Cedric Price, “The material used in the construction of enclosure require a far shorter life-span than the ten years allotted to the protected steel of the overall framework.” Why is the material requirement different? Since the enclosure included kitchen, restaurants, workshops, lavatories as first category and auditoria, cinema and meeting halls as second category, could enclosure’s economic and social quality cause its material choice and test-bed condition?

Stafford Beer, page 24. He mentioned there were two ways to approach Ashby’s Law. One of them is reducing the system variety, another way is maximizing the system variety, such as department store. They both start at the variety form system. How about online shopping, it is the third way or it is the transformed department store?

Gordon Pask. Based on the time he wrote this paper, the image of cybernetics architecture is kind different than today. All existed and new technology provide a new understanding of cybernetics architecture. Will there be end of cybernetic architecture? Maybe not the end but a stop. It could be the change of building material, change of our perception of architecture or change of cybernetic tool etc.

1. A.R.C-  “There was no theory of the new architecture.” The comparison of “pure” architecture (which existed as an abstraction from the art of a building) vs. current day architecture (cybernetics/scientific based) in the passage portrays that cybernetics stemming from “the 1800″s contains no precedent. Does the machinery of production have a theory behind it? does it only mimic architectural design aspects and does it do it well. Can it derive into its own entity rather than have to follow the norms as “1800” architecture did. With computation advancing every day can cybernetics break the mold and follow its own path of progression?
2. D.F.-  “Computers cannot make Mistakes / People make mistakes”. If technology is a human expression, are computers the perfection of human work?. To say a computer cannot make a mistake is a bold statement. If a computer is made by a human of mistakes then essentially the computer is made up of mistakes as well? Professionals are ones who make mistakes but later fix them, but computers are impervious to ever faulting and or ever making an error. I disagree with the statement. Essentially, A computer will make a mistake. Even if the computer is engineered perfectly internal and external forces will give out and make the computer fail. Again in the sentient world, nothing can be perfect but only closely but not fully achieved.
3. D.f.- Intellectual Freedom. “Our culture teaches us not intellectual courage, but intellectual conformity”. Due to cultural constraints, a way of life/ a way of thinking is projected upon us at an early stage in our lives, is it good or bad to have the reflectance put upon us or should we strive to have intellectual freedom? I would argue that especially now, an individual wants to be able to formulate his or her own thoughts from the infinite amount of information given to them. As well as strive to have their own conformity and individualism a person and not conform with everyone else. But to play devil’s advocate, many people want to be structured and play into a life of rules and authority. I don’t either other is right or wrong but ones preference of what they want in life and are able to choose either side regardless of both sides oppose each other. To me to be able to think intellectually in the first places shows where we have come as a society and how variety play a big role in our lives.

REQUIRED

Gordon Pask, “The Architectural Relevance of Cybernetics”, Architectural Design, September 1969.

Stafford Beer, “The Disregarded Tools of Moderns Man”, “A Liberty Machine In Prototype”, The Free man in a Cybernetic World”, in Designing Freedom, Massey Lectures, 1973.

Cedric Price, “Fun Palace” and “Generator”, in Price, C., The Square Book, Wiley-Academy, 2003.

RECOMMENDED

Norbert Weiner, “Cybernetics in History”, The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society, 1954

Bernard Scott, “2nd Order Cybernetics: an historical introduction”, Kybernetes, Vol. 33 No. 9/10, 2004.

Stanley Matthews, “The Fun Place as Virtual Architecture, Cedric Price and the Practices of Indeterminacy”, JAE, v.59, Issue 3, Feb 2006.