Review: The Permanently Temporary by Viki Sandor

REVIEW

T P T

he

ermanently

emporary

Viki Sandor

Viki Sandor

Review: The Permanently Temporary (TPT)

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PREFACE

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his review aims to promote the investigation of temporary architecture as urban infrastructure. It will highlight its potentialities for transforming the permanently static, built environment into flexible and highly responsive organisms which while raises the value of urban space can also fulfill the spatial requirements of modern life.

The text follows the concept of my thesis project, ’The Permanently Temporary: in the age of gravity independent architecture’ (TPT).

While my thesis was focusing on building up a utopian* vision for providing a platform for social excitements, this time I will look through a critical glass and review the relevance of its collaged ideas related to the directions of current technological developments and research in the field of urbanism. It will examine the consistency of its concept by mapping ‘WHY’ and ‘HOW’ temporary architecture as new infrastructure could operate in urban surroundings.

* Architecture is the platform that enables us to visualise, live and feel those dreams.

Dreams like those of Wim Wenders in until the End of The World - and yours too. (Enric Ruiz-Geli) Not utopia. Anticipation. Exploration and foresight. “Advanced” (anticipated) reality.

...Utopist thought, claims Lefebvre, is concerned with abstract utopia and explores the impossible, while utopian thought is concerned with concrete utopia that aims to “liberate” the possible. Lambert places Constant on the side of the utopian;that is to say, on the side of efforts to alter and extend the landscape of the concrete-possible rather than probe the abstract-impossible. (Marcos Novak) (p. 647) ;The Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture

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CONTENTS ‘TEMPORARY’ 9 The Value of the ‘Temporary’ 11 Temporary Architecture 13 ‘WHY?’ 17 Urban Tension 19 Issue 1: More People in Town 21 Issue 2: The Weather Issue 3: ’the Urban Scissors-Effect’; Replace vs. Update

24 31 34

‘HOW?’ 37 Densifying by Intensifying 39 Flying Infrastructure 46 The Flibri 64 TPT EVOLUTION 77 Intro 78 The Permanently Temporary 80 Today 82 Tomorrow 84 After tomorrow 88 The Basics 92 The Event 94 The Playground 98 The New Ground 102 Appendix 108 Bibliography 112

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PART ONE

‘TEMPORARY’

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THE VALUE OF THE ‘TEMPORARY’

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n the world of constant change the making of accurate predictions of the future is challenging. The increasing complexity of the predictive calculations generate plentiful constraints for long term decisions. I believe that the number of considerable decision-constraints* is directly proportional to the degree of the decision risk** which has an effect on the speed of the decision making*** process. The higher the risks, the slower the procedure.

Temporariness by its definition is the quality of lasting, existing, serving or effecting for a time only.**** Its value is in the guarantee for the limited existence of its subject and the reduced weight of the consequences of its effects. While the decisions we make in * In the decision-making situations of real life, a course of action, to be acceptable, must satisfy a whole set of requirements, or constraints. Sometimes one of these requirements, or constraints, is singled out and referred to as the goal of the action. (Gary Goertz, “Constraints, Compromises, and Decision Making”, The Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol. 48, No. 1 (Feb. 2014)) ** Decision risk is the risk of changing strategies at the point of maximum loss. (John L. Maginn, CFA, Donald L. Tuttle, CFA, Dennis W. McLeavey, CFA, Jerald E. Pinto, CFA, Managing Investment Portfolios: A Dynamic Process, Third edition (2007)) *** Decision-making is the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values, preferences and beliefs of the decision-maker. ****

Online ( Available) http://www.dictionary.com/browse/temporariness

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the ‘world of permanence’ are fixing positions for longer period, in the ‘world of temporariness’, decisions are affective only for short term. Temporary decisions have less constraints and lower risks which allow decision mechanisms to speed up and match their pace with the local and global rate of change determined by economy, society, technology and the environment.

