modernity against the terrors of Progress to make visible the other worlds it has ignored and damaged” (Tsing 7). Armstrong suggests our current world “struggles most with [the] dynamics that question the human-centeredness of the planet” (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong 52). Solutions for the Anthropocene cannot be derived from the human-centered world prescribed by the modern age. Armstrong argues:

We must reworld our world through the practice of worlding. First popularised in Beinjz and Time (Heidegger, 1978) by Martin Heidegger, who turned the noun (world...) into the active verb (worlding) and so proposed an ongoing, generative process of world making... (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong 52).

4.0.2 WORLDING EXPERIMENTS FRAMEWORK Chapter 4, Preliminary Design will explore a series of ‘Worlding Experiments’. These experiments will be represented through architectural concepts, iteratively designed in line with this thesis’s aim and objectives. Armstrong and Hughes’ invocation for ‘(re)making our world’ is analogous to Deleuze and Guattari’s, call for ‘new earth’. Both address a destabilised world by invoking new lines of thought through design.

'Worlding experiments' engage an assemblage of “concepts, contexts [and] material expressions” (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong 55) Consequently, experiments in chapter 4 will be conducted through various media that include digital, sketch, modeling mixed media, model making and cinematics.

These experiments will ‘re-purpose the tools of modernity against the terrors of Progress’ (Tsing 7) by utilising contemporary tools, such as simulation, game engines, 3D printing and CNC routing.

97

(Re)worlding experiments will be examined through a dystopian lens. The experiments will be set in a speculative climate-fiction future, where the symptoms of the Anthropocene have intensified. Specifically, in this imaginary future, the layer of anthropogenic waste that defines the Anthropocene has become unavoidably increasingly dense and intrusive. In this chapter of the thesis, the preliminary design outcomes associated with the sorcerer will be referred to as ‘non-human artefacts’, while the outcomes associated with the ‘artisan’ will be referred to as ‘relics’. Their combined assemblage will be referred to as ‘ecocentric artefacts’.

The ecocentric artefacts created in this speculated future will act as ‘avatars’ to generate ‘ecological myths’, (re)making our world’ (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong 52) and invoking a shift in thinking away from anthropocentrism.

In a dialogue, non-human artefacts will ‘respect what already exists’ (Gullström-Hughes and Armstrong 52), acknowledging and homogenising itself to 'relics'. In the thesis’s preliminary design experiments, this dialectic relationship will be informed by the philosophical persona of the artisan (anthropocentric) and the sorcerer (non-human).

Preliminary Design experiments will test early concepts using the following programmatic typology ‘relics’

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• Section 4.1.5: The Scavenger’s Hut • Section 4.2.6: The Mining Towers • Section 4.3.5: The Nomadic Agglomerator • Section 4.4.4: The Collection Bays To further address Research Objective 1, The Philosophical, Chapter 4 will be structured by the philosophical framework of the ‘rhizome’.

Sections 4.1-4.4 will each represent one of the key characteristics of the rhizome: ‘connection and heterogeneity’ (4.1), ‘cartography and decalcomania’(4.2), and ‘multiplicity’ (4.3), while the fourth and final rhizomatic characteristic of ‘asignifying rupture’ (4.4) will combine characteristics of the three previous stages of design into one stage of design experimentation. The beginning of each section will outline key rhizomatic attributes from A Thousand Plateaus that will act as literary provocateurs for the experimental concept design.

Research Objective 2, The Ecological, will be addressed through speculated programming of preliminary design artefacts. This chapter will explore how the artefacts can address both ecological and ontological imbalance by manipulating the very anthropogenic waste products that threaten the stability of our biosphere.

Research Objective 3, The Systematic, will be addressed through a series of systematic diagrams. Early sketch diagrams will be created, translating the key attributes of each section into a speculative system. Systematic diagrams are examined by developing the ecological artefact as components of a much larger system. This system will be explored through the lens of the previous two objectives, communicated through diagrams.

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4.1 CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY

Fig 4.1.1

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Preliminary Design sketch systems, exploring rhizomatic attributes for Connection/Heterogeneity through nodes and the intensities that connect them. These diagrams are ‘independent of the forms and substances, expressions and contents it will distribute’ (Deleuze and Guattari 156)

4.1.1 CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY CONTEXT

4.1.2 CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY FRAMEWORK

In his book, Deleuze and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus, A Critical Introduction and Guide, Brent Adkins outlines that:

This design-led research section will explore the rhizomatic characteristics of connection and heterogeneity. The key rhizomatic attributes for Connection/Heterogeneity:

The principle of connection states that in order to make something into a rhizome, one must not make connections based solely on hierarchy, but rather experiment with new connections not predicated on hierarchy (Adkins 25).

• Connections • Connections that transform • Diverse Objects

If the principle of connection tells us what types of connections to explore, heterogeneity tells us the kinds of object that will make new connections. The principle of heterogeneity proposes, when making a rhizome, that connections should be amongst many diverse things. An assemblage in its essence is a connection of different objects.

Adkins states that a key characteristic of the rhizome is that it “multiplies connections... pursues connections that transform it, creates something new” (Adkins 24). This perpetual transformation ensures that a rhizome has “no up or down, right or left. It is always in the middle” (24).

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4.1.3 CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY - EARLY EXPERIMENTS

EXPLORING ‘CONNECTIONS’, ‘CONNECTIONS THAT TRANSFORM’ AND ‘DIVERSE OBJECTS’ According to Timothy Morton, “It would make more sense to design in a dark ecological way, admitting our co-existence with toxic substances we have created and exploited” (Morton, Hyperobjects 109). The digital

experiments below explore industrial detritus, re-purposed into new morphologies. These morphologies may operate at the behest of non-human agency. Fig 4.1.2 examines a literal takeover of control from a non-human form.

DIGITAL EXPERIMENT

Fig 4.1.2

early connection /heterogeneity experiment 1

KEY IDEAS

Different objects Exploration of connection hierarchy

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Connections that transform

This form is smooth, compared to the striated Euclidean gear, a symbol of anthropogenic industry. In these early preliminary design experiments, ‘smooth’ is associated with the sorcerer in A Thousand Plateaus, while ‘striated’ is associated with the artisan. The experiment in figure 4.1.3 examines the hierarchy of connections. The industrious Universal I-Beams are arrayed in an ordered hierarchy. Comparatively,

Fig 4.1.3

the smooth morphology encroaching on the beams, does not operate under the same hierarchy. It attaches itself to the beam, with no apparent bias to its magnitude of connections or intent. Reflecting on the smooth morphology’s intent, it appears to be homogenising its structure and material to the beams. This may strengthen its own structural anatomy, supporting its future agency for growth.

early connection /heterogeneity experiment 2

Striated (Artisan)

Exploration of connection hierarchy

Smooth (sorcerer)

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4.1.4 CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY - SKETCH EXPERIMENTS

4.1.41 ARTISAN TECHNOLOGICAL RELIC

ARTISANS CHARACTERISTICS (FROM SECTION 2.3.5)

The intersection of the sorcerer’s artefacts and the artisan’s relics will signify a shift in anthropocentric thinking. The artisan’s relics represent anthropogenic modernity, symbolising the human centered, technological innovation that resulted in the acceleration of the Anthropocene symptoms. The technological relics will be informed by philosophical persona of the artisan.

Technological Human Centered Euclidean Innovation Striated

KEY IDEAS: CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY

Connections

Connections that transform

Diverse Objects (heterogenity)

Fig 4.1.4

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(opposite) Early sketches by author, exploring the artisan and Connection & Heterogeneity

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4.1.5 - RELIC - THE SCAVENGER’S HUT This concept examines a hypothetical anthropogenic structure. The scavenger’s hut is represented as a human-centric architecture, it controls the flows of waste, aggregating them into their own agency. It is assisted by a device the scavenger uses to measure environmental data and break down waste into its chemical compounds, separating it into barrels. Hard waste is stored in make-shift shelves.

PLAN VIEW

ELEVATION 1 VIEW

Fig 4.1.5 Plans and elevations of the Scavengers Hut

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EARLY SKETCH EXPLORING STRIATION

ELEVATION 2 VIEW

DIGITAL EXPERIMENT

Metal Support beams (Striated, Technological)

Water Tank (Human Centered)

AI aggregation system (Innovation) Chemical Barrels (Innovation)

Water Tower (Striated, Euclidean)

Exhaust (striated Technological)

Corrugated Sheet Coverings (Euclidean Striated) Large metal beams support beams (Striated, Technological

Data Terminal (Technological)

Human Aggregated Waste (Human Centered)

Ladder (Human centered)

Fig 4.1.6 Scavenger hut axonometric

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4.1.6 - SORCERER + ARTISAN - ARTEFACT

OBJECTS THAT INFLUENCE CONNECTIONS

The water in the tank may be re-distributed by the ecocentric artefact into the eco-system and then used as storage.

The steel beams may be repurposed by the artifact to provide bracing and structure

The steel beams may be repurposed by the artefact to provide footing and structure The chemicals in the tank may be re-distributed by the ecocentric artefact into the eco-system and then used as storage in the artefact’s cyborg physiology.

