The Holotects

Cutting out time for those creative moments

2011-02-05T05:04:00.000-08:00

In my last post, I suggested based on Daniel Pinks theory of motivation that we need to free ourselves from algorithmic tasks to make more time for truly creative thought, as this will bring about breakthroughs and self motivation.

The reality is that dishes still need to be washed, e-mails answered, and calculations for building control collated and issued. In other words, we will always have uninspiring tasks that can't be outsourced or automated that are still critical to success and well-being.

The key is that we do automate and outsource as much of it that we can, and through this maintain an appropriate balance of algorithmic and heuristic work. I suggest the ratio be roughly 20-80%. If we can spend just 1.5 hrs a day on answering e-mails, checking bar bending schedules, filing etc, and fence off 6.5 hrs for the really creative and fulfilling stuff, which includes collaborating with others, learning something new or exploring options to a design problem, then I'm sure we will provide significantly more value in the long term.

Daniel Pink and why we should all be stoics

2011-02-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a lot of Daniel Pink and his very simple but very powerful (and experimentally proven) notion that external reward incentives hinder creativity. He shows that the carrot and stick approach works well for needs low on the Maslow value pyramid (survival needs and basic routine tasks). However, when we aim to satisfy our highest needs ( creativity, meaning, innovation), external incentives can make us perform poorly. Instead, an internal drive where personal satisfaction is the only goal increases creativity and open, divergent thinking. Short term goals and concrete incentives focus our minds required for routine algorithmic tasks. But for heuristic, holistic "out side of the box" thinking we need to remove any thoughts of external reward (e.g. extra pay or "innovation bonuses").

He gives as an example the open source movement and wikipedia - people working for free have given money making corporations a serious run for their money.

He says that three ingredients are critical for this:

Autonomy
A feeling of Meaning and Community
A desire for Competence and Mastery

This sounds like a fantastic socialist utopia - lets just not worry about pay, all for one, one for all, I'll do it my way, I'm in control and in the end there will be more than enough to go round.

But the fact is, the survival and routine tasks still need to be maintained. We can outsource some of this (number crunching, etc), but ultimately that's not sustainable - third world countries are catching up and have the same needs for creativity and fulfilment as anyone else. Ultimately automation of as many tasks as possible and batch processing of routine tasks will get these algorithmic necessities out of the way to some extent, but someone still needs to turn the handle and monitor the results. No automation process is perfect.

So where as we may not be able to eliminate the boring (but critically vital) tasks, we must work to free up as much time from them as possible to have space for creative thinking.

Once we can take our minds off survival and maintenance (money, health, order, hygiene etc) we can be free to create. Without the external drivers there to focus our mind, our brains are free to explore connections and combinations that would never be found through narrow thought processes required for algorithmic execution.

Applying discipline and efficient processing is one way of freeing time and taking control of boring but required tasks. Another is reducing our needs all together. Less areas in our life that require additional maintenance and algorithmic attention will free up more time for creativity and fulfilment. Perhaps this is why a stoic, minimalist approach is very effective. Minimizing our basic needs and attachments, we can spend less time maintaining superfluous baggage. We still need to do it, because even very few possessions will require some looking after. But at least we can cut it down to a minimum. So perhaps that Bible verse about not worrying about what to wear and what to eat, as even the flowers are beautifully draped and the sparrows well fed, is a call in this direction. Worry less about stuff that will consume you time unnecessarily, keep it maintained well enough that you don't have to think about it. And then your free to do the things that really matter.

Everlasting Green Modules

2011-01-31T00:59:00.000-08:00

Lots of ideas this morning ranging from a highrise building half-timber half-half concrete, to creating modular based architecture for ultimate reusability. I'd love to do a study with architects on creating a "lego" set for the building indstry - looking closely at what repeatability could be used across various building types. It would be important to select the materials carefully for a cradle to cradle approach, looking at long term effects such as creep and durability. The idea is that a building should be easy to dissassemble if required and the pieces re-used with little or no modification to assemble new dwellings. The engineering of this approach would have to be carefully balanced against aesthetic and offer freedom to a broad range of architectural styles. This approach, I beleive, would provide the most economical, sustainable and safe approach to construction. Any takers or suggestions?