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TEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE Temporary architecture is “...neither a thing nor a concept, but a continual flux of process.”*

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f space is a sheet of paper, permanent architecture is the collection of pen-traces on that sheet. While (pen-drawn) lines and hatches can get new meaning by the addition of new lines and hatches, each trace remains an in-erasable element of that sheet of paper. Temporary architecture is the pencil drawing on that sheet and also the pencil itself. A pencil with a rubber tip which draws and erases and draws and erases...We can agree, that pencil drawings and pen drawings are not the same. We can also agree that drawing with a pencil or with a pen is not the same neither. Some would start a drawing with pencil - test and correct - and after a set of drawing and erasing and drawing and erasing would finalize it with a pen. Some would be brave, starting with a pen from scratch which may result in a powerful energetic drawing or in a irreversible failure. But what would those do who have only one sheet to draw? They may just draw and erase and draw and erase...I don’t know.

I ‘live’ on a sheet, filled with beautiful, interesting, old and new pen drawings. Some parts are fading, some are crumpled and * Kevin Kelly, “Hive Mind”, Out of Control: the new biology machines, social systems and the economic world, (1994)

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some are more dominant than others. I have been learning how to draw since I am a child and recently just got the permission to add new drawings to this sheet. But this sheet is getting full.

It is hard to find space for starting from scratch and it is also hard to find place for new pen lines in drawings are already there.

Sometimes i look at them and i really feel the need for some new attributes but in the next moment they are good the way they are.

I will just draw with a pencil for now.

Temporary architecture - by its limits in existence - transforms the ‘nothing’ into ‘something’ into ‘nothing’ again. Other than multifunctional architecture - where flexibility and/or transformation is embedded in the design - the power of temporary architecture is in its capability of functionalizing and also de-functionalizing space.

Its capability to appear and disappear creates potential to support the urban volume in adapting to local contexts, on demand. In this sense the level of spatial adaptation is determined by: • The demand-sensing speed and resolution (communication) • The duration of construction and - deconstruction (large scale responsiveness) • The capability of transformation and reorganization (small scale responsiveness) of the temporary (short-lived) spaces.

The essence of temporary architecture in the city is not only defined by the artificial space it creates but also by the infrastructure that provides its fluctuate appearance and disappearance. It is a complex system on its own which evolves by the constant conversation with all the determining components of urban life.

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Statement 1: In order to progress in new directions and to avoid locked in patterns of behavior, new systems are required to instigate change.

Temporary architecture could not only enhance the notion of spatial ephemerality*, but - due to its defined short period of physical operation, and the decrease of its responsibility compare to long-lived structures â&#x20AC;&#x201C; also provides ideal platforms for spatial adventures. The implementation of ephemeral architectural systems to cities may bring new responses to the fluctuating value of space and instigate change in the applications of our built environment.

*

Lasting for a short period of time

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PART TWO

‘WHY?’

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URBAN TENSION In order to understand the main reasons for the investigation of temporary architecture, it is necessary to map the primary issues which generate tension in the operation of global cities.

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aking cities as a source of information for understanding economy, society, and general dynamics of everyday life can never be a big mistake. These four dimensional patterns of human settlements, re-framed to spatial configurations can be treated as valid imprints of the changing social and economical dynamics through time. Cities can also be considered as organisms, binding together space and time through their orchestration of flows and the presumably static organization of their building mass. Their primary ingredients are 1) the built environment (building mass and void) ;2) the citizens ; 3) and the information which flows through the ’landscape’ defined by the first two. While both, the built environment and the citizens are producers, senders and receivers of information in urban systems they cannot be treated anymore as primary obstacles in defining the paths and patterns of social and environmental transformation. It is time to look at the external factors which are ready to reshape our world and it is time to find new strategies to moderate the upcoming changes if necessary.