OBJECTS THAT DO NOT INFLUENCE CONNECTIONS

The ecocentric artefact will redistribute the anthropogenic waste, asserting physical and ontological claims

These objects will not create trans-formative connections with the ecocentric artefact. They are primarily bio-degradable timber or not structural components

Fig 4.1.7

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Exploded Axonometric

DIGITAL EXPERIMENT

Stage 1

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Stage 4 See pg114-119

Stage 5 See pg109-113

Fig 4.1.8 Stages of the artefacts homogenisation, explored through a continuum

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4.1.7 - SYSTEMATIC DIAGRAM - CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY 15

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4.1.8 CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY NODE (ARTEFACT) 4.1.81 SYSTEM OVERVIEW

4.1.82 CONNECTING AGENT

In accordance with the theoretical propositions of Sanford Kwinter, the system is composed of a series of nodes and connecting intensities. Figure 4.1.13 represents a node in a larger system. The non-human artefact is in constant dialogue with the relic. As the ecocentric artefact attempts to re-distribute waste flows in accordance with its own agency, anthropocentric agencies act against this. The human centered distributions are aggregated into striated waste bays, to be piled and organized.

Comparably, of the ecocentric artefact breaks down the materials, redistributing it to re-balance the ecology.

This hypothetical robotic agent is anthropocentric. It shifts around the landscape, redistributing waste in accordance to an anthropogenic agency. These aggregations will consequently influence the objects available to the ecocentric artefact. The robotic agent acts as a connecting ‘intensity’, utilising its mobility to assist in the connection, growth and transformation of nodes (artefacts).

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Fig 4.1.10 Connection & heterogeneity system diagram callout

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Fig 4.1.11 Robotic agent, acting as a connecting intensity, helping create new connections.

STAGE 5 (see pg 109)

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Fig 4.13

Connection/heterogeneity node (artefact)

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Diverse Objects in the connections

Objects transformed and re-purposed

Homogenisation of materials, as explored in earlier experiments

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4.1.9 - HOMOGENISATION (NON HUMAN ARTEFACT + RELICS) STAGE 4 (see pg 103)

Fig 4.1.13 Fig 4.1.14 Fig 4.1.15 Fig 4.1.16

(above) Axonometric overview of the artefact (top opposite) non-human artefact homogenising with anthropogenic objects taking control of chemical waste flows (middle opposite) Structural beams may yet be of use to the ecocentric artefact (bottom opposite)Structural beams homogenised with artefact, used for bracing and footing 115

4.1.10 - CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY - MATERIAL DETAILS

Fig 4.1.17 Close ups of material details

Horizontal creases layer the artefact’s creating creases and seams for biotic and abiotic non-human propagation, accordance with the theoretical propositions of Wark (see section 2.10.2 and 2.10.3)

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Grime on top of the artefact implies an aging, building ‘temporal ambiguity’ (see section 2.10.2)

STAGE 4 (see pg 103)

GAME ENGINE

Similar to Warks case study 'House by the Sea', the red pigment in the artefact is derived from the pigment of it’s immediate biome substrate.

Grass and lichens slowly grow in the creases and seams of the artefact (Wark)

Fig 4.1.18

Blended images of panning shot along the artefact

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41.11 — CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY CONCLUSION AND CRITICAL REFLECTION

Fig 4.1.19

Lurking ecocentric artefact

This section was reasonably successful in investigating all three research objectives, in relation to early preliminary design experiments.

This section built upon Barry Warks case studies, by incorporating relics that were ‘homogenised’ to the non-human artefact. Dissolving

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the distance between human components and the non-human artefact strengthened its ecocentric qualities and exploration of R02.

However, the development of the Ecological did not deeply experiment with how the ecocentric artefact re-distributed the waste flows. This

STAGE 4 (see pg 103)

influence was instead implied through the artisan’s interventions as a reaction to the non-human artefact’s existence. In future experiments, the artefacts should have a more specific method for manipulating waste. Exploring the artefact as the node in the system is a viable

method to explore the artefact as a component in the larger system in relation to RO3. Moving forward the artefact should be explored with a different role in the system.

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4.2 CARTOGRAPHY/ DECALCOMANIA

Experimentation

Fig 4.2.1

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Preliminary Design sketch systems, exploring rhizomatic attributes for Cartography/Decalcomania through nodes and the intensities that connect them.

4.2.1 CARTOGRAPHY/DECALCOMANIA CONTEXT Section 4.2 of this design-led research will explore the rhizomatic principles of cartography and decalcomania. Cartography or “mapping” will be the primary focus of this section, as it promotes creating new concepts and is crucial in creating a rhizome. This is directly opposed to decalcomania. Decalcomania is the derivative for the term ‘decal’ and refers to transferring ready-made pictures onto another surface. This is more commonly known as ‘stickers’. According to Adkins, Deleuze and Guattari believe decalcomania is too dominant in philosophy and is a detrimental way of creating new concepts. If one only used a sticker book in creating an assemblage, they would reproduce the same image of thought repeatedly (Adkins 29).

Comparatively, cartography propagates new lines of flight through experimentation. “What distinguishes the map from the tracing is that it is entirely oriented toward an experimentation in contact with the real” (Deleuze and Guattari 12). Deleuze and Guattari describe a map as:

Representation shifts from re-reterritorialisation to deterritorialisation, shifting the focus from object to process and revealing the intertextual nature of architectural design. The cartographic thus pursues a representation that is not effective in rationally representing, but in discovering... (Sophia Banou 22)

4.2.2 CARTOGRAPHY/DECALCOMANIA FRAMEWORK Experimentation will explore ‘mapping’ through 4 sets of ‘deterritorialised cartographic experiments’. The deterritorialised nature of the experiments invites discovery which may then be reterritorialised and recontextualised into architectural concepts. Experiments will be conducted at different scales and through different mediums.

The key rhizomatic attributes for Cartography/ Decalcomania are: • Experimental discovery

...open and connectible in all of its dimensions; it is detachable, reversible, susceptible to constant modification. It can be torn, reversed, adapted to any kind of mounting... (Deleuze and Guattari 12)

• Deterritorialisation • Reterritorialisation

In her article “Drawing the Digital: From ‘Virtual’ Experience”, Sophia Banou reflects on Mark Dorrian’s book Cartographic Turn and its intersection with Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy.

Discussing cartography, she proposes:

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DETERRITORIALISED EXPERIMENTS - SET 2 DIGITAL SKETCH EXPERIMENT 122

Fig 4.2.2

A sea of striation, broken by a smooth artefact (digital sketch)

4.2.3 - EARLY EXPERIMENTS DETERRITORIALISED EXPERIMENTS - SET 1

SKETCH EXPERIMENT

+

Experiments in 4.2.3 examine characteristics of reterritorialisation, deterritorialisation, as well as the key philosophical concepts of smooth space and striated space. Set 1 explores cartography at the scale of a thumbnail sketch. Fig 4.2.2, (set 2) recontextualises a selected map sketch into an architectural concept. Set 3 (overleaf) introduces mixed media into the cartographic experimentation.

1: Smooth 2: Striated

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Fig 4.2.3 Thumbnail cartography sketches (top)

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DETERRITORIALISED EXPERIMENTS - SET 3

Fig 4.2.4 (top) Cartographic deterritorialised set 3 experiment 1 Fig 4.2.5 (bottom) Cartographic deterritorialised set 3 experiment 2

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Fig 4.2.6 (top) Cartographic deterritorialised set 3 experiment 3 Fig 4.2.7 (bottom) Cartographic deterritorialised set 3 experiment 4

MULTI-MEDIA EXPERIMENT

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Fig 4.2.8 (top) Cartographic deterritorialised set 3 experiment 5 Fig 4.2.9 (bottom) Cartographic deterritorialised set 3 experiment 6

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CARTOGRAPHY EXPERIMENTATION DISCOVERIES Radial Wrap Protrude Grid Deterritorialise Tendril

Fig 4.2.10 (top) Cartographic deterritorialised set 3 experiment 7 Fig 4.2.11 (bottom) Cartographic deterritorialised set 3 experiment 8

MULTI-MEDIA EXPERIMENT

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4.2.4 - SKETCH EXPERIMENTS

ARTISAN’S CHARACTERISTICS (FROM SECTION 2.3.5)

Human Centered

Technological

Innovation

Euclidean Striated

KEY IDEAS FROM EXPERIMENTATION

Radial

Grid

Wrap

Deterritorialise

Protrude

Tendril

Directly above are key ideas that were ‘discovered’ through deterritorialised cartographic experiments’. These key ideas will be explored through sketch experiments on the facing page, iteratively building on ideas from the sketch experiments from section 4.1.