Smart Buildings

2011-01-06T15:13:00.000-08:00

Buildings are getting smarter! Just read an article on "The Economist Technology Quarterly" from December 11 2010 entitled: Superstructures - building "smart structures" with sensors.

Here's a synopsis including the Problems, Solutions an example and the future of smart Buildings. What do you think?

Problems:

cost
wires needed to provide data and power
even with battery powered wireless sensors how often do they need to be maintained/replaced? Robustness of the sensors will influence this. Exposure to the elements including break dust in tunnels can have a detrimental effect.
Deflected and direct signals interfering with one another, increasing the time it takes for a node to join the network.
Fixing the sensors to the sensors economically and robustly - they sometimes fall of after several and have to be re-resined.
transfer time: Golden gate bridge network takes 12hrs to transmit 80 seconds of data.

Solutions:

Solved to some extent by wireless technology and improvements in battery and radio technology.
solar, wind turbine (vibration?) powered sensors (perhaps for "sentry" sensors? See below.)
employing "pipe-lining" in which a signal is passed along a network of sensors to reduce the maximum "jump".
software that determines locations of minimum radio interference (probably using advanced finite element analysis)
if sensors could do some of the processing of data themselves then that would reduce the amount of data that needed to be transferred, by prioritising and being selective about the data that actually needs to be sent off.
intelligent power management - sensors only switch on when they need to process or transmit. Aplies the use of few "sentry" sensors which "wake up" the much larger network of remaining "sleeping" sensors in the event of significant activity. "Sleeping" Sensors are only receptive for a split second at given intervals to conserve battery unless prompted by a "sentry".

Case study:

Jubilee tunnel - sensors and conventional monitoring led to investigating the replacement of the tunnel lining.

Future:

Sensors that not only report but immediately fix the problem. (e.g. mass-damper systems in tall buildings that counteract oscillations caused by string winds or earthquakes) Need to overcome the problem of power cuts dissabling the actuators of such systems by deploying low power actuators supplied by new battery technologies (semi-active as opposed to passive - no power and active -high power). Perhaps even the deployment of robots to fix defects once they are sensed.

Reaching Out To The Invisible

2010-11-18T01:46:00.001-08:00

The Bible reading on Tuesday (Saint Luke 19:1-10) tells us a very familiar story, a story that makes us feel like we are looking into a mirror or a page from our own life. Zaccheaus a wealthy man and a sinner avoids the large crowds and climbs a sycamore tree to get a view of the worlds savior. Jesus notices this and reaches out back to him with the words; "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." This is a story of hope and a symbol of our personal spiritual yearning.

Now the collage above is a connection of two images that I thought reflect our personal yearning for something bigger then life: left, Jack English's photo of a surfer tackling a wave and touching the waters flesh and right, Michelangelo's painting of the creation of man located in the Sistine Chapel. Michealangelo's photo brings the creation of man to life with Adam reaching out to his Father and the almighty Creator. Jack English's photo shows a man touching the water----as if reaching out in search for something greater than life. Like the two images representing going beyond the extreme Zacchaeus climbed his tree in order to be notices despite the shame of his crooked soul...in return he was saved. Let us reach out to the invisible and climb heights in order for him to be welcomed into the house of our heavy hearts.

The singer/songwriter Jon Foreman writes: "Let us acknowledge our neediness, our beautiful desperation . Yes, our unanswerable, aching, longing poverty i a prerequisite for the balm of salvation." We, the people---the failures, the losers, the outsiders---we must climb our tree of life and find our King. And let us love! Let us celebrate the reckless love of the one who risked all that we might be loved. Let us follow the path of God who loves us and reach out to the Invisible.

Studio and design essentials

2010-10-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the things I never design without…

The Hoodie

Not only is it a simple and effective way to maintain a nice working temperature, it's always a nice thing to put the hoodie up and zone out in front of the computer, meeting table or sketchbook. It's like a little bedroom you can wear.

The Sketchbook

Great for logging my sketches and design ideas... I can go for a walk or hide out in a vacant room and work out the tough stuff without the self consciousness of doing it in front of other people.

