Contents

Introduction Emergence
where it’s going wrong self-organisation

Closing the Loop Evolution

the circulating metabolism survial of the fittest

Strategy for Design Issues

product, project, planet what are the problems?

Connections Possibilities
networked societies what can we do?

Policy Conclusion
top down v. bottom up what have we learnt?

Game Theory Bibliography

setting a [goal] read all about it
01 introduction
 introduction 02

introduction
where it’s going wrong
03 introduction

the networked human brain the networked galaxy

 introduction 04

Introduction

“Sustainability” has become a buzzword describing and supporting localised “green” inter-
ventions, as solutions to our environmental global problems.

The following text argues the importance of not just assessing these interventions in their
immediate context, but to look at their role in relation to our global landscape, and tech-
nological and cultural developments over time. Through the mapping of complex relation-
ships, society can formulate a new paradigm through which to examine the issue of ‘sustain-
ability’.

Observations must be undertaken with a holistic mind set; there is a need to comprehend all
scales from the global to the citywide, and right down to the individual products. Networks
of connectivity infiltrate every aspect of our lives from the capillaries in our own bodies, to
the roads that traverse the landscape or the systems of the universe.

There needs to be a shift in our way of life, but also in the theoretical position we take when
designing a project. In order to achieve a successful solution we need to have a holistic view
of the interactions with the rest of the world, the connectivity strategies and government
policies, which are involved with a proposal.

We must anticipate how the ecological and technological developments that occur so regu-
larly will eventually have an effect on the social and economical world, and what the ben-
efits may be. By mapping the physical and non-physical flows of data, we can identify and
gain a better understanding of the existing systems of our environment and then apply this
to our designs and design processes.
 closing
05
the loop
 closing
06
the loop

closing the loop

the circulating metabolism
 closing
07
the loop


 





Linear Process / Link Inputs & Outputs / Perpetual Machine

 closing
08
the loop

Closing the loop

Developed western nations frequently utilise a linear metabolism in manufacture, use and
waste in order to feed capitalistic hunger, however, highly urbanized countries are keen to
sustain the inefficient systems already put in place in order to maintain economic superi-
ority. There is acute awareness the impact e-waste has on the water table of far-eastern
countries for example, however, society’s ‘now’ culture and resulting inability to consider
long-term effects, means there is little regard for it. As a result, secondary systems of waste
are created, as fresh water must be imported at the cost of fast dwindling raw materials.

There is increasing recognition that these linear metabolisms must be closed, and waste
must become the food of a new cyclical system. By failing to address the potential lifetime
of biological and technological materials, society is continuing to support linear methods
and prevent change as these processes become further imbedded in industry thus compro-
mising our own lifetimes. We have the facilities, means, knowledge and capital to invest in
shifting the process, although not yet the motivation or enough personal moral obligation
to alter our contemporary illogical system.

There is a need for change in the current game of capitalism where success breeds expan-
sion regardless of waste and its impact on future resources and the global condition.

“Should manufacturers of existing products feel guilty about their complicity in this destruc-
tive agenda? Yes. No. It doesn’t matter. Insanity has been described as doing the same thing
over and over and expecting a different outcome. Negligence is described as doing the same
thing over and over, even though you know its is dangerous, stupid, or wrong. Now that we
know, it’s time for a change. Negligence starts tomorrow” 1
 strategy
09
for design
 strategy
10
for design

strategy for
design
product, project, planet
 strategy
11
for design


 

 





Multi-Discipline / Exploiting All Opportunities / Adaptable over Life of the Project

 strategy
12
for design

Strategy for design

Society’s ongoing march towards the eventual destruction of our species can be measured
by the rapidly decreasing fertile, habitable land and shrinking ecologies. A future where ar-
chitects are physically confined to ‘second hand’ sites is not hard to comprehend.

