Contents Introduction
Emergence
where it’s going wrong
self-organisation
Closing the Loop
Evolution
the circulating metabolism
survial of the fittest
Strategy for Design
Issues
product, project, planet
what are the problems?
Connections
Possibilities
networked societies
what can we do?
Policy
Conclusion
top down v. bottom up
what have we learnt?
Game Theory
Bibliography
setting a [goal]
read all about it
01
introduction
introduction
introduction where it’s going wrong
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introduction
the networked human brain
the networked galaxy
introduction
Introduction
“Sustainability” has become a buzzword describing and supporting localised “green” interventions, as solutions to our environmental global problems. The following text argues the importance of not just assessing these interventions in their immediate context, but to look at their role in relation to our global landscape, and technological and cultural developments over time. Through the mapping of complex relationships, society can formulate a new paradigm through which to examine the issue of ‘sustainability’. Observations must be undertaken with a holistic mind set; there is a need to comprehend all scales from the global to the citywide, and right down to the individual products. Networks of connectivity infiltrate every aspect of our lives from the capillaries in our own bodies, to the roads that traverse the landscape or the systems of the universe. There needs to be a shift in our way of life, but also in the theoretical position we take when designing a project. In order to achieve a successful solution we need to have a holistic view of the interactions with the rest of the world, the connectivity strategies and government policies, which are involved with a proposal. We must anticipate how the ecological and technological developments that occur so regularly will eventually have an effect on the social and economical world, and what the benefits may be. By mapping the physical and non-physical flows of data, we can identify and gain a better understanding of the existing systems of our environment and then apply this to our designs and design processes.
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closing the loop
closing the loop
closing the loop the circulating metabolism
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closing the loop
Linear Process / Link Inputs & Outputs / Perpetual Machine
closing the loop
Closing the loop
Developed western nations frequently utilise a linear metabolism in manufacture, use and waste in order to feed capitalistic hunger, however, highly urbanized countries are keen to sustain the inefficient systems already put in place in order to maintain economic superiority. There is acute awareness the impact e-waste has on the water table of far-eastern countries for example, however, society’s ‘now’ culture and resulting inability to consider long-term effects, means there is little regard for it. As a result, secondary systems of waste are created, as fresh water must be imported at the cost of fast dwindling raw materials. There is increasing recognition that these linear metabolisms must be closed, and waste must become the food of a new cyclical system. By failing to address the potential lifetime of biological and technological materials, society is continuing to support linear methods and prevent change as these processes become further imbedded in industry thus compromising our own lifetimes. We have the facilities, means, knowledge and capital to invest in shifting the process, although not yet the motivation or enough personal moral obligation to alter our contemporary illogical system. There is a need for change in the current game of capitalism where success breeds expansion regardless of waste and its impact on future resources and the global condition. “Should manufacturers of existing products feel guilty about their complicity in this destructive agenda? Yes. No. It doesn’t matter. Insanity has been described as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. Negligence is described as doing the same thing over and over, even though you know its is dangerous, stupid, or wrong. Now that we know, it’s time for a change. Negligence starts tomorrow” 1
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strategy for design
strategy for design
strategy for design product, project, planet
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strategy for design
Multi-Discipline / Exploiting All Opportunities / Adaptable over Life of the Project
strategy for design
Strategy for design
Society’s ongoing march towards the eventual destruction of our species can be measured by the rapidly decreasing fertile, habitable land and shrinking ecologies. A future where architects are physically confined to ‘second hand’ sites is not hard to comprehend. If re-use strategies can be applied at product level, then why not at project level? Offices, homes and public space should be allowed to evolve. Policy should develop to ensure the long-term sustainability of a space. Projects should be fit for purpose but adaptable with time, allowing for changes in economy, politics and culture. The holistic view is to account for the life of the building and have contingencies for all outcomes so that when change occurs it can be adapted to without the need for additional design contribution. Design strategies can acknowledge fixed points in time, but must consider time as a key factor in order to achieve a stable global condition. A condition that can retain future resources, and remove the current ‘need’ to live far beyond global means. “rather than assuming stability and explaining change, one must assume change and explain stability”2 Any organism or project is a culmination of fluid ecologies, the life cycle of a brick, or the public space it provides for example. Contemporary architects have a responsibility to decode, interpret and synthesize the operations of smaller systems and then incorporate these strategies across an entire project. If society can realise the need (if not yet the implementation) to close the loop of micro scale systems, then this pursuit should also be inherent at meso scale in urban design, and ultimately at a global level.
