xmas

«Γέφυρα των Αγγέλων»

Love is all a matter of timing.

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There is a need in all of us to have a place to hide or to store certain memories, thoughts, impulses, hopes and dreams. These are a part of our lives that we can’t resolve or act upon, but at the same time we are afraid to jettison them. For some, this is a physical place, for others, it is a mental space and for a few it is neither. 2046 is a project that began sometime ago for me and its journey has been eventful. Like the memories we all treasure, it is difficult to leave behind

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WONG KAR WAI - 2046

virtual dimension - part 3

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What I call the digital ouroboros (remember the alchemical symbol of the snake biting its own tail?), refers to a condition whereby we’ve fallen into infinity. An infinity of dead information and obese images. This is the vicious paradox of the digital age, it is the height of masochism and hunger. Content has now beep replaced with metacontent, physical attributes have been replaces with meta-attributes and so on. So we’re really slipping quite quickly out of any kind of gravitational pull and at the same time, and this is the point that I think is very interesting, the world is seizing up on itself.

Forget all the hype about a new frontier, it’s far too late for that kind of utopian spin. We’re out to colonize cyberspace because there’s simple no place left for us to go. The space program hasn’t quite worked out.

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JOHN BECKMANN - THE VIRTUAL DIMENSION

virtual dimension - part 2

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ANDREAS RUBY: ..reality itself has become unstable today?..
PAUL VIRILIO: obviously, stability has become less important than speed today. The French word for to last (durer) contains multiple meanings: solid (dur) and to endure in the sense of that which happens (ce qui passe). Now today, that which happens is much more important than that which lasts (ce qui dure) – and also than that which is solid (ce qui est dur). There is a dematerialization that goes parallel to deterritolialization and decorporation. Centuries ago, matter was defined by two dimensions: mass and energy. Today there comes a third one to it: information .. and counts more than mass and energy. The third dimension of matter takes the place of the thing itself. Very much in the sense of Flaubert’s phrase: “The image is more important than the thing of which it is an image.” (“L’image vaut plus que la chose don’t elle est image.”) There is an inversion.
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AR: You could also put it another way by saying that architecture today integrates elements that used to be part of something else. A hybridization of hitherto unconnected genres merging together into something new. As for example the encounter of tectonics and electronics in virtual space.
PV: One of the consequences of virtual space for architecture is a radical modification of its dimensions. So far, architecture has taken place within the three dimensions and in time. Recent research on virtual space has revealed a virtual dimension. Unlike the three known dimensions of space, this dimension can no longer be expressed in integer numbers but in fractional ones. It will be interesting to see how this is going to affect space. To some degree, virtuality has been haunting architecture for a long time. (…) All these types of spaces prepare for something and engage a transition. Thus virtual reality tends to extend the real space of architecture towards virtual space.
In terms of architecture it is important to create a virtual ‘room’ in the middle of architectural space where electromagnetic spirits can encounter each other. This is an extraordinary transformation of the notion of three-dimensional space, because in this new space, you wil be able to walk around in Alaska, to swim virtually in the Mediterranean sea, or meet your girlfriend who happens to be on the other side of the globe. This is a new, fractional dimension of space that should be built, just as one has built houses with living rooms and offices.
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AR: Do you think that these transformations of space could make architecture ‘disappear’?
PV: First of all, the disappearance not only affects architecture but any kind of materiality: the eart (deterritorialization), the body (disembodiment) and architecture (deconstruction in the literal sense of the word, not the architectural style). Any kind of matter is about to vanish in favour of information. You can see it also as a change of aesthetics. To me, to disappear does not mean to become eliminated. Just like the Atlantic, which continues to be there even though you can no longer feel it as you fly over it. Or like the body that continues to exist without actually being needed – since we just switch the channel. The same happens with architecture: it will continue to exist, but in the state of disappearance.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL VIRILIO BY ANDREAS RUBY – PARIS, 15 OCTOBER 1993
J. BECKMANN - THE VIRTUAL DIMENSION

virtual dimension - part 1

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The virtual world is nothing other that what is, literally, in front of the user, space is defined not only as what is to be seen, but what is to be navigated and in a sense constructed by the viewer. This kind of interactivity and virtual landscape navigation is rapidly moving onto the Net, giving cyberspace the appearance and feel of being not just a place to inhabit, but a place to navigate, to move forward through, and in the process, to command and control.

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An early writer on the architecture of cyberspace, Michael Benedikt, speculates that cyberspace ‘will require constant planning and organization’ that it will need ‘structures’ that will have to be ‘designed’ by ‘cyber architects’ who are ‘schooled in computer science and programming (the equivalent of construction), in graphics, and in abstract design.’

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We have lost our taste for the monumental, the heavy, the static, and we have enriched our sensibility with a taste for the light, the practical, the ephemeral and the swift….We – who are materially and spiritually artificial – must find…inspiration in the elements of the utterly new mechanical world we have created, and of which architecture must be the most beautiful expression. - ANTONIO SANT’ELIA – ‘MANIFESTO OF FUTURIST ARCHITECTURE' (1914)

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FRANCES DYSON – ‘SPACE’, ‘BEING’, AND OTHER FICTIONS IN THE DOMAIN OF THE VIRTUAL
J. BECKMANN - THE VIRTUAL DIMENSION

learn learning..