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Wrap, Grid, tendril

SKETCH EXPERIMENT

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4.2.5

GROWTH STAGE 4 (see pg 137)

WRAP

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Fig 4.2.12

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Axonometric exploring mining tower relics in relation to key ideas from deterritorialised experimentation

DIGITAL EXPERIMENT

4.2.6 - ARTISAN TECHNOLOGICAL RELIC - THE MINING TOWERS This concept examines a set of hypothetical anthropogenic structures that have been built around growing ecological artefact’s. The towers are built in an immediate proximity to the artefacts, so that they might tap into the non-human artefacts, attempting to reclaim anthropogenic control over the waste flows. A series of pipes and supports runs up and down the towers, transferring materials from the top to the bottom.

The anthropogenic components of the artefact grow in scale correspondence to their immediate ecocentric artefact. This creates a variation of small and large structures.

Large technological components ‘protrude’ out of the artefact. This could be reflecting of anthropogenic technologies’ bulbous interference protrusiveness into the natural world.

The anthropogenic structure that wraps around the ecocentric artefacts is modularised, so that it is highly adaptable to the fluid changes of the ecocentric artefact.

Similar to a mining operation, the anthropocentric component of the artefact extracts waste flows from the ecocentric artefact, redistributing them into anthropogenic aggregations via a system of conveyor belts.

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STAGE 3

STAGE 2

STAGE 1

GROWTH STAGES AXONOMETRIC

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grime buildup as artefact ages

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Fig 4.2.13 Axonometric views show how the anthropogenic and ecocentric components of the artefact transform congruently through different stages

GROWTH STAGES ELEVATIONS

STAGE 4

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GROWTH STAGES PLANS

Fig 4.2.14 Speculative flow diagram concepts demonstrate a dialogue between anthropogenic flows (red) and ecocentric flows(blue).

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This system is distinctly less structured than the previous sections system. It invokes cartography’s deterritorialised nature, with artefacts scattered randomly across the plane. Anthropogenic striated components are built around the growths, protruding out and intertwining with the growing ecocentric artefacts.

In this system, the artefact’s growth points act as anchors for anthropogenic interference.

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The non-human artefact’s will grow until they begin to homogenise into themselves, forming one ‘hyper-object’ artefact. This means that the artefacts themselves are both nodes and connecting intensities.

Because experimental design was focused around cartography, the resulting system will only be explored at the master plan scale.

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4.2.8- HOMOGENISATION

Fig 4.2.16 Fig 4.2.17

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peering through the relic to see the artefacts (top) mining tower typology, homogenised with the non-human artefact (above)

GAME ENGINE

4.2.9 - AXONOMETRIC OVERVIEW (SEE pg 133)

Fig 4.2.18

STAGE 4

Rotated axonometrics

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4.2.10 — CARTOGRAPHY/DECALCOMANIA CONCLUSION AND CRITICAL REFLECTION

Fig 4.2.19

A large system of artefacts, forming multiple mining towers

Derived from deterritorialised experimentation, the proposed system in section 4.2 was equally deterritorialised. Building on reflections from section 4.1, this artefact adopted to role of node and intensity within the system.

While beneficial for discovering new concepts, a deterritorialised system is difficult to define;

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therefore its behaviors may be difficult to iterate and scale to the size of a planetary sized system (examined in RO3). However, deterritorialised design experiments did assist in exploring a wide range of experiments, and should be explored further in later section of Chapter 4.

The scale of this concept created detachment

between relics, resulting in a less successful homogenisation compared to section 4.1, weakening its exploration of RO2. Furthermore, the artefact had a similar weakness as 4.1 in relation to RO2, as the relics appeared to have more agency over manipulating the waste.

experimentation resulted in a heavy reliance on designing in plan. This led to a concept that was at the scale of a master plan. Moving forward, early experiments will be explored as 3D models and plans, combining the early exploration methods of “connection/heterogeneity and “cartography/decalcomania”.

Exploring cartography as a method of design

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4.3 MULTIPLICITY

Fig 4.3.1

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Preliminary Design sketch systems, exploring rhizomatic attributes for Multiplicty through nodes and the intensities that connect them.

4.3.1 MULTIPLICITY CONTEXT

4.3.2 MULTIPLICITY FRAMEWORK

Philosopher Jonathan Roffe describes Deleuze’s concept of multiplicity as:

Iteratively building on the previous two Preliminary Design Sections, this section will engage preliminary design experiments through 3D and plans, integrating the two methods from the previous sections.

A complex structure.. not parts of a greater whole that have been fragmented, and they cannot be considered manifold expressions of a single concept or transcendent unity. (Roffe 181) For the new to be created, an assemblage must be multiplicitous. As Adkins states, “an assemblage is the interconnection of wildly diverse things (Adkins 24). This attribute is shared by the rhizomatic characteristic of ‘connection/ heterogeneity’ .

A multiplicity may be determined by its magnitude of connections. For a multiplicity to change, it must increase/decrease the number of connections. As Deleuze and Guattari propose, “the laws of combination therefore increase in number as the multiplicity grows” (Deleuze and Guattari 8). The boundaries between multiplicities are neither stable nor distinct, but form what Deleuze and Guattari call a “zone of indiscernibility.” Deleuze and Guattari claim the appearance of unity results from “a power takeover in the multiplicity” (Deleuze and Guattari 8).

As evidenced in ‘Cartography/Decalcomania’, the artefact struggles to play the role of node and intensity, without the system becoming too deterritorialised. Therefore, there is will be more focus on the ‘nodes’ and connecting ‘intensities’ in the system, as outlined by Kwinter in section 2.5.2.

The key rhizomatic attributes for Multiplicity are: • Interconnection of diverse things • Increase/decrease connection • Zone of indiscernibility

Contradictory to traditional forms of connection, Deleuze and Guattari propose making a multiplicitous rhizome out of the same material, so there is no discernibility between subject or object (Adkins 25).

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4.3.31 - EARLY EXPERIMENT 1 Robotic agents, (similar to connection/ heterogeneity)

This concept derives its character from the anthropogenic layer of strata that defines the Anthropocene. It imagines a machineartefact hybrid, scavenged from the very waste it manipulates

Interconnection of diverse things

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DIGITAL EXPERIMENT

Mechanic ejection port

Mechanic arms, scavenged from the detritus

Fig 4.3.2 Fig 4.3.3

(left) Experiment 1 Axon (right) Experiment 1 Plan

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4.3.3 - EARLY EXPERIMENT 2

Mobile robotic agent from connection/ heterogeneity

Agentised, living material, homogenising itself and waste together

Anthropogenic connections of materials

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DIGITAL EXPERIMENT

Mobile robotic agent, latching onto the artefact

Anthropogenic competent utilising agencies within the artefact

Waste pile ejected from the ecocentric artefact Anthropogenic barrels tapped into the artefact

Fig 4.3.4 Fig 4.3.5

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4.3.4 MULTIPLICITY - SKETCH EXPERIMENTS

ARTISAN’S CHARACTERISTICS (FROM SECTION 2.3.5)

Human Centered

Technological

Innovation

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KEY IDEAS: MULTIPLICITY

Interconnection of diverse things

Zone of indiscernibility

Increase/decrease connection

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Directly above are key ideas that were explored in early experiments in section 4.3.31-4.3.32, and the key rhizomatic attributes for Multiplicity. These key ideas will be explored through sketch experiments on the facing page, iteratively building on ideas from the sketch experiments from section 4.1 and 4.2.

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E01 - Exploring increase/ decrease of connections E02 - Aggregating waste into piles, from section 4.1 E03 - Making the artefact itself mobile E04 - Increase/decrease connections creating a ‘zone of indiscernibility’ in between

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4.3.5 RELIC - NOMADIC AGGLOMERATOR

This Preliminary Design outcome examines what once were once speculative robotic garbage collection machines, relics of the technological age. Figure 4.3.6 shows its homogenisation with the non-human artefact. Fig 4.2.7 shows how only one leg remains of the robotic machine, with the artefact supporting itself with a tendril. By parasitically controlling the electronics (as explored in the early experiments of Fig 4.3.6

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‘connection/heterogeneity’), the artefact may become biomechatronic. The joint mobility of the mechanical leg and tendrils allows the artefact to move across the landscape, manipulating anthropogenic waste to address ecological and ontological imbalance. The mechanic arms can help manipulate the waste, in support of Research Objective 2.

Section of Nomadic agglomerator, with mechanical components homogenised with the non-human artefact

Fig 4.3.7

Nomadic agglomerator, manipulating anthropogenic waste around itself to create piles

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Fig 4.3.8

Multiplicity System

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4.3.7 MULTIPLICITY SYSTEM NODES

This system has internal components that are scalable (as required by RO3). The piles may be small initially, and later homogenising with other piles to increase its scale. This also increases and decreases the connections between the system, creating zones of indiscernibility between the piles’ different states.

This evidences the system’s ability to transform and respond to continually changing conditions.

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Fig 4.3.9

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Callout from figure 4.3.8

The system also incorporates elements of the artisan, with anthropogenic paths being carved through the artefact’s piles. In sector 12, C in figure 4.3.8 the artisan figure has created a path around a certain pile, extracting from it at a egocentric scale.

F-03 shows where two nodes are morphing into one, creating a zone of indiscernibility at the connection point.

