ARCHITECTURAL MEDIUM of 1 INSTRUMENTALITY A Disaggregated THOUGHTS Manifesto: and itsREALM 2 Nader Tehrani EDITORIAL CRITIQUE © NADAAA on the 3 4

01 02 deeply into different disciplines.deeply breadth, architects can only delve so of to the idea that asgeneralists this isalsodue part, orfragmenting it. Ingreat compartmentalizing, curbed the architect’s reach, often marginalizingtheir involvement, expanded the domaininwhich the architect ispracticing, it hasalso knowledge. thishas While of foundations others’ of recipient fromother fields, expertise ineffect becoming the of a barrage as collaborations abound, the architect is also being impacted by focus; predicament that we are experiencing ashift indisciplinary today.agency conversations, these to Critical however, isthe investmentsdisciplinary we might advocate to advance architectural only to help better position the nature, but thematically motivated, if architectural debates, in both historic andcontemporary longue durée of conversations with the series of text isdedicated to adisaggregated pandemonium, Zeitgeist, orvision,this of rather than rely onthe crutch to whichreal urgencies the architectural discipline cannot speak. Thus, that there are not both necessitate is not required, and furthermore visionthat course, this isnot to say that the clarity of response. Of only to qualify their many texts that pro-actively buildcrises first, if that characterizes urgency the isalsomired inamentality of to arms acall discipline are anything but singular. At the same time, the idea of the architectural in its focus - this, inatime when the complexities of anarchitectural manifesto seems somewhat monocular idea of The Preface designer’s intellectual craft. the of making that provide for the instrumentality protocolsof onlytoreconnect with the very - if processes - which areeverby expanding the day of the architect the means andmethods by re-engaging thus, is how of to reconstitute the political agency able to advance the structural, spatial and organizational framework spatial andorganizational able to advance the structural, that is amaterial technology advance anidea about the singularity of Kamakura’s Shrine; both examples Goryo-jinja of construction the Seljuk Period, orthe timber Saveh of work at the Minaret of both Near andFar architectures also. Eastern the Consider masonry this in evidenceto the Classical of tradition, aswe can see articulate not reducible iscertainly function andexpression. This proportion, architectural elements when they speak to each other inmateriality, reciprocities between as the manifestation of the Classical language of to-whole can be cited back to antiquity, with the various formulations anarchitecture that establishes arelationship between part- idea of The Equation to Whole Part The contents forabroader research already underway. anything, atable of these notes andspeculations can be considered asamuse bouche - orif 9 5 6 10 The predicamentthey face,The Structured as short reflections, asshort Structured 7 11 they are able to navigate compound curvatures without the need for a without the need fora compound curvatures they are able to navigate tolerance suchwith ashinglingprocess that offers ageometric that at the ShanghaiExpo, wicker where the generic panels are organized slightly different approach isdisplayed inTagliabue’s SpanishPavilion optimization inthe manufacturing process. A out, the result of turns it - asit block with the very types adopted informing in negotiation between and eccentric. the generic Ineffect, the building’s figure is the building,demonstrating the tension the figure of of the geometry the panel types and between the configuration of displays the struggle by Preston Scott Cohen, Art Instead, the Telform. Aviv Museum of at work. flourishes Ineffect, the unit isindifferent to the the formal to unit that is, infact, parametrically malleable - andthus subservient Zaha Hadid’s Heydar construction Aliyev Center adopts ageneric example, whole relationship that gives shape to buildings. By way of to actually takes part on a morerole charged in establishing the very aligned with the ways seam inwhich things are built, the construction arhetorical device, andnot actually Since seamlessness ismore of architectural conventions. of called onto ourperception challenge andwalls seamlessness between are floors where the purported buildingswhose maintrope isthe continuous surface, context of debates, same issue arises inthe In morecontemporary this very medium could reinforce its expression. a of andcontent, that is, the wayform