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Today, our ‘heavy’ cities face great challenges: 1. Emerging issues derived from human population growth and urbanization: today already more than half of the world’s population is living in cities and the numbers are increasing at the rate of 1.5 percent. These factors are playing important roles in changing human settlements while posing significant risks on living conditions, the environment, and development), 2. In addition to political, economic and demographic developments, global warming is significantly influencing inhabited building culture: Cities are not only responsible for more than 70 percent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emission but also places which are increasingly feeling (will feel) the effects of extreme weather; increased storm surges due to rising sea level or record-breaking heat waves), 3. Changing patterns of social behavior: by the accelerating pace of change in technology -primarily influenced by ICT (information and communication technologies) - the dynamics of information starts to be formed independently from the physical space while it tends to become more and more dominant in defining new patterns of social behavior.

While there are already several strategies for urban planners and decision-makers to manage risks and develop guidelines for dealing with the issues - mentioned above - there is still need for the investigation of novel strategies which could provide suitable solutions for different urban structures. In order to map the canvas of our options we need to categories the main directions of potential urban transformations.

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Issue 1: MORE PEOPLE IN TOWN The increasing number of citizens require cities to increase their capacities.

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n one hand to increase the capacity of urban environments, cities can grow horizontally and expand. On the other hand, this strategy brings the risk that infrastructure – the necessary ingredient to fulfill the requirements of modern urban lifestyle - will not keep pace with their growth or the increased expectations of their populations. Cities need to provide infrastructure for electricity, road and rail transport, telecommunication and water, covering their entire area. Due to global climate change we can also consider the increasing necessity of the implementation of heating and cooling systems to cities in order to raise in-dependency from upcoming extreme weather conditions. Of course, the development of any of these services would play an important role in energy consumption and by that account for increasing greenhouse gas emission. The strategy of urban expansion seems like a vicious circle from the perspective of sustainable urban planning.

Another strategy for increasing the capacity of the city would be 21

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to increase urban density* allowing greater number of people to inhabit given urbanized areas. ‘Questions on densification have always played a major role in the development of urban environments. Industrialization, economic growth, building technologies, shifts in labor markets, heavily altered living and working conditions for the majority of society, being governed and organized by a set of best practice solutions corresponding to apparent political and cultural ideologies at certain times.

Devastating living conditions at the turn of the century, together with technological advances, evoked a reconsideration of the distribution of building mass towards a vertical development, with the aim to rather occupy the sky and free the ground for the benefit of free circulation of people and goods, ventilation and natural light, towards a maximization of efficiency and functionality. Likewise, for the benefit of hygienic reasons the functional city, proclaimed the separation of functions, allocating specific areas for living, work (industry) and recreation, expanding the control on the impact of the natural environment in a large scale attempt. The technological euphoria cumulated in suggestions such as to “dome” entire city quarters, allowing for potential climate control, to not only supply abounded living amenities but offering large scale solutions for energy related questions. Later examples even free human existence from the technological-spatial correlation of living and labor, freeing society from the ground, from work, as machines do the duties.

Grounding back the potential of long-term visions has radically alternated strategic planning, embracing time as the driving factor to allow for thinking a resilient city, planned and designed to adapting to changes over a longer period.’ ** * 1: the quality or state of being dense, 2: the quantity per unit volume, unit area, or unit length: as a: the mass of a substance per unit volume, b: the distribution of a quantity (as mass, electricity, or energy) per unit usually of space (as length, area, or volume), c: the average number of individuals or units per space unit <a population density / housing density> 3a: the degree of opacity of a translucent medium, b: the common logarithm of the opacity -- first known use 1598 ** eVie Cross Over Studio, “At Stake How to Densify”, Energizing Vienna Newspaper, Venice edition ( May 28, 2018)

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Bill Hillier argues that while a high-density urban policy conflicts with current cultural attitudes built into our planning system, densification strategies into future urban planning need to be implemented. His theoretical models show that the densification of cities would result in substantial future savings in transportation energy.* These and other arguments suggest also that building up densities in existing cities might bring better solutions for current issues than spreading or dispersing them.

