Machine Landscapes
Machine Landscapes

Author: Liam Young

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-03-11

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 1119453097

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The most significant architectural spaces in the world are now entirely empty of people. The data centres, telecommunications networks, distribution warehouses, unmanned ports and industrialised agriculture that define the very nature of who we are today are at the same time places we can never visit. Instead they are occupied by server stacks and hard drives, logistics bots and mobile shelving units, autonomous cranes and container ships, robot vacuum cleaners and internet-connected toasters, driverless tractors and taxis. This issue is an atlas of sites, architectures and infrastructures that are not built for us, but whose form, materiality and purpose is configured to anticipate the patterns of machine vision and habitation rather than our own. We are said to be living in a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, in which humans are the dominant force shaping the planet. This collection of spaces, however, more accurately constitutes an era of the Post-Anthropocene, a period where it is technology and artificial intelligence that now computes, conditions and constructs our world. Marking the end of human-centred design, the issue turns its attention to the new typologies of the post-human, architecture without people and our endless expanse of Machine Landscapes. Contributors: Rem Koolhaas, Merve Bedir and Jason Hilgefort, Benjamin H Bratton, Ingrid Burrington, Ian Cheng, Cathryn Dwyre, Chris Perry, David Salomon and Kathy Velikov, John Gerrard, Alice Gorman, Adam Harvey, Jesse LeCavalier, Xingzhe Liu, Clare Lyster, Geoff Manaugh, Tim Maughan, Simone C Niquille, Jenny Odell, Trevor Paglen, Ben Roberts. Featured interviews: Deborah Harrison, designer of Microsoft’s Cortana; and Paul Inglis, designer of the urban landscapes of Blade Runner 2049.

Planet City
Planet City

Author: Liam Young

Publisher:

Published: 2020-12-17

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780648685876

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Planet City is a speculation of what might happen if the world collapsed into a new home for 10 billion people, allowing the rest of the world to return to a global wilderness. It is both an extraordinary image of tomorrow and an urgent examination of the environmental questions that face us today.

Ambiguous Territory
Ambiguous Territory

Author: Cathryn Dwyre

Publisher: Actar D, Inc.

Published: 2022-01-26

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1638408300

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The writers and designers in this collection are among the most thoughtful architects, artists, landscape architects, and theorists working today. The editors organized these essays and works of art and design around three territories: the atmospheric, the biologic, and the geologic. Each cluster of essays is further framed by forewords and afterwords, which draw individual points of view into a larger articulation of what an ambiguous territory might be and how it operates. Ambiguous Territory emerged from a symposium and exhibition held at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2017, and exhibitions at the University of Virginia and Pratt Manhattan Gallery in 2018, and at Ithaca College in 2019. The conversations that arise in this book are inquisitive and critically engaged. They pressure assumptions we routinely make about what constitutes meaningful and principled perspectives in architecture, landscape architecture, and art. Both the texts and the work take on some of the trickiest issues of our time. -- Excerpt from a foreword to the book by Catherine Ingraham Professor, Graduate Architecture and Urban Design, Pratt Institute The works in Ambiguous Territory exist in a creative space, in the moody realm of possibilities. It’s a sphere of design in which solutions (or lack thereof) have yet to settle. That should be a familiar feeling for all creative people, whose daily life may include exploring a way out of a problem without being able to nail down an exact answer. This volume belongs in that territory of ambiguity and curiosity, a place where there is room for musings, laughter, and despair. The projects convey, in different ways, a hope for a better future, but also a sense of not knowing if that future is at all possible. -- Excerpt from an afterword to the book by Peder Anker Professor, the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University With Contributions of Ellie Abrons, Paula Gaetano Adi, amid.cero9, Amy Balkin, Philip Beesley, Ursula Biemann, The Bittertang Farm, Edward Burtynsky, Bradley Cantrell, Gustavo Crembil, Brian Davis, Design Earth, Mark Dion, Formlessfinder, Lindsey french, Adam Fure, Futureforms, Michael Geffel, Rania Ghosn, David Gissen, El Hadi Jazairy, Harrison Atelier, Cornelia Hesse-Honegger, Lisa Hirmer, Catherine Ingraham, Lydia Kallipoliti, Perry Kulper, Sean Lally, Landing Studio, Lateral Office, LCLA, Mark Lindquist, LiquidFactory, Ariane Lourie-Harrison, Meredith Miller, Thom Moran, Ricardo de Ostos, NaJa & deOstos, Nemestudio, Mark Nystrom, OMG / O’Donnell Miller Group, The Open Workshop, Ricardo de Ostos, oOR / Office of Outdoor Research, Jennifer Peeples, pneumastudio, Alessandra Ponte, Office for Political Innovation, Rachele Riley, RVTR, Smout Allen, smudge studio, Neil Spiller, Terreform ONE, Andreas Theodoridis, Unknown Fields, Liam Young, Marina Zurkow

