BORDERLINE UNIVERSITY Ryan Lee RPI CLOUD Thesis Group 2010-11
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Ryan Lee RPI CLOUD Thesis Group 2010-11 TRANSVERCITY::::the CLOUD Institution Instructor: Carla Leitao Committee Member: Ted Krueger
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction Precis-Thesis Statement
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Research Genealogy Group Research Learning/Information Exchange (universities) Ryan Lee + Rachel Guillot + Christine Lois
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Research Framework Information Exchange Through Virtual Space and Information Visualization
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Design Investigations Proposal Design Tests Final Project
38 48 54
Appendix Dean Den Charrette Bibliography
68 75
Figure Citations
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INTRODUCTION
RYAN LEE POINT OF INSERTION :::: the borderline university
The CLOUD Thesis explores the architectural, social, and ecological opportunities afforded by advanced material sensitivity, future methods of information extraction and archiving, and local and global sensitivities offered by networked protocols within the context of the year 2048. The program of investigation is the archive/library and education/learning. This studio asks how architects can engage and structure the triad of material sensitivity, archiving, and networked protocols to structure the design of education and archiving institutions using the model of the CLOUD; an entity that shifts, adapts, stores and distributes with local sensitivity within a global context. As new materials become available, it has become possible to push the limits of the performance of buildings. As the everyday objects which we interface with become more intelligent, it is necessary for architectural objects to become more intelligent. In the article Shaping Things, science-fiction author, Bruce Sterling, proposed the creation of the Spime: intelligent objects with the ability of self-awareness, communication, self-assembly, self-disassembly, and self-recycling. As these objects become reality they are changing how we engage the architectural environment (whether through virtual or augmented reality) one to one interaction, or new communication channels. The potential for these materials and objects to gather, archive, and distribute information has radically shifted the ways in which humanity educates and archives. These two programs have become increasingly interconnected.
The Borderline University is a new type of bi-national university that operates within a fractured border condition. This university acts as a mediator between border entities by tackling spatial and socioeconomic issues through the use of distributed educational protocols and a merger of the university’s educational archives with local commercial interests. Within a bi-national educational context, the project will incorporate local and global commerce as a means to stimulate growth and education along the border. The borderline of investigation is the United States and Mexico border. The Borderline University attempts to re-qualify the current divisive and isolationist policies along this border by creating a bi-national attitude promoting investment and growth, leading to reform. The project envisions a widening of the border to achieve these goals. The installation of a university, within the widened border, will test the abilities of university incubator programs to promote continuous education, distributed learning, and information exchange. Installed within the Sister Cities along the US-Mexico border, the Borderline University bridges the rigid landscapes of national security, immigration, and employment/education. The Borderline University will distribute itself, and grow through the use of flexible material specifications which allow the university to adopt multiple forms according to local conditions by tapping into educational needs along the border.
PRECIS + THESIS STATEMENT
TRANSVERCITY::::the CLOUD Institution
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FP1 RESEARCH GENEALOGY
::::RESEARCH PHASE
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RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
Research Genealogy
Learning/Information Exchange (universities) Within the context of the CLOUD Institution, education and learning play a central role in the process of gathering and distributing the archive. The spread of information from instructor to student, from student to student, university to university, etc generate large databases of information that can be tapped into to allow information to spread even further. The paradigm shifts of the 21st century have given universities a large virtual presence, making distance learning and distributed education possible. The progressive educational reforms of the early 20th century encouraged students to take a larger role in their education by providing greater freedom in the choice of curriculum(1). Today (despite the influence of standardization(2)) many progressive forms of education still exist. Home schooling and remote learning have expanded the applications of progressive principles. Both take advantage the power of distributed learning, allowing students to access education material remotely and to interact with students, educators, and professionals in their studies.The non-centralization of information has allowed educational networks to link, edit, and 1. Led by John Dewey, (1859- combine information. Progressive education provides an 1952) progressive education alternative to the strict regimentation of standardized reform looked to establish a democratic form of education education systems.
The CLOUD university encourages inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary research and information overlap. The new global university has redrawn physical and virtual campus borders. The case study of New York University demonstrates the influence universities have not only on the cities that they occupy but on global information exchange.
GROUP RESEARCH
in which the interests and experiences of the student were taken into account.
Distributed networks provide an opportunity to expand education beyond the classroom, generating overlaps between primary education, secondary education, employment, and community. Instead of the typical primary school to employment progression, open source archiving allows continual education where those who are marginalized by educational instutions have access and the ability to learn. Programs such as the Hole-In-the-Wall Education Program have demonstrated the ability of these systems to en-courage information exchange and group learning. Primary education has become increasingly concerned with providing access to secondary and higher education. University incubators have blurred the lines between campus, community, and employment by providing opportunities for investment and through outreach programs. University programs such as design-build and residencies create community involvement.
The research done in this section of the book was done collaboratively for the benefit of the entire studio.
2. In response to the increased specialization of education, Mark C. Taylor writes, in The End of the University as We Know It, “The division-of-labor model of separate departments is obsolete and must be replaced with a curriculum structured like a web or complex adaptive network. Responsible teaching and scholarship must become cross-disciplinar y and cross-cultural.�
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Darwin’s Origin of Species is published
Church Model
INDUSTRIAL ERA
US Department of Education is created
Apprentice /Protege
First standardized tests of intelligence
1900
Communal Reform
PROGRESSIVE ERA
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
Employment
Secondary Education
Primary Education
Community
1850
Thorndike’s Law of Effect John Dewey’s Democracy and Education is published Gestalt Theory SAT is first administered Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Stock Market Crash GI Bill
1950 Mass Production Model
Community Outreach
COLD WAR ERA
E-Book is invented
1990
University of Phoenix establishes the first online campus
No Child Left Behind is passed
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act is passed Employment
Primary Education
Secondary Education
Corporate Funded Lab
Massachusetts Education Reform Act - common curriculum and statewide tests
Fast Food Model
Develop/Design/Build
Community
INFORMATION AGE 10
BF Skinner’s Science and Human Behavior is published - operant conditioning Rise of McCarthyism Racial Integration Elementary and Secondary Education Act
CHURCH MODEL
INDUSTRIAL ERA
During the industrial era structured education was considered a luxury. The church CURRICULUM - standardized - linear - assimilation established and ran most schools. Most schools were boys only schools. Girls and boys were given separate curriculums.The boarding school became popular due to the large ASSESSMENT - test distance between schools. PEDAGOGY - informal - active Higher Education was not important during this era as employment was a larger concern. Informal education was extremely important during this time. Apprenticeships were the main form of education. Primary education stopped around the age of twelve, allowing children to begin their working careers with apprenticeships at this time. Apprenticeships took place in the trades. After completing their training, apprentices would often spend time as a journeyman.
COMMUNAL REFORM
PROGRESSIVE ERA
CURRICULUM - networked - open - creative The goal of progressive education was to make schools more effective agencies of a democratic society.This involved an active participation of all aspects of society.The two ASSESSMENT - diagnostic essential elements of a progressive education were respect for diversity and the development of a critical, socially engaged intelligence.The movement was driven by the PEDAGOGY - informal - passive desire to focus vocational training and by the expanding industrial economy. The movement was led by John Dewey. Dewey opposed the growing movement that advocated using scientific techniques (such as intelligence testing) and cost-benefit analysis to drive education reform. Dewey believed in an open curriculum where students should take part in their own learning.
MASS PRODUCTION MODEL The cold war period was a time of anxiety and cultural conservatism, leading to the repudiation of the progressive education model. During this time the education system became increasingly bureaucratic and standardized. Control moved away from the school board and towards the federal and state levels. The curriculum becomes standardized and hierarchical.
COLD WAR ERA CURRICULUM - linear - hierarchial -
standardized - assimilation
ASSESSMENT - test PEDAGOGY - formal - passive
Education becomes increasingly standardized and hierarchical as school performance (and funding) is determined by achievement standards. The passage of No Child Left Behind Act provides penalties to schools that do not make adequate yearly progress according to the goals of the act. Forms of new technology find their way into the classroom. Primary education becomes increasingly linked to secondary education through early credit opportunities and scholarships. More students than ever go on to study in college leading to increased specialization.
GROUP RESEARCH
Behaviorism and cognitive learning compete to establish influence over education. Secondary education increases in importance as the economy moves from manufacturing to service industries.