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Multiplicity nodes are mobile, constantly changing

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4.3.8- HOMOGENISATION

Fig 4.3.10

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GAME ENGINE

The Artefact adopts the wiry characteristic of the mechanical machine it has homogenised with Tendrils descend down towards the ground, eventually able to collect waste

4.3.9 - CARTOGRAPHY/DECALCOMANIA - ROTATED AXONOMETRIC

Fig 4.3.11

E—04 (see pg 153)

Rotated Axonometric

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4.3.10 — MULTIPLICITY CONCLUSION AND CRITICAL REFLECTION

Fig 4.3.12

Oddly shape waste pile, stared down by the Nomadic agglomerator that created it

All experiments were based on rhizomatic characteristics, introduced in this section or iteratively built upon from previous sections in Chapter 4. Consequently, like previous sections, there was a reasonably strong examination of RO1, The Philosophical. However, the aesthetics of the final outcome not share the complexity of a rhizomatic growth, evidenced in the previous two sections.

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This section placed more emphasis on exploring the artefact as a node in a greater system.

Consequently this concept also has the strongest investigation of RO2 (The Ecological) and RO3 (The Systematic). It clearly examined how the artefact was a participant in manipulating anthropogenic waste, shifting it around the landscape into continually transforming piles.

It also examined its programmatic role as a

node in a larger system, exploring its mobility across the landscape and how it may create connections.

The true expression of a multiplicity in architecture is difficult, as it entirely disregards any hierarchy. Cartography/decalcomania taught us that a system that is deterritorialised is difficult to define; therefore its behaviors may be

difficult to iterate and scale to the size of a planetary scale system.

The attribute of ‘making a rhizome out of the same material’, as outlined in section 4.3.1 was not explored during experimentation. Therefore, it should be re-introduced in later design iterations.

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4.4 ASIGNIFYING RUPTURE

intervention

Fig 4.4.1

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Preliminary Design sketch systems, exploring rhizomatic attributes for Asignifying Rupture through nodes and the intensities that connect them.

4.4.1 ASIGNIFYING RUPTURE CONTEXT The principle of Asignifying Rupture may be summarised by the rule: A rhizome may be broken, shattered at a given spot, but it will start up again on one of its old lines, or on new lines.

(Deleuze and Guattari 9) Asignifying Rupture looks at the principle of division as a precursor to the principle of collection (Adkins 7). Deleuze and Guattari refuse to create distinct divisions between entities, instead, they opt to make rhizomes. Wasp and orchid, cat and baboon, book and world — in each case it would be easy to divide these pairs into discrete entities (Adkins 7). Yet it is their intersection, in the context of their division, that will create new lines of flight (or new concepts).

In his essay “More on the Model: Building on the Ruins of Representation”, Christian Hubert advocates for model making as a method of ‘worldmaking’. He reflects on models’ ‘anticipatory’ nature to contribute towards ‘world making’. He proposes: In the Anthropocene era [models] describe the world that humans are in the process of making by extrapolating from current trends in environmental degradation.

Hubert concludes his essay by reflecting:

catastrophic one remains very much an open question. Performative models will serve as signposts along the way.

4.4.2 ASIGNIFYING RUPTURE FRAMEWORK This section will explore characteristics of the three previous rhizomatic characteristics of Connection and Heterogeneity, Cartography/ Decalcomania and Multiplicity. Originally three divided characteristics, this section will re-collect them into one concept.

It will iteratively build upon ‘deterritorialised experimentation’ initially explored in sections 4.2.

This section will explore the medium of physical model making. It will re-engage the multiplicitous attribute of ‘making a rhizome out of the same material’, which was absent from the ‘multiplicity’ section. The construction will explore ‘tools of modernity’ (see section 4.0.2) ”to make visible the other worlds it has ignored and damaged” (Tsing 7).

As an important assessment of the outcomes of the Preliminary Design Stage, the physical model was designed to be exhibited in a public gallery setting, where critical reflection from onlookers could be considered in relation to Rolf Hughes’ theories of “evaluating ‘unconventional’ research outcomes” (Hughes 44).

Whether the Anthropocene will turn out to be a moment of creativity or a

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deterritorialization

stable continuity

Fig 4.4.2

Conceptual drawing exploring lines of flight along a continuity. At any points, the continuity may rupture into new lines of flight, deterritorialising, before retteritorialising itself into a new assemblage.

plateau

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4.4.3 - DETERRITORIALISATION SKETCH EXPERIMENTS

Fig 4.4.3

162

Concepts deterritorialised into their key attributes, and re-territorialise through sketch experiments

G01

G02

G04

G03

E01 - Robotic agent from 4.1 and 4.3 E02 - Grid used to create striation from 4.2 E03 - Concept from 4.1 E04 - EO3, re-orientated and including robotic agent

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4.4.4 - DIGITAL CONCEPTS

H01 H03

H02

H04

H06 H05

H07

H08 H09 H10

Fig 4.4.4

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Digital Concepts, iteratively designed

4.4.4 - DIGITAL CONCEPTS + COLLECTION BAY RELICS

Digital concepts were developed at scale, with consideration as to how they would be experienced by onlookers. Initial experimentation began with an adaptation of the final concept in ‘connection/heterogeneity’ (see H01). Erosion lines were introduced in H03 to imply that the artefact had an influence over the physical conditions of its surrounding landscape. These lines were constructed through erosion simulations within SideFX Houdini. It was not until experiment H06, when multiple layers were introduced to the model. The secondary layer below was introduced to help communicate ‘continuity’ and the artefacts’ ability to transform.

H07 first introduced artefacts that were embedded into the landscape. This effect was achieved by projecting a heightfield map over digital models of artefacts. This heightfield was voxelised, then converted into a primitive, blending the artefacts into the landscape. Another erosion simulation was run again, simulating debris and erosion around the artefacts

H08 introduced an artefact that was both submerged, and above the landscape. By extending its tendril into the top section, it implies a connection between the two sections through a common continuity.

H09 introduced ‘relics’, built into the landscape. The components directly reflect the collection bays in the top section of the model.

These collection bays were developed in H10. The ends were staggered, reflecting a disproportional and staggered timeline, as a visual motif used through-out this thesis investigation as a symbol for a fluid continuity.

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4.4.5 - TOOLS OF MODERNITY - 3D PRINTING + CNC MACHINE

“re-purpose the tools of modernity against the terrors of Progress to make visible the other worlds it has ignored and damaged” -(Tsing 7) Fig 4.4.5

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CNC Machine carving the detailing pass on GoldFoam

PIECES EXPLODED

PIECES ASSEMBLED

PRINT TRAYS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

PIECES EXPLODED

PRINT TRAYS

1

Fig 4.4.6

PIECES ASSEMBLED

2

3

4

5

3D printing pieces

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4.4.6 - MODEL CONSTRUCTION

9 LAYERS OF GESSO AND WHITE ACRYLIC PAINT

3D PRINTING WASTE USED TO REPRESENT THE ANTHROPOGENIC WASTE DEFINITIVE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

17 TOTAL HOURS CNC ROUTING GOLD FOAM

GOLD FOAM BOUND WITH ADHESIVE TO 12MM MDF SHEET TO PREVENT BUCKLING

Fig 4.4.7 Fig 4.4.8

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(Top) Author painting thick gesso onto model, creating synthetic strata on the model CNC routing machine applying finishing pass over a piece of the mode

M12 GALVANIZED THREAD ROD INSERTED INTO PRE-DRILLED HOLES. EPOXY BINDING AGENT. BOTTOM SECTION INCLUDES 2 12MM MDF SHEET GLUED AND BRACED TOGETHER

STEEL WIRE

PLASTER OF PARIS. 29 TOTAL INDIVIDUAL ABS 3D PRINTED PARTS, PRINTED AND REASSEMBLED INTO ARTEFACTS LASER CUT CINDER BLOCKS AND PALLET PROVIDE SCALE

Fig 4.4.9 Fig 4.4.10

(Top) The top section being lowered onto the bottom section (Bottom) Author throwing plaster across the model

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4.4.7 - MODEL DESCRIPTION All three Research Objectives are explored throughout the design, fabrication, and testing of the analogue model.

The Philosophical Approach is further explored through the dialectic of the artisan and the sorcerer. Correspondingly, smooth and striated space is also explored in this section.

The Ecological Approach is addressed through the artefact’s tangential relationship with waste. It is further explored through Barry Wark’s theory of temporal ambiguity. Underdeveloped in the previous three sections, temporal ambiguity will have a more prominent role.

The Systematic Approach is explored through Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of continuity.

This model explores the continuum and temporality in which all systems are scalable.

This piece has two distinct sections; the top section, and the bottom section below it. Both pieces are of identical scale, situated on the same site. They are intended to examine two artefacts, captured at different points on the continuum.

The artefact on the top section is a physical model of the artefact explored in the ‘Connection /Heterogeneity’ section of the preliminary design. It shares the same design language as the artefacts in the bottom section. However, the top sections artefact (see I03 overleaf) has finer details and thinner rhizomatic tendrils, Fig 4.4.11

Model displayed on the wall at Adam Art Gallery

which imply a different stage of life. It is either yet to grow or withered away.

