Time, Culture, and Loops

response to Contemporary Techniques in Architecture by Ali Rahim

If there is one outstanding observation from this piece it is the emphasis on the culture and time. Some key phrases in their relationship with technology were:

Cultural proliferation, production, and transformation

Temporal processes, organizations, and cycles 

Rahim outlines his perception of contemporary techniques: their processes and effects. He argues that  technology is essentially a development of cultural progression. It is a feedback loop of constant evolution that cannot be defined by a single moment, but rather as a "qualitative set of relations that interact with cultural stimuli". To see technology through a lens of reactions to cultural interactions, he sees the computer as an object that can only be understood in its context, as a technological object that exists temporally. It is part of a "continuous temporal organizational process of cultural proliferation."

Creation lies in the possibility of what does not yet exist and these possibilities can be discovered through the use of technology. I really like this idea that Rahim brings up. The power of technology doesn't exist in its speed of completing otherwise lengthy operations, or its crisp appearance, but instead, it is able to do so much of what architects used to do by hand that now we can take full advantage of discovering the possibilities that can be accomplished with this extremely powerful tool. 

While I understand many of the points Rahim repeats throughout this reading, my one critique is that his entire passage is focused on (and entitled) "Contemporary Techniques" yet not once does he stop to give any attempt at defining/ specifying these somewhat ambiguous terms. I received some answers towards the end of the piece, with the example of Variations (a residence in Islamabad) in which he uses inverse kinematics to asses temporally changing programmatic elements and opportunities. This multi-faceted use of water he discusses, and the way it can serve as both a swimming pool and a retention pool is a unique opportunity that is available with contemporary technology.

I am most interested in the discussion of materiality and technology's opportunity for digital fabrication. Properties of materials such as density and porosity can move from stagnation to more dynamic effects. 

"The threshold of the line is moved to a gradient so that opaque, translucent and transparent effects can occur in one surface in continuous variation."

MoMA Installation- Contemporary Architecture Practice

MSK Lobby Wall- LTL Architects

The flexibility and freedom that contemporary technology gives us can enable us to find solutions that are more responsive to the ever-challenging demands of our time.