Nomadism in the Digital Era

Francesca Beltrame, 12/2018 Dwelling and sense of Home in the Nomadic culture The Digital Nomadism of a Global Village Challenges and experiments of Nomadic Architecture and Urbanisms INTRODUCTION In Vitruvius’s De Architectura, he defines the three principles of good architecture as “durability, propriety, beauty”. Traditionally one would understand them to refer only to buildings because durability also means permanence from medieval latin permanentia ‘remaining to the end’[0]. Yet, permanence is not directly linked to Sedentarism. Nomadic dwellings are characterized by their ability to be durable and permanent to the natural conditions and in time. Moreover, the mobility of nomadic architecture doesn’t translate into temporality. They are designed to last and not as ephemeral structures. In fact, they probably deteriorate slower than a static wooden or turf structure. Therefore, even though we might not think of nomadic settlements as being part of Vitruvius’s architectural tradition they disclose an enormous potential for solving contemporary architectural issues. Traditional nomadic architecture couldn’t exist without the nomadic life style they entail. As the origin of the word suggest nomad from Greek nomas ‘roaming in search of pasture’ [0], a nomad is someone that travels from place

to place and thus has no permanent ‘home’ in the sentimental connotation of the term rather than the physical quality of it. In today’s hyper-connected and globalized society, we could be considered nomads as well.

The digital shift our society is going through is manifesting nomadic behaviors. I myself moved from four different ‘homes’ during my university years without feeling totally isolated each time thanks to the power of social media to reconnect you to people you love. We are a generation little aware of the implications of our mobility. The integrity of our identity is shifting towards these nomadic behaviors in response to technologies and as a reaction to the need of our planet.

We are going towards a nomadic society that affects the way we relate to each other, to our cities and to the natural environment. We will therefore discuss the possibility of applying a nomadic architecture as an answer to new life style brought by the digitalization of societies by learning from the notion of dwelling and sense of home in traditional nomadic communities.

[0] Oxford Dictionary online, Nomad, Sedentary and Permanence definitions, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/permanent

DWELLING AND SENSE OF HOME IN THE NOMADIC CULTURE Our civilization has grown and evolved from two different territorial models: the sedentary and the nomadic. The satellite images of agricultural land in Kansas and image of the Gobi Desert illustrate perfectly these two social arrangements. The sedentary model manifests itself from the division of land as we can observe in Kansas (Fig.1). The territory is divided and owned by different families or individuals and the mobility within these plots is characterized by boundaries. Movement is not free in so far as you would have to follow a preexisting route. On the other hand, the image of the Gobi Desert (Fig.2) embodies the absence of clear borders and divisions.

Fig. 1, Satellite image of Kansas fields US, NASA

Fig. 2, Satellite image of the Gobi desert, NASA [1] George Maciunas Foundation Inc., European Alternatives: On nomadism, Interview with Rosi Braidotti

The land enables free movement and nomadic tribes can settle anywhere. The relationship to place is therefore obviously different. In the first model, humans take control over the land ordaining private properties, whereas in the sedentary model the natural forces of the environment affect its inhabitants but there aren’t any ownership forces acting over the land. I believe that the globalization brought on by the 21th century transformed our perception of place and the way we position ourselves within it. For instance, if we consider that thanks to the Schengen Zone, the European Union has been shifting towards a nomadic order then we start questioning our understanding of identity.

“The crucial thing about nomadic subject is that it is post-identitarian: nomadic is a verb, a process by which we map out multiple transformations and multiple ways of belonging, each depending on where our particular location is and how we grow. So, we have to map out the alternative cartographies of the non-unitary subjects that we are, so that we can get rid of any idea that there are subjects that are completely unitary, belonging entirely to one location.” [1] Many children of our generation would identity in Rosi Braidotti definition of the nomadic subject. I myself was born abroad and moved countries every 4 years. I lived in my parent’s home country for the first time only at 6 years old. We moved according to a nomadic model since we were always renting our houses and the sense of home was recreated by affection rather than objects. In Braidotti work she discusses the ‘nomadic subject’ as the new inhabitants of our era. Nomads are people who are distributed on land rather than the land distributed to them, thus even if they don’t move their relationship to place is what defines their difference.

Traditional nomadic architecture is fascinating for its variety of clever designs. They range from more basic shelter such as most of African tents to highly ornamented huts such as Mongolian yurts (Fig. 3).

tradition we have been used to give multiple spaces different functions. Whereas nomadic homes are very adaptable. The interior of a hut for instance, serves as bedroom, kitchen, living and so on. Sharing spaces with others and between functions is intrinsic to their life style. Moreover, the relationship to place is respective of its surroundings as far as it’s the environment in which they settle that affects their lifestyles rather than vis versa.

Mobility affects the sense of belonging, which is therefore related to the community rather than the physical place occupied.