inwhich the aggregation reciprocity between the ethic of witness anexplicit renunciation of instance Ledoux’s petrified water spout inthe Saltworks project - we - for the stone fromwhich they are carved of the grain speak against its architecture are called onto Parlante, where the vocal elements of Architecture betweengame, fact andfiction. With the advent of the element is playing atectonic of even though the aggregation the temple, of that isembedded into the construction structure deep a to mirror the stone serves instance where the surface treatment of triglyphs, The representation. forinstance, are just one the regime of weight through architecture can display the effects of the elements of - whereby andornament ability to create adialogue between structure the architectural discipline inits demonstrates acritical function of awood medium onto stone the Classical temple, the transposition of the medium inwhich they are built. Inthe context of of independent space anddetailing isaltogether are those buildings whose form, ahistoric architectural debate. There of argument isalsoacentral part to advance shouldserve this aggregation the principle of That construction. requires inanact of aggregation process of versatility that the of demonstrating the degree is but one way of timber members, andthe refusal to escape fromtheir material medium brick walls, the stacking of tectonic make up. of bondingpattern The their respective of constraints that guide the rigors disciplining of about the to which they are stubborn these examples isthe degree anarchitectural enterprise. Maybe what isequally remarkable about of 12 8 constraint. limits are the ultimate construction the actuality of continuityarchitectural where in gauging challenge the is the measure of aggregation the persistence of ■ be extrapolated. orsystems can elements fromwhich rules andweavingpatterning of aggregation, windows: fromaprocess of allthese emerge of pattern masonry, andthe to vault relationships,the structure the bondingof columns, the cadence andpairingof its parts: of the organization systems that are the precondition for the fine grain composed of buildings, thus, is configuration of The differences are formidable. material variations, we come to understand that their configurational their make-up, of the discreet planimetric differences andthe grain characterizes their figure. However, aswe inspect their tectonic described asrotundas, that broadly allsharingthe circular organization in New York in Pisa and even the Guggenheim Baptistry City can be qualities; the Tempiettobe described by irreducible inRome, the strokes. Buildingtypes such asthe basilica, rotunda, orstoa can all formal broad through described theyare as types building of in architecture, figuration foundits voice through the evolution to the Greeks andthe Romans, thehuman body from Egyptians the mimesis -forinstance, the vicissitudes inthe description of inthe project of figuration was born insculpture the power of If attributes. buildingsthat describe their most salient formal aspects of configurative processes. Inthis context, figuration deals with those in the design process: namely, the tension between figurative and is broadly related to aphenomenon that issomehow always at work aggregation to whole equation asdisplayed inthe process of part The Figuration andConfiguration whole. and the relation between the part - and hence the need to think of purity back into complexity aspects which tend to draw the advent of expansion andcontraction, insulation, water-proofing andallthose of protocols, will challenges be to address questions then the corollary the seam ismade apossibility through this new set of eradication of the this will to bringradical the changes discussion onthis topic. If Today, there are explorations in3-D printed buildings, andcertainly consistent dimensional resolution at their connections. many possible variations inthe results. onlytooffer - if uncertainty of with the comfort endgame the configuration suspends the formal things, while figure instantly defines the shapeof then theconfigurationisabottom-upone. The 18