The iPod

I just leave home, ride the subway, have a coffee, do some CAD or just chill out with all my favourite tracks buzzing. I just choose the band that gets me in the mood and get ready to design and creative action.

Brutalism. Modernisms ugly brother

2010-07-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

So as I eat lunch at London's Barbican once in a while I wonder what makes this Brutalist piece such a success within the context of London. Its vast harsh skinned space is a desired location for so many Londoners searching for some of there "own breathing space" and silence while the rest of the London streets are packed and loud during week days. The Barbican is like Oscar Niemeyers Brazilia only maybe more...human?

Brazilia when built was a monument of modernists obsession to reach order and purity. Its what I like to think a perfect example of an architect combining modernism+architecture rather then humanity+architecture. This Utopian dream of white washed order and pure forms became brutal, dirty and it became a ghost land of vast wasted space. Nature and humanity therefore acted against it.

Barbican on the other hand was brutal from the very beginning. The ugly one within the context of the city. Rough skin, imposing sharp angled towers which stand tall...Quasimodo on the Notre Dame bell towers. But then what happened?

People reacted against it in a different manner. Londoners with there capability of keeping things in order...clean and tidy...like a tea party, taking care of modernism's ugly brother. Every balcony now contains lush colored flowers and plants. The area is swept twice a day and therefore the clean concrete ramps lead your eyes to the towers in the sky...in a funny way it all works. As I eat my sandwich I love it...my hands touch the stoned surface of its skin. Within this structure totally resembling imperfect humanity there is light and color. The Barbican is a dramatic backdrop to life in the city. It amplifies very little thing, the flowers and palms on the balconies, the child's smile, the sunshine...but also the stormy sky. I enjoy the way the Barbican makes you notice the rest of the world around you. In the eyes of modernisms ugly brother there is hope to something more beautiful in its relationship to the rest of the city. This is to say that the Barbican was an experiment which reacted with the context of London at the right time and place in a healthy and successful way.

London being a city of monuments should not be afraid to embrace experimentation. Of course there have been many examples of bad architectural experimentation...many would say more bad then good...but we must introduce the optimism and action for the better stuff. In fact because of this lack of a fresh eye and confidence London has put all its effort in undoing modernism and concentrating on preservation...this is dumb and expensive. So lets not make mediocre architecture that provokes a negative response. Lets make new architecture that invites humanity to live and take action rather then sleep walk through out daily lives totaly not inspired by the growing city.

2010-07-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

Modernism Architecture is a monument to the radical obsession to achieve order without the element of struggling for hope, resulting in a mere artificial perception of purity that is only skin deep.

Gaudi a Holotect?

2010-06-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

First of all I would like to invite everyone (not just architects, engineers, artists, builders) but everyone, to enjoy the greatness of Gaudi once again, take another look.

A good way to do this would be to watch the BBC documentary on Gaudi called “Gods Architect.” Watch the whole thing, start to finish, and all seven parts, here’s a link.

The architect Antoni Gaudi is for sure underrated around the world for all his excellence. There were a few crazy ideas that came to the mind of some individuals that we should give up on Sagrada Familia and change it to a rail station or something….! It has been also known that Gaudi has been mocked for his “kitsch” aspects, and his “spiritual obsession,” however; these are all insults that are weak and they will die easily while Gaudi’s architecture will still be considered paradise for many and should forever stand strong in the face of history.

The question I wish to focus on is: Is Gaudi an example of a Holotect?
I believe miracles are seen in the designs of Gaudi. He certainly went beyond what people were ready for. Owners of buildings designed by Gaudi consider them to be the most special place on earth.

I often repeat to myself that if Gaudi was alive today he would easily collect the Pritzker prize (the highest award for architectural achievement in a life time). But Gaudi goes beyond the Pritzker...every building of his seems like a life time achievement and when was the last time a present day Pritzker nominee left behind something like Sagrada Familia? A piece of architecture way beyond our cultural ambition to finish, in fact even with all the technological experts today it’s super hard to finish it without him.

I believe holotects take action towards building something which gives out a message. This message can be of many; love, joy, hope…but the message has to be built and delivered creatively from many different perspectives. This must be done without having to fill it up with post-rationalized French philosophy or Jewish mysticism which purely concentrates on selling something “for the moment” (It is very tempting to give out examples of architects who do this, but I’ll hold my self).