If re-use strategies can be applied at product level, then why not at project level? Offices,
homes and public space should be allowed to evolve. Policy should develop to ensure the
long-term sustainability of a space. Projects should be fit for purpose but adaptable with
time, allowing for changes in economy, politics and culture. The holistic view is to account
for the life of the building and have contingencies for all outcomes so that when change oc-
curs it can be adapted to without the need for additional design contribution. Design strate-
gies can acknowledge fixed points in time, but must consider time as a key factor in order to
achieve a stable global condition. A condition that can retain future resources, and remove
the current ‘need’ to live far beyond global means.

“rather than assuming stability and explaining change, one must assume change and ex-
plain stability”2

Any organism or project is a culmination of fluid ecologies, the life cycle of a brick, or the
public space it provides for example. Contemporary architects have a responsibility to de-
code, interpret and synthesize the operations of smaller systems and then incorporate these
strategies across an entire project. If society can realise the need (if not yet the implemen-
tation) to close the loop of micro scale systems, then this pursuit should also be inherent at
meso scale in urban design, and ultimately at a global level.
13 connections
 connections 14

connections
networked societies
15 connections







Virtual Connectivity / Physical Fragmentation / Inefficient Single Units

 connections 16

Connections
Society has come to experience our new urban world as placeless - a landscape accommo-
dating a war between the virtual and the actual, the technological and the ecological. Our
daily routines, economic and political processes are embedded in the source of this conflict,
so much so, that humanity is dependant on it and fails to comprehend a life without it.

“The larger a city, the more complex its system of commerce and services” 3

The advancement of virtual networks was pursued as a way of freeing ourselves from the
banality of the everyday, and as means of reducing labour in the production of services in
order to remain competitive. This has the immediate effect of creating more time and more
capital for us to do more. Technology today has allowed society to become highly connected
and provide greater freedom to pursue personal interests, however, the long-term effects
have the potential to be quite destructive, and significantly shift the physical landscape.

Although these advancements have created more efficient processes by connecting people
to their desires, technology has somewhat distanced individuals from each other in the
physical environment, reducing sensual acuity. By doing so, it has created a culture of con-
sumption, a way of life enabling the public to achieve things in less and less time, but re-
sulting in society doing and accumulating more and more things. The current methods of
architecture have not been able to adapt to the speed of cultural changes and technological
advancements, which means the physical environment has become fragmented and filled
with socially ineffective spaces. If we subscribe to the notion that architecture is supposed
to be a reflection of society, catering for our way of doing things, then the design process
will only supply what is demanded. This means a shift in design will only occur when compli-
mented by a further cultural shift among the population. Instead of technology replacing the
social activities and adding-on to current unsustainable processes, we believe the answer to
make our cities and communities more sustainable, is to embrace technology to inform our
physical world and counteract the fragmentation that technology initially created.
How do we keep our spaces active and fit for purpose?

“Space does not reflect society, it expresses it” 4

By identifying and mapping our urban movements, patterns, formations, transformations

we can integrate technology into our open spaces and urban fragments, creating spaces
where people can meet and interact with each other as well as the spaces.
17 policy
 policy 18

policy
top down v. bottom up
19 policy







Government Policy / People Power / Battle for Supremacy / Best of Both

 policy 20

Policy

There is a constant power struggle between the roles of people and the government, which
can lead to the suffocation of change. It has proved idealistic to operate within a system
where power is ceded in one direction or the other; however, we can pragmatically argue
for a specific balance of power between the two.

The top down approach of government utilises the rule of law and propaganda in order to
control its population.

“At present, this dilema is usually dealt with through a lowest-common-denominator or one-
size-fits-all”5
The advantage is that any amendment of law can effect immediate change and could there-
fore be used by ‘enlightened leaders’ to enforce more sustainable practices. In extremity,
however, this approach becomes a dictatorship, which removes personal freedoms causing
everyone and everything to become the same, as prescriptive laws strangle creative think-
ing and innovation.