6- 5- 4- 3- 2- 1- © HÉLÈNEBINET ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS, BAKU, AZERBAIJAN, 2012 HEYDARCENTER ALIYEV © INGREATERDETAIL.TUMBLR.COM ARC-ET-SENANS, FRANCE CLAUDE-NICOLAS LEDOUX PETRIFIED WATER SPOUT AT ROYAL SALTWORKS © JOHNHORNER WASHINGTON DC, USA, 2015 ROCK CREEKHOUSE, NADAAA © TOKYOBLING.WORDPRESS.COM GORYO-JINJA SHRINEDETAIL, KAMAKURA, JAPAN VENEZUELA, 1995 CASA LAROCA, OFFICEDA CARACAS MINARET OFSAVEH, IRAN-©P&JGRIMSHAW fthe figure is a top-down description, If 13 The play involved The 19 In allcases 14 a project. Consider the West 57 design play inthe site of that come into battle andconfluence of And somehow, it isthe tension produced by these two modalities mechanical, orcirculatory. deployment, be they structural, systems of priori inheritance isasmuch aforce to contend with, asare its sub- the figure asana limits based onzoningrestrictions, the ideaof legal orthe envelope of typology mandates by waydisciplinary of isthe result of isclear though, whether architecturalWhat form the literal that lurksinthe figure. of the danger various cities remind usof of onthe skylines diagram the late andthe manifestations of bias seems tohave rekindled asof the figural at historical legitimation. However, of the re-emergence tropes were reducible to empty quotations anddesperate attempts where the overt references to iconic post-modernism, works of the more figural any kind.Such of was the legacy of or performance a one liner - prevented readings, from releasing further engagement, its multiple narratives, it isthen summarily reduced to the layering of figuration: namely that once architecture isstripped of the missionof acrisis that islatent in buildings such asthe Basket by NBBJsuggests duck andthe decorated shed. However, its more recent deployment in inclusive theoretical landscape asisevident with Venturi’s essay onthe signification, inlater years, it was alsoreinforced by amore power of Architecture Parlante provoked the discreet parts. If the breakdown of the hydrological rather than passage, gives biasto the semantic play of Ledoux’s Water Inspector’s House, where the figuralmanifestations in Alternatively, consider the overt play of parts. the configurative play of final description, this the result of Parliamentand Chandigarh - identical assystems, but distinct in ways between the VillaSavoye they can be deployed inavariety of Le Corbusier andthe way inwhich Consider the five points of the configurative act. of systems ispart of in the gaming h rhtcua iuei h aietto fits the architectural figure is the manifestation of speak to each other. bear onthe interface between the two: how the inside andoutside reciprocity comes to and the figure to the envelope, then the idea of systems, the configurative make upof speaks to the infrastructural If Fit of Reciprocity andthe Predicament as it were. the figure: the relation between the handandglove, and the shape of the configurative often inthe loose fit between the constituencies of building types, leaving roomforplay. Architectural play comes more optimization isnot mandated forall circumstances, then that level of efficiencies insuch net-to-gross of are quite strict inthe formulation housing the mandates of with the zoning ordinances.negotiation If two typologies, in isseen asthe offspringof which the “courtscraper” 15 20 If a certain ethic presumes that certain a If 16 th Buildingby BIG, andthe way in formal gesture gesture a priori formal 17

03 04 mrmne fthe Weston House sidewall, where the corrugated I amreminded of atheorem. of to build a drawing asaproof construction: an act of lines can amount to of building. Here the aggregation the idea of role betweenis always drawing, geometry, amore instrumental and pictorial - orillustrative - bias, then inarchitectural projection, there offers a representation the traditional notion of If representation. moment inthe design process, oralternatively to redefine the idea of overalso offers away the “representational” to imagine leap-frogging pro-actively offer the basisforcritique, andspeculation. challenge It speculations, one could alsosee how materiality might their very Recognizing departure. “buildings”asthe basisof as apoint of specification bias that establishes adesign process that represses course, this also presumes a methodological to specification. Of slated forreality - that is, inthe transitional moment fromabstract cited as the eventual hurdle a project must overcome as it becomes materiality can be From aconventional standpoint, the role of Materiality andthe Tectonic Grain and their expression asawhole. latent between architectural elements - stairs, roofs, - andentryways NADAAA’s Tongxian project still calculates the tensions that are Art arigidframework, then inSeoul isamore literal wrapping of gallery So-il’s device to calibrate this tension between inside andoutside. If the “shrink-wrap” as an architectural speculations, we have spoken of Inmore recent only asarule. freedom, if exterior enjoy ameasure of the the interior andthe figure