I think the true infinity in a holotects work of architecture is seen in the many beautiful interpretations of the designs message.

Holotects reach out towards a message beyond their own skin by sharing beautiful biographical experiences in the built form. This is to say that it is important to balance the two equally important molecules…one of personal artistic experience and creativity…two the more functional needs of other human beings. What clients will continuously need to understand is that the collaborated vision of beauty is important for the successful growth of a project as is the buildings rational function.

Now lets break this down (we’ll get back to Gaudi in a second)…

Modernism or minimalism: Mies van de Rohe’s “Less is More” seems like functionalism…a very rational placement of architectural elements. But this soon became too boring for us to live in; to an extent that I would even say it would permanently damage our society with an ultimate lack of vision and ambition.

Post-modernsim: Robert Venturi’s “Less is a bore”…so now we started to attach things on to the box…giving shallow meaning to architecture but truly just camouflaging the modernist, minimalist and RATIONALISTIC mistake.

But Gaudi designed architecture that made decoration and organic form a function, he made architecture an extension of nature...the building is one, one with Gaudi, one with its inhabitants, one with nature, one with Spirit…and Gaudi within his architecture expresses ”Life is More”…and he won.

For this I believe Gaudi was a Holotect

Calatrava - the Romantic and the Rationalist

2010-06-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

I was going through my notes and came across some scribbles dated from 18/10/2007. It was the day we three brothers gathered together at the concrete institute in London to listen to Calatrava speak.

The crowds gathered to hear this man for a very good reason – he has sculpted some of the most fascinating structures of the last couple of decades. At this presentation, Calatrava himself presented his design philosophy and several case studies of his own work.

Firstly, Calatrava praised the properties of Concrete for the freedom they bring in developing his forms. The word itself in Spanish “hormigon” means “with form”. It can take any shape, it is very humble, it has texture and natural pigmentation ranging from grey to brilliant white. It is also is extremely economical. It is not surprising that such praises should be sung at a presentation given at the concrete institute. However, his works do back up such claims.

One of his works is the La Rioja, Bodegas Ysios in Laguardia, Álava, Spain (below). This winery fits seamlessly into its surroundings. Indeed Calatrava is quoted to have said during the talk that he sees no difference between Engineerign and Landscape. Concrete allowed for such a dynamic form to be adopted, and no doubt offered the necessary thermal mass for the strict climatic conditions required for the wine making process.

Another building mentioned was his “twisting torso”, or the HSB Turning Torso building in Malmo Sweden (below). The building was to provide a symbol for the city, replacing the crane used for shipbuilding that used to sit near the current site. Calatrava makes no secret of the analogy between his building and anatomical form. Being both a Sculptor and an Engineer, his forms are grounded on solid structural logic - in this case deriving inspiration from the human spine. With all this structural integrity, elegance in form is still retained. This is extremely well summed up in this quote from the New Yorker: “Louis Kahn once referred to the Seagram Building as a beautiful lady with hidden corsets, because its bracing was tucked behind Mies van der Rohe’s exquisite façade; Calatrava’s lady has confidently removed her dress.”

The twisting torso concept started as a sculpture, and was then adapted to a high-rise building under the encouragement of the developer – even though Calatrava never built one before in his life! Indeed Calatrava enjoys much popularity amongst developers, often being the one holding the cards rather than the other way around.

However, this similarty between his sculptures and his buildings is not with out contention. He is often criticized for this over emphasis of what the building looks like from afar rather than from within. The twisting torso is no exception - no wall is straight and no window vertical. This is also extremely unconventional for a highrise building, where assurance of its static stability has traditionally been the focus. Another breach of convention is in his architectural emphasis. Most architects focus on how the high-rise building meets the floor, or meets the sky. To Calatrava it’s what’s in the middle that counts, with an emphasis on the design along the whole of its length. Can a human sized sculpture truly be scaled to hundreds of meters of tower? Is the spine, designed for flexibilty and motion truly a sound structural model for a static highrise? Perhaps such non-conformities can be forgiven in the light of such sculptural genius?