* Bill Hillier and Alan Penn, “Dense Civilizations: The Shape of Cities in the 21st Century”, Applied Energy, Vol. 43, Issues 1-3, page 41-66 (Bartlett School of Architecture 1992)

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Issue 2: THE WEATHER Changing climate requires cities to become more responsive to extreme weather conditions while according to the „Carbon Road-map 2050”, building sector CO2 emissions are to be reduced by 90 percent of their 1990 value by the year 2050.

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ur vulnerability to climate change is defined by three dimensions: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity:

1.

Exposure is the degree to which people, buildings and cities could be exposed to climate variation or change; 2.

Sensitivity is the degree to which they could be harmed by that exposure; and 3.

Adaptive capacity is the degree to which they could mitigate the potential for harm by taking action to reduce exposure or sensitivity.

Some places can be highly vulnerable to low-impact climate changes because of high sensitivity or low adaptive capacity, while others can have little vulnerability to even high-impact climate changes because of insensitivity or high adaptive capacity.

What we can be sure is that climate change will definitely result in highly variable impact patterns because of such variations in 24

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vulnerability in time and space.* In order to reduce human vulnerability to climate impact, we came up with techniques and strategies for cutting ourselves adrift from the weather. Clothing and well designed built environments are isolators which are able to provide us climatic comfort independently from the external weather conditions.

Their tasks among others are: insulation, the control of light, air flow and temperature by shading, ventilating, heating and cooling etc. In that sense, buildings and cities - with their operation in different scales – behave as the ’shared clothes’ creating microclimatic conditions for different size of groups of people.

While in static weather conditions, these artificial isolators and micro climate providers (clothes, buildings and cities) could remain mono-functional (in LA we can survive with a T-short and a pair of shorts), in cases of changing weather to decrease the exposure and sensitivity and increase the adaptive capacity of the built environment, its elements need to fulfill more tasks. Higher degree of change in the weather require the higher degree of adaptivity and responsiveness of our buildings and cities. Either their elements are static or dynamic, the effort invested in the operation needs to be considered. The amount of energy to supply the required level of comfort in the short and long term is an important factor in the design of any of these systems and will play an important role in defining their limitations.

Vernacular design techniques in urban and building scales show examples for static but climatically responsive strategies like narrow street systems in hot arid urban environments to provide shadow and breeze in the exteriors, or the use of specific materials and different patterns in building facade openings to provide good insulation and ventilation for the interiors.

“The energy crisis today brings new challenges to the desktops *

Brent Yarna, “Human Vulnerability to Climate Impacts” [Online]. Available:

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog438w/node/252 [2017]

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of architects and urban planners. They have arrived in the form of energy performance directives, laws and guidelines. Energy in the built environment can be experienced as a flow which forces time into the architectural game. The strategy of damming this flow in order to slow it down through ever-increasing insulation elements has reached its limits. This brings attention to focusing on adaptation, interaction, responsiveness and time-based strategies in re-urbanization.“*(Andrea Börner, Cross over studio, Energizing Vienna) Looking at the current state of art in responsive building and urban design we can find more and more dynamically changing (kinetic) and responding systems next to the contemporary and well-known static ones. In order to get a deeper insight into the advantages and disadvantages of current strategies it is important to look at both academic and professional projects for classification according to multiple criteria related to energy gain, use and savings in comparison to their behavior techniques.

* Andrea Börner, Anna Gulinska, Galo Moncayo, Bernhard Sommer, “The big bubble bursts:Urbanism Remains.”, Energizing Vienna Newspaper, Venice edition ( May 28, 2018)

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One way of classifying responsive buildings is to examine their reasons for responsiveness (WHY?) in parallel to their responsive actions (HOW?). The three main categories which can define ’WHY’ such buildings respond to their environments are: 1. The energy saver, 2. The energy producers, 3. And the comfort providers.