FAST FOOD MODEL
RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
EDUCATIONAL MODELS ACROSS TIME AND POLITICAL/CULTURAL TERRITORIES
INFORMATION AGE CURRICULUM - linear - hierarchial -
sub-subjects- specialized ASSESSMENT - diagnostic
PEDAGOGY - formal - passive
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Alternative Education Models: Progressive Era Reforms MINIMALLY INVASIVE EDUCATION MIE describes how children learn in unsupervised environments. Many times these systems use technology as a means to access an archive of information. This structure of learning argues that learning is an active process. Homogenization and standardization is sacrificed for creativity and personal responsibility.
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
SUDBURY VALLEY SCHOOL MODEL The Sudbury Valley School Model is an alternative approach to education in which students enjoy personal freedom and are responsible for their own education. Students do not follow a linear curriculum. Supporters of this method of teaching state that students do not suffer from learning disabilities due to the lack of intervention. The school uses peer to peer learning, technology, and a flexible faculty to facilitate learning. Feeding off of progressive education reforms, the school’s intent is to “provide a setting in which students are independent, are trusted, and are treated as responsible people; and a community in which students are exposed to the complexities of life in the framework of a participatory democracy.” To achieve this the school is also run by the students, who are allowed to make the administrative decisions of the school.
HOLE IN THE WALL EDUCATION PROGRAM
Figure 01: Hole-in-the-Wall computer kiosk
Established by Sugata Mitra, the Hole in the Wall Education program uses public access computers to teach children basic computing skills through peer learning. The project’s goal is to stimulate curiosity to facilitate learning. Mitra states, “The hole-in-the-wall experiments have given us a new, inexpensive, and reliable method for bringing computer literacy and primary education to areas where conventional schools are not functional. Such facilities are not meant to replace schools and teachers; they are meant to supplement, complement, and stand in for them.” Design is an important element of the project as design elements limit adult usage, abuse, and misuse.
Homeschooling Curriculum Sources
Sources of curriculum or books Public l brary
Percent 77.9
Homeschooling catalog, publisher, or individual specialist
76.9
Retail bookstore or other store
68.7
Education publisher not affiliated with homeschooling
59.6
Homeschooling organization
49.2
Church, sy nagogue, or other religious organization
36.5
Other sources
26.0
Local public sc hool or district
22.6
Private school
16.8
DISTANCE LEARNING
CURRICULUM State Determined
ASSESSMENT
Flexible
PEDAGOGY
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Church
Apprenticeships
Parents
Progessionals
RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
Homeschooling Legality
Figure 02: Homeschooling legality by countr y
GROUP RESEARCH
Figure 03: Homeschooling legality by state
Legal under no conditions, or only registration Legal under regulating conditions, such as mandatory tests and checks Legal under restricting conditions, like a teaching certificate or permit Illegal No available data
States requiring no notice: No state requirement for parents to initiate any contact. States with low regulation: State requires parental notification only. States with moderate regulation: State requires parents to send notification, test scores, and/or professional evaluation of student progress. State with high regulation: State requires parents to send notification or achievement test scores and/or professional evaluation, plus other requirements (e.g. curriculum approval by the state, teacher qualification of parents, or home visits by state officials) 13
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
HOMESCHOOLING DEMOGRAPHICS There are many reasons a parent may choose to homeschool their child. Religion is an important factor; however it is often looked at as the dominant factor. Nontraditional approaches, born out of the progressive movement are a growing factor in the decision to choose homeschooling. This can be seen in the use of partial school enrollment to supplement education. Homeschoolers stand out from other school children in some categories. They are predominately white, middle-class, parents are well educated, southern, and rural.The large religious influence is seen in these demographics.
UNSCHOOLING Unschooling is an educational philosophy within homeschooling that critiques the educational establishment. Unschooling encourages learning through life experiences. Unlike some homeschoolers, unschoolers do not believe in the recreation of the classroom at home. Instead many unschoolers choose to look outside of the home for sources for learning.This may include distance learning or collaboration with various institutions (local schools or libraries).The goal of the parent is to act as a facilitator and not an instructor. Often groups of unschoolers are formed through social media. The Not Back to School Camp is an annual gathering of unschoolers, ages 13 to 18, held annually.
Figure 04: Homeschooling enrollment status
Inspirtation Facilitation Guidance
Creativity Learning
Figure 05: Homeschooling reasons
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RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
OTHER SCHOOLING OPTIONS The typical choice for school type is between private and public schools. It is seen that western areas and urban areas had the largest flexibility for school choices. The northeast and Midwest contain the most amount of students enrolled in private schools (by percentage), and the Midwest contained the most students that received their first choice school. The suburban lifestyle provides the most flexibility for moving in order to be near a desired school. From 1993 to 2007 the freedom to choose schools has increased across the states.
Funding Regulations Admission Tuition
Public
Private
Charter
Magnet
public
no
public
public
yes
some
some
yes
open
yes
selective
some selective
no
yes
no
no
Change, 2008 -18
To tal, all occupations
Number Percent (t housands) 15,273.9 01 0.1 352.6
17.6
Doct oral degree
345.4
16.6
64
18.3
549.6
8.4
Master's degree Bachelor's or higher degree , plus w ork experience Bachelor's degree Associate degree Postsecondary vocational award Wo rk experience in a relate d occupa tion Long-term on-the-job training Moderate -term on-the-job training Short-te rm on-th e-job training
1,084.8 01
6.6
1,167.8 01
9.1
1,164.1 01
3.2
1,180.0 08
.1
805.8
GROUP RESEARCH
First professional degree
7.5
1,962.6 08 4,197.0 07
.7
Figure 06: Future change in education levels
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circulation of information
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
educational centers
migration of humans
The university system, coupled with the current migration trends creates a cycle of information causing the population to disperse to receive their education. Following formal education, they disperse again to form their own migratory patterns.
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Current circulation of information/migration mapping
The interconnectivity of education, migration, and information dispersal is displayed in the diagram to the right. The more prestigious universities in the United States are located in the Northeast and in California but current migration patterns are driving people into the South and Southeast of the United States. This cyclical movement pattern means that students are moving into the Northeast and California regions to be educated, then migrating to the South after formal schooling. As they travel from their original location, to the education institutions, then to their career location, a circulation of information is created that allows for gathering and dispersal of knowledge. As virtual networks and online education become the norm for a variety of institutions, this circulation of information dispersal is disrupted. With online education institutions, the temporary migration of students to a new location to be educated is replaced with an ability to be educated in the location one lives. The sole migration occurs at the career level, decreasing the informal information dispersal.
RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
what goes in | the university MIGRATION AND CYCLE OF INFORMATION
Future model of migration, education and information dispersal
circulation of information
GROUP RESEARCH
educational centers
migration of humans
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FORMAT
PEDAGOGY
Proposals for university evolution: Adaptive learning systems that individualize to the Homeschool/Interdiciplinary Education
Reading
Spelling
Spelling Reading
Specialized Education
subject-oriented perspective subject knowledge
educational perspective instructional design
CONTENT
organizational perspective curriculum syllabus staffing
Universities are created with the mission to CREATE, PRESERVE, INTEGRATE, and APPLY knowledge. Homeschooling and interdisciplinary education call for a broad education model that allows the student to gain an overall understanding of various topics.
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technical perspective hardware software
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
INFRASTRUCTURE
what goes in | the university 4 DIMENSIONS OF EDUCATION
student, active learning in interactive features, collaborative systems [in groups toward a common goal]. A specialized education deals in models that allow each student to choose a concentration to focus upon. This creates a specialized individual with a strong knowledge base in one particular area. One example of this specialized education is found in an RPI education. The focus on math and science decreases the emphasis on reading and writing.
