Preface Viewed as one of the representative future visions of 1960s, Fun Palace developed by Cedric Price and Joan Littlewood presented as ‘a university of the streets’ combining architecture with sciences of cybernetics, information technology game theory and psychology. Particularly, what this project covered not only an unprecedented form but also the first involvement of cybernetic into architecture. In this research, the involvement of cybernetic into this building, which used to be presented as computer program diagrams, will be illustrated in the visual way based on the drawings produced by Cedric Price. This research is consisted of two parts: unpacking the cybernetic system of the Fun Palace by animating the drawings created by Cedric Price and represent the idea of the cybernetic system through an experiment containing survey, analysis and visual representation with the help of the internet. Cedric’s attempt to find a practical meaning of integrating improvisation into architecture used to be shadowed by his radical design of building form, but now it meets with the trend of pursuing the interactive living environment of human and becomes more realizable with the developed technology. Unpacking this idea not only explores the future vision from a past era, but also demonstrates the future vision of today.
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00 PREFACE
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01 BACKGROUND
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02 DESIGN RESEARCH INTENT
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03 UNPACKING THE FUN PALACE
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04 REPRESENTATION OF THE FUN PALACE
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/ statement of the methodology
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/ part i animating the idea
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/ / object i-1 animating the cybernetic theatre
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/ / object i-2 the cybernetic system
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/ part ii practicing the idea
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/ / object ii-1 the basic form
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/ / the inquiry
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/ / analysis of the data
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/ / object ii-2 the re-modified animation
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05 FURTHER DISCUSSIONS
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06 REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY
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07 APPENDIX: OBJECTS
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Considered as an influential project for a long term, the impressive form of the Fun Palace is taken as a representative future vision of 1960s. The form of the Fun Palace has no doubt influenced following architecture deeply. For instance, the Centre Pompidou. However, unlike the obvious grammars applied in the architectural design, the intelligent system designed to conduct the building which is much more obscure has been neglected for decades. Back to 1963, to serve Littlewood’s original concept of the “a university of the streets”, Cedric Price not only developed an unprecedented form but also realized the importance of introducing cybernetics, game theory and computer technologies into this design to shape the virtual architecture. Due to his pioneering conscious, the Fun Palace is the first intelligent architecture and for the first time applied cybernetic theories into architecture.
Fig 1. Price, C. (1961). Fun Palace: perspective for the Lea River site on photomontage. [Gelatin silver print with appliqué lettering laid down on hardboard] Montréal: Canadian Centre for Architecture. Fig 2. Maquette du projet définitif, façade ouest. Renzo Piano et Richard Rogers. 1973.
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The original target of this unbuilt project can be viewed as a solution for the social inequalities. ‘The university of streets‘ proposed by Joan Littlewood implied that as a complex, this building should provide varied possibilities for its users. To realise this concept, Cedric Price held the idea that ‘architecture is the site of event’(Mathews, 2006). In this situation, human responses and needs was considered as the primary motivations for the changes of the space. Along with this idea, Price and Littlewood pursued a building that can be considered as a responsive learning machine. Base on this view, Fun Palace can be demonstrated as two systems, the physical system and the intelligent one. On the other words, to understand the Fun Palace is not only to understand the form but also exploring the way it functions which is conducted by the cybernetic systems.
Fig 4. Price, C. (1965). Fun Palace: Promotional brochure. [Black and red ink reprographic copy on wove paper] Montréal: Canadian Centre for Architecture.
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There is no doubt that the drawings, produced mainly by Price, are quite appealing even after so many years. The impressive unique style applied by Price with strongly black-white contrast stressed the concise and elegant structure system and the huge flexibility it contained. At the same time, these drawings were slightly considered as ‘not easy to read’(Mathews, 2005) since the limited details they can provide. This research aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of this first intelligent architecture. The ways of representing are mainly multi-media. However, all the works are closely grounded on the original drawings and documents created by the team of Fun Palace. For instance, all the objects created in this research are animations based on Price’s original drawings to explain the cybernetic systems. On the one hand, animating classical paintings, like what applied in the Loving Vincent, revitalises the drawings through animations including time and movement. On the other hand since the familiar paintings can provide necessary context of the works, these works can be understood and accepted easily.
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Fig 3. Frames from the Movie, Loving Vincent (2017).