The further sub-categories under ’WHY?’ (Figure 1) can specify the different methods which allow buildings and cities to achieve the above mentioned goals. We can distinguish between • Buildings which save energy by providing natural ventilation -, insulation - or shading systems etc.; • Buildings which produce energy by transforming wind, solar radiation or thermal energy into electricity or heat; • And buildings which provide comfort by controlling sound vs. noise, privacy, air circulation, air quality, humidity, temperature, solar radiation or mood.

In the second step we can categorize different systems according to their responsive activities (’HOW?’). (Figure 2) • They can behave mechanically or due to the intelligence embedded in their materiality; • We can specify their object(s) of sensing as the environment and/or the user; • While we can measure separately the resolution of their sensing and acting range (low or high) parallel to their sensing and acting diversity (mono or poly). *

* EVA, “State of the Art”,Evaluation of visionary architectural concepts research project; Energy Design Department, University of Applied Arts Vienna and Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology, TU Wien [May 2017]

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Figure 1: Category diagram ‘WHY?’ describing the reasons for responsiveness; EVA research project, University of Applied Arts Vienna

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Figure 2: Category diagram ‘HOW?’ describing the type of responsive behavior and action; EVA research project, University of Applied Arts Vienna

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part ii > [â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;whyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;]

The pressure on our built environment to generate the fixed domain of ideal micro-climate conditions while reducing the amount of energy use and CO2 emission - to provide human comfort in urban environments - forces buildings and other artificial systems to act on a bigger spectrum due to the increase of local weather condition diversity. With our physical spatial designs we should aim for saving or even generating energy while being able to react both to the environment and to the users. The higher diversity and resolution we reach with our systems in sensing and acting, the higher chances we have to decrease urban sensitivity and support the reduction of human vulnerability.

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Issue 3: ’THE URBAN SCISSORSEFFECT’; - Changing patterns of social behavior There is an increasing contrast between the rigidity of the physical environment and the technologically driven social request for fluid urban behavior. The tension in the operation of global cities - generated by such ‘urban scissors effect’ – needs to be released.

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ities do not only need to react to changing demographics and climate but also to the technological state of the time.

Thinking of technology as an essential driver of human society is nothing newly invented. The appearance of new technics and technology as an attempt to supersede the realized human limits in different areas of life, goes back to the very beginning of human history. An early but great example is the invention of the clock. By the introduction of that new tool time could be divided up into mathematically measurable sequences which brought the already existing logic of the space into a new dimension.* Then, this common rule set introduced a new intelligence in life just as any of current innovations introduces today. It is important to emphasize that the difference between the clock

* York, 1934)

Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization (Harcourt, Brace & Company, Inc., New

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and any contemporary technologies are not necessarily in their potential life-changing power but in the shrinking time-gap between their appearance. In most cases there is a shift in time between the development and the proper application of new technologies. For example, early iron bridges were still following the design principles of stone bridges. Even the knowledge about the benefits of iron were understood, it took time to adjust bridge design strategies to the potentialities of the new material.

Today, the frequently increasing number of life-influencing new technologies are shortening the period for their digestions and proper use. This phenomenon is challenging both the reaction time and the adaptive capacity of humans, society and the physical space, like never before.

The frequency and amplitude of technological innovations in the field of building industry, product design and communication are increasingly diverging in the last decades. While innovations in information and communication technologies result in fast, immediate changes of daily life, the transformation of the physical space remains slow and robust. Since the time span of the process - from the appearance of a new technology, via testing to execution - depends on its physical scale and complexity, the built environment has a hard time in reducing its production period. The construction of the physical space is not only costly and complex, but it is also highly regulated because of its level of responsibility.

In urban scale the issues are increasing. Cities are based on connectivity. The information content of the city is changing every second while the ’physical set’ - the platform for urban operation - remains the same. Because of the real-time reachability of information, our society and the daily life speed up drastically. In order not to block the speed of physical flow –generated by the increasing traffic and distances due to urban population growth, and the digital connectivity of the citizens – we keep trying to improve our transport systems and other urban infrastructures with the newest information, communication and 32

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physical technologies. But how long can we update our systems, which were designed for the past? When do we reach their limits by exhausting their potentials?