Grammer
Math
The Four Dimensions of Education and thier respective sections
The curriculum breakdown of learning institutions
Good Citizenship
Math Grammer
Good Citizenship
Cycle of Learning Environments
Learning environments began with apprenticeships, such as forge working in the pre-1900s, progressing to classroom instruction where a teacher lectures to a classroom of students. Distance learning and online instruction are increasingly becoming more common in order to combat issues of distance, affordability, and individualization. An example model of an integration between this and the classroom instruction is Davenport University, located in Michigan. A combination of online classrooms and physical classrooms are used to reach a broader student population and reach out to an older student population. Many more of these models are based in the Mid-West where is a larger distance to be traveled between institutions. The Reactable is an example of an element that uses technology as a means of providing instruction through interaction while the One Laptop Per Child program and technology uses the element as a way to instruct solely through the technology with no outside courses necessary.
apprenticeship [forge apprentice]
The MIT Media Lab works in a similar manner by using an experimental approach and integration of technology and hands-on design to educate the student. Future models are coming full circle to be focused once again upon an apprenticeship theme that uses hands-on experience and participation as a learning model. In the present model, the apprenticeships are generally sponsored by corporations and institutions. This new educational model has produced the incubator as a learning institution.
classroom instruction
RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
what goes in | the university CYCLES OF LEARNING
[classroom learning]
[distance learning_online classes]
GROUP RESEARCH
cycle of learning environments
online instructing
[MIT Media Lab] http://news.c t com/i/bto/
468.jpg
http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/12/LaptopOLPC_b.jpg
http://www port ac uk/media/Media 56069 en jpg
[One Laptop per Child]
learning through “Plug+Play�
participation experimentation [reactable] Figure 07: cycle of learning environments
ttp://bardsley org uk/wp content/uploads/2007/06/reactable jpg
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Intel Inside University
Bookless University All Have Access University
Technology
Holodeck University
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
Affordability Special Interest Group University
Multi-Mode University Satellite/Distance Learning University
Student_Led University Grasshopper University
No University
Multicultural University
FUTURE TO PRESENT
Distance
THE FUTURE UNIVERSITY focuses on the student’s needs and desires in a similar way that home-schooling and unschooling focus on the student rather than the system.
Mentor University
Individualism/ Exchange University The drivers of this change in the institution are: Te c h n o l o g y , D i s t a n c e , A f f o r d a b i l i t y , Individualization/Customization, and Research. These drivers stem from political, economic, and research changes.
01. Grocock, Anne. “Universities in the Future”. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1279153/ 02. Coleman, Liz. Ted Talks. 03. Taylor, Mark. “End the University as we know it” 20 04. Western Governors University. www.wgu.com
No Bowl University
Corporate Owned University
Split Teaching/Research University
Research
Experience University
Star Prof University
Business University
Though many of the future universities are based upon ideas set in individualization/customization roots, university evolution according to Liz Coleman, [Bennington College president], should head in a direction that creates an individual with a holistic view of all disciplines. She argues the focus into a single field or expertise of a field narrows the student’s view. [02] Another approach to the future university is tied back to the idea of interdisciplinary education and that there should be more collaboration between disciplines. A regulation and restructuring of the university would include: A restructuring of the curriculum, creation of the web/complex network, increase collaboration between universities, problem-focused programs [not permanent departments], dissertation presentation [to be a project or interactive event], expansion of professional options for grad students, and abolishing tenure and establishing a 7-year contract plan. [03] One example of a future education institution model is Western Governors University. A virtual university with online classes that makes it affordable [a few thousand per six-month term], convienent [offered everywhere], and customizable [one can take classes as slowly or as quickly as they please]. [04]
RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
what goes in | the university THE FUTURE UNIVERSITY
No Calendar University Lifelong Learning University
Customization
GROUP RESEARCH
Continuous Education University
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1959
1980
1980
1985
1997
incubators start
new incubators created
RPI incubabator
MIT incubator
GooglePlex
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
the university | what comes out THE UNIVERSITY INCUBATOR
Incubators exist in a variety of forms, many are affiliated with a university, while others are affliated with corporations. In Seattle, Washington, Microsoft has an incubator that works with start-up companies involved in web-based software programs and offers up to $250,000 to companies that don’t need large upfront investments. In Corvallis, Oregon, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Center offers $250,000 to regional venture capitalists, while in Boulder, Colorado, TechStars gives 10 start-up companies up to $18,000 over a three month period in the summer for research and implementation of web-based software. [01] University incubators provide opportunities that allow entrepreneurs, undergraduate, graduate students, and professors to be involved in a multidisciplinary facility and education so that they may develop business plans,
projects, and corporations to serve the population. Some university incubators are solely involved in the community as test subjects, others for investment, and more as potential members. Incubators directly associated with universities provide access to university research and allow for an ongoing education and involvement with the school and with the community. The entrepreneurs with access to the program vary depending upon the institution, but can include students, alumni, and community members. Of the 800 business incubators in North America, 120-130 of them are affiliated with colleges and universities. [according to NBIA, the National Business Incubation Association] [02] The remaining incubation programs are government, non-profit, and for-profit. In 2009 there were 2,500 incubators across the world.
The graph to the left depicts the education cycle as it exists presently
INCUBATOR PRIMARY
SECONDARY
UNIVERSITY
01. Business Incubators http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100501/the-best-business-incubators.html 02. [NBIA] www.nbia.org 03. [UCF] www.incubator.ucf.edu 04. [SCI-Arc] http://www.sciarc.edu/ 22 05. [MIT] www.rle.mit.eduwww.rle.mit.edu
CAREER
University of Central Florida [UCF] Business Incubation Program Marketing PR Websites Business Couseling Funding Supplies Insurance Legal Services Telecommunication Government Contracts Media Real Estate HR
UCF Business Incubator
[03]
Southern California Institute of Architecture [Sci-Arc] Undergraduate and Graduate Sci-Arc is located in the arts district of downtown Los Angeles to enlarge the sphere of influence of the university and its research programs and projects. [04] The location of Sci-Arc is crucial to its involvement in the community
Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] Research Laboratory of Electronics [RLE]
RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
the university | what comes out INCUBATOR CASE STUDIES
This group has led to the creation of many departments at MIT and research collaborations with other Universities and organizations. 64 of the 72 principal investigators are faculty members and the group is comprised of 300 graduate and undergraduate students. 1/3 of the collaborations come from outside of MIT. [05]
GROUP RESEARCH
Sponsors: DOD [Department of Defense] NIH [National Institute of Health] NSH [National Science Founda.]
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the university | what comes out INCUBATOR CASE STUDIES Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute [RPI]
RPI’s incubator program has a counterpart located in Montpelier, France to expand its global reach.
Founded in 1980, it was the first incubator to be wholly owned and operated by a university.
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
RPI’s incubator has a greater than 85% survival rate and over 250 companies have graduated from the program with the majority staying in the capital region following graduation. It has created over 2,500 jobs and the annual sales of “graduates” is over $600 million. Its mission is to:
France [Montpelier] New York [RPI]
The RPI incubator differs from those of other universities in that it consists of not only Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students but also faculty and community members.
Enrich the Academic Environment Perform Technology Transfer Create Regional Economic Development RPI’s Venture-B plan allows the companies that are part of the incubator to attend forums that gets them visibility within the community of investors.
incubator breakdown
PROFESSORS
STUDENTS
buzzing/vibrating wallet that lets the owner know when money is being transacted in their bank account
01. [Rensselaer Incubation Program] www.incubator.com Media Lab] www.media.mit.edu
24 02. [MIT
International influence [01]
COMMUNITY
wallet with a hinge that is programmed to how tight the owner’s budget is at the current time
Local/Regional influence
TROY
COHOES
TROY
GREEN ISLAND TROY
TROY
RPI
RPI TECHNOLOGY PARK
TROY
RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
WATERVLIET
ALBANY
ALBANY
SCHENECTADY
the university | what comes out INCUBATOR CASE STUDIES
peacock wallet that expands and contracts with the amount of money in the owner’s bank account
Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] MIT Media Lab Over 60 sponsors help support the functioning of the lab and it has a $25 million a year budget. Sponsors, in return for their donation are given royalty-free use of the programs developed while all others must wait two years.
The Media Lab is a division of the School of Architecture at MIT. Only graduate students are eligible to participate/obtain a degree from the Media Lab but it does offer programs for undergraduate students to spend some time in the lab helping on projects [UROP]. There are 139 Graduate students currently at the Media Lab, 65 of which are Masters students and the other 74 are Doctoral students.
Sponsorship is divided into three mediums; consortium, corporate research, grad-fellow research, and directed research.
[Left] MIT Media Lab research project photos [02]
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GROUP RESEARCH
The MIT Media Lab is a degree granting program in Media Arts and Sciences, combining with a research program focused on “inventing a better future through creative applications of innovative digital technologies”.