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Invited by Cedric Price in 1963, the cybernetic scientist Gordon Pask became the leader of the Cybernetic Committee which is one of committees consisted the team of the Fun Palace. In this research, proposals produced by this Cybernetic Committee and architectural drawings created by Cedric Price are the main materials. The first part of this research is to explain the cybernetic systems from individual system like the Cybernetic Theatre to the fundamental one which conducts the whole building. The second part is to choose one of the plan drawings by Cedric Price and animate it through the process similar to the cybernetic systems. On the other words, people’s choices towards a specific question will be collected and analysed to influence the visual presentation of the drawing and in return, the visual presentation will provide additional information for following people’s choices.
Fig 5. Document produced by the Cybernetics and Architecture Panel for the Fun Palace Project. (1964). London: Fun Palace Project. Fig 6. Price, C. (1964). Fun Palace: interior perspective. [Black and white ink over gelatin silver print] Montréal: Canadian Centre for Architecture. Fig 7. Created by the Author. Creating the animation by Adobe Photoshop.
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Object I-1: Animating the Cybernetic Theatre Along with the development of this project, the Cybernetic Committee met quite frequently and had been productively. Within the frame conducting the whole building, they also developed individual cybernetic systems like information pillar which dealt with the search system of information. One of these individual cybernetic systems is Gordon Pask’s proposal for a cybernetic theatre. In the ‘Basic Axioms’, Pask stated that he viewed the dramatic presentation as a control system. To be more precisely, in his design, the structure of the drama is based on the structural situations (fixed scenes) and variety paths between these. And the audience would affect the choice of different paths.
Fig 8. Pask, G. (1964). Proposal for a Cybernetic Theatre. London. Cover page and contents.
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In this system, assuming a play that only played by two actors, individual audience could choose one actor (A or B) as his or her agent. When meet the point that the characters need to do decisions, audience can make their choices. And the computer will analysis the trend of different group of audience and then advise the actors to act. And the choices the characters make will in turn influence the following plots or scripts. In Pask’s theatre, the seats are equipped with input buttons for audience. And a computer located at the backstage will do the analysing work.
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Object I-1 Animating the Cybernetic Theater Based on the work of Cedric Price, Fun Palace: interior perspective, 1964. Fig 9. Cybernetic theater system, Gordon Pask. Proposal for a Cybernetic Theater, Gordon Pask.
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GIF: https://goo.gl/xXSGvp
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Object I-2: The Fundamental Cybernetic System The cybernetic system conducting Fun Palace could be simply divided into three part, the upper level procedure, the middle procedure and the lower level procedure. The lower level procedure dealt with raw data on the interests and activity preferences of individual users. The data was gathered by electronic sensors and response terminals, and then assigned a prioritized value. And then the data will be sent to the upper level procedure and compiled by the latest IBM 360-30 computer to establish overall user trends. After receiving the user trends, the middle procedure will set the parameters for the modification of spaces and activities within the Fun Palace. The building would then relocate moveable walls and walkways to adapt its form and layout to changes in use. The process would constantly refine itself by feedback cycles which compared the responses of people coming in (‘unmodified people’) with those of people leaving (‘modified people’). With this process, the space feature of certain events happening would keep changing accord people’s feedback. For instance, space allotted for a popular event would grow, then shrank once interest had waned. Fig 10. Pask, G. (1965). “Organisational Plan as Programme”, from the minutes of the Fun Palace cybernetics committee meeting, 27th January 1965. [Photocopy on paper] Montréal: Canadian Centre for Architecture.
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Object I-2 The Fundamental Cybernetic System Based on the work of Cedric Price, Fun Palace: axonometric view of interior. Cedric Price Archives, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. GIF: https://goo.gl/kUZdre
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Object II-1: Basic Transformation of the Space The ability of responding to people’s changing needs framed by the cybernetic system is based on the flexible architecture elements, or in the word from the cybernetic system, parameters. To illustrate this structure system, Price used piles of analytic diagrams. Take the stair units for instance. In Fig. 11, Price listed different combination between 2 or 3 stairs. With this diagram, the typical plan which indicating the moveable elector can show more architectural meaning. The sectors which showed the maxim scope the escalators can cover sometimes met with neighbouring ones at some point. And the situation of the meeting point probably was as illustrated in the Fig. 12. Object II-2 is focusing on the possibilities of the transformation of the vertical transportations which demonstrates how the accessibility to different space will be refined based on the user trend.
Fig 11. Price, C. (1963). Fun Palace Project: stair units - possible combinations. [Diazotype with ink stamp on paper] Montréal: Canadian Centre for Architecture. Fig 12. Price, C. (1963). Fun Palace: typical plan. [Ink, screentone appliqué, ink stamp and graphite on translucent paper
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with masking tape on upper and lower edges] Montréal: Canadian Centre for Architecture.