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connections
connections
connections networked societies
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connections
Virtual Connectivity / Physical Fragmentation / Inefficient Single Units
connections
Connections Society has come to experience our new urban world as placeless - a landscape accommodating a war between the virtual and the actual, the technological and the ecological. Our daily routines, economic and political processes are embedded in the source of this conflict, so much so, that humanity is dependant on it and fails to comprehend a life without it. “The larger a city, the more complex its system of commerce and services” 3 The advancement of virtual networks was pursued as a way of freeing ourselves from the banality of the everyday, and as means of reducing labour in the production of services in order to remain competitive. This has the immediate effect of creating more time and more capital for us to do more. Technology today has allowed society to become highly connected and provide greater freedom to pursue personal interests, however, the long-term effects have the potential to be quite destructive, and significantly shift the physical landscape. Although these advancements have created more efficient processes by connecting people to their desires, technology has somewhat distanced individuals from each other in the physical environment, reducing sensual acuity. By doing so, it has created a culture of consumption, a way of life enabling the public to achieve things in less and less time, but resulting in society doing and accumulating more and more things. The current methods of architecture have not been able to adapt to the speed of cultural changes and technological advancements, which means the physical environment has become fragmented and filled with socially ineffective spaces. If we subscribe to the notion that architecture is supposed to be a reflection of society, catering for our way of doing things, then the design process will only supply what is demanded. This means a shift in design will only occur when complimented by a further cultural shift among the population. Instead of technology replacing the social activities and adding-on to current unsustainable processes, we believe the answer to make our cities and communities more sustainable, is to embrace technology to inform our physical world and counteract the fragmentation that technology initially created. How do we keep our spaces active and fit for purpose? “Space does not reflect society, it expresses it” 4 By identifying and mapping our urban movements, patterns, formations, transformations we can integrate technology into our open spaces and urban fragments, creating spaces where people can meet and interact with each other as well as the spaces.
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policy
policy
policy top down v. bottom up
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policy
Government Policy / People Power / Battle for Supremacy / Best of Both
policy
Policy
There is a constant power struggle between the roles of people and the government, which can lead to the suffocation of change. It has proved idealistic to operate within a system where power is ceded in one direction or the other; however, we can pragmatically argue for a specific balance of power between the two. The top down approach of government utilises the rule of law and propaganda in order to control its population. “At present, this dilema is usually dealt with through a lowest-common-denominator or onesize-fits-all”5 The advantage is that any amendment of law can effect immediate change and could therefore be used by ‘enlightened leaders’ to enforce more sustainable practices. In extremity, however, this approach becomes a dictatorship, which removes personal freedoms causing everyone and everything to become the same, as prescriptive laws strangle creative thinking and innovation. A bottom up approach allows the people to govern themselves and live within self-defined limits based on self-defined ideas. In this, ultimate free market conditions can be achieved that allow individual freedom in the pursuit of goals, spawning an incredible diversity of solutions. With everyone moving in individual directions however, the resulting ideas can be wayward and lack focus. Tackling a specific problem becomes more difficult because there is no unifying element.
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game theory
game theory
game theory setting a [goal]
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game theory
Self-Interested Population / Incentives = Motivation / Invisible Hand Guides the Masses
game theory
Game Theory
A balance of power between the two is essential to allow the actions of the masses and the executive to be held to account. The government needs to operate as a guiding hand to the free market organisation; a policy umbrella to cover all individuals working within the system without restricting freedoms but directing everyone’s efforts towards the same ultimate goal, in this case, sustainability. “Power is no longer really acquired through social altruism, but through gentrification as a tool” 6 For the government to relinquish control they would still need a method to manipulate the masses, this is where the correct use of Game Theory can be applied. Game Theory analyses the way the populace think and behave, and works on the basic principle that everyone is primarily motivated by his or her own self-interests. Individuals are only willing to pursue a goal if it benefits their situation. The contemporary attitude is not one of co-operation, as adaptation towards a self-sustaining lifestyle is currently extra work with no personal reward and consequently, lacks an individual incentive for change. A holistic approach is to target the individual and motivate them so as personal interests are aligned and a synchronicity amongst the general populace is achieved. This has a greater effectiveness because everybody is moving in the same direction. By implementing rewards, incentives and policies, which support ideas of sustainability, the government can appeal to the individual’s desire to improve their own circumstances, and collaborate the will of the population into a consistent direction. In practice, it can become a tit-for-tat situation; a reciprocating relationship, which has been used to good effect in other situations. In New York for example, the city council recognised a need for more public space. The implementation of new policy stated planning permission would be granted for twenty percent more floor area, if new construction projects provided such spaces. Corporations promptly supplied this public facility in return for the attractive financial benefit.