By reaching the adaptive limits of the infrastructural systems of today’s global cities (like London, New York, Paris, etc.), there is an assumption for a flip between first and third world cities in their usability. Since replacing existing systems to new ones are always a big challenge, cities with under-developed and less complex infrastructural systems have higher potential for adapting to the technological changes of the next decades.

The Estonian e-resident system can serve as a great example for proving the adaptive capacities of less populated, less complex states and urban environments.

To bring the blades of the ‘urban scissors’ closer to each other, either architecture must participate and engage with the informationrich environments - that are shaping our lives - by constructing frameworks that allow for change and embrace the unknown.

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REPLACE VS. UPDATE To find solutions for the above listed issues, two completely different concepts can be applied.

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sing our experiences - gained throughout the historytogether with our current knowledge and tools, we could think of building up a new, ‘better’ world by replacing the old with up to date, highly optimized artificial environments.

Planning new buildings and cities from scratch allows us to embed adaptivity and flexibility into the core of their concepts which then later can fulfill the requirements of seamless modern life. (In newly designed buildings we can use advanced materials for good insulation, we can design facades providing natural ventilation for the interior and flexible spatial organization, etc.) The trend of building cities from scratch is currently highly celebrated especially in the East and Middle-East. An interesting example - showing how energy concepts and new technologies can drive the design of new urban master-plans – is Masdar city in Abu Dhabi. In the original plan, the implementation of selfdriving cars allows the decrease of the average width of the road system. The narrow streets in combination with tall buildings on their sides provide shade for the exteriors and also block the sun from hitting the facades. With this particular strategy 34

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the apparent temperature in the exterior decreases drastically.

Such newly built cities are not only able to provide optimized dimensions and rhythms for their exterior and interior volumes but also are great platforms for experimentation with current technology-driven infrastructures.

But what will happen to our already existing- neither sustainable, nor adaptive - buildings and cities? Instead of replacing them, alternative strategies - which could improve their performative properties in reacting to the demands of the day - should be applied.

We need new systems (kits) which can be added or plugged to the ‘old’ and can raise the functional and behavioral value of the existing.

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Statement 2: One way - of facilitating to release urban tension â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is to increase the level of adaptation and responsiveness of the physical space.

Temporary architecture has the potential to increase the adaptive capacity and responsiveness of the already built environment, which by turning itself into a new, spatially integrable urban infrastructure is able to show solutions for: 1. Urban population growth by densifying the city with the intensification of its urban volume; 2. Climate change by turning buildings and the urban space into responsive, dynamically changing, multifunctional systems; 3. Changing patterns of social behaviour by improving the fluidity of physical space.

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PART THREE

‘HOW?’

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DENSIFYING BY INTENSIFYING

The Permanently Temporary (TPT) - Project Hypothesis 1: ‘With the implementation of ephemeral architecture, the existing urban volume could be programmed more efficiently by the activation of its vacant land* and time dependent “snoozedzones”**. The resulting shift in the urban pattern would support the intensification of the city*** and the establishment of a new social contract.’

*

Land that is unused or abandoned for longer term.

**

Urban space that is unused or has low capacity usage for a shorter term.

***

The increase of urban usability and spatial efficiency

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D

ialogue 1...

TPT: Architecture is our tool for spatial division. To increase the potentials of physical space for human use, buildings with their defined envelopes are subtracting space from the volume of the city and increase their independence from externally controlled conditions.

These subtracted volumes - the interiors - are then subdivided by artificially generated vertical, horizontal and diagonal elements to expand their usability along x, y and z directions. This general method of spatial densification has been shaping our cities for centuries.