of between the configuration of an architecture where the inevitable tolerance andparcel of that ispart aloose fit decorated shed - these are all intellectual manifestations of wall, free façade, the its theoretical appeal. The the curtain of part the tight fit becomes not somuch accidental, but adirect liberation of the steel andconcrete frame, the However, with the advent of the bathtub asit isindexed inthe VillaStein. figural display of pilaster-by-pilaster. we witness the Even construction, in modern reciprocities are reconciled room-by-room, window-by-window, and the building’s parts. Here, the thanthe sumof something larger medieval fabric within andamonumental façade outside to make a abuilding- the reconciliation of the inner andouter missionsof to reconcile an architectural struggle Rome isaclassic example of Palazzo Massimoin the way inwhich the displaced symmetries of that isoverly alibi,then consider reliant onastructural if construction; its by the double dome isaprerequisite forthe means andmethods of the DuomoinFlorence, where fit. Consider the double enclosures of to ensure a tight stagecraft course, sometimes this requires abit of Of whole. building asanorganic the entire morality about the reconciliation of then it alsocomes with a certain inner organization, 25 21 22 26 23 24 27 yet to bedetermined. an architecture potentials of the spatial and formal play - indeed manyroles a critical precondition for as omnipresent, pervasive and malleable enough to Greg Lynn inhisforeword, OnIntricacy asystem. Asargued eloquently by aprocess, of but the generator of alternative: that the detail can be seen not so much as the endgame extraordinariness. For to imagine an this reason, it isalsoimportant exceptionality,then also always anomaly, viewed as the site of or course, isthat the detail is problem, of require resolution. The materials andconditions reconciliation, where different forms, site of fromthe macro scale to the molecular.together It isalsoseen asthe anarchitectural comes idea, where everything of the confirmation Traditionally, specification, the detail isseen as just like the act of Detail as GenerativeThe Seed the wood pieces. the leg and the configuration of mediation between the figureof of only to enable some form isintroduced, if trade; adart the sartorial inthe design. Here, the tell-tale detail isborrowed from programming incisions, andlapjoints that reconcile the two gaps modalities of with the leg, onthe other, produces atension that results inparticular the splint alignment of the wood, onthe one hand,andthe formal of the Eames leg splints, between the grain the negotiation In the case of malleability isgauged. becomes adirect medium through which formal wood Patkau Skating Shelters. behavior Ineach of case, the formal experiments rangingfromGehry’s contemporary to the furniture other subsequent of a range work that hasinformed piece of Charles andRay Eames’s research onplywood is another exemplary potentials it imparts. architectural of instrumentality also indelibly connected to the larger is able to produce spatiality. corrugation Thus, the “sine wave” of materiality, the way inparticular inwhich askinis of the agency of isalsoamanifestation that isproduced by corrugation the grain turn, In construction. is ademonstration that drawing isalready anact of isthe same length asthe undulating line at the bottom corrugation the straight upper line of a developable surface. the length of That the vertices that help define alsoform the corrugation the ribsof drawing isdemonstrative here inthat the vertical lines that define and surface. relationship between The corrugation aruled limits of wall its figuralshapinginaccordance with the accepts metal curtain calibrated. As such, precisely because of the suppleness of the detail, the detail, the suppleness of calibrated. Assuch, precisely because of each sheet offers parameters by which may different geometries be overlap between each of module, andthe degree the lapjoint of plywood, size of The critical detail from which his domes are formed. Buckminster Fuller can be seen asthe three-wayThe weave joint of ■

14- 13- 12- 11- 10- 9- 8- 7- © JOHNHORNER MANTRA RESTAURANT, OFFICEDA, BOSTON, USA, 2001 NADAAA GWANGJU PAVILION, GWANGJU DESIGNBIENNALE2011 © BIG DENMARK PAVILION, EXPO2010SHANGHAICHINA, BIG NEW YORK,USA SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIMMUSEUM, FRANKLLOYD WRIGHT ROME, ITALY TEMPIETTO OFSANPIETROINMONTORIO, DONATO BRAMANTE PANTHEON, ROME TAGLIABUE EMBT©SHENZHONGHAI/KDE SPANISH PAVILION, EXPO2010SHANGHAICHINA, MIRALLES © HUFTON +CROW TEL AVIV MUSEUMOF ART, PRESTON SCOTT COHEN, ISRAEL, 2011 ■

