quote:  http://matsysdesign.com/,  25th of  Nov. 2013

Machine, the most creative device in the beginning 20-century. It is supposed being asked to do anything, which the mission ordered, by human, or rather saying that it just is able to do, not thinks firstly and do afterwards.

However, if we take the consideration between the human being with computer and labor with machine, we found out that it is the same state. On the other hand, for instance, architecture students or architects use the software to replace the conventional way for the time-consuming work. However, in the unconscious way, we are going to lose our own mind as well as being controlled by the pre-set comment of the software. What is more, we start to design the building, which the software is able to, not we are asking what we can do. If we look back to the previous architects, they always thought the design for the future (for the furthermore machine have not invented).  We shall not put ourselves into the limited box, sometimes forget about the computer, software or technology, it might have more interesting things are going to be happened.

 http://matsysdesign.com/2009/06/19/constellations/, 25th 0f Nov. 2013

For these generations, there are more and more machines which we can use in the 3-dimension way, just like the normal printer, sending file and printing it. It does helps a lot, we don’t need to spend lots of times on making several models to be tested to make sure whether it is working properly or not. Furthermore, we even can see the visible renders in the monitors as well as simulating the natural ways in the new materials which we are going to invent and used in the building façade. Probably, some people might argue that it could not to image or imitate the ecosystem with software, but it cant not to be ignored that the climate has been changing dramatically. We are not able to predict some situation with conventional way.

Last but not least, the ability of machine can do the things which human being is not able to achieve in terms of power, persistence and accuracy. Just in case you can use it in the proper way, not to be used or controlled because of the limitation of machine. Quote from the book, “ unlearning is as important a learning”,  on the other hand, it should be considered in the human thought way .

by Toward a Theory of Architecture Machines, Nicholas Negroponte, 2010

SimCity 2000

(Emergence, Steven Johnson, 2002)

What is emergence? …And what do human cells, ants, computers, and city sidewalks all have in common? For Steven Johnson, the answer is simple, “local information leads to global wisdom.” Johnson describes the growth of the aforementioned subjects as being emergent systems: complex organisms that, regardless of their scale, harness the self-organizing qualities of local interactions for the overall amelioration of the mega-organism. While he discusses and compares the power of coordinated behaviour in ant colonies, the growth of single-celled organisms, computer based simulation games like SimCity, and the interactions of people in the sidewalks in major cities, it is the latter two analyses that stand out for me the most.

Johnson’s main argument is that successful cities self-organize themselves based on local interaction, allowing the metropolis to gradually change and evolve over the long term based on this information. He promotes the impact that sidewalks have on the overall impact of the city as they are the “primary conduit for the flow of information between city residents”. The repeated mix of strangers and random local configurations allows residents of a neighbourhood to collectively “solve” the problem of making themselves safe. While there may be a global structure such as a city masterplan, it is a combination of this overlying DNA map with the inhabitants’ local sense of place that establishes certain cities as self-organizing systems. The constant feedback between local agents permits higher-level learning to emerge through bottom-up forces. It is no surprise that more than half the world’s populations lives in cities today. The city, with emergent intelligence and its ability to store and retrieve information is able to replicate itself. It is a super-organism that can replicate itself over time, even though its inhabitants have no way of comprehending how their short term decisions will contribute to the macrodevelopment projecting over thousands of years. While we contribute to the emergent intelligence on a daily basis, it is almost impossible to perceive what our contribution will be in say the year 4000. This associativity between part and whole is best exemplified in the reference to SimCity. Using computer-based simulations, SimCity is able to model the behaviour of cities by using swarm logic. Although the player makes key decisions, it is the bottom-up powers of algorithmic simulations on the city block scale that allow the virtual cities to grow by themselves. As each block obeys a rigid set of instructions, the game’s meshwork of cells alters their behaviour based in response to the behaviour of other cells in that network. This is why users see recessions, booms, slums, rich neighbourhoods, crime, utopia, and a plethora of simulations.

Personally, I believe that as designers, we must learn from this beauty of designing through algorithmic data, like in SimCity, but at all scales of our work. We must allow parts, or even the entirety of a project or concept to grown naturally, fostering a multiplicity of possible solutions. Just as we must let our cities grow through the on-going simulations in sidewalks; the rest of our design work should also grow from small-scale interactions that make up the whole final (yet evolving) design. Emergent interactions already exist on the streets, in game simulations, and on the web, but we must extend this to all designs, machines, buildings, etc. Manuel DeLanda sums this up very well in a lecture on Deleuze and the use of the genetic algorithm in architecture. He advocates for the writing of scripts to allow people to exert their own power over software while also endorsing materials that have their own morphogenetic potential to be altered by genes. Through Deleuze’s 3 types of thinking (population, intensive, and topological), the artist has the ability to invent spaces of possibilities while the genetic algorithm searches them for us. These spaces of possibilities through simulations come in all different shapes and sizes and are essentially emergent systems. If emergence has proven to be successful at all scales: cells, ants, and cities, why not extend it to all systems? We may not know what our cities will look like in the year 4000, but we must embrace and promote the evolution of complex organisms and systems through simulation at all scales of our design. Our ancestors will understand. SimDesign 4000.