To increase the density of a given urban volume (without expanding it in x-y directions), instead of isolating more space permanently from the exterior and create further sub-dividable interior volumes, TPT proposes the temporary isolation of outdoor spaces. By recording the fluctuation frequencies of the used capacity in the interior - and exterior volumes of the city, potential sites for temporary architecture could be detected. These ideal sites for ephemeral functions could be: • Vacant land; • Residual urban spaces and forgotten platforms on the landscape of the built environment (roofs, terraces, spatial gaps, niches which does not provide the required qualities or are overregulated for permanent architecture to appear; • Transitionally semi-used or unused ‘snoozed-zones’, streets and urban junctions, whose usage capacity can be potentially increased but only during determined time intervals.

Figure 3: Low frequency usage capacity fluctuation

Figure 4: High frequency usage capacity fluctuation

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ground permanent isolator interior subdivider temporary isolator unit for static use

ground permanent isolator

active static use

interior subdivider temporary isolator unit for static use

active traffic use

unit for traffic use

inactive traffic use

active static use

unit for traffic use

active traffic use inactive traffic use

Figure 5: empty land - potential use

Figure 6: isolation 1 - subtracting controllable volumes from the exterior

Figure 7: isolation 2 - expanding controllable volumes in ‘z’ direction

Figure 8: mapping usage capacities of the interior and exterior volumes - detecting potential outdoor sites for temporary isolation (period 1)

Figure 9: mapping usage capacities of the interior and exterior volumes - detecting potential outdoor sites for temporary isolation (period 2)

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The project was focusing primarily on intensification strategies based on detecting unused spaces in the city with the integration of time. To detect those, TPT took Vienna as case study and relied on the analyses of its noise intensity maps. Since the main source in urban area of noise pollution is transportation systems, especially motor vehicle, it assumed that streets with higher than 60 dB noise intensity are using more of their capacities and should remain untouched while streets with lower than 60 dB noise intensity (snoozed streets) have low usage of their capacities and after some urban traffic adjustments, could be considered for defined periods of time as potential sites for temporary architectural interventions.

Figure 10: Vienna, Streets with lower than 60dB noise intensity graphic source: https://www.wien.gv.at

Review: The detection of potential sites for the construction of temporary architecture should be based on the precise monitoring and evaluation of urban data. Urban noise caused by transport depends on the nature of the movement and traffic compositions.

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GPS enabled devices in cars provide accurate measurements of the traffic flow and identification of traffic patterns. By knowing the speed of moving cars and the length of the street segments between stopping or turning moments we can estimate the number of cars occupying specific locations in the city. Google and Tom Tom next to other companies are making the collected GPS data available for any use.

The overlay of traffic flow maps, which are determined by the average speed of movement, and noise maps –providing information about the measurement described by the amplitude

Figure 11: Vienna-inner city, Typical traffic tuesday 10 am graphic source: https://www.google.hu/maps/

of the traffic generated sound waves - could show a better picture of the trends in the capacity usage of roads and streets in urban environments.

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[‘how?’] < part iii

TPT: To increase the density of the existing urban fabric, the project does not only aim to detect low usage outdoor areas but to synchronize the appearance of temporary architecture with the changing capacity usage of the interior and exterior spaces. By the implementation of ephemeral architecture, the permanent interiors - neighboring the detected ‘snoozed streets’ - could expand their area and volume towards the exterior, on demand. The optimized physical fluctuation of space, determined by human occupation would free indoor squaremeters from current usage and by that result in the intensification of the city.

Review: Such spatial fluctuation would require mobilizable programs (offices, shops, restaurants) to be located next to exterior areas where traffic could be reduced drastically. These new interior extensions - semi interiors - should provide not only shelter from the changing outdoor weather but in most cases also supply these programs with furniture, partitions, cleanable pavements, etc. The required fix area for each program should be well defined by the accurate analyses and estimation of the current usage of their daily capacities. In order to provide smooth and fluent spatial transformation, the construction and deconstruction of the extended semi-interiors should be highly reactive and sensitive for real-time events. The questions then arise of: • What the form of communication is between spatial claim and transformation (audio communication*/ visual communication**,telecommunication***/wireless communication****), • How the design of the temporary space reacts to the *

Sharing of information between individuals by using sound

** medium

Information exchange in forms that can be seen by the use of light as transmission

***

Communication over a distance by cable, telegraph, telephone, or broadcasting.