20- 19- 18- 17- 16- 15- © IWAN BAAN SOUTH KOREA, 2012 KUKJE GALLERY -K3, SO-IL, SEOUL HEADQUARTERS, NBBJ, NEWARK, USA, 1997 LONGABERGER CORPORATE CLAUDE NICOLASLEDOUX PROJECT FOR THE IDEAL CITYOFCHAUX WATER INSPECTOR’S HOUSE © DAN BIBB USA, 1999 INTERFAITH CHAPEL, OFFICEDA, BOSTON AUSTRALIA, 2014-©JOHNHORNER MELBOURNE SCHOOLOFDESIGN, NADAAA, RESEARCH PROJECT, NADAAA CATENARY COMPRESSION the detailcanbeseen typological or categorical differences.typological orcategorical identifies each locking element with afunction they serve, them into the roof, the enclosure andthe mound;indoingso, the hearth, he of Architecture helps to theorize the Four Elements of that traditional challenges notions about tectonics. Gottfried Semper generativeThe detail alsosets inmotion anidea about architectural ethics Overcoming the Tectonic Dialectic alternative outcomes. only to delay the possibility of if spatial andexperiential results, bamboo allyield quite different formal, research at large. Thus, hisplay with brick, wood, concrete, glassand the materiality and the tell-tale detail become a major precondition of hiswork where the role of develops a thematic project inthe body of vocabularies; between while defying acommon language projects, he of yielding awide array aggregation, and their requisite modes of games. Conversely, Kuma plays boldly with different materials their architectural inthe subtleties of perception of the importance only to underline ways inwhich to dematerialize common materials, if betweenemphasis on a common language projects, they also find SANAAbringsfocus to their work of the body of consistency of the material Kuma. SANAAandKengo If - forexample, that of varied authorships different material media play out inthe context of an intellectual project, one can see the way inwhich interactions with andwhole relationships can be evaluated.which part To this end, as you will - by commitment - asystem if to asyntax between the parts agiven sets inmotion abroader project. This of parts the kit of - but rather its generative for seed - then it alsosets the vocabulary the design process the detail is seen not somuch of as the epilogue If its context. which isresponsive the form to the circumstances of of geometry for the project, but also broader plywood detail as the trigger dart onthis possibility,a precise commentary the not only transforming the dome. Immaterial/Ultramaterial Installation was The figure of the beyond the eventualityone can imagine many of other forms to radicalize what asingle material unit can achieve when forced to may seem limiting, it is,strategy infact, conversely aliberating tactic mono-material the If spatial. or structural, functional, whether each with unique qualities that speak to their respective “duties”, fabricated from brick - but withstubbornly the imperative to endow the floor, walls, and ceiling are all of Klippan, where the articulation St Peters in SigurdLewerentz, especially inthe Church of work of For something quite unique fromthe this reason, we come to learn ■ ■ new forms of knowledge from within thediscipline. from knowledge of new forms producing seen fromthe perspective of liability if evidently clear, then essentializing them becomes a enclosure,betweenfoundations arenot or structure,

39- 38- 37- 36- 35- 34- 33- 32- 31- 28/30- WESTON HOUSE, OFFICEDA, WESTON, USA, 1998 27- 26- 25- CENTER ART 21/24- TONGXIAN © JUSTINEBELLELEVATORDREAMING.TUMBLR.COM LEWERENTZ, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 1960 CEILING OF THE STMARK’SCHURCH, SIGURD SANAA, OHIO, USA, 2006-©IWAN BAAN GLASS PAVILION, TOLEDO MUSEUMOF ART © KENLEE/FLICKR.COM ASSOCIATES, TOKYO, JAPAN, 2013 SUNNYHILLS CAKE SHOP, KENGOKUMA& HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 2001 NADER TEHRANI INCOLLABORATION WITH IMMATERIAL/ ULTRAMATERIAL INSTALLATION © JOHNSEBASTIAN SCRATCHDAILY.BLOGSPOT.COM PROTOTYPE, JOHNSEBASTIAN PLYDOME, PLYWOOD GEODESICDOME ORO BOOKSHELF, OFFICEDA, 2000 CANADA, 2011 WINNIPEG SKATING SHELTERS, PATKAU ARCHITECTS, KNOLL1990 -COURTESY CROSS CHECKCHAIR, FRANKO. GEHRY, KNOLL, © EATTARANTULA.BLOGSPOT.COM LEG SPLINT, CHARLESEAMES, 1942 © JOHNHORNER HOUSE INNEWENGLAND, OFFICEDA, USA, 2003 © DAN BIBB BEIJING, CHINA, 2003 TONGXIAN GATEHOUSE, OFFICEDA NEW HAMPSHIRERETREAT, NADAAA, USA, 2014 OFFICE DA, BEIJING, CHINA, 2003 fthe innate differences If