The last building of considerable note from the talk is that of the Chicago Spire. Only a proposal to date, the spire will be the tallest residential building in America, featuring a slender twisting design. The slenderness of the tower provides grounds for a more romantic interpretation of the skyline than the bulkier buildings that have dominated to date. Indeed, the New Yorker claims “Calatrava is both a romantic and a rationalist, and his gift lies in his ability to find equilibrium between these two poles.”

What if Leonardo da Vinci got to take an international flight?

2010-06-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

I travel a lot. As I am about to depart on another flight from Poland to London I take my seat, fasten my belts and I’m ready to go. Raindrops start hitting my glass window and the pilot prepares for takeoff. Its grey and the dark colored clouds make the earth’s surface gloomy. We are taking off. The seconds of take off fascinate me. The smooth levitation of a heavy steel 150 passenger Wizzair aircraft…it looks so simple, so easy. The houses, cars, trees all get small and we come closer to the dark purple clouds. The moment of climbing through the clouds is beautiful. The clouds get lighter, purer and blue sky exposes itself more and more until finally we are there, the open fields of clouds and sky.
And I’m here writing comfortably in a little seat looking through my own little window.

What an experience!
I have seen this so many times, yet today this is special. It is special because of how far we human beings progressed. Its special because I discover the realization of dreams. Leonardo da Vinci in his studio draws and dreams, struggling to invent a wooden flying machine and talks about the inspiration one can get from even the clouds. But what if he got to see this?
What if he got to see the heavens beyond the clouds...what would his next step be?
Would he go beyond the heavens?
There is absolutely no doubt that my view outside my little window is a miracle.
But we take it for granted. We fail to notice these things. We grow numb through the constant ignorance. The women to my left reads about a celebrity couple canceling their wedding once again…the man next to her is playing a PSP video game. Even I normally just drift off to sleep forgetting about how lucky I am to live the life I’m living and live surrounded by the miraculous earthly creations. But today is different.
Today I want to live because this view made me feel more alive. Today I want to move, react and take action, continuing to build our cultural ambition. Today I am thankful.
Thankful of my little view outside my window, thankful to dreamers like Leonardo da Vinci (Who kind of made ideas like flying happen). Last but not least I am thankful to the almighty creator who was there since the very beginning shaping with his hands each and every cloud making my personal view outside my window possible.

Parametric Modelling of Compressive Membrane Action in reinforced Concrete Slabs

2009-02-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

The Love Bucket

2009-01-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

"One designer celebrates life, the other searches for safety from it" - quoted from Natalia Ilyin's book: "Chasing the perfect". Which one are you? Which one are we as holotects?

There are some, who fall in love with the process of design. These delight in the way the wetted brush runs across texured paper, or adore the aroma of a fresh box of coloured pencils; the screeching sound of marker, or the scratching crumble of charcole. These see what is and ponder it in there hearts, taking delight in their discoveries.

There are other that are "axiety fighters [taking] delight in complexes of structure that will make things work better, make a safer or more cohesive world. That designer responds not to the world's beauty but to its chaos."

I cannot say which type is of greater significance. I cannot help but think that either play different roles. Indeed, I see my self as designer in one such "bucket" and at times in the other. I can tell you life is more of a pleasure when there joy is taken in the process. But we need our engineers to worry, so our artists can rest assured. Is this true?

Love and Fear. Frued calls these the two calls for action. One designer responds to their love of the world, "astonishment at its beauty [and] comfort in their natural sense of the place". The other attempts to design the world as they know it could be, out of fear of what could occur should they do not find themselves behind the reigns. Pehaps this spurs from a lack of trust in Providence?

Modernist philosophy is very much a response to fear, a need to control. Perhaps this is why our natural instinct repells us from the grey blocks of the 50s and 60s, but our minds can even be tempted to accept it, in a guilty, self assuring kind of way. We may long for safety, but vulnerability is the condition for love. Enclosed, protected in our cold concrete capsules, we may avoid harm, but but never experience the true light and warmth of the natural world in all of its beautiful imperfections.

The Ugly Faces

2008-11-30T22:56:00.000-08:00

When the city's life moves on, people tend to forget about the "Ugly Faces" of the city. While new "fresh" architects start their practice they design buildings as if they where monuments, very often with no contextual respect. Their new building is "dropped off" at a site like an alien spaceship forgetting about what stands around them.