RESEARCH GENEALOGY NYU Global
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“NYU has embarked on the project of becoming a Global Network University, a university that challenges the idea that a university can only deliver education at a single home campus. Theyhave created a structure that allows students and faculty to gather in a set of key locales around the globe to forge new ideas, advance the questions we ask about the world, and create solutions for the problems that beset us all. This Global Network University model has emerged as a natural and logical extension of from their eco-systemic relation to New York City, the diversity of thought represented by all of our schools, colleges, and programs and ourinternationally connected and collaborative faculty. Students and faculty interact with their urban environment in countless meaningful and essential ways, using these locations as a major asset.�
Major Hubs
GROUP RESEARCH
NYU Campuses
RYAN LEE + CHRISTINE LOIS + RACHEL GUILLOT
Global Network University
NYU Presence
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BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE:
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
The Role of Information Visualization and Virtual Space in Learning
Looking forward towards the year 2048, this project will investigate how architecture can engage societal, institutional, physical, and virtual landscapes to facilitate information exchange. To facilitate information exchange careful attention will be payed to border conditions were overlap occurs between people, infrastructural needs, and cultures. The treatment of the border will look at the diagram of the cloud (an entity that can respond and adapt to different border conditions) to explore how boundaries can be crossed both phyiscally and virtually through the use of distributed and non-centralized information exchange and adaptable architecture. Non-centralized learning uses a network of information and resources to promote self-education. Programs such as Hole-In-the-Wall Education and One Laptop per Child use principles of minimally invasive education to encourage children to engage in collective learning. While information exchange has become non-centralized, it is important for the campus to directly engage its context. Within the university campus, the border condition between the campus and city provides opportunities for overlap between education, employment, learning, entertainment, and community. University incubators, residency programs, university apartments, public libraries, and sports facilities are situated along this border. These programs provide opportunities to create links and connections between the campus and city. The non-centralization of learning and mobilization of place provide opportunities to promote information exchange beyond the direct campus context.Virtual space has the power to cross boarders without physically penetrating them. New virtual borders, or openings, have emerged between universities and cities. The exchange of archives from school to school or from school to city has allowed for the overlap and exchange of information. Information does not become intelligent until it is overlapped and combined. The virtual and physical exchange of information between campuses and between campuses and cities provides architecture with an opportunity to actively intervene in the process of learning by providing sites (physical and virtual) for the exchange to take place. At these sites new connections and associations must be established to generate the emergence of new conditions. Architecture needs to engage the entire life-cycle of the campus. Architecture must switch its focus from space towards spacetime. Meta-materials have made this shift. Meta-materials have the ability to recognize the patten making of virtual (or Hertzian) space.
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Legion of Designers
Haque
These theorists, artists, and designers are all deeply interested in the exchange and absorption of information within the virtual and physical environments.
Massumi
Manovich
Brian Massumi is a political philosopher and social theorist whose projects and writings span the fields of art, architecture, and political theory. His studies include how art and architecture can engage virtual and Hertzian space and engage and inform society and culture.
Lev Manovich is an artist, author, and designer. Manovich has explored the ways media and the database has impacted culture, art, and design. His interests include how through the use of the database new media can become interactive and participatory, and mathematical.
Novak
Figures 08-12: Influential figures in the fields of information and virtual environments
Varnelis
Kazys Varnelis is the director of the Network Architecture Lab at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture. Varnelis is an architecture historian, and is interested in how the public can engage network culture.
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RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Marcos Novak is the founder of the research facility transLAB.TransLAB ‘s mission is to “investigate how technology alters the relation between actual,transactivated, and virtual space in art and science.”
RYAN LEE
Usman Haque is the director of Haque Design + Research Ltd and CEO of Connected Environments Ltd. Haque is interested in creating responsive environments, interactive installations, digital interface devices, and mass-participation performances. His designs question how physical spaces can be brought to life through software.
EXTRACTION
ABSORPTION
INFORMATION
KNOWLEDGE INFORMATION VISUALIZATION
Database Organization Census Data:
Reference Database:
Levels of Specificity: Nation, Region, State, District, County
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
Topic: Population, Age, Race, Education, Employment, Income, etc... Text Book
Pedagogical Database:
Theme 1 Topic A
Theme 2 Topic A
Topic B
Topic B
Topic C
Topic C
Sub-topics Sub-topics Sub-topics
Theme 3
Sub-topics Sub-topics
Sub-topics
UPLOAD
FTP Database:
MODIFY
DOWNLOAD
PARSE
Archive Types Domain Archives:
Selection
Linguistic Categories
Multidisciplinary Dynamic Archives:
Non-linguistic
Decision process by participant selection Interdisciplinary
Sampling v Recording Problems of Size: Manovich: Due to the new ability to store large amounts of information, it is no longer necessary to sample. It is now possible to record and represent reality. Novak: Transmission of code rather than transmission of object city planning becomes data structure design 30
Anne Nigten, How Do We Make Art of Databases?
EXTRACTION
ABSORPTION
INFORMATION
KNOWLEDGE INFORMATION VISUALIZATION
Metadata Manovich: Metadating the Image
RYAN LEE
1. New categorization 2. New interfaces 3. New types of images approaching the super-human scale of information (SPIMES) 4. New scale Soft Cinema Manovich’s project Soft Cinema uses metadated film clips to construct a movie. The software constructs the scenes of the film by choosing elements from the database. These elements are stored in the database according to where they were shot, their length, color composition, subject, etc. These elements are projected onto the screen and displayed in multiple screens.
Figure 13: Visualization of the Soft Cinema Database
Virtual Space Usman Haque: Sky Ear
SEEN-Fruits of Our Labor displays the answers of people to the question ”What are the fruits of your labor?” on a 4’x8’ LED screen. However the text can only be seen through CCD display devices (such as digital cameras). The photographing of the screen revealed messages that were otherwise only visible in hertzian space. The project forces the viewer to engage with the object.
Sky Ear captures the Hertzian culture of the city by collecting data from electromagnetic fields in the atmosphere. Sky Ear is a cloud of helium balloons with censor circuits that respond to electromagnetic fields. When activated the censors cause colored LEDs to illuminate. During the installation, people on the ground are encouraged to call into the cloud (which contains phones) to activate the LEDs and to listen to the sounds of the sky.
RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Osman and Omar Khan: SEEN-Fruits of Our Kazys Varnelis: Windows on the World Labor
Figure 15
Kazys Varnelis’ Windows on the Word proposes the use of readily available video conferencing equipment to set up multiple portals in cities across the globe. Each portal would become a place of exchange. The creation of portals would be random to create chance encounters. The project is inspired by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz’s project Hole in Space. Figure 14
Figure 16
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EXTRACTION
ABSORPTION
INFORMATION
KNOWLEDGE INFORMATION VISUALIZATION
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
The Answer Engine
Search Engine
Wolfram Alpha is an alternative to the typical search engine. Developed by Wolfram Research, instead of retrieving web pages to a search query, WolframAlpha answers factual questions by computing the answer from a structured databases. The goal of the engine is to be capable of answering questions that may not be particularly found on the internet or to generate answers to new questions by cross-referencing its databases. (Figure 17)
Idea of Self “Instead of whole individuals, we are constituted in multiple micropublics, inhabiting simultaneously overlapping telecocoons, sharing telepresence with intimates in whom we are in near-constant touch.” Networked Publics, Varnelis Figure 18: Architecture: The Impossible Made Possible, Second Life
Varnelis: In Networked Publics Varnelis states, “ network culture’s focus on the node’s position in a broader (technological and social) network has supplanted digital culture’s drive to abstract the world into discrete, computable elements.” This is seen in our tendency to see ourselves as extensions of our digital or virtual devices or presences (cell phones, web presence, avatars).
Mobile Sense of Place The rise of the globalized city, non-places, and creation of mobile private virtual networks has created a mobile sense of place. Body - (movement/sensation) - Change
As we become more mobile our position (and sensation) changes. This condition makes it possible for the emergence of new landscapes.
Parables for the Virtual, Massumi
Telecocooning in Public Space 32
The Virtual: A Pardigm Shift in Architecture From Meaning to Pattern
People Deforming Space : Students Deforming Education Emergent Architecture : Emergent Education
RYAN LEE
Figure 19: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Space Architecture
Time Music
Space-time Archi-music
As the discipline of architecture moves its focus from meaning to pattern it is necessary for architecture to engage virtual space. The data contained within the virtual city or campus becomes vital to understand the patterns of the city or campus. Only through these patterns can architecture deform and react to the campus-city. Architecture must not only shape space but understand how people shape space.