The bottom section is a version of the conceptual artefact explored in ‘Multiplicity’, section 4.3.3. This artefact also plays with temporal ambiguity. The artefact embedded in the earth have a dual meaning. They could be seen as an embryological parasite waiting to be birthed from the earth. Simultaneously, they could be ancient artefacts, collapsed in ruination and consumed by the earth.

The piece was assembled through the layering of artists’ mull, white acrylic, gesso, plaster, and various plastic debris. As layers of gesso, plaster and other material were applied, the piece took on a geological characteristic. This stratification was manipulated, with sections stripped (see section I02, overleaf) and sections layered upon. After each layer was ripped and manipulated, more gesso was painted on to unify and embed the strata. The stratification of the model represents the geological origin of the Anthropocene and the Anthropogenic waste strata that defines it.

The model is intentionally presented all white.

This was in consideration of Deleuze and Guattari’s definition of the rhizomatic characteristic of a ‘Multiplicity’. They proposed a multiplicitous rhizome should be made out of the same material so there is no discernibility between subject or object (Adkins 25).

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I01

I02 I03

I04

I03

H05

I07 I06

I08

I09

I10

I11

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4.4.8 - MODEL ANALYSIS 01 -

Waste bays aligned vertically imply a timeline, alluding to the investigation of time scales

02 -

Anthropocentric striation intervention into waste pile.

03 -

Artefact cantilevering over a landscape plateau

04 -

Dug in waste bays align to the opposite axis as the waste bays in I01. Being dug into the ground, these bays imply a more permanent anthropogenic intervention comparable to the concrete bays placed in I01. This examines temporal ambiguity.

05 -

The foundations of ruined buildings mis-align with the waste bays, implying a distortion of time scales between the top section and the bottom section.

This also implies temporal ambiguity.

06 -

Novel artefact, deterritorialised from the other artefact system.

07 -

The artefacts posturing towards the

Fig 4.4.12

Model displayed on the wall at Adam Art Gallery

center of the erosion lines imply an influence over its surrounding landscape and ecology.

08 -

The artefact homogenises with the anthropogenic waste bays. Their appearance of ‘plugging into’ the bays is a nod to visual scripting, an important computational workflow in this thesis.

09 -

The artefact from the bottom section encroaches onto the top section. This implies a break and overlap in the continuum.

10 -

Artefacts embedded into the earth, simultaneously yet to be born and ruined away.

12 -

Robotic agent, taken from ‘Connection and heterogeneity

13 -

Robotic agent, taken from ‘Multiplicity’

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Fig 4.4.13 Fig 4.4.14 Fig 4.4.15

(Top) Artefact emerging and/or falling beneath the earth (Middle) 3D printed robotic agent, manipulating waste (Left) Artefact cantilevers over the landscape

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Fig 4.4.16

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3D printed robotic entity

Fig 4.4.17

Artist mull

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4.4.9 - ADAM ART GALLERY EXHIBITION In chapter 4 of the book The Art of Experiment: Post-pandemic Knowledge Practices for 21st Century Architecture and Design, under the subheading “The challenge of evaluating ‘unconventional’ research outcomes” Rolf Hughes reflects upon the importance of staging experimental architectures, like exhibitions, for public consumption: Staged or mediated forms may be the most appropriate means of presenting the research to critical and public audiences. As a result, the conditions for interpreting and evaluating the research exposition become part of the challenge of assessment, as does the expression of the research in multifaceted research objects or performances, demanding from evaluators sophisticated literacies across a range of practices, materials and sites.

The model was exhibited in a public gallery in Wellington, the Adam Art Gallery, as part of the exhibition titled “The Machine Stops: The Allegorical Architectural Project”. It was on display from 20 November 2021 through 27 March 2022. On opening night, members of the public were informally queried as to the success of the model, in relation to the wall label that explained its theoretical intentions.

Fig 4.4.18

Visitors mingling on opening night

Fig 4.4.19

Author presenting at artists event

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Fig 4.4.20

Author next to Preliminary Design physical model

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4.4.10 — ASIGNIFYING RUPTURE CONCLUSION AND CRITICAL REFLECTION

This section examined a physical outcome that addressed all three Research Objectives. As the final stage of Preliminary Design II, it iteratively built on the three previous concepts, while introducing new attributes from ‘asignifying rupture’ to the experimentation process.

Consequently, this section had a strong examination of all three RO’s.

Fig 4.4.21

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RO1, the Philosophical Approach, was explored through the dialectic of the artisan and the sorcerer. The final concepts use of defined, striated relic that emphasised anthropogenic characteristics. The varied temporal states of ruination examined by the relics reinforced temporal ambiguity, explored through R02, the Ecological Approach. The aggregation of waste into bays implied a manipulation, but there

Robotic Agent, who creates systematic connection intensities, gazing upon an artefact

was no explicit manipulation by the ecocentric artefact. RO2 was also explored through the characteristic of ‘temporal ambiguity’ and ‘ruination’. Normally reflected in the lichen and grime on the artefacts, section 4.4 explored it through relics by at different stages of aging.

R03, the Systematic Approach, was explored through the theory of ‘continuity’. By placing

multiple artefacts on the same plane of existence, the final concept was able to communicate a similarity between the artefacts, and simultaneously communicate a temporal difference. Having multiple artefacts of different sizes is a viable method to communicate a systematic continuity, as well as an adaptable system that can exist at various scales.

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4.5 PRELIMINARY DESIGN CRITICAL REFLECTION

RO1 was addressed through rhizomatic frameworks, exploring the 4 key characteristics of a rhizome and their attributes. Because all Preliminary Design outcomes were structured by rhizomatic attributes, each outcome was particularly reflective of Research Objective 1, the Philosophical Approach. Section 4.2's use of 'deterritorialised experiments' offered a wide range of potential experimental outcomes, and a complex Preliminary Design Outcome.

However, its outcomes, derived from experimental discovery, were too 'deterritorialised' to reflect RO3. 'Deterritorialised experimentation' had more success in section 4.4, because the 'deterritorialisation' was based on 3 established Preliminary Design Outcomes, giving the design process a more focused direction.

Therefore, this thesis proposes to build upon sections 4 .4's exploration of 'detteritorialised experiments', to address RO1 moving forward.

RO2, the Ecological Approach, was the least successful objective explored in Chapter 4. In section 4.1, 4,2 and 4.4, the manipulation of waste flows was primarily explored through an anthropogenic lens of the artisan. The sorcerer’s artefact played a secondary role. Comparably, 4.3 had a reasonably strong investigation, achieved by exploring both the artefact and the systems ability waste manipulated into formations.

Chapter 4 looked at the artefacts as components of a larger system, exploring Research Objective 3, the Systematic Approach. The

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thesis proposed that a viable method to develop the artefact as ‘components of a much wider system’ is to develop it as a node. This was evidenced in section 4.1 and 4.3. The systems in these sections looked at the artefacts as nodes, with varying methods of connecting ‘intensities’. When a system does not have separate nodes and connecting intensities, such as in section 4.2 the system is difficult to adapt to multiple scales. If the system is only composed of one component (e.g. the artefact), it will be subject to all the limitations of the individual component.

One of the weakest areas of investigation was related to the exploration of Barry Wark’s theory of Temporal Ambiguity. Primarily explored through the collection of lichen and grime on the non-human artifacts, only section 4.4 engaged temporal ambiguity through the relics, by examining ruination. The relics ability to examine temporal ambiguity may strengthen the artefacts ecocentric qualities.

Another viable design method for representing RO2 through ecocentric qualities, was the homogenisation. Explored in all 4 sections, section 4.1 most successfully conveyed homogenisation through the non-human artefact growing around and merging materials with the relics.

Fig 4.5.1

Preliminary Design concepts explored in sections 4.1-4.4

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5.0 - DEVELOPED DESIGN

5.0.1 DEVELOPED DEISGN FRAMEWORK Chapter 5 iteratively builds on design frame- RO2, the Ecological Approach, will be explored works explored in Chapter 4. through homogenisation, investigating the physical intersection between the non-human Chapter 4 used rhizomatic characteris- artefacts and relics, creating an ecocentric tics and attributes to inform frameworks for artefact. Eco-centrism will also be engaged by designing rhizomatic artefact's. In section 5.1 exploring relics with different temporal qualthese frameworks will be iteratively built upon, ities, invoking ‘temporal ambiguity’, Buildexplored and critically reflected on in relation to ing upon Chapter 4, the artifacts speculative RO1. Section 5.1 will engage 'deterritorialising’ program will manipulate waste, with a focus on and ‘reterritorialising’ experiments, iteratively how the non-human artefact directly engages progressing from section 4.4. with the material flows as a node, and as part of a system.