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emergence
emergence
emergence self-organisation
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emergence
Deregulation = Free Creativity / Self-Organisation / Reflects Group Consciousness
emergence
Emergence
The complexity of our cities is constantly in flux, as multiple networks continue to intersect, converge and overlap. Observations made at various scales of study show evidence of relationships and patterns between all scales of the biosphere. Consider a shoal of fish moving seemingly collectively, the shoal is directed by no one, it’s movements and decisions are emergent, such patterns of emergence function through self-organisation, bottom-up approaches with single entities operating at small scales on the local level often driven purely through self-interest. As a design paradigm, Emergent will provides us with tools that allow for adaptability with regard to strategising for future scenarios. This can only happen with a sufficient regulatory looseness. This generates a new realm of design potential and establishes a dialogue with which local knowledge can be used to the best advantage of the group. “The solution to our environmental problems may lie in relating architecture to the new holistic understanding of the structure of nature�7 Such systems of complexity operate in a chaotic and non-linear manor; processing multiple inputs, producing unplanned, unpredictable and non-prescribed outcomes. This leads not just to adaptation to change, but exploitation of new opportunities. This idea requires a completely deregulated society, however, the model for such occurrences requires a synchronicity amongst the group and therefore a unifying element is still essential. The momentum required for significant change at the global level requires only small alterations to happen locally. These emergent solutions enter into a competitive market where only the best, most innovative ideas survive and can be exported globally.
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evolution
evolution
evolution survial of the fittest
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evolution
Deregulation = Free Creativity / Self-Organisation / Reflects Group Consciousness
evolution
Evolution
We honour our errors; Darwinian’s Theory of Evolution can be seen as an act of “systematic error management” 8, implementing a diverse stock portfolio in an act of trial and error. We honour our success, “success breeds success” 9, the strongest wins. As systems fail, the swarm of entities learns from the failure and applies this knowledge to future situations, which leads to the likely reduction of failure and increases in success. This develops a strategy for the emergence model to be applied globally. There is strength in numbers, evolution interconnects all scales. As successful systems at the micro scale continue to flourish, they multiply and evolve to breed new generations of systems, a simple system that works from the bottom up, and drive macro scale systems of complexity. It is such an approach to design, which manipulates methodologies such as policy, rather than traditional design disciplines, which will result in designs for contingency rather than order or a style. “To get the most out of nothing, you need to have self-changing rules.” 10 By embracing such paradigms in our design approaches, we (the architects) will move from product designer to systems designer, thereby addressing design criteria, which relate to fundamental fluctuations in time. The linear notion that a building is always the answer to a problem is superseded by a non-linear notion that a strategy for multiple solutions is the answer.
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issues & possibilities
issues & possibilities
issues & possibilities what are the problems? what can we do?
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issues & possibilities
Issues
The primary issue arises with the juxtaposition of the knowledge to put sustainable strategies in place, but the still uneconomical means that don’t appeal to capitalist sensibilities. The global population is therefore stuck with the slow change of supply and demand. The flood of change will only occur after the ‘Tipping Point’ has been achieved, and sustainable practices achieve economic viability. The path society is travelling, points to a future where change will only occur once resources have been sufficiently depleted that forced intervention is required to instigate immediate change. “Architects aligne themselves with the uncontrollable” 11
issues & possibilities
Possibilities
A central governing body is the best tool for changing our destructive natures. Without resorting to absolute control, executive powers can allow tax breaks and provide research grants towards sustainable practices, whilst simultaneously increasing the cost of maintaining unsustainable approaches. This allows our world to continue to operate the way it wants but uses fiscal incentive to encourage change. An industry demonstrating that it is enacting cyclical metabolisms would be able to increase profits under a new economic system, whereas any industry that does not change would have to contend with higher taxes. This then enables the evolution of industry to happen more rapidly as they each adapt to a new economic climate as quickly as possible in order to remain competitive and survive. The intervention would allow society to rapidly reach the ‘Tipping Point’ and retain any remaining resources, before it is no longer an option. Partial deregulation of the masses can allow a huge surge of change and honours the principles of freedom of speech and the freedom of information. These principles will form the pillars for a new method of control; the media can act as a very effective tool to keep exploitation of the system in check. As people take advantage, the media can expose them to the ‘moral compass’ of the masses; this keeps industry in check, as bad publicity is not in their interest.
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conclusion
conclusion
conclusion what have we learnt?