Metamaterials Sheila Kennedy’s Give Back Curtain exhibits how metamaterials can be used to generate patterns from data. The curtain responds to interaction with the fabric. Touching or bunching the fabric creates changes in the patterns of light emitted by the fabric.
Figure 21: Sheila Kennedy: Give Back Curtain
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RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Novak, Transmitting Architecture, The Transphysical City
Figure 20: Osman and Omar Khan: SEEN-Fruits of Our Labor
INFORMATION-VISUALIZATION MAPS:
RESEARCH GENEALOGY
Distribution Necessitates Visualization Information Visualization refers to the visual representation of large data sets. Info-vis is often used to represent forms of humancomputer interaction or to represent large biological, cultural, or financial databases. Info-vis techniques are used to understand large amounts of data at once. The distribution of information necessitates a universal strategy to allow for information absorption. The strategy of information visualization can be used to potentiate learning across different cultural sets within the condition of the borderline.
Information Visualization: Non-Numerical Data - organized topologically Scientific Visualization: Numerical Data Information Design: Reference Data / Information Media Visualization: Cultural Data (Does not reduce data to topology and geometry) tag clouds Direct Visualization
Manovich: VisualSense Cultural Analytics uses software to analyze and visualize patterns in large sets of visual data (such as films, animations, web sites, and prints). Manovich’s VisualSense software program reveals cultural patterns and relationships from a dataset of images( in this case Time Magazine covers). The interface allows a direct visualization and interaction with the dataset. Figure 22
Manovich: How to Read 1000000 Manga Pages? This project analyzes one million manga pages according to find continuities over various stylistic patterns and movements. The visualization forms a continuous field. This shows that cultural analytics avoids linguistic or cultural biases.
Figure 23
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Brendan Dawes: Cinema Redux Brendan Dawes project Cinema Redux allows for the visualization of an entire film within one image. Image are taken at one second intervals and arrayed. Each row contains sixty images (representing one minute of film). The project distills the film down to a human scale.
RYAN LEE
Data
Images Metadata
Characteristics Samples Software
Linguistic/Numerical Categorizations Participation Visualization
Patterns
Figure 24
Hans Rosling: Gap Minder
Figure 25
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RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Rosling’s Gap Minder visualization plots the life expectancy or birth rate of a country against the income per person over time. The program allows comparison of countries between different times as well as showing how income correlates to health. The data shows the patterns as well as the diversity between and inside regions. Rosling hopes that Gap Minder is used to dispel myths and pre-conceptions between the developed and developing world.
FP2 DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
::::DESIGN PHASE
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PROPOSAL
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DESIGN CRITERIA MOBILE SENSE OF PLACE: Decentralization and mobility are vital to the spread of information and knowledge. Within the border condition an architecture that can engage multiple places at different scales is vital to create information exchange and social overlap.
CONTINUITY OF TRANSFORMATION: The fluid transition of information to knowledge, campus to city, extraction to absorption of information, and landscape to architecture will be encouraged to occur continuously and simultaneously according to users needs. This will require the architecture to fragment, dissolve, grow, cultivate, and consume.
Distributio
Virtual Space Archi-Music
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
PEOPLE AS CO-OCCURRENCES WITH SPACE: The architecture will not only engage space, but instead space-time. Architecture will not only engage with the life-cycle of the building, but also with the life-cycle and patterns of its users.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT: Through pattern recognition and an engagement in the hertzian space of the campus and city architecture and materials have begun to be able to adapt and modify according to the information flows of public space. This project will look towards the scenario of 2048 to project how architecture may be able to respond further.
CAMPUS : REAL ESTATE Campus
City : Real Estate Dormitories
Academic Buildings Academics
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Political/Cultural Territories
Incubators Housing
Residency Apartments Programs Entertainment
Support
THE BORDERLINE UNIVERSITY:
Alternate Education Models
s (Borderlines)
OVERLAP: Information does not become intelligent until it is overlapped and combined. This project will look to create contact zones within a border condition to facilitate information exchange and social overlap.
Information Exchange
The city of Brownsville is one of twenty-six border crossings into Mexico and throughout history has maintained a strong connection with its sister city, Matamoros. Brownsville contains a historical fort (Fort Brown) that was used in the Mexican-American War and many wildlife preserves. Recently the construction of the US border fence has cut of access to many of these preserves and the Rio Grande. The construction of the fence has generated a large backlash within the city. While Brownsville has remained an area of illegal immigration, trafficking, and drug related violence.
Extraction Absorption Information Visualization
N/RECYCLING TIO UC
ONSTRUCTION REC
PROPOSAL
DECO NS TR
Dwelling Looking Energy Use Hertzian Influences Campus Wireless Networks FTP University Digital Presence Student Work Movement Thoughts Communication Phone Web
ERATION OP
Operation
STRUCTION CON
DE SIG N
CAMPUS BUILDING LIFE CYCLE: TIME CLOUD
RYAN LEE
n/Non-centralization
The Borderline University consists of a series of initiatives designed to mend fractured border conditions by promoting education, commerce, and security as a bi-national initiative. The context of the US/Mexico border provides an optimal testing ground for the potential for the Borderline University to act as a mediator due to the disparity that exists between the two countries. Despite the many issues that polarize this border, the Sister Cities located along the border maintain strong connections. As border issues become politicized by each nation’s national governments it is often left up to local organizations to solve problems (the Minuteman Project- US volunteer border watchers, Humane Borders- an organization that provides drinking stations for illegal immigrants to prevent deaths). To further understand the flows between US/Mexico Sister Cities as study was undertaken on the easternmost pair, Brownsville and Matamoros.
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Figure 01: James Corner: To Build a Fence
Figure 02: Enrique Norten: To Build a Fence
WHAT IS (a) BORDERLINE UNIVERSITY? - An Alternate Education Model INSTITUTE
Classroom Instruction Research
New Knowledge
Experience/Collaboration Apprenticeship
EDUCATION
EMPLOYER
New Products
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BI-NATIONAL ZONE
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
-A Mediator for a Fractured Border
EDUCATION GOODS
PEOPLE (WORKERS + STUDENTS) INFRASTRUCTURE
MATERIALS
The Borderline University is not only a mediator for a fractured border, but is also, according to its alternative reading, an institution that operates on the edge of a university, open to different flows around and across the border, illustrated by figures 01-03. Figure 01, James Corner’s entry into the To Build a Fence competition utilizes the flows of commerce across the border to provide connection and protection. Enrique Norten’s entry (Figure 02) uses infrastructure, while Fernando Romero’s proposed museum (Figure 03) uses culture as a link.
PROFITS
Extended Security Extended Trade Immigration Buffer Enhanced Health
Collaboration Incentives Bi-National Education Opportunities Latino Americans are half as likely to finish Undergraduate education in the US.
Figure 03: Fernando Romero/LAR: Museum linking El Paso to Ciudad Juarez
“No country, no matter how big, can solve its own internal problems before solving the problems threatening the global system” Donetta and Dennis Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and William Behrens, The Limits of Growth
RYAN LEE
“Latino poverty will not be remedied by the wel-fare-to-work programs that are now virtually the sole focus of US social policy, and it will not be fixed by trying to close the nation to further immigration. The Latino poor are here and they are not going to go away. Unless new avenues of upward mobility open up for Latino immigrants and their children, the size of America’s underclass will quickly double and in the course of a generation it will double again.” Robert Suro, director of Pew Hispanic Center Diversion to Migration Development of border cities may mitigate the desire of workers to cross the border illegally as jobs are created within the bi-national areas. Jobs are created as the students from the Borderline University are encouraged to stay and work within the region.
By 2050 Hispanics will represent twenty-nine percent of the US population.
Spain
Kazakhstan
10
UK
UK Germany
11.5 11.3
Turkey
4.9 4.4 4.2 4.1 3.7 7.3 6.1
Russia India China Ukraine
Emigration (millions of people) Mexico
Canada India
10.1 6.8 6.5 6.4 6.1 5.7 5.4 4.8
Bangladesh
Immigration (millions of people)
PROPOSAL
12.1
Saudi Arabia
38.4
Russia
Fernando Romero, Hyper-border
Germany Ukraine France
Currently 12 million people reside in the Mexican border cities, by 2020 that figure is expected to double.