31 in a categorization in a categorization 28 32 both design andfabrication asintegrative practices. orchestrate systemic with other changes disciplines inthe process of malleability andthe dynamic ability to geometric the radicalization of tolerances, control over the medium, underlining the diminution of produced elements amass-customized effect that radically alters our brick distribution creates frommass- robot forthe deployment of the GramazioandKohler, where the introduction of the work of this wall system can alsobe seen in instantiations of wall. Further system to draw inlight andairinwhat would otherwise beaninactive the binding we alsodemonstrate the elastic potentialpattern, of lateral stability, but by expanding andcontracting the briskbonding creases, we offer strategy. By folding the wall through a series of Lewerentz asahybrid while absorbingthe bondingpotentials of Dieste, this wall inCasaLaRoca, tactics of adopts the geometrical to the next. Ourown fromoneknowledge generation adaption of Dieste’s of surfaces makes forasignificant transformation ruled due to the differences inJefferson’sin geometry versus extrusions due to the active at work, surface geometries the subtle differences However, beyond the fact that bothenjoy reinforced lateral stability and the figurative linkbetween them isimmediate andobvious. the Atlántida Church by EladioDieste, undulating brick surfaces of Virginia have a salient connection with the the University of of knowledge, however incrementally. For instance, walls the serpentine they advance of inways culture at large that produce new forms unexpected histories, certain andhow of genealogies to reconstruct beyond the medium itself. Within this context, it might be important can reverberate to which these technologicaldegree transformations social relevance, andthe of architecture asaninstrument role of over time. Intandem with this, question about the there isalarger technologies, to imagine how that medium hasevolved it isimportant innovations theLewerentz withinbrick Church suggests If Knowledge of NewForms Research of andthe Production brick asthe dominant protagonist. primacy of the andchallenge the floor act to bringinlight, frame the space of voids certain can whereby the extended dimension of articulation, of brick, not somuch asastatic reveal, but rather asananimate space tothis,As acorollary between Lewerentz the implicates the mortar take onvaried tectonic tasks -notthrough difference, but sameness. mgn omtett h rdcino new imagine acommitment to the production of own right, but also buildsonothers’ experiments to each experiment in its inthe iteration of on itself architectural researchnot onlybuilds imperative of any way, each other inthe cycle where the inform historicevents, thoughnotimmediately in linear of 33 29 34 30 This very chain very This

05 06 usin f epniiiy rbe ovn,addtriay-alo responsibility, - allof problem solving,anddeterminacy questions of to surplus iswhat Iwould agenda call anecessary That an agenda. intentions, there issomething insubstantial to anarchitecture without andyet we alsocome to understand that even harm; with allthe right onaHippocratic Oath that asksusto dono it may be easy to agree anything, with allthe varied positions that we may hold, magnitude. If such whether we have the right tools to take onthe difficulties of natural disasters, andmany more circumstances that force usto think wars and beyond national boundaries, the result of massmigrations among them, environmental disasters at a global scale, economic crises historical moment isbringingwith it unprecedented challenges, the responsibility that comes with this title. No doubt, the current the architect, we may be reminded of As we of revisit the agency Agenda Beyond the Hippocratic Oath, the Necessity of the architect. of critical practices asthey extend the instrumentality of an academic ortheoretical imperative,is nolonger but the mainstay power, responsibilities andreach; thus, research a new distribution of boundaries being challenged, there is also speculate. With disciplinary onwhich research architecture to expand the terrain may of forms and material sciences amongother disciplines have introduced other time, we have alsoseen the way inwhich biology period of a short ashift inemphasis insuch this were not enough of complexities. If variations deal of that can proliferate options while absorbingagreat create anescape fromvisualcomposition, but alsoproduce systemic functions that not only realm hasoffered code andrule-based has been lost foralongperiod. By extension, the computational fabrication - something that control over the means andmethods of the architect, andthereby giving them the potential power to regain by the shopdrawing