On Integrating Computation into the Built Environment
Alex Webb
Routledge, forthcoming
Why is computation not helping promote climate stability? More specifically, why has the integration of computation into our cities and buildings not helped manage their resource use in any noticeable way?
This book suggests that the reason why integrations of computation into the built environment have been less than productive is because of how they conceptualize human interaction with cities and buildings. Alternatively, a unique blend of robotics, psychology and computer science that has focused on the development of adaptive, responsive machines- machines that do not depend on prediction and simulation, but can leverage simple responses in unpredictable worlds. Drawing from John Johnston’s The Allure of Machinic Life, The City of Machinic Life uses Johnston’s stitching of cybernetics, artificial life and behavior-based robotics into the same theoretical framework as a contrast in design methodology to the approach of the smart city.
Rethinking how we integrate computation into our built environment is an urgent need. A 2014 United Nations study claimed that cities are responsible for up to 70% of the planet’s carbon emissions. This study suggests that cities are our greatest opportunity to promote climate stability and, if so, computation could be our greatest ally. While smart city projects continue to develop and attract attention, consumer-grade products such as The Nest and the Roomba quietly suggest a path forward that might leverage the best of computation.