Week 5 Readings

In this article Hughes provides an introduction about society evolving with technology and how the US and Germany worked off each other to create a more technological world. He outlines that in Berlin the mechanization of society was a more mass produced collaboration of political influences. Whereas America had more engineers that were individually constructing technology.

He compares the opinions of several technology enthusiasts and their beliefs on the affect technology has had on humanity. Some believe that technology was a god given creation, however in contrast others believe that the mechanization of society has given people God like complexes and the deterioration for the need of God.

For example, Oswald Spengler, a German historian, implied that technology was triumphing nature and that we were losing our natural and cultural centre. Spengler “denies that the West were deploying technology to bring happiness…, but to devastate nature.”

On the other hand Lewis Mumford, an American public intellectual, regarded technology to be vital to maintaining an organic and healthy balance to the human spirit. He argued that using technology morally could produce a better world and we could become more balanced.

Charles Beard regarded mass production to be good and that it would lower economic class, reduce labour, and increased transport would increase workforce. He also mentioned that Europe began to see America as machines themselves as they became more immersed.

It is interesting to see that in the current excelled modern age we live in now where everyone embraces technology, the different opinions that were raised about the concerns and consequences. The article almost makes you rethink your position on technology and whether in the long run it has enriched society or enslaved it.
 
Readings:

Human Built World By Thomas P. Hughes “Technology As Machine”

Week 4 Readings

In “Morphogenesis and Emergence,” Mario Carpo outlines his introduction with an explanation in systems and emergence – emergence being the resulted form of something that could not be controlled in the original system. 

He summarises Menge’s theory about materials, their properties, and their ability to perform through deformation. Using digital modelling software these deformations are able to be calculated and digitally fabricated.

In Hight and Perry's "Introduction to Collective Intelligence," there is an exploration of the meaning of collective intelligence and the extent to which it is used. They divulge in collective intelligence being an infinite collective and how people are able to collaborate in different fields such as politics and create something diverse through multiple connections and knowledge.

Collective intelligence enables us to have access to key information, and in turn it has helped evolve technology further. They state that “we have tried to map out a heterogeneous network of interconnected practices and their concerns.” Through this network connection collective intelligence is exchanged and encouraged and it has become a reality that such adaptions to things such as organic LED displays are now possible.

It is fascinating to recognize that in both articles Carpo, and Hight and Perry talk about the digital providing solutions. In “Morphogenesis and Emergence” Carpo claims that digital modelling has the ability to now calculate the errors and deformations of structures that in previous years we could not calculate. Similarly in “Introduction to Collective Intelligence in Design,” Hight and Perry claim that the digital has enabled us to bring together different sources of knowledge which therefore can give way to new solutions. The link between these two leads to the digital and are only two examples of how powerful the digital really is.

Readings:

“Morphogenesis and Emergence,” and “Introduction to Collective Intelligence in Design,” - articles from The Digital Turn in Architecture by Mario Carpo

Week 3 Readings

Menges describes several branches that connect to computational design. He begins his explanation at the base of design (the difference of computational to computerisation), to the complete structure (emergent formation). 

Systems thinking, being the next platform, explains how in a design system it is a necessary to perceive the situation as a whole and determine whether the actions you take successfully form a relationship with each other.

Parametric dependencies is based on the process of formation into a form. As Goethe explains through observing plant development - you can have a form and a formation but the structure may continue to develop. 

Generative morphogenesis is the state where computation further evolved when genetics and biology were further developed. Menges relates this to the system having a metabolism, and as the natural system evolved, generative morphogenesis became more apparent. 

Evolving populations describes how in a parametric system there are endless possibilities however an algebraic method can determine a point of “best fit”. This algebra was used for optimization, and can now be used to generate numerous points that would be of great fit. The process that leads to the form due to the “fittest” point is emergent formation.

In Keywords, Williams discusses his experience once he has come back from the army. He describes a cultural shift in society and a desensitisation in language, both of which caused from outside influences and a generational gap.

It is interesting to see how both articles divulge in evolving and influences that create impact despite them being written about two different subjects.

Readings:

“Introduction,” Computational Design Thinking (2011) by Menges, Achim 

"Introduction" Keywords: a Vocabulary of Culture and Society by Williams, Raymond