5.1 begins by adapting Chapter 4’s method of layering sketch sheets on top of each other, to Chapter 5 explores RO3, the Systematic iteratively explore ideas on 'one plane'. It will use Approach, by examining the artefact as a node ‘deterritorialised sketch experiments’, explored in a greater system. It will integrate learnings in Section 4.4, to build upon the Preliminary from section 4.4, investigating a speculative Design outcomes. These sketch concepts will system within a ‘continuity’, by exploring artethe be ‘reterritorialised’ into sketch concepts. facts at various scales. Building on section 4.1 and 4.3, the system will be composed of Adapting section 4.2, 5.1 will be explored primary and secondary nodes, with mobile through various media such as digital modeling, nodes forming connections within the system. sketch and digital montage. These experiments will focus on critically reflecting on and recontextualising concepts from Preliminary Design.

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J01

J04

0.9 0.9 .6

0.9

1.3 0.6

.2 .2

2

4

5.1.1 - DETERRITORIALISED DRAWING - EXPLORING ARTEFACT SCALE 6 8 10 12 14m This drawing detteritorialises four experimental ecocentric artefacts from their context, placing them onto one plane of existence. This adapts the method explored in Chapter 4 of layering sketch sheets on top of each other. These pages ‘layed out’ on ‘one plane’, can be analysed and

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reflected upon in relation to Deleuze and Guattari. Anthropogenic waste features heavily in the drawing, a (re)worlded exaggeration of the human waste that plagues the Anthropocene. This waste was simulated onto site using physics engines in SideFX Houdini. Section 4.4

J02 J03

0.1 0.7 0.6

.2

0.9

0.9

0.6

.2

J05

evidenced that placing multiple different artefacts on the same plane could strengthen their reflection of Systematic ‘continuity. This drawing reinforces the conclusion made in section 4.4, that scale can be used to communicate a temporal difference along a ‘continuity’.

N

J01 - The cartography is deterritorialised, in reference to 4.2 J02 - Final concept from 4.3.8 J03 - Stage 4 from 4.1.6 J04 - Early experiment from 4,3.32 J05 - Adapted experiment from 4,3.31

Fig 5.1.1

Deterritorialised drawing

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ASIGNIFYING RUPTURE

MULTIPLICITY

CARTOGRAPHY/DECALCOMANIA

CONNECTION/HETEROGENEITY

5.1.2 - DETERRITORIALISE/RETERRITORIALISE SKETCH EXPERIMENTS

This drawing re-engages ‘deterritorialised sketch experiments’, utilised in section 4.4. Four Preliminary Design outcomes from Chapter 4 are ‘deterritorialised’ and then ‘reterritorialised’ into sketch experiments, exploring key ideas explored in chapter 4 in new contexts. Key discoveries in the ‘reterritorialised ‘sketches will be explored further in sections 5.1.3-5.1.5.

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K01

K02

K03

K04

K01 - Waste flowing down a mountain captured in waste bay (reterritorialised from 4.1 and 4.4) K02 - Waste intake and egress from a node K03 - A series of ‘tower artefacts’ in a continuity, (reterritorialised from 4.2) K04 - Artefact collecting waste from its surroundings through subterranean plantings, (reterritorialised from 4.2.6) K05 - relics wrapped around non-human artefact, (reterritorialised from 4.2)

K05

Fig 5.1.2

Concepts are deterritorialised into pixels, before ‘reterritorialising into sketch experiments

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5.1.3 - DETERRITORIALISE/RETERRITORIALISE SYSTEM DIAGRAMS PRELIM. DESIGN II

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

DEVELOPED DESIGN

SECTION 4.1

Primary node + agents altering connections

SECTION 4.2

SECTION 4.3

Mobile intensities and mobile nodes

SECTION 4.4

Multiple components, representing continuity

Fig 5.1.3

Deteritorialising and reterritorialising systematic diagrams from Chapter 4

The sketch system diagrams above deterritorialise and reterritorialise Chapter 4's system sketch diagrams, highlighting key learnings from Preliminary Design II. The new proposed system will have a hierarchy of primary and

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secondary nodes, composed of different components, representing a continuity in the Systematic approach. The node will have mobile agencies, able to influence the connections between the system.

L01

L02

Tower artefact node waste entry/exit

L01 - Building upon sketch, K03, this set of sketches explores the tower artefact, continually transforming in a dialogue between striated components of the artisans, and the smooth non-human artefact of the sorcerer L02 - Axonometric sketch, exploring the tower artefact in relation to sketch K01, K02 and K04. Waste ejects from the tower artefact, using gravity to push it down a hill where it is collected by mobile agents

mobile agents, aggregating waste connecting intensities, dictating the flow of waste

Fig 5.1.4

Sketch Experiments, building upon key learnings from the deterritorialised sketch experiments, in relation to a system of nodes and connecting intensities that transforms in response to continually changing conditions.

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5.1.4 - TEMPORAL AMBIGUITY - DIGITAL MONTAGE CONCEPTS

Fig 5.1.5

Developed Concept - tower artefact montage 1

Building upon sketch experiments K02-K05 and L1-L2, these digital montage experiments explore temporal ambiguity through the relics materiality. In figures 5.15 and 5.1.6 the base of the tower artefact is constructed with steel and concrete, giving it a sense of permanence and weight, compared to the lightweight structure being built above it. Having multiple

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Fig 5.1.6

Developed concept - tower artefact montage 2

components at different stages of construction was postulated by the “cyber-physical artefacts” generated by Gro-CyPhy in section 2.11.

Susan Stepney states "there is no distinction between the ‘building phase’ of the artefact, the ‘functional phase’ or the ‘repair and maintenance’ phase” (Stepney et al. 92)

M01

M02

M01 - Elevation of a tower artefact, balanced at the precipice of a plateau in the landscape MO2 - Building upon sketch experiments K01-K05, L1-L2 and the digital montage concepts, this sketch examines the base of a tower artefact in section. It explore waste flows, building upon ideas explored in section 4.3.6, where relics and non-human artefact's battle for control over waste flows.

Fig 5.1.7

Iteratively building on previous Developed Design sketches and digital montages, these drawings explore the base of the tower artifact and how the non-human artefact and the anthropogenic components manipulate waste flows.

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5.1.5 - RETERRITORIALISE - TOWER ARTEFACT

Fig 5.1.8

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Developed Design Experiment axonometric.

FUTURE CONSTRUCTION

CORE UNDER CONSTRUCTION WASTE COLLECTED BY NON-HUMAN ARTEFACT ANTHROPOGENIC WASTE SORTING SUBTERRANEAN GROWTH WASTE POOLS

Fig 5.1.10 Developed Design experiment section.

Fig 5.1.9

Developed Design experiment Section examining anthropogenic waste aggregation

Building on previous experiments in section 5.1.1-5.1.4, this Developed Design experiment re-interprets the 'mining tower' typology explored in section 4.2. The tower extracts from the non-human artefact, instead of the earth. This explores the artefacts manipulation, of waste flows. The tower artefact in the background of figure 5.1.10 imply a larger system of tower artefacts.

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5.1.6 - DETERRITORIALISE/ RETERRITORIALISE REFLECTIONS

Research Objective 1, the Philosophical Approach, was addressed in section 5.1 through a series of rhizomatic 'deterritorialised' and 'reterritorialised' experiments. Integrating key ideas from chapter 4, section 5.1 iteratively explored design experiments, seeking a Developed Design Outcome. Compared to 4.4, the

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'deterritorialised experiments' in 5.1 achieved more success in relation to the thesis aim and principal objectives. This may be because of its integration 4.4's design outcome, as well as the three previous outcomes. This helped to focus and guide the 'deterritorialised experiments' towards the thesis objectives.

5.2.0 - DEVELOPED DESIGN OUTCOME

Fig 5.2.1

Developed Design outcome

The Developed Design Outcome for this design- outcomes are critiqued in relation to RO2 in led research investigation is represented in sections 5.2.3-5.2.9 and RO3 in sections 5.3.2sections 5.2.0-5.2.12. Building upon key learn- 5.2.7 and 5.2.10-5.2.12. ings from the Preliminary Design stages,and section 5.1, the outcomes are presented and critically reflected upon in relation to Research Objective 2 and Research Objective 3. The

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First postulated

by Wark and explored in section 4.1.10, the orange pigment in the artefact is derived from the pigment of it’s immediate substrate and geological features,

TOWER ARTEFACT

196.15

simulation 1

simulation 2

B01

simulation 3 B02

B03

B01- Artefact waste rudders (mobile agencies)

simulation 4

B02-Synthetic river aggregation (connecting intensity) B03- Subterranean waste collection/ distribution artefact

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5.2.1 - OVERVIEW

Building on existing characteristics and learnings explored in Preliminary Design, the Developed Design outcome will represent and critically reflect on the following characteristics: RO2: The Ecological Approach • Temporal Ambiguity

(5.2.3)

• Waste Flow Manipulation

(5.2.4-5.2.7)

• Homogenisation

(5.2.8-5.2.9)

RO3: The Systematic Approach • Waste Flow Manipulation

(5.2.4-5.2.7)

• Mobile Node Agents

(5.2.10)

• Primary + Secondary Nodes

(5.2.11)

The Developed Design outcome re-engages the "Computational Garden", first postulated in section 2.11.3 and explored in 3.3. The non-human artefact is comprised of 4 simulations (highlighted in figure 5.2.2), interfaced with separate populational parameters to shape a complex non-human artefact through a systematic approach.