Exteriorless Architecture
Exteriorless Architecture

Author: Stefano Corbo

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-05-31

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 1000811085

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The current phase of capitalist development manifests itself through a very diverse range of spatial byproducts: data centers, warehouses, container terminals, logistics parks, and many others. Generally considered as mediocre and banal examples that sit outside of pre-established disciplinary canons, these architectural episodes are extremely relevant. They are relevant not for their aesthetic or historic qualities but for what they represent – for the system of values these spaces embed. They express specific power relations, exacerbate issues of labor, and generate dramatic processes of subjectivity. Most importantly, these architectures, despite their formal and typological heterogeneity, belong to a common paradigm: the EXTERIORLESS. How can an architecture of the EXTERIORLESS be defined? How does it differentiate from examples and manifestations of the past? How do notions of legibility, form versus function, typological articulation come into play? In situating the spatialities of contemporary capitalism within the larger debate on Anthropocene, Post-Anthropocene, and Capitalocene, the book attempts to answer those questions by delineating three main characteristics for an architecture of the EXTERIORLESS: its physical and symbolic role as interface; its ambiguous condition of being at the same time local and global, isolated and connected, compressed and expanded; and, lastly, its contribution to new forms of urbanity in absence of the traditional city. These three defining aspects constitute the main sections of the book. Each section includes two chapters covering a wide spectrum of themes and examples. In its tripartite organization, the book describes the influence that the experimental architecture of the 1960s has exerted on late-capitalist spatial byproducts; it analyzes the impact of logistics on the redesign of the territory; and it introduces the radical processes of urban transformation generated by the EXTERIORLESS.

Urban Futures
Urban Futures

Author: Mark Burry

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-07-09

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 1119617596

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Given the rapid evolution of concepts such as smart cities, who are the architects riding the wave of new possibilities for urban design? How do contemporary agencies find pathways to understand the challenges and opportunities presented by evolving urban technology, and how does architecture engage with the expanding pool of associated disciplines? How should schools of architecture and urban design engage with radical digitalised urbanism? This issue of AD claims that this is contested territory. The two-dimensionality of planners’ urban construct is as limited as engineers’ predilection to zero-in and solve problems. Urban Futures contends that society needs a much broader professional brush than has been applied in the past: interdisciplinary urban design professionals who can reach across the philosophy and mundanity of urban existence with a creative eye. The issue identifies a selection of internally resourceful visionaries who combine sociology, geography, logistics and systems theory with the practical realities and challenges of mobility, sustainable materials, food, water and energy supply, and waste disposal. Crucially, they seek to ensure better urban futures, and a civil and convivial urban experience for all city dwellers. Contributors: Refik Anadol, Philip Belesky, Shajay Bhooshan, Jane Burry and Marcus White, Thomas Daniell, Vicente Guallart, Shan He, Wanyu He, Dan Hill, Justyna Karakiewicz, Tom Kvan, Areti Markopoulou, Ed Parham, Carlo Ratti, Ferran Sagarra, and Bige Tunçer. Featured architects: Arup Digital Studio, Guallart Architects, Space10, Space Syntax, UNStudio, and XKool Technology.

The Perception Machine
The Perception Machine

Author: Joanna Zylinska

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2023-11-07

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0262376628

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A provocative investigation of the future of photography and human perception in the age of AI. We are constantly photographing and being photographed while feeding machine learning databases with our data, which in turn is used to generate new images. Analyzing the transformation of photography by computation—and the transformation of human perception by algorithmically driven images, from CGI to AI—The Perception Machine investigates what it means for us to live surrounded by image flows and machine eyes. In an astute and engaging argument, Joanna Zylinska brings together media theory and neuroscience in a Vilém Flusser–Paul Virilio remix. Her “perception machine” names a technical universe of images and their infrastructures. But it also refers to a sociopolitical condition resulting from today’s automation of vision, imaging—and imagination. Written by a theorist-practitioner, the book incorporates Zylinska’s own art projects, some of which have been co-created with AI. The photographs, collages, films, and installations available as part of the book (and its companion website) provide a different mode of thinking about our technological futures, at a local as well as a planetary level. Offering provocative concepts such as eco-eco-punk, AUTO-FOTO-KINO, planetary micro-vision, loser images, and sensography, the book outlines an existential philosophy of messy media for a time when our practices of imaging and self-imaging are being radically redesigned. Importantly, it also offers a new vision of our future.