A bottom up approach allows the people to govern themselves and live within self-defined
limits based on self-defined ideas. In this, ultimate free market conditions can be achieved
that allow individual freedom in the pursuit of goals, spawning an incredible diversity of
solutions. With everyone moving in individual directions however, the resulting ideas can be
wayward and lack focus. Tackling a specific problem becomes more difficult because there
is no unifying element.
21 game theory
 game theory 22

game theory
setting a [goal]
23 game theory







Self-Interested Population / Incentives = Motivation / Invisible Hand Guides the Masses

 game theory 24

Game Theory

A balance of power between the two is essential to allow the actions of the masses and
the executive to be held to account. The government needs to operate as a guiding hand to
the free market organisation; a policy umbrella to cover all individuals working within the
system without restricting freedoms but directing everyone’s efforts towards the same ulti-
mate goal, in this case, sustainability.

“Power is no longer really acquired through social altruism, but through gentrification as a
tool” 6

For the government to relinquish control they would still need a method to manipulate the
masses, this is where the correct use of Game Theory can be applied. Game Theory analyses
the way the populace think and behave, and works on the basic principle that everyone is
primarily motivated by his or her own self-interests. Individuals are only willing to pursue
a goal if it benefits their situation. The contemporary attitude is not one of co-operation,
as adaptation towards a self-sustaining lifestyle is currently extra work with no personal
reward and consequently, lacks an individual incentive for change.

A holistic approach is to target the individual and motivate them so as personal interests are
aligned and a synchronicity amongst the general populace is achieved. This has a greater ef-
fectiveness because everybody is moving in the same direction. By implementing rewards,
incentives and policies, which support ideas of sustainability, the government can appeal to
the individual’s desire to improve their own circumstances, and collaborate the will of the
population into a consistent direction. In practice, it can become a tit-for-tat situation; a re-
ciprocating relationship, which has been used to good effect in other situations. In New York
for example, the city council recognised a need for more public space. The implementation
of new policy stated planning permission would be granted for twenty percent more floor
area, if new construction projects provided such spaces. Corporations promptly supplied
this public facility in return for the attractive financial benefit.
25 emergence
 emergence 26

emergence
self-organisation
27 emergence

Deregulation = Free Creativity / Self-Organisation / Reflects Group Consciousness

 emergence 28

Emergence

The complexity of our cities is constantly in flux, as multiple networks continue to intersect,
converge and overlap. Observations made at various scales of study show evidence of rela-
tionships and patterns between all scales of the biosphere. Consider a shoal of fish moving
seemingly collectively, the shoal is directed by no one, it’s movements and decisions are
emergent, such patterns of emergence function through self-organisation, bottom-up ap-
proaches with single entities operating at small scales on the local level often driven purely
through self-interest.

As a design paradigm, Emergent will provides us with tools that allow for adaptability with
regard to strategising for future scenarios. This can only happen with a sufficient regulatory
looseness. This generates a new realm of design potential and establishes a dialogue with
which local knowledge can be used to the best advantage of the group.

“The solution to our environmental problems may lie in relating architecture to the new ho-
listic understanding of the structure of nature”7

Such systems of complexity operate in a chaotic and non-linear manor; processing multiple
inputs, producing unplanned, unpredictable and non-prescribed outcomes. This leads not
just to adaptation to change, but exploitation of new opportunities. This idea requires a
completely deregulated society, however, the model for such occurrences requires a syn-
chronicity amongst the group and therefore a unifying element is still essential. The mo-
mentum required for significant change at the global level requires only small alterations to
happen locally. These emergent solutions enter into a competitive market where only the
best, most innovative ideas survive and can be exported globally.
29 evolution
 evolution 30

evolution
survial of the fittest
31 evolution







Deregulation = Free Creativity / Self-Organisation / Reflects Group Consciousness

 evolution 32

Evolution

We honour our errors; Darwinian’s Theory of Evolution can be seen as an act of “systematic
error management” 8, implementing a diverse stock portfolio in an act of trial and error.