Fig 5.2.2

Tower artefact situated amongst a system of other tower artefacts

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primary node

Fig 5.2.5

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Axonometric view of the tower artefact

5.2.2 - OVERVIEW - COMPONENTS

secondary node

The Tower Artefact is constructed with multiple parts, each conveying a different temporal quality. The tower is more permanent at the base, becoming increasingly temporary and under construction further upward.

Fig 5.2.6

Exploded axonometric view of the tower artefact components

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5.2.3 - RELIC COMPONENTS - TEMPORAL QUALITIES (RO2 + R03)

BUILDING CORE

Fig 5.2.7

Relic concrete base

The building core represents a more permanent anthropogenic component. It is comprised of a base, that houses building systems and rooms, and a core, that allows humans to circulate to the top of the building, following the growth of the non-human artefact.

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FLUID FACADE

Fig 5.2.8

Relic fluid facade

The fluid facade can be deconstructed and reconstructed with its density based upon where humans may need to operate in the tower. Metal sheets are tied to the structural system.

WASTE FLOW SYSTEM

Fig 5.2.9

Relic waste flow system

Constructed a series of scaffolding and pipes anthropogenic waste flow system is forced to adapt to the transformations of the non-human agent. Its primary extractor, shifts up and down the tower, depending on where the primary extraction from the non-human artefact is located.

PRIMARY STRUCTURE

Fig 5.2.10

Relic primary structure

Primary structure is comprised of a series of I-Beams, scrounged from the waste heaps. It represents a more permanent anthropogenic component.

SECONDARY STRUCTURE

Fig 5.2.11

Relic secondary structure

Secondary structure is comprised of a mix of tubes, bars and other scrap found in the waste piles. It is used as a fixing for the facade system.

TEMPORARY PLATFORMS

Fig 5.2.12

Relic temporary platforms

The temporary platforms allow humans to get in close proximity to the non-human artefact to observe and extract. they walkways can be constructed or taken down, depending on where the artefact grows.

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5.2.4 - MATERIAL FLOWS - SYSTEM (R02 + R03)

In this Developed Design Outcome, each tower artefact represents a node, connected through system of synthetic rivers of their own creation.

Building upon learnings from section 4.3, the

system is controlled by the artefact, in order to manipulate waste flows. Using the system to manipulate waste addresses RO2 and RO3.

Fig 5.2.13 Fig 5.2.14

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Plan view of Anthropogenic waste manipulated into mounds (right) Birds-eye-view of synthetic river system

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5.2.5 - MATERIAL FLOWS - SYSTEM (RO2 + RO3)

ORIGIN POINT

The Tower Artefact utilises and existing natural and synthetic flows made by the Tower Artefact. The non-human artefact grows in positions where water flows through (see the origin point in fig 5.2.15) . The non-human artefact will then pull in water from the surrounding ecology via atmospheric vapor, ground water and

hydrolysis of toxic chemicals. This water is then ejected at the origin point, forming a synthetic river system. By placing itself at a position where natural precipitation runoff collects, the artefact is able to utilise water flows from itself, and existing natural systems. These water flows will be used to aggregate waste.

Fig 5.2.15 Fig 5.2.16

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(above) Flow paths axonometric (right) Flow paths plan

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5.2.6 - MATERIAL FLOWS - NODE (RO2 + RO3)

Preliminary Design experiment found success when both the artefact and the system manipulated waste flows. This section explores how the Developed Design artefact, representative of a node in a larger system, can manipulate waste flows. As part of a planetary scale system that systematically transforms in response to continually changing conditions, the methods of manipulating waste flows are also continually changing. The anthropogenic agents creating the relics, informed by the philosophical provocateur of the artisan, are open "to fluid exchange of feedback and altercation to design ideas, suggested by the altered ‘matter’ around them (Mike Hale 112) (see section 2.3.5). As the non-human artefact grows, the anthropogenic agent responds, in an effort to regain control over waste flows. Figure 5.2.31 shows a non-human artefact enveloping the conveyor belt system, used in the anthropogenic flow of waste.

Fig 5.2.29

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Extractor pipes, drawing waste from the non-human artefact and dumping into the conveyor belt system

Fig 5.2.30

Non-human artefact envelops the new conveyor belt, initially built to circumnavigate the non-human artefacts growth.

Fig 5.2.31

Non-human artefact reclaiming ecological and ontological controls over flows

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5.2.7 - MATERIAL FLOWS - NODE (RO2 + RO3)

Fig 5.2.29

Material flows are battled between the non-human artefact (blue) and the anthropogenic agents (red).

Fig 5.2.30

Axonometric showing the relics conveyor-belt system in 4 different stages of continually changing to respond to the non-human artefact

In a dialogue, the relic and the non-human artefact continually transform, while still manipulating waste flows. Figure 4.2.31 shows how the relic has been built around the non-human artefact, allowing space for the non-human artefact to grow some more.

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Fig 5.2.31

Non-human artefact reclaiming ecological and ontological controls over flows

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5.2.8 - HOMOGENISATION (R02) - MATERIAL DETAILS

Building upon Preliminary Design concepts the Developed Design outcome utilities homogenisation as a method of strengthening its ecocentric qualities in relation. Generating an ecocentric artefacts helps to address ontological imbalance in the Anthropocene and shift thinking away from anthropocentrism. This addresses this design-led research investigation in relation to its aim and RO2, the Ecological Approach.

Fig 5.2.17

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The artefact grows through the porous holes in the walkway, and homogenises with the permanent structure.

Fig 5.2.18

Non-human artefact homogenising with an I-Beam

Fig 5.2.19

Relic components are built around the non-human artefact as it grows

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5.2.9 - HOMOGENISATION (R02) - THE ECOCENTRIC ARTEFACT

These drawings examine the homogenisation between the anthropocentric and non-human components of the ecocentric artefact. This

drawing examines the subterranean segment of the artefact an the above ground components as one rhizome.

Fig 5.2.20 Fig 5.2.21

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(above) Flow paths axonometric (right) Flow paths plan

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5.2.10 - MOBILE NODE AGENTS (RO3)

This Developed Design Outcome proposes using 'waste rudders' as mobile agents within the architectural system. Emerging from the ground, branched off from the primary node, they influence the flows of water, manipulating aggregations of anthropogenic waste.

Fig 5.2.22

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Mobile nodes, able to grow upward from the primary artefact, and manipulate the synthetic rivers path.

Fig 5.2.23

Grate opening prevents build of up fluid collecting inside the tower artefact.

Non-human artefact seeps out from beneath the tower base.

Fig 5.2.24

(right) Observing mobile nodes grow from the ground to manipulate waste flows

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5.2.11 - PRIMARY + SECONDARY NODES (RO3)

The Developed Design outcome represents architectural artefacts that are components of a larger, planetary scale system, able to systematically transforms in response to continually changing conditions. These drawings show a hierarchy within the speculative system, through primary nodes represented by the tower artefact, and secondary nodes, represented through the artefact developed in section 4.3.

primary node

secondary node

Fig 5.2.25

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Secondary node moves into position, placing itself at a key aggregation of waste at the base of the primary node.

Fig 5.2.26

Secondary node , still in infancy, when compared to the scale of the waste rudders from the primary node.

Fig 5.2.27

(right) A secondary node, sitting in the shadow of the looming primary node.

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PLATEAU X

Fig 5.2.28 Relics deteriorating and being rebuilt at another point in the system

The speculative system proposed by the Developed Design Outcome is composed of primary and secondary nodes. Because the system continually transforms to respond to changing conditions, the hierarchy of nodes shift. This drawing represents the relationship between nodes, capturing their life-cycle. Not all nodes

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are separate but can from a direct vestige of previous node iterations. As non-human artefacts shift through the landscape, the bones of relics fall into ruination. The broken debris get caught in the synthetic river flows constructed by the artefact . The debris will then be aggregated by the non-human artefacts ‘rudders’.

4.2.12 - PRIMARY + SECONDARY NODES - NODAL VESTIGE

PLATEAU X+1

This Developed design outcome proposes a “A plateau is constructed of intensities. The notion of intensity, system that re-builds from the debris of previ- of course, brings us right back to ous nodal artefact. These drawings are titled the continuity thesis. Intensities with a polynomial instead of a numeral, to exist as continuous gradations rather than discrete points” emphasise that these are ‘plateaus’ in a larger -(Deleuze and Guattari, p15) system, that exists on a continuum.

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Fig 5.2.32

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In a system of towers, clouded in toxic smog an ancient artefact looms over the other nodes

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5.3 - DEVELOPED DESIGN CRITICAL REFLECTION

R01 – The Philosophical Approach The Developed Design outcome engaged RO1, the Philosophical Approach, through rhizomatic frameworks. By structuring experimentation in Chapter 4 with key rhizomatic characteristics and attributes, design outcomes had a reasonably strong reflection of RO1. Critically reflecting on the rhizomatic frameworks explored in Chapter 4, 'deterritorialised experimentation' using existing concepts resulted in outcomes with the strongest reflection of RO1. Re-applying 4 Preliminary Design outcomes once more to a rhizomatic framework, created a Developed Design outcome that had a stronger reflection of RO1 than Preliminary Design outcomes.