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Object II-1 Basic transformation of the Plan. Based on the work of Cedric Price, Fun Palace: typical plan,1964 GIF: https://goo.gl/YqGRCs
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The Inquiry The question is based on the initial target of the Fun Palace which is a learning machine providing education for workers in order to solve the social inequality. The options come from the plan created by Cedric Price as indicated on it (Fig. 21). For the real-time interactions between people and the options. The option more people choose, the more obvious the options will be.
Fig 13. Price, C. (1964). Fun Palace: typical plan. [Ink, graphite, screentone appliquĂŠ (applied to verso) with ink stamp on translucent paper] MontrĂŠal: Canadian Centre for Architecture. Fig 14. Created by the Author. Temporary website for the inquiry.
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Data Analysis This 4-day inquiry started from Jan. 9th to 12th have collected 206 data. The major of people who participated in this experiment chose functions concerning education as the primary way to solve the social inequality. This may be caused by that most of the interviewees have experienced higher education. The real-time record of the growth of different portions is also important since the graphic of the web is interacting with the real-time data. The record can be analysed and applied as the script of the events for the animation (Object II-2).
Fig 15. Created by the Author. Final portions of different options of the 4-day inquiry which contains 206 data. Fig 16. Created by the Author. Growth of different options during Jan. 10th to Jan. 12th.
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Object II-2 Re-modified Animation of the Plan Based on the work of Cedric Price, Fun Palace: typical plan,1964 GIF: https://goo.gl/NKSnhw
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While a considerable amount of time and effort has been spent on intelligent homes in recent years, the emphasis here has been mainly on developing computerized systems and electronics to adapt the interior of the building or its rooms to the needs of residents. Research in the area of responsive architecture has had far more to do with the building structure itself, its ability to adapt to from changing weather conditions and to users’ trend. As the development of the technology of materials, physical parameters designed in the Fun Palace can be partly realised. For instance, Miura is a flexible partition wall that has been designed specifically for the new Pulse Building at the TU Delft. Using an intricately designed origami pattern it is able to fully extend and retract, creating study areas to suit the student’s needs. As for the intelligent system, collecting users’ data and analysing it have now become quite advanced technologies. For example, the Autonomous cars use a variety of techniques to detect their surroundings, such as radar, laser light, GPS, odometry and computer vision. Advanced control systems interpret sensory information to identify appropriate navigation paths, as well as obstacles and relevant signage. Autonomous cars must have control systems that are capable of analysing sensory data to distinguish between different cars on the road
Fig 17. Miura was exhibited in the TU Delft IO building for a week. In this time students and visitors were invited to use Miura and experience the effect of working in a connected workspace.
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http://interactive-environments.nl/miura/
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REFERENCES Document produced by the Cybernetics and Architecture Panel for the Fun Palace Project. (1964). London: Fun Palace Project. Mathews, S. (2006). The Fun Palace as Virtual Architecture. Journal of Architectural Education, 59(3), pp.39-48. Mathews, S. (2006). Cedric Price: From the ‘Brain Drain’ to the ‘Knowledge Economy’. Architectural Design, 76(1), pp.90-95. Mathews, S. (2006). The Fun Palace as Virtual Architecture. Journal of Architectural Education, 59(3), pp.39-48. Price, C. (1965). Fun Palace: Promotional brochure. [Black and red ink reprographic copy on wove paper] Montréal: Canadian Centre for Architecture. Price, C. and Littlewood, J. (1968). The Fun Palace. The Drama Review: TDR, 12(3), p.127.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Haque, U. (2007). The Architectural Relevance of Gordon Pask. Architectural Design, 77(4), pp.54-61. Hamilton Frazer, J. (2001). The cybernetics of architecture: a tribute to the contribution of Gordon Pask. Kybernetes, 30(5/6), pp.641-651. Pask, Gordon. “The architectural relevance of cybernetics.”
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Architectural Design 9.69 (1969): 494-496.
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Object I-1 Animating the Cybernetic Theater Based on the work of Cedric Price, Fun Palace: interior perspective, 1964. GIF: https://goo.gl/xXSGvp
Object I-2 The Fundamental Cybernetic System Based on the work of Cedric Price, Fun Palace: axonometric view of interior. Cedric Price Archives, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. GIF: https://goo.gl/kUZdre
Object II-1 Basic transformation of the Plan. Based on the work of Cedric Price, Fun Palace: typical plan,1964 GIF: https://goo.gl/YqGRCs
Object II-2 Re-modified Animation of the Plan Based on the work of Cedric Price, Fun Palace: typical plan,1964 GIF: https://goo.gl/NKSnhw
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