Archiprix International 2001
University of Auckland, Faculty of Architecture, Property & Planning and Fine Arts - Auckland, New Zealand
Sam Algie Cuttriss
Tutors: Judy Cockeram, Charles Walker
A Critical Response to Stanford UniversityThe Spiritual Robots Symposium basically revolved around the moot, that spiritual robots will replace humanity by the year 2100. International experts in the field of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, nano technology and social commentary gathered to debate the issue. Notions such as transhuman, post human, and post evolution were authorised and validated by some of the most qualified experts on the planet. Ray Kurzweil calculated that 'by 2029 one thousand [American] dollars worth of computation will equal one thousand human brains, by 2050 one thousand dollars [American] worth of computation will be ten to the 26th power calculations per second, which is the amount of computation that takes place in all human brains on earth today, all biological brains.' The social and thus architectural implications of such a phenomenon are considerable. Should this prove to be correct, and evidence is gathering to kurzweil's support, we will indeed enter a new paradigm within our lifetime. In order to facilitate the occupation of the new paradigm a pre-emptive architectural exploration is required. Architectural precedent clings tentatively to what effectively exists tabula rasa. The proposal does however draw upon fields such as filmic language, computer game construction, interactive/ tactile time space, and cognitive psychology. The proposal denounces asinine simulations of an already functional 'reality', favouring the exploitation of synthetic divergence. The presentation demonstrates the negotiation of the synthetic, employing sophisticated relational mechanisms to integrate otherwise discrete phenomenon producing functional, navigable environments. Spatial syntax and its associated cognitive language have been adapted to exploit the synthetic. Previous absolutes become adaptive, intuitive, sublime and schizophrenic. Translation becomes subordinate to the more flexible and relevant transition, notions of distance, scale and time deflect effortlessly as space is initiated and collapsed. The design sensibilities motivating the project are best characterised by Mitsuo Inoue's portrayal of the sublime, 'a sense of mutability or flux attended by diverse deflections characterizes these visions; they describe an unknown world where except for that small part before our eyes, nothing can be foreseen.' ------------------------------ 1:www.stanford.edu/dept/symbol/hofstadter-event.html 2:Space in Japanese Architecture Mitsuo Inoue Weatherhill 1985