The 'detteritorialised experiments' allowed for a wide range of possible outcomes, while the Preliminary Design outcomes they were derived from, helped to focus the experimentation.

The resulting Developed Design outcome had a higher degree of complexity than the previous design outcomes in Chapter 4. Its degree of complexity was reflected in the tower artefact, and the system it was a part of, closely representing the complex nomadic growth of the rhizome, which has no clear beginning or end.

R02 – The Ecological Approach The second research objective is represented reasonably well by the Developed Design outcomes. There is an immediate and clear relationship between anthropogenic waste

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and the design outcome that engages both the anthropogenic waste and the ecology.

Importantly, this built upon critical reflections from the Preliminary Design experiments. The waste flows were predominantly controlled by relics, and the manipulation by the ecocentric artefacts was implied. The Developed Design outcomes explicitly communicate the method in which the ecocentric artefact can manipulate waste. It shows segments of the artefact, rising from below ground, redirecting water and waste flows ejected from the base of the artefact. The artefact’s influence over the biosphere even extends beyond anthropogenic waste manipulation by manipulating the ecology and landscape around it by creating a series of synthetic rivers.

The creation of new ecological systems (the river system) creates a theoretical enigma that challenges dogmatic anthropocentrism.

As components of the built environment, the non-human artefacts’ interference with the biosphere could be viewed as unnatural from an anthropocentric perspective. Yet, as the non-human artefacts’ existence represents non-human/natural agents, they invoke important questions of what is and is not natural interference in natural systems. A mountain is built from natural tectonic agencies, yet it is not accused of interfering in natural systems when it redirects a river.

R03 – The Systematic Approach The Preliminary Design chapter affirmed that a system functions well when it is comprised of nodes and connecting intensities. It showed that nodes and intensities work well when they are defined as separate components, so as not to restrict the system to the limitations of an individual component. The final design uses tower artefacts as the primary node. Secondary nodes are smaller artefacts, that are yet to grow to the size of the ecocentric artefacts found in the tower artefacts. The separate nodes are interconnected by the intensity of the synthetic river system.

The river system channels the flow of intensities. In the case of the final Developed Design outcomes, the intensity for change is the anthropogenic waste. Aggregations of anthropogenic waste determine where new nodes are created and what nodes will continue to grow.

Methodology This methodology was conducive for designing within a continuum. The process of continually deterritorialising and reterritorialising concepts has the potential to be applied indefinitely, continually iteratively building on the fragments of previous ideas. This methodology mimics the final outcome of this thesis, continually building upon previous information, then remaking new entities from the fragments of previous entities.

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6.0 - CONCLUSIONS AND CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

This design-led research investigation explored three different approaches for the integration of Philosophical, Ecological, and Systematic approaches to generate hypothetical, future-looking architectural artefacts that represent a shift in thinking away from anthropocentrism.

One of the most interesting areas of investigation for the author was the exploration of architectural solutions at a planetary scale.

The Anthropocene is a significant global problem, perhaps the greatest environmental problem that exists for Terran life, as it extends to every aspect of the biosphere. In reflection, the Systematic Approach appeared to be the most useful approach for tackling ‘hyper-object’ scaled problems. By imagining speculative architectural interventions as a series of nodes and connecting intensities, large-scale problems became more manageable for the speculative architect. Generating nodes (artefacts) that could grow and fluidly adapt to ever-evolving contexts meant the system could transform and scale in response. Connections between nodes could be created by multiple components, where a principal requirement was the ability to transfer information between nodes. Design-research explorations revealed that designing the nodes of systems was one productive solution for enabling speculative architecture to engage planetary-scale environmental issues. By focusing on designing nodes, speculative architects can focus on humanscaled architectures, so that their architectural

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outcomes are acceptable to the audience, and dialogues invoked by the architecture are more readily comprehended.

An important discovery made by the author was the unique opportunities for future-looking design explorations that were made available by exploring the scope of designing with philosophy. There were both strengths and weaknesses to the approach. During experimentation relating to Research Objective 1, The Philosophical Approach, the author discovered it is difficult to represent the full extent of a philosophy through architecture. This thesis investigated Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophical concept of the rhizome by segmenting it into its 4 key characteristic sections, and then experimenting with the key attributes of those 4 sections. As a complex philosophical system with a broad range of characteristics, the scope of a rhizome is broad in application. By exploring the philosophical concept in separate sections, the rhizome became more appropriate to the restricted scope of this design-led research investigation. Upon reflection, this investigation suggests that a similar methodology might successfully be utilised for examining other philosophical concepts in related speculative, planetary-scale, design-led research investigations. Experimental concepting, through iterative and staged design, revealed how discrete elements of a philosophical concept can be most successfully translated into an architectural context. Not every attribute and characteristic of the philosophical concept

will be explicitly apparent in the final design, as evidenced in this thesis’s final Developed Design outcomes. However, a set of speculative architectural outcomes generated using this methodology can be achieved that begin to represent a hierarchy of key philosophical characteristics, initially established within the concept and preliminary design stages.

‘Worlding experiments’ – the methodology explored in Chapter 4 Preliminary Design – were successful in broadening the scope of conceptual architectural outcomes. Without manually experimenting with the computational outcomes originally developed in Chapter 3, concepts would have a very narrow field of conceptual outcomes. Architectural design concepts would be limited by the algorithm and numerical parameters from which they were derived.

One of the most useful ‘toolsets’ for pushing computational concepts appeared to be the dialectic relationship between the ‘artisan’ and ‘sorcerer’. The philosophical persona of the ‘artisan’ provided an agency to create an architectural dialogue between the non-human artefacts––whose agency was computational not determinable––and a manual anthropocentric agency. The success of the ‘artisan’ and ’sorcerer’ toolset aligns with the philosophies of Deleuze and Guattari, who argue that all assemblages need a balance between ‘smooth’ (the sorcerer) and ‘striated’ (the artisan).

Temporal ambiguity, explored as a method of shifting anthropocentric thought in Research Objective 2, The Ecological Approach, appeared to have the most potential to extend to built architectures. Temporal ambiguity (postulated by Wark) was underdeveloped through

the Preliminary Design Stage of this investigation, but was effectively utilised in the Developed Design Stage outcomes.

Moving forward, as a speculative application of this approach to the architectural industry, buildings could be intentionally designed to examine ‘modern ruination’ to confront humans with their mortality in the Anthropocene. Temporally ambiguous buildings could be built with an array of parts, each with a different temporal life span. With some parts intentionally lasting longer than others, and different parts needing to be replaced at different points in time, a building could build temporal ambiguity. The temporal uncertainty brought on by temporally ambiguous buildings could make humans question and critically reflect upon their egocentric timescales.

Moving further forward, this methodology could be applied to architectural research exploring challenges at a wide range of scales. Due to the limitations of the scope of this design-led research investigation, only a focused range of hypothetical challenges at a planetary scale were explored. Applying this methodology to various other scales, both macro and micro, would test the methodology’s ability to scale to different sizes through the Systematic Approach. As another example of how this investigation might be further extended in future applications, it is also recognised that the application of different philosophies would yield different outcomes. The architectural translation and testing of relevant philosophical ideas appears to offer a rich source of opportunity for speculative architectural investigations that are looking toward a future that has not yet arrived.

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7.2 SOURCE OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1

Boris, 2021

Figure 1.2

Ritchie and Roser, 2014

Figure 1.3

https://www.britannica.com/science/Anthropocene-Epoch

Figure 2.2

Wikimedia Commons/FMichaud76

Figure 2.5

Guerrero, 2008

Figure 2.6

Guerrero, 2008

Figure 2.7

Deleuze and Hand, 1988

Figure 2.10

https://www.barrywark.com/gsaextension

Figure 2.11

https://www.flickr.com/photos/anguskirk/30539203298

Figure 2.12

https://www.barrywark.com/housebythesea

Figure 2.13

https://www.barrywark.com/housebythesea

Figure 2.14

https://www.barrywark.com/housebythesea

Figure 2.15

https://www.barrywark.com/housebythesea

Figure 2.16

https://www.barrywark.com/lynstedfolly

Figure 3.10

https://www.barrywark.com/grottofacade

Figure 3.11

https://www.barrywark.com/housebythesea

Figure 3.12

https://www.barrywark.com/lynstedfolly

All unattributed images belong to the author

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7.3 APPENDIX

The design outcomes of this design-led research were nominated by the Wellington School of Architecture Programme Director for the 2022 INDE. Awards. "A Thousand Plateaus" was nominated in the following category:

"THE GRADUATE. The Graduate award recognises and celebrates a final year architecture student who shows outstanding promise in their chosen course.

Through innovation and creativity the student aspires to make a mark on the profession and break new ground through design. The recipient of this accolade is a future design leader in the making and this award will no doubt become the protagonist for a stellar career. This category is by nomination from course leaders only."

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10 images were put forward for the nomination. These are two images presented for the award that are not present in this book.

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