The Big Switch

In his 2008 book, a history from Edison to Google, Nicholas Carr provides an interesting insight:

All technological change is generational change. The full power and consequence of a new technology are only unleashed when those who have grown up with it become adults and begin to push their parents to the margins. As the older generations die, they take with them their knowledge of what was lost when the new technology arrived, and only the sense of what was gained remains. It’s on this way that progress covers its tracks, perpetually refreshing the that where we are is where we were meant to be.

Our kids’ generation will be the first to truly fit into this category for the internet. When we are so conscious of this fact how do we respond? Can we somehow break the spell of “change equals progress” even when it may be a digression? Pondering.

Open House (Service?)

Some action this morning regarding a collaboration between Droog (love) and DSR (not so much). Allison Arieff published an editorial criticizing the project as short sighted and Renny Ramakers of Droog quickly responded. I agree with Arieff’s analysis regarding the programming of the Open Houses. However, I think Droog’s polemic response is correct as well. Let me explain.

While there is a decidedly Droog tongue-in-cheek perspective in the project, it has moments of avantgarde architect signatures that make me suspect. Including programmatic ideas like a “love hotel” as an appendage to a single family home screams, “I am an idealist architect interested in being provocative” and says nothing of “I imagine the future of the suburbs to be _____”. In Arieff’s words…

“Is there anything more absurd than listening to a New York academic theorize about suburbia through the lens of ‘60s conceptualism?”

Here, the provocation is intended to be the point, but it falls flat. Architecture struggles with relevance. And I doubt that the people architects hope to design for are interested in being provoked by their own homes. Arieff is right, the suburb doesnt need the avantgarde. They need real change. But that real change will be a collaboration between government, real people, and designers. Perhaps we should take people into consideration before leveraging their spaces as opportunities for own agendas. Architects should begin to adapt the philosophy of human-centered design instead of continuing to marginalize themselves by convoluting design with conceptual art in all contexts.

From Ramaker’s response I believe that it is architects pulling the whole thing down.

“In our work, we approach many serious topics, such as the rise in single living, sustainability, the increasing pace of life and the economic crisis in a playful way. We want to continue to generate debate by presenting models and possible scenarios with a light-hearted spirit.”

Make the rejuvenation of the community about the quirkiness of the people living there, the context, and the actual needs. I believe Droog has the capacity to do this by capitalizing on their ability to pull disparate designers together under their umbrella. And that is why I propose that Droog gather more small (local) design firms – sans DSR, MVRDV, et al. – to continue this work. Make it about the people and the typology, not about architecture.

Visited: Central Baltimore

Scene of the Wire and much speculation throughout the past couple of years, here it is in all of its glory. I was impressed with the city but frightened by the posture toward crime enforcement. A scary exciting American city. A studio project and a master’s thesis to follow.

Streaming the Archives

Streaming records from Pates Tapes. Archiving the most interesting bits of our past like this is very exciting. I am not sure how else we will get to hear some of these classic recordings. Then again the mystique of hunting down a rare song, discovering it, and then listening to it at your leisure is an experience unto itself. I remember the first time I went to a concert being disappointed by how much access I now had to the reality of the band. They were just guys who were exceedingly talented, but the end just guys. But in my headphones they transcended the world I was listening to them on. For me perhaps all this obsession with transparency and access is perhaps detrimental to the actual experience of music, et. al. I am still listening to it though.