Architecture for the Commons: Participatory Systems in the Age of Platforms

149 Pages·8.17 MB·English

by  Jose Sanchez

ARCHITECTURE FOR
THE COMMONS
Architecture for the Commons dives into an analysis of how the tectonics of a building is
fundamentally linked to the economic organizations that allow them to exist. By tracing
the origins and promises of current technological practices in design, the book provides
an alternative path, one that reconsiders the means of achieving complexity through
combinatorial strategies. This move requires reconsidering serial production with
crowdsourcing and user content in mind. The ideas presented will be explored through the
design research developed within Plethora Project, a design practice that explores the use of
video game interfaces as a mechanism for participation and user design.
The research work presented throughout the book seeks to align with a larger project
that is currently taking place in many different felds: The Construction of the Commons.
By developing both the ideological and physical infrastructure, the project of the Commons
has become an antidote to current economic practices that perpetuate inequality. The
mechanisms of the production and governance of the Commons are discussed, inviting the
reader to get involved and participate in the discussion. The current political and economic
landscape calls for a reformulation of our current economic practices and alternative value
systems that challenge the current market monopolies.
This book will be of great interest not only to architects and designers studying the impact
of digital technologies in the feld of design but also to researchers studying novel techniques
for social participation and cooperating of communities through digital networks. The book
connects principles of architecture, economics and social sciences to provide alternatives to
the current production trends.
Jose Sanchez is an Architect, Game Designer and Theorist based in Detroit, Michigan. He is
the director of the Plethora Project (www.plethora-project.com), a research studio investing
in the future of the propagation of architectural design knowledge. He is the creator of
the award-winning video game Block’hood, a city simulator exploring notions of ecology,
entropy, and interdependence, and the creator of Common’hood, a video game social platform
that enables the authoring of architectural design within Creative Commons. He is also the
co-creator of Bloom, a crowd sourced interactive installation which was the winner of the
Wonder Series hosted by the City of London for the 2012 Olympics.
He has taught in renowned institutions in the United States and in Europe, including
the Architectural Association in London, The Bartlett School of Architecture at University
College London, at the University of Southern California, and is currently at the University
of Michigan where he is an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture. His research
“Gamescapes” explores generative interfaces in the form of video games, speculating on
modes of intelligence augmentation, combinatorics and open systems as design mediums.

ARCHITECTURE FOR
THE COMMONS
Participatory Systems in the Age
of Platforms
Jose Sanchez
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Jose Sanchez
The right of Jose Sanchez to be identifed as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sanchez, Jose, 1980- author.
Title: Architecture for the commons / Jose Sanchez.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2020. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifers: LCCN 2019057773 (print) | LCCN 2019057774 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138362352 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138362369 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780429432118 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Architectural design—Philosophy. |
Information commons.
Classifcation: LCC NA2500 .S145 2020 (print) | LCC NA2500 (ebook) |
DDC 729/.01—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057773
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057774
ISBN: 978-1-138-36235-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-36236-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-43211-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Catherine

CONTENTS
List of fgures viii
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction: a call for a post-2008 architecture 1
1 Architectural progress 13
2 The coalescence of parts 33
3 In defense of parts 57
4 Immaterial architectures 86
5 Reconstruction through self-provision 110
Index 128
FIGURES
I.1 Parametric Urbanism by Research led by Patrik Schumacher.
Design proposal led by Ursula Frick and Thomas Grabner at the
University of Innsbruck, Austria 2
I.2 Architecture model of the Lewis Residence by Frank Gehry 5
1.1 and 1.2 Buckminster Fuller holding up tensegrity sphere.
Tensegrity demonstrates his principle of ephemeralization, where
structural stability is achieved with fewer materials 16
1.3 Quinta Monroy, Elemental by Alejandro Aravena. The initial
construction is later completed by homeowners 28
2.1 Relativity Space 3-D printing facility 34
2.2 Aeon 1 Engine by Relativity Space. Engine is manufactured
using 3-D printing technology, greatly reducing the number of parts 35
2.3 Bricktopia by Map13 utilizing RhinoVault by Philippe Block.
The project displays how the discrete brick units conform to the
simulated vault confguration 37
2.4 Monolith Interface for voxel-based modeling developed by
Andrew Payne 40
2.5 Graded 3-D printed material intensities produced with
Monolith developed by Panagiotis Michalatos 40
2.6 3-D printed CHAIR by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher in
collaboration with STRATASYS, 3-D printed on the Stratasys
Objet1000 Multi-Material 3-D Printer 41
2.7 The Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku by Zaha Hadid Architects.
The design demonstrates Schumacher’s view of parametric
articulation, interpolating the building with the landscape. The
project portrays the dissolution of tectonics, where details are
minimized in favor of the fuidity of form 42
Figures ix
2.8 Diagram of the jigsaw puzzle analogy referring to the result of
post rationalizing geometry for CNC milling fabrication 47
2.9 Topological Optimization technique used for the design of a
metallic joint manufactured through 3-D printing technology 48
2.10 Contour Crafting manufacturing. Extruder is able to print layers
of viscous material such as concrete 48
2.11 USH Sinusoidal Wall by XtreeE built using contour crafting
manufacturing 49
2.12 Thames Gateway as an urban feld courtesy Zaha Hadid
Architects. The image was used in the cover of The Politics of
Parametricism by Matthew Poole and Manuel Shvartzberg in
reference to swarm systems 52
2.13 Detail of iPhone utilizing the Pentalobe Screws designed by Apple 53
3.1 “The Universal House is based on a fully integrated building
system made of self-interlocking discrete blocks which can be
plugged in in any direction, as for the cladding panels.” u-Cube/
Universal House, Philippe Morel, 2009 58
3.2 Philippe Morel/EZCT Architecture & Design, Chair Model
‘T1-M’ after 860 generations (86,000 structural evaluations).
“Studies on Optimization: Computational Chair Design using
Genetic Algorithms (with Hatem Hamda and Marc Schoenauer)” 59
3.3 Holistic set (jigsaw puzzle) vs non-holistic set (LEGO) 63
3.4 3-D model of hierarchical hexagonal press-ft structure, in
“Additive Assembly of Digital Materials” by Jonathan Ward,
MIT Center for Bits and Atoms 65
3.5 Digital material structure case studies. Confgurations in the
form of a bridge, boat and shelter. Drawings presented in
axonometric, top and side view. Research project by Benjamin
Jenett, Daniel Cellucci, Christine Gregg and Kenneth Cheung 66
3.6 Logic Matter by Skylar Tibbits, MIT. Logic Matter is a system
of passive mechanical digital logic modules for self-guided
assembly of large-scale structures 66
3.7 Bloom the Game by Jose Sanchez and Alisa Andrasek. The
project is an open-ended building system made out of identical
units. The formations of the project are created by the crowds
that engage with them 68
3.8 Bloom the Game by Jose Sanchez and Alisa Andrasek. Kids
interacting with the piece for the London 2012 Olympic Games 69
3.9 Diagram of discrete parts and proposals for a multiplicity of
design assemblies based on the combinatorics of the system.
Gilles Retsin Architecture, Tallinn Architecture Biennale
Installation, 2017 69
3.10 Tallinn Architecture Biennale installation composed of discrete
units by Gilles Retsin Architecture, 2017 70