A Second Modernism

A Second Modernism MIT, Architecture and the ‘Techno-Social’ Moment Edited by Arindam Dutta with Stephanie Marie Tuerk Michael Kubo Jennifer Yeesue Chuong 1 ALISE UPITIS Two or More Architectures Computers and Design at MIT until 1963 In 1962 and 1963, Christopher Alexander method of solving problems of engineering was a research affiliate at the MIT Civil design; the next two reports detail the Engineering Systems Laboratory (CESL). computer programs that primarily Alexander At the time he was completing his PhD in wrote for implementing the method.4 architecture from the Graduate School of This dual focus on developing new computer Design at Harvard University, about a year systems for engineering design while before publishing his dissertation as Notes simultaneously investigating design methods on the Synthesis of Form. At the time of its was not uncommon in the context of MIT publication, Progressive Architecture heralded engineering at the time. Discussing a research that it “could revolutionize the approach to endeavor termed the Computer -Aided Design architectural design.”1 The journal Industrial project--a joint venture of the MIT Electronic Design stated it was “one of the most Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical important contemporary books about the Engineering, and the Design Division, art of design.”2 The Journal of the American Department of Mechanical Engineering Institute of Planners predicted that “it may initiated in 1959--Steven Coons stated: one day prove to be a landmark in design methodology.”3 Notes has now gone through Out of the investigation will five editions and is in its 17th printing. come the design for a man- It seems Alexander’s entry to CESL machine organism to accomplish was through a course he took in the MIT the design process in a way far Department of Civil Engineering during easier than has ever before been the spring of 1961, “Transportation Route possible; but as by-products will Location.” Between March 1962 and June come new computer techniques 1963, he produced four CESL research and an enriched understanding of reports; the first three were co-authored the creative thought process.5 with Marvin Manheim, an instructor in the department. The first two reports they A dual concern was also manifest in the head produced use issues in highway engineering of CESL, Charles Miller. Under Miller the as a point of departure for proposing a general Photogrammerty Laboratory was renamed the 1 R. H. Mutrux, “Revo- Planners XXXI, no.1 (February Systems Laboratory, Cambridge, 5 Steven Engineering, School of Engineer- lutionary Approach to Design,” 1965): 84. MA. 1962); Alexander and Man- Anson Coons, “An Outline of the ing, Massachusetts Institute of Progressive Architecture XLVI, 4 Alexan- heim, “The Use of Diagrams Requirements for a Computer- Technology, 1963), 5. no. 5 (May 1965): 208. der and Manheim, “The Design in Highway Route Location” Aided Design System,” Proceed- 7 Ibid, 7. 2 Malcolm of Highway Interchanges” (Re- (Research Report 62-03, M.I.T. ings of the May 21-23, 1963, 8 Chris- J. Brookes, “Books,” Industrial search Report 62-01, M.I.T. Civil Civil Engineering Systems Labo- spring joint computer conference topher Alexander, Notes on the Design 12, no.3 (March 1965): Engineering Systems ratory, Cambridge, MA. 1962); (New York: ACM, 1963), 300. Synthesis of Form (Cambridge, 20. Laboratory, Cambridge, MA. Alexander, “HIDECS 3” (Re- 6 Charles MA: Harvard University Press, 3 Edward 1962); Alexander and Manheim, search Report 63-27, M.I.T. Civil Miller, , “Man-machine com- 1964). 20. J. Kaiser, “Book Reviews,” Jour- “HIDECS 2” (Research Report Engineering Systems Laboratory, munication in civil engineering,” ( 9 Ibid., 80. nal of the American Institute of R62-02, M.I.T. Civil Engineering Cambridge, MA. 1963). Cambridge, Mass., Dept. of Civil 10 Alexan- 516 Civil Engineering Systems Laboratory in 1960, the true engineers set in motion the new name signifying the lab’s change in extensive information processing focus under his leadership from investigating activities by a vast array of survey methods using analog photographic information handlers. Draftsmen and projection technologies to using digital and technicians of various kinds computers to process spatial data. But produce information displays.7 he also believed most existing attempts at engineering computer programs failed The computers members of the Computer- to embrace the revolution possible to civil Aided Design project deployed in the early engineering methods afford by new digital 1960s was often the TX series, developed at computers, instead mindlessly encoding Lincoln Laboratory. The computers Alexander existing design methods and theories: “The deployed were from the IBM 700/7000 series. most important by-product of attempts to use This paper investigates how these early computers is the extent to which such activity computers’ hardware enabled and constrained is now