I am taking this class called "radical experiments from 60s and 70s", and really enjoying it. I knew that it was one of the time that the idea of technology and future is established, along with the networking, communications and even cybernetics. Concepts of evolution, complexity and self organization is also started at this time. Even though these are part of my personal and academic interests, I never actually looked into the publications from this time, because it's just old.. But yeah, I under evaluated the value of originality.
I just had a chance to look into AD magazine from 70s, which has extensive collection of the works of archigram, fuller and all other celebrities.. (my current favorite is yona friedman.) It is just amazing to feel the accumulated time, and also how ahead of time those proposals were. With the new materials like polymers and resin in their hand, those frontiers of architecture performed the hands on experiments that goes beyond our imagination. Even the theoretical arguments are really interesting to look at. Most of them are proposing the flexible spaces considering social changes aided by technology.
Personally, it is very exciting yet sad to look into this time of the history because the arguments and proposals made at this time seems worthwhile to test out yet nothing happened and everything ended up as a echo in the dark sky. The ability to imagine is sacrificed by the agenda. The dream is gone. Is this time ever going to happen, or now do we have too much in our hands so everything is too obvious to experiment? Are we predicting the possibilities by using and processing data in the digital realm, or are we presupposing without considering the variables? Even variables are calculated.. Yet we don't know everything in the world..
3 comments:
So, what are you going to do about it Ji?
It is echo'ing in you mind, all these past discoveries, hypothesis, past hopes... Are they really past, in comparison, to the last two centuries, or just a change in direction of ideas, research grant allocation, politics, and fashion? Did the focus somehow turn away from mega-machine cities, robots, and urban society structuring, to a more fashionable Digital silicon world of Internet Hal-9000, and Nukes? (and eventually chat rooms, mullets, cellphones and MTV)
The last of those Archigram issues did deal much with the inventions of he persona computer, internet, and compact electronics. Look at those super compact homes you wear on your back, that had computers and devices build in them. Is it not the theoretical PDA of the 70's?
You really should be talking to Marcos Sanches about this stuff, he has some great info and awesome energy for this (as you know). xoxox0xo
B
PS. maybe a cellphone network, trans-continental fiber networks, and a space station (ICBM's too) were easier to make then walking cities, or even new socialist cities.
wow! thanks for your input!!
I guess what I was getting at was that the idea of new technology is not as new as we think. In the 70's magazine, they have hardware section with tons of electronics doing similar things almost.Maybe things got smaller and easier to use, the idea was same. I am questioning is there more than that for human? or will it be just improvement of same function?
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