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

Kwinter “Wildness”

phenomenon | artificial

phe·nom·e·non   [fi-nom-uh-non, -nuhn] 

–noun, plural -na  [-nuh] or, especially for 3, -nons.

1. a fact, occurrence, or circumstance observed or observable: to study the phenomena of nature.

2. something or someone that is impressive or extraordinary.

3. Philosophy . a. an appearance or immediate object of awareness in experience. b. Kantianism . a thing as it appears to and is constructed by the mind, as distinguished from a noumenon, or thing-in-itself.

—Synonyms

1.  event, incident. 2, 3.  marvel, miracle.

ar·ti·fi·cial   [ahr-tuh-fish-uhl] 

–adjective

1. made by human skill; produced by humans ( opposed to natural): artificial flowers.

2. imitation; simulated; sham: artificial vanilla flavoring.

3. lacking naturalness or spontaneity; forced; contrived; feigned: an artificial smile.

4. made without regard to the particular needs of a situation, person, etc.; imposed arbitrarily; unnatural: artificial rules for dormitory residents.

5. Biology . based on arbitrary, superficial characteristics rather than natural, organic relationships: an artificial system of classification.

—Synonyms

1.  synthetic, inorganic. 2.  counterfeit, factitious. 3.  pretentious.

Kwinter’s advocacy for the “wild” and for the liberation of planned systems to a more spontaneous path struck me not in its originality but in just the opposite. It seems like there are hundreds such publications, not just in the field of architecture, but otherwise also, where experts make similar arguments against over planning.

Take “Blink” for example, an international bestselling book, in which the author Malcolm Gladwell gives examples and evidence detailing the benefits of making quick decisions unhindered by the process of rational decision-making. In particular, the story of the Millennium Challenge, a simulated battle by the Pentagon to test a set of radical ideas about how to go to war. Team one was given much greater intellectual resources, with an Operational Net Assessment, a formal decision making tool that broke down the enemy into a series of systems and matrices showing how the systems were interrelated and weak and strong points between them. Team two, on the other hand, possessed no such method and had players under command to simply act according to the situation at hand. Of course to the surprise of those in command of the challenge, team two won a decisive victory due to the elements of speed and surprise. While team two was burdened by the bureaucratic decision making process, team two acted as a spontaneous machine where the various parts synchronized together of their own accord, providing greater flexibility and in the end, better results.

Peter Sloterdijk “Air/Condition”

revolution | explicate

rev·o·lu·tion   [rev-uh-loo-shuhn] 

–noun

1. an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.

2. Sociology . a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, esp. one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence. Compare social evolution.

3. a sudden, complete or marked change in something: the present revolution in church architecture.

4. a procedure or course, as if in a circuit, back to a starting point; a round or cycle of events in time or a recurring period of time; a single turn of this kind.

5. Mechanics .  a. a turning round or rotating, as on an axis.  b. a moving in a circular or curving course, as about a central point.  c. a single cycle in such a course.

6. Astronomy .  a. (not in technical use) rotation ( def. 2 ) .  b. the orbiting of one heavenly body around another.  c. a single course of such movement.

ex·pli·cate   [ek-spli-keyt] 

–verb (used with object), -cat·ed, -cat·ing.

1. to make plain or clear; explain; interpret.

2. to develop (a principle, theory, etc.).

MODERNITY’S MOVEMENT OF EXPLICATION: Modernism is marked by an interest in explicating the present, and allowing a conscious existence in the era, as laid out by the article, which explains how this is manifest in various fields and movements. This aim towards explication is nothing new, we see a similar movement in the age of enlightenment which preceded modernity. The main change that came about with what we call modernity was the shift of focus onto social conditions rather than philosophies. Following are the manifestations of this movement towards explications listed in the article with a venture into such possibilities in architecture.

POLITICS

Revolution can be seen as the fetish of the age, in a literal and metaphoric sense. It consisted of a redistribution of the symbolic hegemonies on the time, resulting in an uncovering of the processes. It was the political answer to modernity’s movement of explication.

SURREALISM

Surrealism was a part of the movement through its obsession with resolving the background in the cultural field. They had many methods, such as symbolic aggression, that would allow an unfolding of the latent givens.

PSYCHOLOGY

Freudianism gained popularity as a strategy for reading signs and manipulating background givens and unfolding latencies in the unconscious.

SCIENCES

The topic of concern for sciences in the 21^st century becomes making the air conditions explicit, as modern meteorology gains ground. Beyond temperature information, they brought a macroclimatological understanding of the consequences of greenhouse gases to the public, pushing them into a position of control over the weather.

TECHNOLOGY

People were motivated to gain control over their immediate environments, creating heating and ventilation systems in private homes and large-scale buildings. Aroma-technical modification of atmospheres allowed active air-design so that total atmospheres can be manipulated for a controlled condition of existence.

CULTURE

Broch’s narrative of atmospheric multiplicities in which the subject is an extended entity of individual and breathing space so the social world is broken up into spaces of moral independence analogous to the micro-climatic “fragmenting of the atmosphere.” Also his fiction of a society sealed together in a communication bell jar of a stale atmosphere of propaganda and mass communication creating a toxic environment of war. This was based on his diagnosis that modern societies had, under the atmospheric viewpoint, come under the domination of mass-psychological mechanisms.

ARCHITECTURE

Modernist architecture is marked by a simplification of form by removing superfluous ornamentation and allowing structure and function to shape the forms and spaces. This aim for a purity of space could be a reflection of the desire to explicate architectural conditions and motives to the user rather than propagating latent givens through accepted forms of ornamentation.

