1 – Architecture, Science, Technology, and the Virtual Realm – On page 299, Picon is discussing how structure is a dynamic virtual reality. He talks about the tension, and how we don’t see the structure, just the assembly of parts. Does Picon mean that we never see the forces which stress the structure, and which the structure has to act against? Or is he talking more about the design of the structure and its embodied intent or thematic layout as envisioned by the designer?
2 – Simulacra and Simulations – What does Baudrillard mean by “the models” which symbols and the hyperreal are based off of? Is it the “real” which existed before the symbol, or is it something made in reference to the real, a middle step before the simulacrum?
3 – Simulacra and Simulations – He goes into great detail about describing the “real” through the simulations, for example Disney World or Watergate. However, he describes how these things don’t actually show us reality, but just serve to define how we live in a hyperreal environment. In this case, is Disney World a simulation as well, or a model? Or is it somehow more “real” than what we describe as reality?