Life

John Cooper

Aaron Bastani’s “Fully Automated Luxury Communism” (FALC), is a socioeconomic and political concept that envisions a future where technology and automation have eliminated the need for human labor, therefore creating a postscarcity society where everyone can enjoy a life of abundance and leisure. Under FALC, the means of production would be publicly owned, and goods and services would be distributed fairly among all members of society. FALC also aims to address environmental challenges and promote sustainable living by advocating for renewable energy, green technology, and a circular economy. This concept has gained attention in recent years as a potential solution to address the increasing wealth gap, social inequality, and the potential displacement of jobs caused by automation. This article will focus on the subject matter of abundance, and the role it plays in society, and what effects it could have on architectural thinking and design.

The topic of abundance is incredibly relevant, as architectural practice today operates in response to climate change, in the opposite way. Architectural practice today is all about limiting the consumption of a building in all forms, whether it be carbon footprint, or solar heat gain. According to Bastani, FALC is not if, but rather a when kind of situation, meaning at some point humanity will reach a point in which it is considered abundant in resources, in which point architecture will need to navigate itself in a new kind of world.

“Fully Automated Luxury Communism” is a thought-provoking book, since it challenges our archaic notions of how the future is impacted by technology. The future is often depicted as a dystopian mess, that is somehow a byproduct of some technological conglomerate that has monopolized the world. However, in FALC Bastani makes a bold prediction regarding the future where technological advancements have eliminated the need for human labor, resulting in a post-scarcity society where everyone can enjoy a life of abundance and leisure. It envisions a world where robots and automation have taken over most jobs, freeing up time for individuals to pursue creative and intellectual pursuits. Under FALC, the means of production would be publicly owned, and goods and services would be distributed fairly among all members of society. Moreover, FALC predicts that this future would be achieved through green technology and renewable energy sources, leading to a sustainable, zero-carbon economy. The book argues that technological progress has the potential to address social inequality, wealth gap, and environmental challenges, and that a socialist approach to production and distribution would enable society to benefit from these advancements. Bastani mainly argues that the future is dependent on FALC, due to 3 main crises’ which are going to be instrumental in moving the world towards a future of post-scarcity. The first of the 3 crisis’s is the “breakdown and collapse of the current economic model” , which is currently a financialized international form of capitalism, which has been in decline since 2008 post the global financial crisis. The second crisis which Bastani addresses is the ecological crisis. Next, is the ongoing health care crisis, and more specifically Bastani argues that the current situation is up in the air, and that at this very moment is an unprecedented moment in human history. It is then due to these crises that a disruption is needed to usher in a new way of life for humanity. In recent history according to Bastani, mankind has had two breakthroughs that brought about the modern way of life. “The first disruption took place around twelve thousand years ago as our ancestors transitioned from nomadic hunting and gathering to a life of settled agriculture”2 . The domestication of animals and land allowed for humans to become less transient, soon enough cities began to spring up, and from those, countries of unique culture, and economies rose to exist. The first disruption laid out the foundations, as it concentrated human growth and ingenuity into a consolidated effort.

The second disruption that changed the way humans lived was much more recent, the industrial revolution, which made leaps and bounds in the way energy was created and harvested. The industrial revolution therefore allowed for mass production of many things, which then logically, further intensified population, and urban growth exponentially. Finally, he predicts that the third disruption is when humanity is able to create an abundance of resources, which will come in the same way it did during the second disruption. In essence the third disruption is coming, however what happens to architectural thinking and design when it does arrive?

Assuming that in the future, humanity has solved the issue of energy meaning there is a surplus of energy, to the point where all of humanities yearly needs are being satisfied by 90 mins of solar radiation being captured3 . Assuming that, sustainable farming practices have created a massive surplus of food, allowing every person on earth to consume over 4000 calories a day. Assuming that automation has absolved humans from working hard laborious jobs. Assuming that advances in technology will allow humans to live longer healthier lives. How, and in what way does architecture respond in such a world?

While FALC does not exist in the current world, it is perhaps best to look at current, and past societies that have come close or have ventured through large sums of time, in which a surplus of resources, and abundance did in fact exist. The ancient Egyptian civilization was in fact one form of society that at a time was in abundance of a multitude of things, including but not limited to labor, power, agriculture, and resources. The existence of the magnificent architectural wonders of ancient Egypt owe their existence to this level of abundance, and prosperous time. The ancient Egyptians were able to create architectural marvels that are still a mystery to this day. Not only were they architecturally interesting and complex, but it is still a mystery how they managed to build such structures so accurately. The aforementioned structures are the pyramids and sphinx, which stand to this day unexplained, bewildering tourists every day.

Perhaps a more contemporary project to consider, that owes its existence to a society that is prosperous enough to be called abundant in resources, is NEOM’s the Line. The Line is, as the name suggests, a linear city, that is 170 kilometers long, 200 meters wide and 500 meters tall. The Line is marketed as a leap in the way humans live and work. A disruption that claims to consolidate a city’s footprint in just 34 km2. The aim of the project is to create a project that is wildly sustainable, and convenient as breakthroughs in AI will allow users of the project to get from one end of the project to another in just 20 minutes of travel. The line is one of many projects that full under the umbrella of NEOM, which is a mega project being funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a nation that has been and is currently being fueled by massive oil reserves. The kingdom is as close an abundance nation one could get in modern times, meaning that the Line is product of an abundance of wealth, and resources. It can then be argued that the line is a precedent for what the future of architectural thinking and design could look like, when societies transition into fully automated luxury communisms.