With modernist architecture’s failure to connect with the users, instead isolating the building through a lack of communicating content, postmodernists such as Venturi responded with a style that uses signs and recognizable indications of purpose and connections to the context. They recognize the need for architecture to communicate information to users to achieve an explication of cultural conditions.

Conceding that larger cultural tendencies have a way of shaping all fields similarly brings forth questions when it comes to analyzing architectural theory. Considering the dilemma of the subconscious nature of these movements, is it possible to analyze current cultural conditions? Should architecture attempt to do this and respond to cultural issues with conscious decisions? While modernity focused mostly on social conditions, possible shifts are towards concentration on connectivity and globalization or an obsession with manipulating future outcomes. Both would make sense considering architecture practice today that focuses on diagramming interconnectivity and using it towards a new, preferably predetermined, outcome.

Mark Wigley “Recycling Recycling”

Mark Wigley’s whole argument about the recent changes in the culture of space is outlined through his redefinition of the work ecology. Through changing the way ecology is understood, you understand how the architecture of our habitats has evolved. A definition of ecology as used in his essay:

e·col·o·gy   [ih-kol-uh-jee]

–noun

1. the world of gadgets and communication technology has dematerialized ecology into an organization of information flows: (a)“The technological world becomes the new nature, the artificial nature that needs to be analyzed in ecological terms.” (b) “In ecological terms, human flesh is but a transitional event in the continuous redistribution of energy. With the arrival of the artificial body, ecological management is nothing more than the management of hyper-extended flows of nervous energy.”

2. mobilization of the home and transformation of architecture into continuously recirculating images has already integrated it into the ecological framework: (a)“It is the ongoing extension of the house that has produced the idea of a single ecosystem whose flows can be managed with new ecological principles,” (b)“The ‘cyclical mobility’ of images through space and time is aligned with the reconfiguration of architecture on ecological principles. Simulation is understood as a means of species survival.”

3. Ecological thinking, as the management of resources and flows, is relevant to an architecture comprised of a flow of images: (a)“The expendable image circulating through popular culture becomes a model for an ecology of resources” (b) “Ecological theories of flow are more useful than ever before.”

habitat | transition

hab·i·tat   [hab-i-tat] 

–noun

1. the natural environment of an organism; place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism: a tropical habitat, a marine habitat.

2. the place where a person or thing is usually found: Paris is a major habitat of artists.

3. a special environment for living in over an extended period, as an underwater research vessel.

4. a place of residence; dwelling; abode.

tran·si·tion   [tran-zish-uhn, -sish-]

–noun

1. movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

2. Music . a. a passing from one key to another; modulation. b. a brief modulation; a modulation used in passing. c. a sudden, unprepared modulation.

biophilia

Edward O. Wilson “Biophilia”:

bi·o·phil·i·a   [bahy-oh-fil-ee-uh, ‐feel-yuh]

–noun

1. love of life or living systems; an appreciation of life and the living world.

2. The innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes

American biologist Edward Wilson’s biophilia hypothesis puts forward the idea of an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. He uses his expertise in biology, particularly evolutionary psychology and biodiversity, to create the constructs behind his approach towards the relationship between humans and ecology, even venturing towards a new take on conservation ethics. The way he combines his knowledge of multiple fields towards an idea that bridges the gap between ecology, psychology, and biology is really just brilliant, and a surprisingly easy to follow.

Following these ideas, biophilic design attempts to create environments people would thrive in that are more like habitats, instead of isolated spaces, and in general blurs the distinction between buildings and landscape. While similar to green building and other morphologic design, biophilic design brings in a whole new set of considerations aimed towards pleasing the user. Considering Wilson’s ideas on the need for conservation ethics to cater towards people’s selfish desires to generate motivation, perhaps biophilic design’s hedonistic aims could be used towards making a more appealing case for green building.

somewhat random but interesting quote from the book:

“The unique operations of the brain are a result of natural selection operating through the filter of culture. They have suspended us between the two antipodal ideals of nature and machine, forest and city, the natural and the artifactual, relentlessly seeking, in the words of the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, an equilibrium not of this world.”

collective | hybridize

James Corner "Eidetic Operations and New Landscapes":

col·lec·tive   [kuh-lek-tiv]

–adjective

1. forming a whole: the collective assets of the city and its citizens.     

2. of, relating to, characteristic of, or made by a number of people acting as a group: a collective decision, collective memory, collective consciousness     

3. organized according to the principles of collectivism: a collective farm.

–noun

4. collective noun: a noun, as herd, grove,  or clergy,  that appears singular in formal shape but denotes a group of persons or objects

5. a collective body; aggregate.

6. a business, farm, etc., jointly owned and operated by the members of a group.

7. a unit of organization or the organization in a collectivist system.

—Related forms

col·lec·tive·ly, adverb

non·col·lec·tive, adjective

non·col·lec·tive·ly, adverb

un·col·lec·tive, adjective

un·col·lec·tive·ly, adverb

hy·brid·ize   [hahy-bri-dahyz] 

–verb (used with object)

1. to breed or cause the production of (a hybrid); cross.

2. to form in a hybrid manner.

–verb (used without object)

3. to produce hybrids; cause the production of hybrids by crossing.

4. to form a double-stranded nucleic acid of two single strands of DNA or RNA, or one of each, by allowing the base pairs of the separate strands to form complementary bonds.

5. to fuse two cells of different genotypes into a hybrid cell.

—Related forms

hy·brid·iz·a·ble, adjective

hy·brid·i·za·tion, noun

hy·brid·ist, hy·brid·iz·er, noun

in·ter·hy·brid·ize, verb (used without object), -ized, -iz·ing.