US
USA Today
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Maquila Industry Number of Maquiladora Employees
US Economic Recession 1,200,000 employees NAFTA
Bracero Program
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
Maquiladoras Production 5 Billion Pesos
Brownsville/Matamoros
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Figure 04: gap caused by fence construction
a
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Recently the construction of the US border fence in Browsville has cut of access to many areas along the Rio Grande, including farmland, parks, and natural preserves. The construction of the fence has generated a large backlash within the city. The gap generated by the fence and official border at the river provides an interesting testing ground for the thesis. The gap provides an anchoring point from which the Borderline University can expand or contract from, functioning as an arbiter between the two sides of the border.
Matamoros contains 125 maquiladoras which employ 54,547 workers. Maquiladoras refer to manufacturing that takes place in a country that is not the client’s. Recently the local college, UTB/TSC, entered an agreement to admit maquiladora professionals to pursue degrees at UTB/TSC in exchange for the placement of graduates at maquilas in Matamoros. As maquiladoras are finding in harder to compete with Asian markets for textile goods, they are beginning to shift their production to more technical fields. Recently built, the Silicon Border Project in Mexicali, Mexico provides many opportunities for graduates and students in nearby colleges, such as UTEP. This shift signals an intersection point between the border, commerce, and education.
The borderline cities have become staging grounds of illegal activity.
Tijuana Cartel
Federation
PROPOSAL
Juarez Cartel
Gulf Cartel and Federation
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Brownsville/Matamoros Fields Fields Hard Border US/Mexico Border Fence Districts, Neighborhoods Institutional Residential City Core
Edges 1
2
3
1. Residential/Institutional: Employment/Educational/Consumer/Regulatory Dependence 2. Institutional/City Center: Revenue(Goods)/Support Dependence 3. City Center/Residential: Cultural Dependence
Vectors
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
Trade, Transportation, Movement (Flows)
44
The following studies explore the capacity for cellular automata to break down, or put up boundaries within various field conditions according to different rule sets
Permeability
Conditions
Performance/Sensing Mechanisms
Brownsville City Center
Automata Transformations origional condition automata transformation
RYAN LEE
University Campus
Matamoros City Center
Why CA? -Interaction is local and simple -Incorporation of the conditions at complicated boundaries is easily achieved -Nonlinearities are a natural component of the CA model -Rapid changes, such as large concentration/pressure gradients are handled easily -Quick evaluation of the parameter space and structure can be conducted without the need for extreme accuracy
Lafe: Cellular Automata Transforms
Conditions Border Crossings
Performance/Sensing Mechanisms
Automata Transformations origional condition automata transformation
Border Fence/Gap
PROPOSAL
Maquilas
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Fields as Filters Fields
Filter Technique PERMEATE
Hard Border International Borders Fence
THICKEN
Node Maquiladoras Distribution Points Education Facilities
SWELL
Border Crossing
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
District
DIVIDE/TAPER Institutional Residential Cultural
CONSUME
Vector Information Exchange (Education) Employment
INFEST
Revenues Goods Illegal Trafficking
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HYBRIDIZE
Automata Model
Emergent Properties TRANSITORY PATHS RYAN LEE
SECURITY
INFRASTRUCTURE (DISTRICTS/NODES)
OPEN PATHS
OPEN SPACE/DISTANCING
PROPOSAL
MOBILE CLUSTERS
UNIFICATION
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Maquila/Incubator Preliminary Proposal This is an early study on how the incubator and maquiladoras could intersect using cellular automata logic. The Maquila/Incubator is designed as a hybrid typology between the manufacturing plant and the university incubator. Educational clusters form around the maquila factory providing labs or classrooms to facilitate the development of new products and ideas that are later realized within the maquila factory.
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
The design failed to address its larger border context.
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Protocols
Frames
PULSE
RYAN LEE
EXPAND/CONNECT
INFEST
DESIGN TESTS
CLUSTER
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Midterm Investigation Conway’s Game of Life For this investigation the rule set was changed to those of Conway’s game of life. This rule set is famous for producing stable, semi-stable, repeatable, and sometimes random outcomes. To augment the game permanent cells were added within the border fence gap to act as anchors for the production of live cells. The game was played out and components assembled according to the length of time each cell was on. The rigid structure of the grid was found to be too limiting.
Born: 3 Live Neighbours Survives: 2/3 Live Neighbours -Underpopulation: less than two neighbours=death -Overpopulation: more than three neighbours=death
Common Configurations Stable
Blinkers (Two Period)
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
Borderline Cellular Automata
1)Dead Cell
2)Permanent Cell
-Comes to life with 3 neighbours
-Remains Alive under all conditions -Acts as an anchor
3)Live Cell -Survives with 2/3 live neighbours -Acts as a constructor
Cells are Configured according to initial Borderline Configuration OR born from a pulse. -need for a new educational/trade center -need to spur development 10
11
12
13
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RYAN LEE
50 FT
Connections Due to Proximity
DESIGN TESTS
organization on the interior of cells
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CONFIGURATION OF STABLE ELEMENTS
PLANS
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
ODD FLOOR
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EVEN FLOOR
LEVEL 3: Distribution of Flows Around Components -Inner Campus Distribution
220
0 40
FT
RYAN LEE
LEVEL 2: Distribution of Flows Between Components -Security, Educational Archives Communication Links
LEVEL 1: Distribution of Flows Around Components -Cross border traffic (Trade, Vehicles, Pedestrian)
FT
Timeline of Deployment
DESIGN TESTS 53
FINAL PROJECT Borderline Alterations 1. Static Border Condition: Typical, Relaxed, Divisive, Packed Program: Border Wall Stimuli: Authorized/Unauthorized Presence Action: Scanning WE DON’T NEED A BORDER FENCE. WE NEED A BORDER PRESENCE TO DETER ILLEGAL ACTIVITY.
2. Association/Dissociation
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
Condition: Atypical, Alert, Divisive, Packed Program: Border Patrol, Port, Buffer Stimuli: Strong Authorized/Unauthorized Presence, Strong Affiliations Action: Shift Location, Deploy Buffer, Deploy Folds DID YOU HEAR THAT EXPLOSION IN MATAMOROS LAST NIGHT?
3. New Zone
Condition: Atypical, Alert, Connective, Unpacked Program: Educational, Manufacturing/Distribution Stimuli: Authorized/Unauthorized Presence, University Presence Action: Unfolding
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OUR GOVERNMENTS TREAT US LIKE A THIRD COUNTRY, SO WE MAY AS WELL ACT LIKE ONE.
UNPACKING Deployment based on distances between curves
RYAN LEE
Instead of using cellular automata rules, this iteration uses distances and adjacencies to generate the same local sensitivity of the automata models. When an appropriate program or a threat is sensed, instead of switching on, the project opens and deploys itself to create either a safety buffer or a usable space.
ENCLOSURE Deployment based on programmatic needs
LATERAL UNDULATION Deployment based on programs/presences along borderl ne
Established University Addition of incubator program to university
Research idea
Research idea
FINAL PROJECT
Deployment at midpoints between university and industry
Avoidance Points
Maquila Industry
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Deployment Zone
Coil: 3 Revolutions/100ft
As deployment zone increases tightness increases Coiling of individual strands
DEPLOYABLE FOLDS
STRUCTURAL TUBES
20’
The project deploys uncoiling itself and stretching to enclose space. The structure consists of six strands which contain material to form enclosure. These enclosures could be used as temporary shelter for border patrol or deployed permanently on a university campus. Once the six individual strands are recoiled the structure forms a wall. This wall is capable of manoeuvring itself, like a snake, towards any desirable location, away from a dangerous one, or between to provide protection.
RYAN LEE
The amount of tension of the structure indexes the conditions along the border.