Their is nothing wrong with the new modern approach to design and the creation of new history rather then holding our same cultural heritage forever, but buildings must be designed as if they where timeless and should have a positive effect on the city.

Now lets look at these "Ugly faces" of the urban landscape. They reflect on the personality of the people who live there, they are strong, powerful and dangerous. Not forgetting that architecture is an imposed art, we can not forget that if we design a building it can have a huge effect on peoples everyday lives.

But its not only about designing new buildings that our better and wont turn in to or be part of these Ugly Faces. We can not move on and pretend that the Ugly Faces do not exist, or pretend we have nothing to do with them. As an architect if you want to change something in this world, start from your city, start from the neighbourhood that you look down to with total rejection, the neighbourhood that stays gray and dirty, the neighbourhood with crime and violence.

Change the architecture.

We have to think of architecture at a bigger scale and the effects it has on people, both now and in a thousand years.

Changing the Ugly faces of the city to something more human can change the city growth. Adopting the facades of the Ugly Faces of the city to change the space can result in not only government support but the people support. Lets face it, people always want a better place to live, a better environment, people want a better life.

So lets start now, we can look at this as another way of recycling the city and saving the Environment.

Design Genetics

2008-11-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

There is something fantastic about looking at a design and being able to recall ones that are similar. Today on Dezeen.com I came across a bench designed by Ghery. My fellow readers were kind enough to post similar works done by different designers. Examples are posted below:

David Trubridge:

Matthais Pliessnig:

If design is an organic process then similar mutations are to be expected and perhaps encouraged as the product is refined. Notice the subtle nuances differentiating the three designers mentioned so far. Each adds his/her own particular quality into the equation. It is this subtlety that makes all the differences.

Have you noticed how Ghery finishes the tail of his structure with quite a coarse ending of somewhat ruggedly cut reeds? This adds to the “whooosh” effect of the dynamic snakelike form he has created. This is not to be observed in Pliessnig nor Trubridge, who prefer to trim their structures with rather more geometrically defined finish. Not that Ghery’s stance is superior in any way, indeed, there is a certain degree of impracticality to this feature, including the possibility of tearing ones tights!

There is also great elegance in the parallelinearity of the seating and the reeds are sufficiently spaced so as to give a true impression of translucency (again a subtle differentiator to the work of say, Pliessnig, who seems to prefer closer spacing) I would love to sit on these.

Open Source Collaboration - connecting the experts

2008-11-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

The concept of open source collaboration poses a serious opportunity for the realization of the Holotect Philosophy.

This post does not attempt to summarize he open source phenomenon, wikipedia can do that perhaps more effectively (itself being, incidentally, a good example of the phenomenon)

This post however does recognise the ability to connect thousands of people (and thus talented minds) from across the globe to address a common issue. In the case of software it has been for the cause of creating software. Can this be extended to other things, such as holitective design of physical environments and buildings?

Before we search for examples where this has happened or attempted, let us look at some of the key generic features that enable this phenomenon to take place:

Firstly, a favourable characteristic is modularity. The success of an open source project very much relies on its ability to break down the project into distinct components that can be worked on somewhat independently from the other parts by people in remote locations. To what degree can the building process/product be broken down in such way?

The second prerequisite of a truly functioning open source project is the presence of strong leadership. This may take the form of a distinct individual or a core committee. They do not have the power to tell who to do what ( as all contributions are voluntary) . They do, however, provide the underlining "vision" of the project, setting milestones and giving overall direction. They will have been the ones who partitioned the modules mentioned above, and ultimately they will be responsible perhaps for bringing it all together. In the case of software development, leadership also takes the role of avoiding the very real risk of the project "forking". This is the phenomenon in which a group of people with passionate views that the project should head elsewhere, take the project into their own hands (together with a group of followers and create a different product. To avoid this, the contributors must trust that the leaders objectives are sufficiently congruent with their own, and not simply ego-driven, purely commercial, or adversely political in nature. It is thus obvious that charismatic (trustworthy) leadership is the key to the success of the project.