forcing us to critically examine the the development of computer programs for true role and function of the engineer and the which the problem the program posed to nature of the engineering process [emphasis solve was a design problem, and in turn how original]”6 this dialectic informed how the process of Miller’s interest included advocating for design was conceptualized. “problem-oriented programming languages” that he more accurately reflected the Alexander and his method engineering design process, yet his model for the understanding of how engineering In Notes, Alexander specifies that design is to design operated was the hardware of digital solve the problem of securing a “fit” between computer comprising information store, form and context. An example Alexander transmitter, and processor. The process of gives is when a new piece of metal must fit design is taken to imitate the very model by flush against an existing piece. The new piece which Miller tries to imitate it: of metal serves as the form and the context is the already existing piece. Fitness in this Large amounts of raw information instance is flatness. What is “required” of are fed in by surveyors of milling the metal form is that it must be flat.8 various types. The information A misfit is then a bump on its surface. When is reduced, processed, stored, a misfit exists a requirement is not met. and later combined with other Requirements are “the individual conditions kinds of information which are which must be met at the form-context stored in various kinds of files boundary in order to prevent misfit.”9 maintained by the organization. Alexander and Manheim’s method for Significant decisions made by approaching the design of highways follows der and Manheim, “The Design p.6-7 Research in Mid-Century,” Social Program for the Hierarchical thesis, Department of Architec- of Highway Interchanges” (Re- 12 Ibid, “Ap- Studies of Science 29, no. 5. Decomposition of a Set which ture, MIT, 1966. search Report 62-01, M.I.T. Civil pendix 2,” 174-191. (Oct., 1999): 685-718, 693 has an Associated Linear Graph, 19 MIT, Re- Engineering Systems 13 Walter 16 Claude (Cambridge, MA: Dept. of Civil port of the President 1968, Mas- Laboratory, Cambridge, MA. Gropius, The Scope of Total Archi- Elwood Shannon and Warren Engineering, Massachusetts In- sachusetts Institute of Technology 1962), 4. tecture (New York: Collier Books, Weaver, The Mathematical The- stitute of Technology, 1962), 7. Bulletin 103, no. 4 (December 11 Alexan- 1943 [1970]), 56 ory of Communication (Urbana: 18 Nicholas 1968): 32 der and Manheim, “HIDECS 2” 14 Ibid, 83 University of Illinois Press, 1949), Negroponte, “The Computer 20 Serge (Research Report R62-02, M.I.T. 15 Philip 18-22. Simulation of Perception during Chermayeff and Christopher Alex- Civil Engineering Systems Labo- Mirowski, “Cyborg Agonistes: 17 Alex- Motion in the Urban Environ- ander, Community and Privacy ratory, Cambridge, MA. 1962), Economics Meets Operations ander, HIDECS 2: A Computer ment,” unpublished master’s (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & 517 ALISE UPITIS the same logic: The set of vertices and the set of links together define a Every problem of designing a physical graph; that graph, by virtue of form has these two fundamental the correspondence between characteristics: vertices and requirements, and the correspondence between links 1. There are certain requirements and interactions of requirements, the form must meet represents, for the purpose of this analysis, the structure of the 2. Many of these requirements design problem.11 conflict with one another The objective of any design Take Alexander’s example of a tea kettle. process is to find a form which One requirement might be “must heat as manages to meet all the rapidly as possible.” Call this requirement m1. requirements, in spite of the Another requirement might be “must be as conflicts. We call the process of light as possible.” Call this m2. Now call L the inventing any such form “solving set of interactions between requirements. the design problem.”10 Alexander treats the set L as a set of connections or links with each link joining The method these two characteristics two elements mi in set M. If two elements demand has three steps: (1) Create a planar interact a link is coded 1 and 0 if they do not. graph; (2) Transform the graph into a tree In this example m1 and m2 interact, so l1 (the structure; (3) Diagram the design. link between m1 and m2) would be coded 1. The two sets M and L are then used to (1) Create a planar graph Figure 1. Graph to be decomposed. From The design method states that each Christopher Alexander and Marvin L. Manheim, requirement is to be represented as a HIDECS 2: A Computer point in two-dimensional space. When two Program for the Hierar- chical Decomposition of a requirements interact this relationship is Set which has an Associ- represented as a line between each point that ated Linear Graph (1962).

Load more