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Ο ελληνικός όρος «Παιδεία» περιλαμβάνει ολόκληρο το εννοιολογικό περιεχόμενο των δύο όρων: «αγωγή» και «μόρφωση». Παιδεία, κατά τον W. Jaeger, σημαίνει και την δια την Παιδαγωγικής ανατροφής (διδασκαλίας και ασκήσεως) καθοδήγησιν του αναπτυσσόμενου ανθρώπου εις την ωρίμανσιν και τα αποτελέσματα της συνειδητής αυτής επιδράσεως, δηλ. την μόρφωσιν. Κατά την διατύπωση του Jaeger, το βαθύτερον νόημα της Παιδείας έγκειται εις την «σαφή συνείδησιν των φυσικών αρχών της ανθρωπίνης ζωής και των σταθερών (εγγενών) νόμων, κατά τους οποίους ενεργούν αι σωματικαί και ψυχικαί δυνάμεις του ανθρώπου». Συνήθως, με τον όρο παιδεία νοούμε το σύνολο όλων των πάσης φύσεως ενεργημάτων με τα οποία είναι δυνατό να υψωθεί ο άνθρωπος πάνω από το επίπεδο της φυσικής και βιολογικής του ύπαρξης, για να φτάσει στην τελείωσή του σαν πνευματικό ον.

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ΓΕΝΙΚΗ ΠΑΙΔΑΓΩΓΙΚΗ – Γ. ΧΑΡΑΛΑΜΠΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ – ΑΘΗΝΑ 1983

hyperreal

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Through reproduction from one medium into another the real becomes volatile, it becomes the allegory of death, but it also draws strength from its own destruction, becoming the real for its own sake, a fetishism of the lost object which is no longer the object of representation, but the ecstasy of the degeneration and its own ritual extermination: the hyperreal.

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Jean Baudrillard - Symbolic Exchange and Death

studying the human scale

μπλεγμένη στα δίχτυα σου

olpc

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O μη κερδοσκοπικός οργανισμός Ενας Φορητός Υπολογιστής για κάθε Παιδί (OLPC = One Laptop per Child) έχει σαν σκοπό την ανάπτυξη ενός φορητού υπολογιστή (laptop) με κόστος 100 δολλαρίων. Μια τέτοια τεχνολογία θα αλλάξει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο εκπαιδεύουμε τα παιδιά όλου του κόσμου. Αυτή η πρωτοβουλία πρωτοανακοινώθηκε από τον Νικόλα Νεγκροπόντε, πρόεδρο του OLPC, στο World Economic Forum στο Davos, στην Ελβετία τον Ιανουάριο του 2005.

Οι στόχοι μας είναι: να προσφέρουμε νέες ευκαιρίες σε παιδιά όλου του κόσμου, να πειραματιστούν και να εκφραστούν.

Πρέπει να αναφέρουμε ότι οι φορητοί υπολογιστές των 100 δολαρίων — οι οποίοι δεν παράγονται ακόμη — δεν θα διατίθενται για πώληση. Οι φορητοί υπολογιστές θα διατίθενται αποκλειστικά σε σχολεία μέσω μεγάλων κυβερνητικών πρωτοβουλιών.

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children have to learn learning

softspace / hardspace

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Traditionally, architecture has been thought of as hardware: the static walls, roofs and floors that enclose us. An alternative approach is to think of architecture as software: the dynamic and ephemeral sounds, smells, temperatures even radio waves that surround us. One might also consider the social infrastructures that underpin our designed spaces. Pushing this analogy even further, we can think of architecture as a whole as an operating system, within which people create their own programmes for spatial interaction.
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everyone is a space designer and we all use our spaces and interfaces differently. We place posters on walls, paint the light blue or orange, position furniture in rooms, make love in kitchens, use ‘bedrooms’ as ‘offices’, sing opera in the shower, spray particular fragrances in our bathrooms and use staircases for arguments, games and romances. Meanwhile, we are increasingly likely to undertake the construction or improvement of our own homes without needing the services of an architect. Yet, most people do not think of themselves as being able to ‘design’.
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if an architect designs interaction systems then the production of architecture – which exists only at the moment of use – is placed in the hands of the end user. Architectural design, the choreography of sensations, can provide metaprograms within which people construct their own programs. In computers, an operating system is the software – like Unix, Windows or Mac OS – that runs a computer at its core level and which provides a platform upon which to run other programs. Extending the analogy to architecture, a spatial operating system provides frameworks to encourage multitudes of architectural programs. In this conception, people are the designers of their own spaces – architects simple design the meta-systems.
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the role of architect undergoes considerable change because people themselves interpret, appropriate, design and reuse a space within their own flames of logic. A truly open source architecture does not exist without people to inhabit, occupy, perceive, interact or converse with it. The resulting spaces don’t merely enable people to develop their own ways of responding, they are actually enriched by them doing so. As people become architects of their own spaces – through their use – or developers of their own interfaces, the words architecture and interface cease to be nouns: instead they become verbs. Such an architecture is explicitly dynamic, a shift that opens up a wealth of poetic possibilities for designer of open source space.