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DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
RYAN LEE
FINAL PROJECT
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DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
DEPLOYMENT TYPE: BUFFER
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FINAL PROJECT
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DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
DEPLOYMENT TYPE: CAMPUS
RYAN LEE FINAL PROJECT 63
TRADE
James Corner To Build a Fence
INFRASTRUCTURE Enr que Norten To Bui d a Fence CULTURE/ EDUCATION
Fernando Romero/LAR Museum linking El Paso to C udad Juarez
T
BORDERLINE UN “No country, no matter how big, can solve its own internal problems before solving the problems threatening the global system”
The borderline cit es have become staging grounds of i legal activity
Donetta and Dennis Meadows Jorgen Randers and William Behrens The Limits of G owth Ti uana C rtel
The Borderline University is a new type of binational university that operates within a fractured border condition This university acts as a mediator between border entities by
tackling spatial and socioeconomic issues through the use of distr buted educational protocols. Within a binational educational context the project will incorporate local and global commerce as a means to stimulate growth and education along the border The borderline of investigation is the United States and Mexico border The Borderline University attempts to re-qua ify the current divisive and isolationist policies along this border by creating a binational attitude promoting investment and growth leading to reform The project envisions a
By 2050 Hispanics will represent twenty-nine percent of the US population
Gu f C rtel a d Fede at on
38 4
Borderline Alterations Canada ndia
Turkey
UK Germany
10
Kaza hstan
49 44 42 41 37 73 61
Russ a Ind a Ch na Ukra ne
Mex co
11 5 11 3
UK
10 1 68 65 64 61 57 54 48
Emigration (m ll ons of people)
Lateral Undulation
1 Static Border Sp in
Russ a
Imm gration (mi l ons of people)
Ge ma y Uk aine rance
12 1
Saudi Arab a
USA Today
B ngl desh
edera ion
US
ua ez C r el
By 2050 eleven percent of all Mexicans will be living in the United States
Cond t on Typ cal Rela ed D v s ve Pa ked Program Border Wa l S imu i Au hor zed/Unau hor zed P esence Act on Scann ng WE DON T NEED A BORDER FENCE WE N ED A BORDER PRES NCE TO D TER L EGAL ACTIV TY
2 Association/D ssoc ation
Fe nando Romero Hype border
Cond t on A yp cal Alert Div s ve P cked Program Border Pa rol Port Buf er S imu i Strong Autho iz d/Unauthor zed Pre ence S rong Af i i t ons Act on Sh ft Loca ion Dep oy Bu er Dep oy Fo ds
Maquiladoras
D D YOU HEAR THAT EX LO ION IN MA AMOROS AST N GH ?
Production 5 B llion Pesos
A
B
3 New Zone
Brownsville/Matamoros
DEPLOYABLE FOLDS
Cond t on A yp cal Alert Connect ve Unpa ked Program Educa ional Manu actu in /Dis r but on S imu i Au hor zed/Unau hor zed P esence
Currently 12 m ll on people res de n the Mexican border cit es by 2020 that f gure is expected to double
V
Un vers ty Pre ence Act on U fo ding
STRUCTURAL TUBES
20 OUR GOV RNMENTS TRE T US L KE A TH RD COUNT Y SO WE MAY AS W LL ACT L KE ONE
Scenario A: WALL
V
Deployment: COILING
X V
Established Univers ty Add tion of incubator program to un versity
Coil 3 Revolut ons/ 00ft
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Res arch dea D ployment at midpoints between un versity and industry As deployment zone increases tightness ncreases
Avoidance Points
Maquila Industry Number of Maqu ladora Employees S Econom c Recession 1 200 000 emp o ees
Scenario B: CAMPUS
NAFT
Bracero Program
Chemi al P oducts As embly of Toys and Spo ting Goods Assemb y of Food P oducts Other Assemb y and Repair Leather Shoes and P oducts Elec rical and E ectron c Accessories
Service E tabl shments
2000 As embly of Furna u e
1990
O her Manu actur ng
1980
As embly of Mach nery and Equipment
1970
Construct on/Transporta ion Equipment
1960
Text les
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
Research dea
Deploymen Zone
Teddy Cruz Pa saje urbano Tijuana
MILITARIZATION OF BORDER
Israel Palestine Wall
Korean DMZ
DISSOLUTION OF BORDER
Arch tecture The Impossible Made Poss ble Second L fe
Net M gration Map
IVERSITY: a new border type NFORMAT ON AGE
COLD WAR ERA
ue
omm n ty
INDUSTRIAL ERA
Comm n ty A p en ce P o ge
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and uman eh o p b h d ope n ond on ng R e o M Ca hy m Ra a n eg a on E men a y nd S co da y E uca n Ac
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widening of the border to achieve these goals The installation of a university within the widened border will test the ab lities of university incubator programs to promote continuous education distr buted learning and information exchange Installed within the Sister Cities along the US-Mexico border the Borderline University bridges the rigid landscapes of national security immigration and employment/education By tapping into educational needs and sensing economic flows across the border the Borderline University will distribute itself and grow according to economic and educational needs and trends the project wi l infest the fabric of the sister cities consuming cultivating and rebuilding parts of the cities healing the cracked and divided fabric
Incubator Model
US/Mexico Border Fence Gap
RYAN LEE
Education Timeline
Scenario C: BUFFER
Deployment: UNFOLDING
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Coiling of nd v dual strands
EL
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ENCLOSURE Deployment based on programmatic needs
FINAL PROJECT
Workshop/Studio
Meeting Area
UNPACKING Deployment based on distances between curves
Classroom
LATERAL UNDULATION Deployment based on programs/presences along borderline
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CONCLUSION
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS
The thesis of using a distributed system of learning within a fractured border context to act as a mediator was well received at the final review. Systems such as this do not only have the capability to create, generate, and store new knowledge, but to facilitate exchange and learning between different cultures. Whatever is done within the US – Mexico border within the near future it must be mutually beneficial for both parties and active in providing protection and connection. This is an area that I believe that the project could have pushed harder. The concept of coiling and uncoiling was an attempt to create a way in which the Borderline University could distribute itself, at times in a welcoming way while at others in a threating way. Any intervention must be able to do both to thrive within this context.
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RYAN LEE
FINAL PROJECT
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THE DEAN DEN Done at the beginning of the 2010 Fall semester, the Dean Den exercise is an initial attempt to define the role of the archive within the context of the university. Set in the year 2029 within the site of the RPI architecture building, the proposal called for a new design of the dean's office. The goal was to create an environment that generated information exchange between RPI and other universities, between the different schools within the Rensselaer campus, and between students and the dean.The materials (in this case digital) were used as a means of communication between the parties, generating a flexible system to display and absorb information.
A1
A B
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APPENDIX
B1
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C
rs so es
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Pro
Students , Prof e itions/Lectu s b i xh ace: Gall r er Sp y
Students , Prof e es / Lectur s v i rch ace: Lab es s Sp
Pro
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b1
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fe s s i nts o n a l s, S t u d e I n te rd i s c i p li n e s
y
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DEAN DEN CHARRETTE
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fe s s i nts o n a l s, S t u d e I n te rd i s c i p li n e s Labs, Gallery
LRC
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sors, Prof rofes ess s, P s / Le t ctu ion en hive re
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fe s s i nts o n a l s, S t u d e I n te rd i s c i p li n e s Labs, Gallery
BIO
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Students , Prof e ives / Lecture s h c r ace: Lab s s Sp C
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rs so
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ARCH
RYAN LEE + ESTHER KANG
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fe s s i nts o n a l s, S t u d e I n te rd i s c i p li n e s Labs, Gallery
1
EMPAC
Students pus Even Cam ts ace: Publi p S
1
Stu d e nts
c
Areas of campus and their capacity to act as transmitters and receivers
2
UNION
2
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APPENDIX
This project uses the Dean Den to establish a dialogue between the External Institutional CLOUD archive (consisting of the information and histories of institutions outside of the RPI ARCH department) and the ARCH internal archive. The goal is to create a system that increases collaboration and the spread of information throughout the RPI Architecture building and across institutions and disciplines. The ARCH internal archive catalogues the thoughts and work of the ARCH student body. Curated by the Dean, the External archive is gathered through the connections of the dean. These connections are compiled and exhibited in periodic displays. Using the ARCH internal
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archive as a feedback system, the Dean can respond appropriately by observing reactions and trends of the student body, allowing him to curate and exhibit the external archive according to the needs and desires of the student body. We are looking to expand the Dean’s role as an ambassador for the School of Architecture. A system of screens is used to display information between students, the dean, faculty, and foreign parties. The position and display of these screens is used to generate connections between the individual work of the students and other individuals (or institutions) inside and outside the ARCH building.