Finally the project must be attractive to potential contributes. In the Software world this usually means that there needs to be interesting and fun challenges to be solved, as most engineers derive their satisfaction from solving complex problems. Perhaps more generally, an attractive project is one which also provides a certain degree of viability, that is, it looks like it might just work and be a success. This often means that the leader, in the form of a committee or individual, must provide a "critical mass" of initial material to which an online community can react. This quantity will vary from project to project.

These three aspects -

The modulation of a large task
Strong leadership
Attractive critical mass

- form the basis of any successful open source project, and it would be interesting to see how this could be applied to the design of human spaces.

Hololab - Chapter 1 "Wars+sava Bridge"

2008-11-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

Hololab ref010811.02

Performed By: White Phosphorus and Pokefinger

Subject: "Wars+sava Bridge"

Abstract: An attempt to combine [...]

Topics:

1)Conception of Thought

The "Wars+sava Bridge" Is a connection between the workshop of a dissabled creator and his family dwelling.

2) Setting

View Larger Map'>London Shad Thames - The fictional home of Oliver Twist (If you look closely, you can just about make out the exisiting Steel and timber bridges already crossing over the street)

3)Geometrical Genesis

What do you want the bridge to be? What do you want the bridge to connect? What storey has the bridge to tell?

The Bridge must stimulate the thought process of the viewer. It should reach out and touch you when you experience it, walk over it or see it. It must stretch the viewer by itself pushing the boundaries of what a bridge can be.

Pontevecchio is a Renascence bridge with overhanging shops as it crossed the river. It stretched the ideas of what a bridge could be at the time. Zaha Hadid- Can a Bridge be a "horizontal skyscraper". The concept of bridge can challenged by adding new functionality and adapt to the needs of a comunity.

But what happens when your community is a) disabled & b)of immigrant status?

The "Wars+sava Bridge" Forms a defensive and mobile adaptation to a new environment.

4) The Engineering

The story is not always easily expressed. The physical form that embodies the message of the bridge is one which would not be obviously chosen based on conventional criterion. It poses a challenge.

The tapered shape is inherently beneficial to match the distribution of moments. The chosen crossection is favourable for the distribution of stresses.

But the material - ie concrete - is an interesting material solution for a bridge that moves or slides.

Pokefinger: What was amazing for me explaining the concept to White Phosphorus (WP) Gave more life to the process. The fact that it was challenged and solutions were explored made it more real. The fact that it was deemed potentially possible was inspiring and made me realise theat the designer must have a closer relationship to one whoo understands the physical workings of structure. there needs to be a balance between the requirements of the structure and the storey it needs to tell, and what needs to be figured out is the order in which these two are conceved. To what degree can it be simultanious without one impeding or restricitng the other?

White Phosphorus: When I first the bridge I thought: This is the last solution i would conceve to what i thought was a very simple problem: get from one side to the other. Pokefinger wanted subtantially more than that: He wanted to a storey, and this became apparent very early on. What was incredible was to start from a concept that seemed absolutly irrational from a structural point of view and yet rational from a sociological and narrative point of view. It was exciting to enable the story to be told, and it will be interesting to see to what degree structure influences the final flavours of the end product. I would have never conceved such a form from where i was standing.

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Who is the Holotect?

2008-09-20T03:11:00.001-07:00

The Holotect is the Master Communicator,
he is the Master Collaborator,
he is the Creator of Holistic Environments.

He uses his specialist technical knowledge in his chosen field to best inform the response to a design brief. The greater his knowledge, experience and imagination, and the greater his ability to mesh seamlessly with specialists in other fields, the more "response-ABLE" he becomes.

The Two Questions

2008-09-20T03:02:00.000-07:00

The Holotects seek to answer to two very important and interlinked questions, sometimes at odds to themselves.

1) What makes a great building product?
2) what makes a great building process?

To do this, building product can be understood as the end result of a building process, usually in the form of a dwelling or other shelter from the elements that supports human activity, directly or indirectly.

The building process is the conglomeration of all the activities that involve conceptualizing, designing and constructing the building product, in response to the clients brief, and all other influencing factors.

These inlfuencing factors include: legislative constraints, current market conditions, planning permission, as well as the moral/ethical implications of the aforementioned activities.