How do you build a Learning Machine?

In 1968, the idea of computer aided participatory design was a  foreign concept for architects. The typical architectural office was comprised of people sitting and standing composing construction and design documents in front of large desks from morning till night. An Architectural theorists, Nicholas Negroponte, at this time was theorizing about what the world would be like if architects had machines that could compute, process, and share information. Negroponte was thinking about creating a system where the computer would be capable of handling the small details as well as helping the architect manage all aspects of a large scale project. Thus, allowing the designer/user/architect to focus more on the important aspects of the design. 20 years before advanced computer aided design systems and software was designed, Negroponte was asking questions. Can a machine learn about architecture? Can machines learn about learning about architecture? Can a machine be designed to repeat tasks? Yes! Can they associate courses of action with goals? Can they be self improving?  Simultaneously being ethical?

In order to solve this question, Negroponte, needed to realize the ultimate machine. Negroponte would create this machine by introducing 5 different “learning” systems. First, the machine must have a heuristic mechanism, this is an experience based technique for problem solving. The solution that the machine would derive, may or may not be the optimal solution, but it is similar to the idea of the “rule of thumb” or an “educated guess.” Secondly, the machine would be a rote apparatus, rote learning is memorizing a technique based on repetition. In architecture, it could be the machines job to design or find solutions to problems such as parking, elevators, and simple plumbing. Third, the machine would need to be a conditioning device. A conditioning mechanism is an enforcement device that handles all the non exceptional information. Each computer/robot would develop their own conditioned reflexes. Fourth, in order to construct a relationship between the machine and the user and the real world, it is important for the machine to have a Reward Selector. This condition would initiate no activities, it sees what the designer likes, recognizes happiness or disappointment, evaluates and observes, and based on that information, gives results. Finally, the machine would also be able to forget convenience. An optimal machine would be able  to unlearn through irrelevance. As new technologies emerge present technologies will become obsolete, and it is important for the machine to make old knowledge disappear. Combining all of these technologies, Negroponte believes the ultimate computer would be born.

The Machine-Human Communication -Real World
How would this machine facilitate architects communicate with the real world?
According to Negroponte, each architect would have his own machine with its own local
memory. This computer would process information and collect data 24 hours a day 7
days a week along side “its” architect. Off site there would be a parent computer;
this computer would have powerful processors, extensive memory, and communicate with
the sub or “child” computer in order to 1)aquire data 2) aquire stored information
and 3) communicate with other architects. The combination of architect-child-parent
machines would create a system to facilitate real world exchange of information.

Negroponte & Real World References

Currently, Negroponte is working on One Child One Laptop campaign. This machine is a
$100 machine designed for children in the developing world. This machine will
facilitate the connection between children and the real world by providing internet
to the developing world. This computer would provide access to knowledge, and
opportunities to ‘explore and experiment and express themselves.”

Links to Science Fiction
Science Fiction has explored the realm of technological humanism. In Star trek, the LCARS (Library Computer Access/Retrieval System) is a computer operating system within the Star Trek universe. This computer, connected with the PADD (personal access display device), a handheld computer operated by touch that characters would use to consume and share information. The PADD would logg manifests, compile duty rosters & diagnostic reports, enter personal data, and finally access the LCARS interface. The PADD facilitated communication between users on the Starfleet, although they would all be distinct depending on their users. PADD’s varied depending if their users were part of the United Earth, Federation Starfleet, Klingon, or Cardassian.

Negroponte’s dream of systematic communication and sharing of information between users was unheard of in the 1960 and pushed computer aided design theory by proposing the idea of giving a computer a generated form from certain criteria, thus learning from criteria to generate new forms, similar to applications within the science fiction realms.

Research Idea:

Where in Science Fiction can we find platforms incorporating and facilitating the theory of communication through child and parent machines? How, in future scenarios, could this be effective. If we were all on different planets, universes, and galaxies, and were able to communicate, would would the optimal machine be? How would users communicate? What would be the ideal interface? Would that be standardized?  How can humans connect better with computers? Can we integrate technology into the human body?  Do we need personal devices?

“I chose to believe that I was a person, that I had the potential to become more than a collection of circuits and sub-processors.”

– Data, 2369 (“Rightful Heir“)