THE VERSITAL GALLERY Aug May
RYAN LEE + ESTHER KANG
Meeting with Dean
Private Studios
Exhibition
Pin up
Review
Review
Pin up
Studio
Dean’s office
Exhibition
Offices
Meeting with Dean
Private Studios
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DEAN DEN CHARRETTE
Gallery
Internal Archive --> Students/Faculty, Student Work, Library Archives --> Lectures, Exhibitions, Trends, Catalogues External Archive --> Professionals, Other Universities/Schools --> Lectures, Exhibitions, Publications, Contacts Lectures Publications Exhibitions Contacts
Feedback Input
Input
Input
Organize Collect
Record
Fu
Curate ns tio nc
Sp ac es Fee d
Contacts Publications Exhibitions Lectures
ns tio nc
Pri ma ry
Sec on da ry
Cal ls
Fu
Compare
Dean’s Office Trends
p Loo ck ba
Feedback
Input
Display
Research Lab Search Observe
Gallery
Contact
Compare
Exhibit
Other Universities/Schools Engage Professionals Students/Faculty
Assemble
Students/Faculty Contacts
Collaborate Reaction
Input Professionals Other Universities/Schools Input Students/Faculty Student Work Library Archives Other Universities/Schools Student Work Students/Faculty
Event
Gallery Screen
Input
The gallery screens recieve direct input from the dean’s external archive. These screens are under the dean’s discretion. Collaborations across disciplines and cultures occur within this space.
Conditions Closed Conference
Screen records confernce to archive for future refrence.
Open Exhibition/Discussion
O
APPENDIX
Inactive
Acts as a chatroom, displaying and recording information to archive actively or using telepresence.
EX ERNAL ARCHIVE Work from gallery exhibitions is displayed and browsed.
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Entry/Facade Screen
Reaction
The entry and facade system perfroms differently according to the conditions of the research lab/gallery. Differences in the objects displayed, transparency, wall positions, and interactivity are determined by use groups.
Conditions Closed Critique
WO
RYAN LEE + ESTHER KANG
S
E DBA K SYS Review is projected onto the screen allowing passerbys to leave feedback (likes/dislikes)
Open Think Tank
ACT VE WORK EDBACK SYSTE RCH VED WO K User has the option to post active work on the screen or to leave blank. Feedback is optional.
Inactive
ARCH V D WORK FEEDBACK SYSTEM Work from the ungoing semester is displayed allowing for feedback (likes/dislikes).
Interactive Screen
Feedback
The interactive screens are used to provide feedback to the dean. This feedback includes the value judgements of students on the Dean’s exhibitions, current trends among the student body, and the student’s current studio progress. These screens are also used by students to access the external and internal archives.
Conditions Think Tank
The think tank accesses the external archive through interactive screen and uses it for brainstorming sessions.
Design Lab
DEAN DEN CHARRETTE
Research Lab
This configuration is for researching th external archive and is open to instant feedback.
K This configuration is open to studio or research groups. Research can be conducted along with design and modeling
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APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY Architectural
RYAN LEE
Haque, Usman. “Invisible Topographies,” Reciever, 2004. Massumi, Brian. “Sensing the Virtual, Building the Insensible,” Architectural Design (Profile no. 133), vol 68, no 5/6, May/June 1998, pp 16-24. Novak, Marcos. Transmitting Architecture, the Transphysical City. Romero, Fernando. HYPER-BORDER: The Contemporary U.S. – Mexico Border and its Future. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2008. Reinhold, Martin. Organizational Complex: Architecture, Media, and Corporate Space. Cambridge, Mass : MIT Press. 2003. Varnelis, Kazys. “Architecture for Hertzian Space,” http://varnelis.net/articles/architecture_for_hertzian_space. Varnelis, Kazys. Networked Publics. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2008.
Virtual Space Markussen, Thomas and Birch, Thomas. “Transforming Digital Architecture from Virtual to Neuro: An Interview with Brian Massumi,” interview.massumi.markussen_birch.03. Massumi, Brian. “Navigating Movements,” http://www.brianmassumi.com/interviews/NAVIGATING%20MOVEMENTS.pdf. Massumi, Brian. Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect. Sensation. London: Duke University Press, 2002. Massumi, Brian. The Politics of Everyday Fear. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993.
Education Ball, Stephen J. Foucault and Education. New York: Routledge.,1991. Greenberg, Daniel. Turning Learning Right Side Up. New Jersey: Wharton School Pub, 2008. Taylor, Mark. “The End of the University as we Know It,” The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27taylor.html
Archives/Databases/Objects
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Derrida, Jacques. Archive Fever. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. Cambridge: The MIT Press. 2001. Manovich, Lev. “What is Visualization?,” http://manovich.net/2010/10/25/new-article-what-isvisualization/ . Sterling, Bruce. Shaping Things. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2005.
Other Kelly, Kevin. Out of Control. Cambridge: Perseus Books, 1994. Lafe, Olu. Cellular Automata Transformations: Theory and Application. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
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FIGURE CITATIONS Research Genealogy 01.
Trucano, Michael. “Searching for India’s Hole in the Wall.” blogs.worldbank.org. <http:// blogs.worldbank.org/category/tags/minimally-invasive-education>.
02.
“Homeschooling: Is it Legal?” Wikia. <http://homeschooling.wikia.com/wiki/Is_it_legal%3F>.
03.
“State Laws.” Home School Legal Defense Association. <http://www.hslda.org/laws/ default.asp>.
04.
“Office of Non-Public Education.” U.S. Department of Education. <http://www2.ed.gov/ about/offices/list/oii/nonpublic/statistics.html>.
05.
“Office of Non-Public Education.” U.S. Department of Education. <http://www2.ed.gov/ about/offices/list/oii/nonpublic/statistics.html>.
06.
“Overview of the 2008-18 Projections.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. <http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco2003.htm>.
07.
http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/12/LaptopOLPC_b.jpg>. Foo, Juniper. “MIT’s 6th Sense Device Could Trump Apple’s Multitouch.” CNET. <http://news.cnet.com/i/bto/20090209/interface_610x468.jpg>.
APPENDIX
“Image Reactable.” Cosos Things and Life. <http://bardsley.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ 2007/06/reactable.jpg>.
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08.
“A Visit From the Designer!-Usman Haque-.” T-1 World Cup. <http://www.t1.cc/2nd/e/news/ p=129>.
09.
“Brian Massumi.” Facebook. <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?g id=86322982936>.
10.
“Lev Manovich.” Manovich.net. <http://www.manovich.net/bio_000.html>.
11.
“Transverge! Marcos Novak Responds to ‘Architects in Cyberspace, or Not.” ArchVirtual. <http://archvirtual.com/?p=2756>.
12.
“Blue Monday: AUDC.org Explores Empire.” Archinect. <http://archinect.com/features/ article/60873/blue-monday-audc-org-explores-empire>.
13.
“Ambient Narrative.” Soft Cinema. <http://www.softcinema.net/form.htm#>.
14.
“Review Research // Part 8.” Undecided. <http://territorialboundaries.blogspot.com>.
15.
“Review Research // Part 8.” Undecided. <http://territorialboundaries.blogspot.com>.
16.
Haque, Usman. Sky Ear. <http://www.haque.co.uk/skyear/images-040915.html>.
17.
www.google.com http://www.wolframalpha.com/
Brouchoud, Jon. “Architecture: The Impossible Made Possible.” Flickr. <http:// www.flickr.com/photos/crescendo/3662603027/in/photostream>.
19.
Reiner-Roth, Shane. “The Inside-Out City and the Question of Nature.” Blogspot. <http:// differencedifferance.wordpress.com/>.
20.
“Review Research // Part 8.” Undecided. <http://territorialboundaries.blogspot.com>.
21.
Whiteman, Hilary. “Capture Solar Power With Your Curtains.” CNN. <http:// edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/07/01/solar.textiles/index.html>.
22.
“Research: Lev Manovich Coins the Term ‘Media Visualization.’ ” Information Aesthetics. <http://infosthetics.com/archives/2010/10/lev_manovich_media_ visualization.html>.
23.
“How to Read 1,000,000 Manga Pages: Visualizing Patterns in Art, Cinema, TV, Animation, Games, Comics, User-Generation Content and Mass Media.” UCSD. <http://vagrad.ucsd.edu/~drupal/node/1482>.
24.
Dawes, Brendan. “Cinema Redux.” Brendan Dawes. <http://www.brendandawes.com/ project/cinema-redux/>.
25.
“The Evolution of Social Action.” Internet.Artizans. <http://www.internetartizans.co.uk/ blogtags/nptech>.
RYAN LEE
18.
Design Investigations 01.
“A Fence With More Beauty, Fewer Barbs.” The New York Times. <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/weekinreview/18hamilton.html>.
02.
“A Fence With More Beauty, Fewer Barbs.” The New York Times. <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/weekinreview/18hamilton.html>.
03.
“Museum Bridge” FREE. <http://www.fr-ee.org/?page_id=222>.
FIGURE CITATIONS 77
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