Paradigm Map

The group paradigm map shows how three individual theses stand relative to each other and existing paradigms in systematics. In order to explain the process and logic behind the arrangement of terms and subjects in this map, a diagram shows the preliminary arrangement of terms according to each thesis, and then how this information is used to map the terms according to shared interest. Additional constraints and rules in the addition of texts and projects allow each term to grow in volume, or fade away, as thesis evolves so that the map creates a visual representation of the areas and terms of importance. Steps 5 onwards illustrate how we see this process being repeated in the future to reveal a new paradigm map of the theses relative to each other and existing paradigms, and possibly even the creation of new paradigms.

Pre-Paradigm

Creating a timeline of trends, terms and projects relevant to my thesis helped organize my research and ideas leading up to the paradigm map. Through this exercise I was able to define my focus further, but still have it as a useful reference to see things in a broader view.

Site as Thesis

In “The Blessed Unrest” Paul Hawken talks about what he calls “the largest social movement in all of history,” which goes unrecognized as such because unlike most movements, it lacks a specific ideology or leader that drives it. This movement is instead formed by a individuals and groups working toward environmental and social justice, unaware of the larger network they are part of. Hawken theorizes that an instinctive human response to threat mobilizes us as a civilization, which to me also suggests a sort of global, collective consciousness that connects all humans.

Looking for other similar grassroots movements, recent trends in urbanization and the resulting forms of urbanism seem to follow the same pattern of growth. Although the process of urbanization began during the industrial revolution, we are now following a different pattern or urbanization in developing regions. Unprecedented rates of urban growth and city populations have led to global urban population surpassing the number of people living in rural areas, so that for the first time the majority of people live in urban areas.

Considering these facts, it isn’t surprising that new forms of urbanism begin to appear in these developing countries, but a closer look seems to reveal that these distinct situations and groups of people are converging naturally towards the same end result. As urbanization continues as a greater pace than urban development, immigrants seek temporary, affordable living conditions in the informal housing sector. Groups of immigrants living in these unrecognized and unregulated conditions, form communities of “squatter” settlements. These settlements all have similar physical characteristics and all begin to form larger, self-organizing communities. These communities adapt to changing situations and as their size grows, form increasingly complex systems of government. Larger settlements, coined “megaslums,” have even succeeded at constructing necessary infrastructure, and with the provision of small inputs can efficiently improve their living situation.

This emergent model of squatter communities is not a small movement, with an estimated 2 billion people living in slums today, this organic urban system supports the idea of collectivity in humans. It implies at a subconscious network of connections that drives us to act towards a greater good, and a social intelligence greater than the individual.

Thesis Abstract

The widely accepted classification of countries into opposing categories of developed and developing implies a shared linearity in development that does not exist. The industrialization and capital buildup in urban areas and the subsequent creation of jobs that formed the driving forces behind urbanization in the countries in the 1^st world have been substituted by urban deindustrialization and rural capital buildup eliminating jobs.  At the same time, we have passed a transitional point in global urbanization as global urban population has for the first time surpassed global rural population. The global countryside has reached its maximum population and will begin to shrink by 2020, while cities continue to grow by a million babies and migrants each week.  As urban areas in developing countries harbor 95% of total population growth, the “urbanization of poverty” and the prevalence of informal settlements as a form of urban growth demands a reconsideration of the urban condition.

An examination of these settlements reveals non-linear, self-organizing growth patterns that form the basis of an emergent system of urbanity. Recognizing the potential of these systems to inform sustainable planning practices, a study of the emergent, adaptive qualities in informal cities will look for opportunities to recreate and implant similar conditions in formal cities. Another potential focus will be finding conditions that allow for interventions that trigger a symbiotic relationship between formal and informal urbanisms as a tactic for upgrading without sacrificing existing complex systems.

Through initial mappings and research, a diagrammatic approach to complex systems and networks in informal cities will attempt to reach an understanding of the agents involved in emergence. Representations of physical manifestations of driving catalysts and reactions will characterize an architecture of emergence, looking for solutions in sustainability. Locating points of inefficiency in formal urbanity and creating appropriate connectors will allow the informal sector to capitalize on the surplus demand and waste in the formal sector. 

DEMOset

House as Thesis

BORDEAUX HOUSE AND POOL [THE SUSTAINABLE HOUSE] - France 1994-8

“The man has his own room, or rather station. A lift—3X3.5 metres—that moved freely among the three houses, changing plan and performance when it locked into one of the floors or floated freely above. A single wall intersected each house, next to the elevator. It contained everything the husband might need—books, artwork, and in the cellar, wine… The movement of the elevator changed each time the architecture of the house. A machine was its heart.” - El Croquis 131/132 AMOMA Rem Koolhaas