We honour our success, “success breeds success” 9, the strongest wins. As systems fail, the
swarm of entities learns from the failure and applies this knowledge to future situations,
which leads to the likely reduction of failure and increases in success. This develops a strat-
egy for the emergence model to be applied globally.

There is strength in numbers, evolution interconnects all scales. As successful systems at

the micro scale continue to flourish, they multiply and evolve to breed new generations of
systems, a simple system that works from the bottom up, and drive macro scale systems of
complexity.

It is such an approach to design, which manipulates methodologies such as policy, rather

than traditional design disciplines, which will result in designs for contingency rather than
order or a style.

“To get the most out of nothing, you need to have self-changing rules.” 10

By embracing such paradigms in our design approaches, we (the architects) will move from
product designer to systems designer, thereby addressing design criteria, which relate to
fundamental fluctuations in time. The linear notion that a building is always the answer to
a problem is superseded by a non-linear notion that a strategy for multiple solutions is the
answer.
 issues
33
& possibilities
 issues
34
& possibilities

issues
& possibilities
what are the problems?
what can we do?
 issues
35
& possibilities

Issues

The primary issue arises with the juxtaposition of the knowledge to put sustainable strate-
gies in place, but the still uneconomical means that don’t appeal to capitalist sensibilities.
The global population is therefore stuck with the slow change of supply and demand. The
flood of change will only occur after the ‘Tipping Point’ has been achieved, and sustainable
practices achieve economic viability. The path society is travelling, points to a future where
change will only occur once resources have been sufficiently depleted that forced interven-
tion is required to instigate immediate change.

“Architects aligne themselves with the uncontrollable” 11

 issues
36
& possibilities

Possibilities

A central governing body is the best tool for changing our destructive natures. Without
resorting to absolute control, executive powers can allow tax breaks and provide research
grants towards sustainable practices, whilst simultaneously increasing the cost of maintain-
ing unsustainable approaches. This allows our world to continue to operate the way it wants
but uses fiscal incentive to encourage change.
An industry demonstrating that it is enacting cyclical metabolisms would be able to increase
profits under a new economic system, whereas any industry that does not change would
have to contend with higher taxes. This then enables the evolution of industry to happen
more rapidly as they each adapt to a new economic climate as quickly as possible in order to
remain competitive and survive. The intervention would allow society to rapidly reach the
‘Tipping Point’ and retain any remaining resources, before it is no longer an option.

Partial deregulation of the masses can allow a huge surge of change and honours the prin-
ciples of freedom of speech and the freedom of information. These principles will form
the pillars for a new method of control; the media can act as a very effective tool to keep
exploitation of the system in check. As people take advantage, the media can expose them
to the ‘moral compass’ of the masses; this keeps industry in check, as bad publicity is not in
their interest.
37 conclusion
 conclusion 38

conclusion
what have we learnt?
39 conclusion







Architects Identify Real Problems / Multi Faceted Approach / Inseparable Principles

 conclusion 40

Conclusion

The design process needs to become a systematic way of thinking, where we seek to under-
stand the connections and interactions of all the problem variables, putting us in a position
to ask the right questions and identify the real problems, in order to determine the best
solutions.

“the functional relationship (economy of agglomeration or economy of scale), social organi-

sation (network or institution) and spatial configuration, while clasification of those layers is
based on the interaction between them”12
How cities emerge, their states of flux, urban affects on organisation and behaviour of so-
ciety and the balance between long and short term solutions; can begin to provide an ap-
preciation for the role architecture plays in our whole system of living and development. Not
all problems require built solutions. New systems of thinking or infrastructural improvement
may be the most suitable and beneficial intervention that could unlock the true potential of
place.

