SAN: Manifesto
Table of Contents
1 Intention
The intention is to democratize architecture the way maker spaces have democratized industrial design. And of course we’re not creating static buildings of the last millennium. We’re inviting the buildings to partake in their construction.
2 What to strive for in a project
- Accessibility: Digital fabrication lowers the barrier of entrance. It should not be required to have architectural training or to possess particular manual skills. Everybody is invited.
- Inhabitability: Some of the best projects are those that are for personal use. In an architectural maker space, it should be possible to live in the structures built, even if only temporarily.
- Reconfigurability: In a typical maker space, a lot of prototypes go to waste. This is not feasible at architectural scale. For example, instead of experimenting with 3D printing, it may be more interesting to work on a robot that can assemble and reconfigure constructions out of simple building blocks. Architecture probably should be less rigid anyhow, able to adapt to changing needs.
- Fast production: Ideally, constructions can be quickly assembled, for fast iteration and for getting results in an afternoon.
3 SAN as an intermediate step
The Self Aware Network (SAN) is an intermediate step. Individuals join a collaborative construction process. The network gives visual and auditory feedback concerning how it perceives its construction and its integration with the environment. It is not a habitable structure however.
Figure 1: Concept for UABB
4 Beyond SAN
- Organic buildings: Just as chairs out of trees or objects out of mycelium – houses could be grown. Such buildings are literally partaking in their construction. A start would be small scale models grown over the course of a few weeks or months. Experiment with using electronics, light, and AI to influence growth without human intervention.
- Sustainability and robotics: Robots may be able to construct individualized buildings from scrap found on the ground in way more sophisticated ways than humans. Furthermore, buildings can be reconfigured continuously, preventing waste of material and offering endless possibility for play and experimentation.
- Portable construction machine: Let’s invent a portable machine that you can take with you, and that aids with building a shelter for a night.
- Open source skyscraper: Exercise to build high to make good use of a small footprint.
- Jungle sound: Embed electronic sensors into the jungle that measure features of plants as they grow. Make the generation of nice sound an objective. Learn about the properties of plants and how they move and grow.