Fig. 3, Traditional tents drawings, unmaterialstudio.wordpress.com

Nomadic communities can be found all over the globe with architectures that adapt to the climates they have to face. Most nomadic tents are either tensile structures or armatures yet an interesting aspect that couples both is that often the building components are also used as transportation interfaces (Fig. 4).

Finally, gender plays a strong role according to Prussin, in the case of Somali nomads the marriage to a woman is the enabling ritual to set up a home. The sense of home is a ritual of nomadic communities. In western societies we witness a commercialization of what the sense of home should be. The most illustrative example can be seen in 1950s real estate advertisement (Fig. 5). The living spaces all have televisions, sofas and fully equipped kitchens. It is the standardized house that made the home in the post second world war.

Fig. 5, Family watching television. Evert F. Baumgardner, ca. 1958.

National Archives and Records Administration.

Fig. 4, Diagram from African Nomadic Architecture – Space, Place and Gender by Labelle Prussin

Labelle Prussin, author of African Nomadic Architecture – Space, Place and Gender, defines mobility, gender and ritual as the three main principles that characterize most of nomadic architectures. The relationship to space is in fact very unique. In western

Nevertheless, the nomadic ritual of creating a home seems to be developing its contemporary version. During the 2016 Biennale of Architecture the curators of the British pavilion made an exhibition called Home economics. As its title suggests, the curators elaborated projects around the analysis of financial models rather than housing typologies. One of the most notorious installations, the Day room by Åyr Collective was made of two huge inflatable

spheres where visitors would climb into. The installation was accompanied by the quote “Home is where the Wi-Fi is”. The internet is therefore ritualized to create the sense of home in a time frame that varies daily.

THE DIGITAL NOMADS OF A GLOBAL VILLAGE Digital nomad People who use telecommunications technologies to earn a living and, more generally, conduct their life in a nomadic manner. [2] The label of the digital nomad has been very in vogue these past years. They are people that simply work remotely from anywhere in the world thanks to internet. Yet, there is so much more to the combination of these two terms than simply defining a digital nomad as a remote worker. It represents a profile that opens up an enormous panorama of possibilities for urban life, economy and social arrangements.

The digitalization of services in our daily life are revealing nomadic behaviors from inhabitants.

In fact, Marshall McLuhan first predicted his vision that our world is going towards the image of a Global Village inhabited by ‘Tribal Man’ [3] which are created by the new technologies.

Today, after more than a century of electric technology, we have extended our central nervous system itself in a global embrace, abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned.

Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, 1964.

McLuhan is giving us an architectural lesson insight of the future, when he says media, he his referring to all types of technologies thus also buildings. Therefore, architecture is an extension of the human body as well.

The attributes of nomadic architecture as we discussed earlier seem to fit this definition perfectly.

Architecture is no longer a static element that defines its inhabitants with multiple divided functions. Architecture becomes an extension of its inhabitant where the inhabitant has the power of performing any function by finishing the design anytime. This can be exemplified with Hans Hollein Mobile office experiment in 1969. Hollein doesn’t need to go to a traditional office space to work. If he decides he needs to work, then he becomes the office thanks to his inflatable conic structure that he installs anywhere at any time (Fig. 6).

Another interesting aspect of McLuhan’s work on media is his differentiation between the notion of visual and acoustic space. He explains how the visual space is characterized by the square room, fruit of men’s specialization of work organization. In opposition with the acoustic space, that is characterized by round spaces such as the architecture of nomadic food-gathering communities. He argues that technologies will and is bringing us back to these societal models. He wasn’t wrong at all. Today’s most prosperous architectures are the ones who acknowledge the sharing trend such as hostels, Airbnb’s, co-working and co-living spaces.

He explains how the development of new media (which he also refers to as technologies and tools) will permit people to interact from anywhere in the world just as we do today with the internet. This implies that there is no more privacy to our daily actions just as in villages.

“All media are extensions of some human faculty- psychic or physical.”

McLuhan & Fiore 1967, 26

Fig. 6, Hans Hollein, Mobile Office, 1969 [2] Oxford Dictionary, definition of Digital Nomad [3] Interview with Marshall McLuhan, Explorations, CBC, 18 May 1960

CHALLENGES AND EXPERIEMTNS OF NOMADIC ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM The spatial experiences of contemporary cities make us nomads of the digital era. We are beings in becoming therefore all that is around us should morph accordingly. Living as nomads discloses emerging possibilities for architecture to be more responsive to the environment. It is obvious that the way we dwell today can’t refer to traditional architecture anymore. The evolution of the parameters that need to be taken into account are changing, people are increasingly worried of climate change and dependent to technologies. If we consider that, we all are involuntarily nomadic individuals then, what do our cities need to satisfy? What is the nomadic architecture of the digital era?