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Archfarm . Non-periodical fascicles on architecture . issue no7

2010 !?

Bits and bricks

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Architecture in 2010 will inevitably fall into three classes: physical, virtual, and hybrid ‘bits and bricks’ architecture.

Pure physical architecture will become rare. Examples could include the most extreme of sustainable buildings, architecture in developing countries, or buildings that for cultural reasons renounce the integration of computer-driven technology. Pure physical buildings can also be the outcome of very natural reactions to specific conditions. The traditional building technologies that developed over centuries in response to the unique needs and circumstances of a certain region are one example.

Virtual architecture will be an alternative in many respects to the excessive production of physical architecture. It will put an end to the non-sustainable expansion of area used per person, which has more that doubled in industrialized countries since the middle of the last century. With improved virtual reality environments and computers, whose performance needs to increase by a factor of one thousand, realistic virtual surroundings will be the natural working environments for most people in information societies.

However, ‘bits and bricks’ architecture will ultimately predominate – most buildings will have thousands of sensors, processors, and software integrated in their structure. They will be monitored, controlled and protected by computers and communicate with inhabitants and other buildings. Their aim will be to optimize the use of resources and the comfort of the environment they are providing through active and reactive behavior.

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introduction - 'bits and spaces' - edited by maia engeli - birkhauser -2001

διαβαζοντας το microserfs - part 2

193 - 510

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>Γενέθλια:

Θέλω ένα απ’ αυτά τα κλειδιά που κερδίζεις σε βιντεοπαιχνίδια, τα οποία σου επιτρέπουν να γκρεμίζεις τοίχους και να περνάς στο επόμενο επίπεδο – θέλω να περάσω στην *άλλη πλευρά*.

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Λέω «Χμμ...» πολύ συχνά. Το ανέφερα στην Κάρλα και μου είπε ότι είναι μια λέξη της Κεντρικης Μονάδας Επεξεργασίας. «Σημαίνει ότι συγκεντρώνεις δεδομένα μέσα στο κεφάλι σου – κάνεις ετεροχρονισμό εισόδου/εξόδου».

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Η θεωρία του Μάικλ είναι ότι η τεχνολογία δημιουργεί και διαπλάθει γενιές. Όταν η τεχνολογία επιταχύνει σε κρίσιμο βαθμό, όπως τώρα καλή ώρα, οι γενιές χάνουν το νόημά τους. Ο καθένας μας γίνεται, σαν άτομο πλέον, η προσωπικά δική του δισκέτα, με την προσωπικά δική του «έκδοση». Πολύ πιο λογικό.

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Ο Τοντ με αποκάλεσε κρυπτοφασίστα σήμερα.
Για να τιμήσω το γεγονός,
Γράφω αυτή τη συγκεκριμένη παράγργο
Με δεξιά στοίχιση.

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Ο Τοντ ζήτησε συγνώμη που με αποκάλεσε κρυπτοφασίστα
και το διορθωσε αναγορεύοντάς με «ήπιο κεντροδεξιό».
Η στοίχιση αυτής της παραγράφου είναι
εύλογη.

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Υπάρχει ένα πράγμα που σε διδάσκει η χρήση των κομπιούτερ κι αυτό είναι ότι δεν έχει νόημα να θυμάσαι τα πάντα. Το σημαντικό έιναι να είσαι σε θέση να τα βρίσκεις.

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Που θέλεις να καταληξεις; Απ’ ό,τι έχω καταλάβει, αν ένας άνθρωπος νιώθει κάτι, το πιθανότερο είναι να νιώθει και ο άλλος το ίδιο. Άρα, η εξωτερική εμφάνιση είναι δευτερεύουσα.

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Ταυτότητα: σύμφωνα με τη θεωρία του Τούτσι, αν σκαρώσεις μια πειστική on-line μετα-προσωπικότητα μέσα στο Δίκτυο, τότε αυτή η πραγματικότητα ΕΙΝΑΙ πράγματι ΕΣΥ. Με τόσο λίγα πράγματα τριγύρω τελευταία που προσδίδουν ταυτότητα σ’ ένα άτομο, η παλέτα των ταυτοτήτων που δημιουργείς εσύ ο ίδιος μέσα στο κενό του Δικτύου – η λίστα των επιλογών σου από εναλλακτικά «εσύ» - είναι στ’ αλήθεια εσύ. Ή ένα ισότοπό σου. Ή μια φωτοτυπία του εαυτού σου.

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Η όλη κατάσταση θύμιζε μια απ’ αυτές τις ξένες ταινίες που νοικιάζεις σε βιντεοκασσέτα και τις βλέπεις μόνο ως τη μέση, επειδή είναι πολύ τραβηγμένες γι ανα είναι πιστευτές. Και τότε ζεις την πραγματικότητα κι αναρωτιέσαι αν οι Ευρωπαίοι καταλάβαιναν τα πάντα ευθύς εξαρχής.

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Ο κόσμος είναι μια πορνοταινία. Πείστηκα πλέον.

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γειασουτζεντ

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