Line of Enquiry #1

Technology is often seen as a be all and end all within architectural design with students and practitioners having short sighted or superficial views of these technologies. The field of architecture has been backwards in technological development in comparison to other industries such as automotive and airline design and has been for at least a century.
Luddite mentality suggests technology is ill suited to human needs and offers enslavement over enlightenment. Where architecture is about people it should seek to address these fundamental criteria in whatever medium it is realised in. Where developing technologies are used, these should be in the service of architecture.

The changing role of architecture in light of the information age questions the relationships between communities and networks of systems which increasingly are less reliant on the notion of “where” as “when”. This project is about utilising technology on an integrated social level in architectural design, exploring human needs within the context of emerging adaptive technologies, networks, smart places and materials in a test bed project.


12m4s by Lab-AU (Source www.interactivearchitecture.org)

“…how architecture and its tasks adopt a fourth dimension, that of digital technologies. Their time based nature is increasingly producing sociospatial effects that challenge architecture’s traditional identity… now virtual networks are generally perceived as enhancement to the multidimensionality of the real world. ‘Multi-mediated’ interactive design is already entering every domain of work, leisure and domestic spaces… pervasive technology does not obviate the human need for space” (Bullivant 2005 - 4D Space Interactive Architecture, Wiley Academy)

With the increasing development of pervasive computing, technology is increasingly becoming an integral aspect to everybody’s daily life. Your environment is increasingly based upon data and your connections and networks, be them human, physical or technological. Within this, space and time are fundamentally interrelated and hence our world is increasingly becoming multi-dimensional in light of changing technologies and connections.

Where people would have previously met at the well or at the agora for social discourse, online forums have replaced these. There is no information to whether you are six or sixty and therefore a greater degree of expression of ideas and freedom exists in this realm. How is the physical realm affected by this and is there a way of linking these elements within a physical community? Information technology and networks are constantly changing, your natural environment constantly changes; should your built environment be designed to change and how might this occur?

This project intends to question these issues and through questioning technology’s role with ourselves and the built environment. Where an environment is capable of being aware of your presence almost as much as you are of being there how does this affect architectural design? We are in a position where these emerging technologies are allowing these ideas to be realised and therefore this project aims to explore these ideas form the basis of my line of enquiry underpinning this work.