reincorporating process within the software of from the traditional dichotomy between the designer andbuilder, hasalsooffered anescape digital platform This to performance. form architect to measure andcalibrate architecture within ashift from the simulation of that enhance the agency has offered methods of visualization asinprevious generations, but it impacted processes of profoundly the digital age. Not only hasthe digital platform result of new protocols that isthe of onlyto be by challenged arange if regime lasted several the representational hundred years, the reign of to control areality that isotherwise inaccessible to others. Curiously, techniques, but the architect’s isequally defined by agency their ability architecture impacted by these of Renaissance; not only isthe form perspective in the projection andthe invention of methods of geometry, and media - amongother disciplines. Consider the role of sciences, technologies key evolutions inthe advance of the result of hasalsobeen knowledge architectural agency, andthe production of To this end, there hasbeen aparadigmatic shift inthe evolution of the discipline. as anethic knowledge of of forms 39 35 40 36 41 37 42 e aiaieorrdfnto fthe architect. yet radicalize our redefinition of tools may new disciplinary of through the incorporation that terrain knowledge, then we can also see how the expansion of of new forms expanding speculative of asimportant tools asacentral part served have with material agency specification, making,andanengagement other perspectives. projection, tosee things from of many new forms is dynamicandwiththemalleableabilitytoabsorb architecture as potent reminders that the medium of speculation such that they have the power to serve modes of and inquiry techniques, methodologies of is how to internalize part, then, in great challenge side by side andto imagine consequentiality across disciplines. connecting phenomena across scales, to see them do have ways of the same equation; however, unlike ever before, we of might be part globalwarming amere wall andthe effects of insular qualities of then it may be nosecret that, forinstance the like anexaggeration, that sounds the cosmos, andif to the scale of the urbanterritory awall, but alsoexpandsbeyond begins with the micro-section of architecture the discipline asanepistemology. the scale of Inpart, the lens through which we see architecture, but are alsoexpanding andanalysis that have representation generation, not only expanded both sciences are just afew disciplines that have offered systems of systems, biology, information geographic computation, andmaterial within the discipline.representation Amongthem, nano-technology, of to traditional forms that are not germane fromterritories emerge study that areimpacting architecture the fact that many areas of of today isthe result its parts. crisis (and potential) of The the sumof such that aproject isalwaysexpertise something much than larger ability to direct, orchestrate andreconcile many divergent streams of adiscipline whose power comes inthe of apedagogy quality of the unique the environment, they are alsothe result of aspects of is linked with the generative, andfabricational representational the architect’s intellectual craft. Insofarasthat intellectual craft of linked to thenot: instrumentality those aspects that are irreducibly what the architect actually does inways that others do oversight of social responsibility, there hasalsobeen ageneral the rhetoric of other roles. However,builder, researcher, in of amongarange many hats: asdesigner, activist, ambassador, translator, mediator, in recent years, areminder that the architect, ascultural actor, wears asacritical factor social responsibility hasre-emerged idea of The seeing.with its tools, questions, andways of scholarship to speak to society area of acertain - that is, the ability of adiscipline with amotivation of that demonstrates the instrumentality not paired which may play factors, but that remain somehow pale if 38 43 Mr motnl,i we able are to see how More importantly, if ■

44 45- 44- 43- 42- 41- 40- 40/41- STPETERSCHURCH, SIGURDLEWERENTZ 11 AND FEDERALINSTITUTEOF TECHNOLOGY ZÜRICH GRAMAZIO KOHLER RESEARCH STRUCTURAL OSCILLATIONS INSTALLATION CARACAS, VENEZUELA,1995 CASA LAROCA, OFFICEDA © VICENTE DEL AMO HERNÁNDEZ ESTACIÓN ATLÁNTIDA, URUGUAY, 1960 CHURCH OFCHRIST THE WORKER, ELADIODIESTE © KARENBLAHA/FLICKR.COM SERPENTINE WALL AT THE UNIVERSITYOF VIRGINIA, USA WINDOW,© WWW.TAKTETTO.COM FLOOR, ©SELER+SELER/FLICKR.COM KLIPPAN, SWEDEN, 1966 TH VENICE ARCHITECTURAL BIENNALE, 2008 45 The The