We view the problems of non-sustainable places, buildings, and practice, as a failure of so-
ciety in not fully understanding the networks and systems that they operate within, belong
to, and contribute to. The most suitable solution to approach global sustainability lies in
the appreciation and the interaction of the various factors that make up our urban fabric;
economy, scale, context and time.
41 conclusion







4D Systems of Sustainability / Holistic Problem Solving / Implement Social and Economic

Policy to enable Environmental & Technological Sustainability
 conclusion 42

Conclusion

It can be acknowledged that an eco-centric response may be suitable in one situation where-
as a techno-centric solution may be suitable for another. They are not mutually exclusive ap-
proaches but at opposed ends of a sliding scale that cannot be separated.

Urban design needs to allow a system which takes into account lifetime; how things change
and design for it. Rather than prescribing an answer frozen in time, architects must allow for
change and adaptability without extra design input. Consideration must be taken at macro,
meso and micro scale in order to achieve a holistic solution. Sustainability is not only an eco-
logical or technological plan; it is a cultural and business plan. Change can only occur when
society becomes aware that social and economic reform will enable environmental and
technological sustainability. The populace must align their interests and capital provided in
order to achieve an ultimately sustainable global condition. All disciplines and ideas must
be utilised and incorporated into a system, a building, or a way of life in order to achieve
something that can be considered as highly evolved.
43 references & bibliography
 references & bibliography 44

references &
bibliography
read all about it
45 references & bibliography

References

1 Braungart & McDonough, (2003) Cradle to Cradle. Rodale Press. p.117

2 Sherman, R, (2005) 306090: Autonomous Urbanism. Architectural Journal. p.103

3 Giradet, H, (1999) Creating Sustainable Cities. Schumacher Briefings. p.23

4 Braham, W, & Hale, J, (2007) Rethinking Technology. Routledge (Ed. 1) p.441

5 Sherman, R, (2005) 306090: Autonomous Urbanism. Architectural Journal. p.104

6 Bullivant, L (2005) From the State as Client to the Client State. Ole Bouman. p.17

7 Kelly, K (1995) Out of Control. Basic Books p.470

8 Kelly, K (1995) Out of Control. Basic Books p.470

9 Kelly, K (1995) Out of Control. Basic Books p.470

10 Kelly, K (1995) Out of Control. Basic Books p.470

11 Sherman, R, (2005) 306090: Autonomous Urbanism. Architectural Journal. p.104

12 Sheng, Q. (2006) De-/signing the Urban. 010 Publishers. p.364

 references & bibliography 46

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Originally published 2002
Cradle To Cradle; Remaking the Way We Make Things
Vintage UK Random House

Bullivant, Lucy 2006

Power broking: Contemporary issues of insttituional power, State, and architectural practice in Britain
From Volume Magazine No. 5 Jan 2006
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Braham, William W. and Hale, Jonathan A. 2006

Rethinking Technology; A Reader in Architectural Theory
Routledge; 1 edition (13 Dec 2006)

Curtis, Adam 2004

The Trap
BBC Documentary

Kelly, Kevin 1995

Out of Control; The New Biology of Machines
Originally published Addison Wesley 1994
London:Fourth Estate
http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/contents.php

Frazer, John 1995

An Evolutionary Architecture
Architectural Association Publications, Themes VII
http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/publications/ea/intro.html
47 references & bibliography

Girardet, Herbet 2006

Schumacher Briefings: Creating Sustainable Cities
Green Books

First accessed 08/10/2009

http:www.mi2.hr/#ognjen/tekst/delanda2001.html
Manuel De Landa: Deleuze an d the Use of the Genetic Algorithm in Architecture

Reed, Chris 2005

Performance Practices
Extract from 30 60 90 09; Regarding Public Space

Sherman, Roger 2005

If, Then: Shaping Change as a Strategic basis for Design
Extract from 30 60 90 08; Autonomous Urbanism
Princeton Architectural Press (July 14, 2005)

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Tit for Tat and Urban Rules from Space, Time, Play; Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism The Next
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