13 December 2011

Week 16

AGREST

  • “It is precisely in such moments of change where critical thought and new theories are produced and practice is radically restructured.” (pg. 168) How has use of the computers in design restructured practice?

  • Has rapid prototyping been “instrumental in the generation of architecture?” Can you think of any examples where rapid prototyping has contributed to the physical make-up of a building?

  • Drawing, writing and building are important methods of architectural representation. Are any of these more important than the others?

  • “Networks of information and communication take place in an ‘other’ space where the major parameters are speed, time, and movement.” How can this be better incorporated with physical space?

TUFTE:

  • What kind of program would be more appropriate for the presentation of analytic data?

  • Are the issues surrounding Power Point a result of its inherent functionality, or user error?

  • What does the Gettysburg Address example point out concerning the problems in Power Point? In what ways does PP-ifying the speech make it better or worse?

08 December 2011

visible certainty - tumblr

http://visicert.tumblr.com/

I have had a tumblr account for awhile and done nothing with it. I have recently started to add images of various things I find interesting. Some of the images are from my lectures. It is updated frequently...enjoy!

06 December 2011

Avoiding Digital Pitfalls

Rachel Hicks, Kelsey Webb, Roberto Jaimes

Week 14


Picon, “Architecture, Science, Technology And The Virtual Realm”

“What are the conditions that, at certain times, make the relations between science and architecture truly productive?” (pg 294, para 3)

Picon says, “Science and architecture meet when they both contribute to the cultural construction of perception.”(pg 295) What does this mean for the two disciplines?

How, as Picon says, is architecture a virtual reality? What are the differences between a design created on a computer versus a hand-drawn design?

What does Picon mean when he says “Information is nothing but a production of events”? (pg 304)

In using computers in architecture, how might we mitigate the impression of arbitrariness that work in the digital realm might create? (pg 304)

What kinds of issues of scale arise with the use of computers in architecture? (pg 307-8)


Allen, “Terminal Velocities: The Computer in the Design Studio”

How does Allen’s example of cats falling out of windows in NYC relate to his argument about virtual reality in architecture?

Allen quotes Paul Virilio: “The field of freedom shrinks with speed. And freedom needs a field. When there is no more field, our lives will be like a terminal, a machine with doors that open and close.” Do you agree with this? What might be the definition of “field”? (pg 72, par 2

In the undergraduate level, when, if at all, do you think the computer should be in the design studio?

“Technology, Michel Foucault reminds us, is social before it is technical.” (top pg 73) Is this true? Why or why not?