The line is a current representation of FALC. The line features an ambiguous almost program free interior, as in programs are very loosely defined, and are easily swapped with one another. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine the kind of lifestyle that the architecture is hinting at. The architecture of the line hints at a lifestyle that is of abundance, and pure leisure. This idea is further reinforced by the fact that almost all services within the Line are automated, by advances in AI, further freeing individuals from the burdens of working labor-intensive jobs, much like Bastani described in his book. Furthermore, the line is ultimately a large sustainable project, its form is derived in order to take up the least amount of space, so is its façade and roof treatment. The roof is used as a large solar farm, as well as a green roof that is capable of growing crops, which then creates a closed system loop that is self-sufficient from any outside source of food, or power. Further aligning itself with Basatni’s vision of a FALC society is the line’s ability to naturally ventilate and control its ambient temperature within the building. Since the building is a 170 km long skyscraper, it has the unique ability to use stack ventilation along it entire span, creating a very sustainable project. Interestingly the line is often seen as a dystopian project in the eyes of many designers and architects. An architectural mess amidst the Arabian desert, on the other hand, Bastani’s book FALC is often regarded as a utopian representation of the future. However, the line is simply a current representation of what a post scarcity society would build in the future. The line is almost exactly what Bastani describes in his book. There is no doubt that the line may not be an exact match, since at the end of the day, the kingdom is not yet a fully FALC society, which causes some discrepancies to arise. Nevertheless, the line present as close a representation could get in the current time.

When analyzing the line, it is important to recognize that it is a product of economic abundance, not design abundance. While the Line is incredibly innovative in its thinking and pushes the boundaries of what an urban space could, and should look like, it is not an abundance of thinking or analysis. Ultimately, a FALC society’s advantage is that since universal basis services are free for all to sue, individuals are more likely to participate in creative fields, such as graphic design, art, and most importantly architecture. As a result, innovation in architecture will be prevalent, and much sooner due to the large shifts of individuals taking architecture as hobby, or career. FALC is a wave that will fundamentally change the way architecture is conceived in the future. A fundamental shift in the way individuals are going to interact with space, and what even constitutes space in the future. An architectural future in which space is no longer defined by the program, the client, the budget, but rather the self-expression of the community behind it. FALC grants architecture the opportunity to move away from the banal aspects of the field today. Architecture will still need to exist to serve a fundamental purpose, however in a communistic post scarce society, the architecture will no longer be bound by the amount of heat gain is allowed to penetrate through a window on a Sunday afternoon at some time of the year for example. Architecture in FLAC will be critiqued and built in order to self-express the feelings of designers in which the idea of the project was born. Therefore, the architecture of the future marks a point in history where architecture will become an anti-formalistic endeavor lacking any foreseeable boundaries. One could imagine that in a post-scarce society the normality of the building will no longer be a formal one but rather, an urban fabric made up of unique forms, all creating artful expressions.

Moreover, the emergence of FALC heralds a significant shift in the way architects and designers approach their work. Traditionally, architectural thinking takes place at the top of a hierarchical pyramid, with ideas trickling down the chain of command and dwindling in intensity with each subsequent layer. This creates a monarchy of design, in which the lead architect reigns supreme and imposes their vision on the landscape like a god-like figure.

FALC upends this archaic model by empowering collaborative and participatory design processes, breaking down the hierarchical barriers that have long constrained the architectural field. By enabling positive design by committee, FALC facilitates a fundamental rethinking of architectural thinking, allowing for a more democratic and equitable approach to the built environment. This transformative shift represents a remarkable opportunity to create more inclusive and sustainable spaces that reflect the needs and aspirations of all members of society. This reapproach to the architectural workflow allows for better design to take place, and ultimately allows for the creation of better, more viable, and productive spaces for individuals of the future to inhabit.

In essence, the theory of abundance is incredibly powerful and moving in an architectural sense. However, no society or civilization in human history has reached a level to explore it. Many have come close, as mentioned above, and have shown the benefits of how a post scarce society can further enhance the quality of innovation brought forward, architecturally. Abundance, and a post scarce society, are the next disruption that is needed to usher in a new wave of architectural thinking and design, as it did for various other industries. More specifically it is the combination of abundance of wealth and thinking that will push architecture into new realms of thinking and design.

Bilbiography

BASTANI, AARON. Fully Automated Luxury: A Manifesto. VERSO, 2020. Bookchin, Murray. Post-Scarcity Anarchism. AK Press, 2018.

The institute of Art & Ideas, director. Aaron Bastani | On Fully Automated Luxury Communism, Climate Change, and More. YouTube, YouTube, 22 Dec. 2019, https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=YT6xiMUSPm8. Accessed 22 Apr. 2023.

The Institute of Art & Ideas, director. Fully Automated Luxury Communism | Aaron Bastani. YouTube, YouTube, 6 Mar. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=u2MSstaWgH0. Accessed 22 Apr. 2023.