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conclusion
Architects Identify Real Problems / Multi Faceted Approach / Inseparable Principles
conclusion
Conclusion
The design process needs to become a systematic way of thinking, where we seek to understand the connections and interactions of all the problem variables, putting us in a position to ask the right questions and identify the real problems, in order to determine the best solutions. “the functional relationship (economy of agglomeration or economy of scale), social organisation (network or institution) and spatial configuration, while clasification of those layers is based on the interaction between them�12 How cities emerge, their states of flux, urban affects on organisation and behaviour of society and the balance between long and short term solutions; can begin to provide an appreciation for the role architecture plays in our whole system of living and development. Not all problems require built solutions. New systems of thinking or infrastructural improvement may be the most suitable and beneficial intervention that could unlock the true potential of place. We view the problems of non-sustainable places, buildings, and practice, as a failure of society in not fully understanding the networks and systems that they operate within, belong to, and contribute to. The most suitable solution to approach global sustainability lies in the appreciation and the interaction of the various factors that make up our urban fabric; economy, scale, context and time.
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conclusion
4D Systems of Sustainability / Holistic Problem Solving / Implement Social and Economic Policy to enable Environmental & Technological Sustainability
conclusion
Conclusion
It can be acknowledged that an eco-centric response may be suitable in one situation whereas a techno-centric solution may be suitable for another. They are not mutually exclusive approaches but at opposed ends of a sliding scale that cannot be separated. Urban design needs to allow a system which takes into account lifetime; how things change and design for it. Rather than prescribing an answer frozen in time, architects must allow for change and adaptability without extra design input. Consideration must be taken at macro, meso and micro scale in order to achieve a holistic solution. Sustainability is not only an ecological or technological plan; it is a cultural and business plan. Change can only occur when society becomes aware that social and economic reform will enable environmental and technological sustainability. The populace must align their interests and capital provided in order to achieve an ultimately sustainable global condition. All disciplines and ideas must be utilised and incorporated into a system, a building, or a way of life in order to achieve something that can be considered as highly evolved.
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references & bibliography
references & bibliography
references & bibliography read all about it
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references & bibliography
References
1
Braungart & McDonough, (2003) Cradle to Cradle. Rodale Press. p.117
2
Sherman, R, (2005) 306090: Autonomous Urbanism. Architectural Journal. p.103
3
Giradet, H, (1999) Creating Sustainable Cities. Schumacher Briefings. p.23
4
Braham, W, & Hale, J, (2007) Rethinking Technology. Routledge (Ed. 1) p.441
5
Sherman, R, (2005) 306090: Autonomous Urbanism. Architectural Journal. p.104
6
Bullivant, L (2005) From the State as Client to the Client State. Ole Bouman. p.17
7
Kelly, K (1995) Out of Control. Basic Books p.470
8
Kelly, K (1995) Out of Control. Basic Books p.470
9
Kelly, K (1995) Out of Control. Basic Books p.470
10
Kelly, K (1995) Out of Control. Basic Books p.470
11
Sherman, R, (2005) 306090: Autonomous Urbanism. Architectural Journal. p.104
12
Sheng, Q. (2006) De-/signing the Urban. 010 Publishers. p.364
references & bibliography
Bibliography
Braungart, Michael and McDonogh, William 2008 Originally published 2002 Cradle To Cradle; Remaking the Way We Make Things Vintage UK Random House Bullivant, Lucy 2006 Power broking: Contemporary issues of insttituional power, State, and architectural practice in Britain From Volume Magazine No. 5 Jan 2006 Archis Foundation Braham, William W. and Hale, Jonathan A. 2006 Rethinking Technology; A Reader in Architectural Theory Routledge; 1 edition (13 Dec 2006) Curtis, Adam 2004 The Trap BBC Documentary Kelly, Kevin 1995 Out of Control; The New Biology of Machines Originally published Addison Wesley 1994 London:Fourth Estate http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/contents.php Frazer, John 1995 An Evolutionary Architecture Architectural Association Publications, Themes VII http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/publications/ea/intro.html
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references & bibliography Girardet, Herbet 2006 Schumacher Briefings: Creating Sustainable Cities Green Books First accessed 08/10/2009 http:www.mi2.hr/#ognjen/tekst/delanda2001.html Manuel De Landa: Deleuze an d the Use of the Genetic Algorithm in Architecture Reed, Chris 2005 Performance Practices Extract from 30 60 90 09; Regarding Public Space Sherman, Roger 2005 If, Then: Shaping Change as a Strategic basis for Design Extract from 30 60 90 08; Autonomous Urbanism Princeton Architectural Press (July 14, 2005) Von Borries, Friedrich, Walz, Steffen P. and Bottger , Matthias 2007 Tit for Tat and Urban Rules from Space, Time, Play; Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism The Next Level. Birkhauser Verlag AG