Pao for a Tokyo nomad girl by Ito and Sejima is an extremely interesting research as it proposes a nomadic life style that is able to respond to the most private to public situations. Their project dates back from 1985 and demonstrates how already architects where theorizing on nomadic dwelling for high density urban scenarios such as Tokyo. Even if, the project stays still in a very conceptual stage, it proposes a solution to adaptability (Fig. 7), mobility, structure and urban integration (Fig.9) for the average Tokyo woman.

In Primitive Futures, Sou Fujimoto also ponders similar matters. From the description of Le Corbusier’s Domino system he highlights the opportunities of adopting a different approach to housing. The aim isn’t to insure comfort and convenience to its inhabitants as does the Domino system which he refers to as a “nest”. Instead he talks about the advantages of seeing architecture as a “cave”[5], which is a space that “encourages people to seek a spectrum of opportunities, in which humans must adapt to a landscape by interpreting the scales, convexity and concavity of surfaces” [6].

Fig. 7

Fig. 7, 8, Toyo Ito and Kazuo Sejima, Pao Dwellings for Tokyo Nomad Girl, 1985

“The nomad girl does not act or pressure the environment, but rather is prepared to be the object herself of the actions and offers proposed by consumerism.” [4] Toyo Ito The nomad girl and her dwelling absorb the energy and information of anywhere in Tokyo therefore her relationship to place and space is different than if she had owned a plot of land.

She can travel around the city and recreate instantly the architecture she requires in any situations just as in Hans Hollein’s Mobile office and isn’t limited by the choice of one neighborhood.

Fig. 9, Toyo Ito, Pao Dwellings for Tokyo Nomad Girl 2, 1986.

[4] Toyo Ito, “Toyo Ito 1986-1995,” El CroquisVol. 14, no. 71 (1995), p.

1-188 (1995). Iñaki Abalos and Juan Herreros, “Toyo Ito: Light Time,” in El Croquis: Toyo Ito, 1986-1995, no. 71, eds. Richard C. Levene and Fernando Márquez Cecilia (Madrid: El Croquis, 1995), pg. 36.

[5] Primitive Futures, Sou Foujimoto [6] Toyo Ito’s introduction to Sou Fujimoto, Primitive Future (Tokyo: INAX, 2008).

In these early experiments the focus was more on freeing housing from political and social forces that ownership imposes in cities.

Nomadic architecture is also very praised for its sustainable approach to place. The way we dwell needs to change according to the new ecological panorama of our decade. While discussing with a Human science student I was introduced to the concept of ecological modernization. The main idea is that society and economy would only benefit from a shift towards environmentalism. The role of architecture and urban planning is subliminal to this definition. The relationship to place and space has to be adapted to the new conditions in which we dwell, and this is where nomadic architecture acquires applicability.

Recent experiments start including this sustainable feature. In China during the 2012 Get it Louder Exhibition a biennale which that year’s theme was: The People’s Future, nomadic architecture was addressed.

Peoples Architecture Office (PAO) explored the difficulty of land ownership in Chinese metropolis with The Tricycle House. They proposed a structure that would free its inhabitants from ownership burdens thanks to its mobile quality.

Fig. 10

Fig. 11

Fig. 10,11,12 , Tricycle House, PAO, 2012

The Tricycle House is completely man powered by its mean of transportation and includes all the basic necessities to accommodate a comfortable and sustainable life style from stoves, shower to urban orchard. Moreover, the structure is adaptable to the possibility of a growing family or community. PAO architect’s explain at the biennale that: “The plastic we use, polypropylene, is unique in that it can be folded without losing its strength.

The house itself can therefore entirely open up to the outside, expand out like an accordion to increase space, and connect to other houses.”

Fig 13, Tricycle House, PAO, 2012

My vision of a more sustainable city relies in the mixture of densities between two ingredients: the existing urban fabrics and these nomadic structures. These modular and mobile experiments could be considered as neo vernacular architectures of the 21th century. The Tricycle house is self-sufficient and locally sourced just as traditional vernacular and nomadic shelters. Moreover, it has an organicist composition of parts that grow according to the inhabitants and functions. The urbanistic of this small shelter can be compared to informal architectures of chaotic historical city centers. If we would have to make an analysis, I would imagine a spectrum of informal density. On one end, there would be the caricature of the modernist city of the movie My Uncle by Jacques Tati, on the other end, the traditional vernacular architecture of the uncle’s house. In the middle we could imagine the contemporary nomadic experiments discussed.

Fig. 14

online classes, jobs listings and to reconnect with their families.”