2050
2050

Author: Chris Luebkeman

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2015-08-28

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 1118914848

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Envisioning a positive future through design 2050: Designing Our Tomorrow describes the ways in which architecture and design can engage with the key drivers of change and provide affirmative aspirations for a not-so distant future. With a focal date of 2050, this issue of AD asks when and how the design community can, should, and must be taking action. The discussion centres on shifts in the urban environment and an established way of life in a world of depleted natural resources and climate change. Featuring interviews with Paola Antonelli of MoMA and Tim Brown of IDEO, it includes contributions from thought leaders, such as Janine Benyus, Thomas Fisher, Daniel Kraft, Alex McDowell, Franz Oswold, and Mark Watts. High-profile designers like FutureCitiesLab, SHoP, and UrbanThinkTank, are featured as examples of forward thinking and innovation in the field, highlighting the need for — and possibility of — a shift in the global perspective. The discussion includes the challenges we face in creating a positive tomorrow, and the solutions that architecture and design can bring to the table. Despite the proliferation of global crises possibly threatening human survival, our current moment provides the opportunity to write a new, positive story about our future. 2050: Designing Our Tomorrow describes how the design community can contribute to that vision by asserting positive aspirations for the worlds we create ourselves. See how architects and designers inspire global positive change Consider architecture's role in shaping cultural outlook Learn the key drivers of change for the built environment Explore the perspectives of leading experts and designers Architects and planners over the centuries have put a stamp upon the planet through the physical manifestations of their belief structures. Today's design community faces a rising wealth gap, climate change, shifting paradigms of nationalism, and myriad other challenges. 2050: Designing Our Tomorrow phrases global issues as a design problem, and describes how architects and designers can rise to the challenge of creating a more positive future.

Design Technology in Contemporary Architectural Practice
Design Technology in Contemporary Architectural Practice

Author: Dominik Holzer

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-06-19

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 0429864566

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Design Technology in Contemporary Architectural Practice lifts the curtain to unveil how eleven world-leading design studios integrate technology (such as computational design, BIM, and digital fabrication) as part of their day-to-day design exploration and delivery. Via first-hand accounts, the book offers rare insights about how these firms apply technology to purposefully disrupt and support their creative design processes in order to then explore how technology can be integrated on an organisational level. The resulting practice stories are loosely tied to four chapters that discuss how Design Technology corresponds to studio culture, collaboration and delivery protocols, business opportunities, knowledge sharing, staff empowerment, and more. The author is less interested in presenting the latest and greatest tools than in focusing on cultural and organisational challenges and opportunities. This book benefits both the professional market (such as design firms reflecting on their technology use), as well as the academic context (with its critical reflection on the interface between design process and technology support). Stories from the following design firms are included: Coop Himmelb(l)au Foster + Partners Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) Zaha Hadid Architects Diller Scofidio + Renfo Heatherwick Studio Morphosis Architects SO-IL Woods Bagot Herzog & de Meuron LASSA

Loose-Fit Architecture
Loose-Fit Architecture

Author: Alex Lifschutz

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2017-11-06

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 111915264X

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Loose-Fit Architecture: Designing Buildings for Change September/October 2017 Profile 249 Volume 87 No 5 ISBN 978 1119 152644 Guest-Edited by Alex Lifschutz The idea that a building is 'finished' or 'complete' on the day it opens its doors is hardwired into existing thinking about design, planning and construction. But this ignores the unprecedented rate of social and technological change. A building only begins its life when the contractors leave. With resources at a premium and a greater need for a sustainable use of building materials, can we still afford to construct new housing or indeed any buildings that ignore the need for flexibility or the ability to evolve over time? Our design culture needs to move beyond the idealisation of a creative individual designer generating highly specific forms with fixed uses. The possibilities of adaptation and flexibility have often been overlooked, but they create hugely exciting 'loose-fit' architectures that emancipate users to create their own versatile and vibrant environments. Contributors include: Stewart Brand, Renee Chow, Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, John Habraken, Edwin Heathcote, Despina Katsakakis, Stephen Kendall, Ian Lambot, Giorgio Macchi, Alexi Marmot, Andrea Martin, Kazunobu Minami, Peter Murray, Brett Steele, and Simon Sturgis.

Autonomous Assembly
Autonomous Assembly

Author: Skylar Tibbits

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2017-11-20

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 1119102359

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We are now on the brink of a new era in construction – that of autonomous assembly. For some time, the widespread adoption of robotic and digital fabrication technologies has made it possible for architects and academic researchers to design non-standard, highly customised structures. These technologies have largely been limited by scalability, focusing mainly on top-down, bespoke fabrication projects, such as experimental pavilions and structures. Autonomous assembly and bottom-up construction techniques hold the promise of greater scalability, adaptability and potentially evolved design possibilities. By capitalising on the advances made in swarm robotics, the collective construction of the animal/insect kingdom, and advances in physical computational, programmable materials or self-assembly, architects and designers are now able to build from the bottom up. This issue presents future scenarios of autonomous assembly by highlighting the viability of decentralised, collective assembly systems, demonstrating the potential to deliver reconfigurable and adaptive solutions. Contributors include: Marcelo Coelho, Andong Liu, Robin Meier, Kieran Murphy and Heinrich Jaeger, Radhika Nagpal and Kirstin Petersen, and Zorana Zeravcic. Featured architects: Aranda\Lasch, Arup, Philippe Block, Gramazio Kohler Architects, Ibañez Kim, Achim Menges, Caitlin Mueller, Jose Sanchez, Athina Papadopoulou and Jared Laucks, and Skylar Tibbits.