GRGR(29) - The Grid, The Comb

[jporter]

Mark and Rob, you might be interested in a course offered at Penn State
Univ: The Department of Integrative Arts, on Architectural Theory, among
other things. Here's a taste from the intro:

(Begin quote)

                         Intransitive Boundaries

The premise behind seeking a new approach to architecture theory is that the
majority of current approaches are unproductive, self-referential, and
dependent on ideological points of view which are, customarily, invisible to
discourse. While most architecture theory these days complains in
revisionistic terms about our Enlightenment heritage, most re-institute
Enlightenment practices in other ways, such as through obeisance to
scholarly traditions, "ipse dixit" formulations, and covert references to
contemporary power structures that affect academia and the profession of
architecture.

This is not to say that these forces are not operative, imposing, and in
some cases relevant. Rather, it is to say that power, custom, and social
practices are a part of what Diogenes, the "dog philosopher," would have
called "nomos" in contrast to the "physis" which is, all things being equal,
the stuff of truth This method aims at physis in Diogenes' sense, and most
of the time with Diogenes' commitment to story, humor, and the "argumentum
ad boculium."

This approach aspires to be comprehensive. It is not just about space the
way architects conceive it but the space that one encounters in ordinary
life, dreams, abstract modeling, and extreme situations. It is the kind of
theory that, in principle, could be adopted by artists, social scientists,
health professionals, despots, or the socially dispossessed. The theory aims
to create a linguistically "neutral" basis for describing spatial
situations. This is not at all a claim that anything can be linguistically
neutral, but simply to suggest that a common feature of linguistic
interaction, known as "accommodation," where interlocutors modify their
speech behavior to resemble their counterpart in some way, can be applied to
theoretical situations.

There are three ideas central to this new approach........ (end quote)

[Culled from the introduction of]

    the completely different approach to architecture theory:

    boundary mathematics & architecture theory

    Bringing the calculus of George Spencer Brown's "Laws of From" to bear
on architectural conditions of intransitivity, concealment, consecution, and
concinnity.

 http://wgn111.ce.psu.edu/boundary/default.html

Some of the boundary math links are lost, but the semiotics sections are
intact, and generally way cool.

jody