Fernando Abellanas’ Secret Studio Located Under a Bridge in Spain disrupts this stigmatization further. In his proposal, he chooses to install his nomadic structure under a bridge to prove his point against social constructs. Whole societal arrangements are changing towards this vision, in Estonia you can now apply for a Digital Nomad Visa. This event recognizes a change in the way we see and exploit migration flows. Acknowledging these personalities will change the way we plan cities and might be a necessary step to solve issues of inequalities and sustainability.

Fig. 14, 15, My Uncle, movie by Jacques Tati

SOCIAL INJUSTICES To fully embrace the nomadic life style, we need to take into account all types of mobility.

Social injustices can be addresses by nomadic architecture as well. The refugee crisis in the Mediterranean and homelessness are social phenomena’s that are asking western societies to rethinking housing through the idea of sharing. We are raised stigmatized by the fear of being homeless or stateless.

Yet, if we change perspective and concentrate on the physical state of these people, there is little difference between them and a voluntary digital nomad if we give both the same social significance. We require a change in mentality to accept all kind of mobility as honorable.

Experiments such as the Tent city 3 [7] in Seattle have proved that by simply installing free internet spots, the inhabitants had the opportunity to raise their social situation as journalist Scott Greenstone reported in the Seattle times in 2018: “Since the library began bringing the internet to sanctioned tent camps, it has changed life for some of residents, giving them easy access to

Fig. 16, Fernando Abellanas, Secret Studio Located Under a Bridge Spain

CONCLUSION Nomadic life style has always stimulated my interest, as an university students we are used to moving accommodation or country on average every 6 month. Our domesticity has been compromised by globalization, we share houses and are confronted to other in our own intimacy. Moreover, travelling has never been so convenient as it is today. Mobility is a core feature of our era and its manifestation couldn’t have been possible without the happening of media such as McLuhan had predicted. Yet, we can’t ignore the impact our consumerist caprices have on the environments and the social injustices that persist in our societies. The hyper connectivity we enjoy almost unconsciously unveils enormous [7] Matthew David Allen, Towards a nomadic theory of architecture - Shelter, dwelling, and their alternatives in the architecture of homelessness, June 2005

potential for a comeback of nomadic architecture in a new digital context and could solve many urbanistic and social issues in our cities. Our relationship to place and space is changing and nomadic structures (tents, Airbnb’s, shared housing…) seem to be one of the most applicable architectural equivalents to address housing shortages, rejection of typical housing ownership models and overpopulated cities and suburbs. There seems to be a revival of interest in primitive living such as McLuhan talks about the ‘Tribal men’ and Fujimoto about the ‘cave’ and new fabrication technologies are reinventing the construction industries which could make contemporary nomadic architecture as efficient as ever, leaving so much more potential to be explored.

-George Maciunas Foundation Inc.,(2010), European Alternatives: On nomadism, Interview with Rosi Braidotti, available at: http://dancekioskhamburg.de/ -Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, (1987), A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, University of Minnesota Press -Introspecs,(2018), Nomads in the 21th century, Available at: https://introspecs.com/ nomads-in-the-21st-century/ -Iñaki Abalos and Juan Herreros, “Toyo Ito: Light Time,” in El Croquis: Toyo Ito, 1986-1995, no. 71, eds. Richard C. Levene and Fernando Márquez Cecilia (Madrid: El Croquis, 1995), pg. 36.

-IoNA - The Institute of Nomadic Architecture, available at: http://www. nomads.org/

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-Charles Brett, (27 February 2018) Estonia plans its Digital Nomad Visa, , available at: https://www.enterprisetimes. co.uk/2018/02/27/estonia-plans-digitalnomad-visa/ -Eva Aldea, (10 September 2014), Nomads and migrants: Deleuze, Braidotti and the European Union in 2014, available at: https://www.opendemocracy. net/can-europe-make-it/eva-aldea/ nomads-and-migrants-deleuze-braidottiand-european-union-in-2014 - Fenina Acance, (17 november 2017), Stories on design // Nomadic Architecture, available at: https://www.yellowtrace.com.au/ nomadic-architecture-urban-nomads/

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-Oxford Dictionary online, Nomad, Sedentary and Permanence definitions, available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries. com/definition/permanent -Paul Levinson, (1999) Digital McLuhan: a guide to the information millennium, First published by Routledge -Rosi Braidotti, (2 March 2017), Memoirs of a Posthumanist, Yale University, available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=OjxelMWLGCo -Rosi Braidotti, Affirming the Affirmative: On Nomadic Affectivity, available at: http://www. rhizomes.net/issue11/braidotti.html -Shumi Bose, Jack Self and Finn Williams, (2016), Home Economics, exhibition in the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016.

-Tati Jacques, 1958, My Uncle, France -Toyo Ito, (1995) ,“Toyo Ito 1986-1995,� El Croquis Vol. 14, no. 71 (1995), p. 1-188.

-Toyo Ito, (2008), Introduction to Sou Fujimoto Primitive Future, Tokyo: INAX