**** Transfer of information or power between two or more points that are not connected by an electrical conductor. The most common wireless technologies use radio waves.

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changing demands (smart design*/intelligent design**/ interactive design***/responsive design****), Who/what controls and executes the construction and deconstruction of the temporary space (human/3D printing technology/intelligent material*****/machines, etc).

* Smart most frequently used for materials and surfaces with ‘embedded technological function’ (Addington and Shodeck, Smart Materials and Technologies for Architecture and Design Professions, Oxford: Elsevier Architectural Press, 2005) that involve specific environmental responses operating through internal physical property change or external energy exchange. The characteristics of such materials and surfaces are immediacy (real-time response), transiency (responsive to more than one environmental state), self actuation ( internal intelligence), selectivity (response to discrete and predictable), directness ( response is local to the activation events). In smart design, no external source of power is needed to instigate change. ** Their goal is to optimize the building system relative to climate, energy balance (based on prediction models) and human comfort. The characteristics of intelligent systems are environmental characterization, cognition characterization (information system, expert system, artificial intelligence) and implementation characterization (special methods for operation and control). The ‘intelligent’ differs from ‘smart’ mainly in its control and behavior. While smart is an intrinsic material property which leads to functionality, intelligent systems are primarily controlled through computation and automation. On one hand, smart material/surface behavior is binary and limited to control and intelligent systems have more variables on the other hand other than intelligent systems smart materials/surfaces do not necessarily require external power to function. *** input!

Less frequently used to define building envelopes and fundamentally requires human

**** It describes “how natural and artificial systems can interact and adapt.” (P. Beesley, S. Hirosue, and J.Ruxton, Responsive Architectures. Subtle Technologies 06, Cambridge: Riverside Architectural Press, 2008, p. 3). A responsive system is similar to intelligent systems but always includes real-time sensing while “both the user and the system are capable of shaping an unlimited set of performance outcomes. … Rather than the designer predetermining appropriate responses to user inputs, the system measures reaction to its outputs and continually modifies its action according to these responses.” (Addington and Shodeck, Smart Materials and Technologies for Architecture and Design Professions, Oxford: Elsevier Architectural Press, 2005). Responsive systems have the capacity to learn and create a co-evolutionary interaction between building, inhabitant and environment. ***** Called also smart or responsive materials, are designed materials that have one or more properties that can be significantly changed in a controlled fashion by external stimuli, such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, electric or magnetic fields, light, or chemical compounds. Smart Materials are the basis of many applications, including sensors and actuators, or artificial muscles, particularly as electrically activated polymers.

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FLYING INFRASTRUCTURE

The Permanently Temporary (TPT) - Project Hypothesis 2: ‘If the building elements of ephemeral architecture could fly and self-organize according to the spatial demands, the urban space transformation could become smooth and fluent.’

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D

ialogue 2...

TPT: The project envisions a new urban infrastructure whose elementary units: • Are identical: By the identical properties of the units, their functionality is not specified individually. This allows them to take any tasks determined by the spatial requirements of the city and in cases to be replaceable by any other units of the infrastructural system.

Figure 12: Diagram - identical infrastructure units

•

z

Are mobile in all three dimensions of the space (x, y, z): Due to their three dimensional mobility in space, their movement in the city is independent from the movements of the citizens and other ‘gravity-dependent’ objects. The infrastructural units are ‘flowing’ above the city in order to avoid intersections with other types of urban traffic which may result in congestions.

z y

x

u u y

x

c

Figure 13: Diagram - 3D mobility

c

u

c c

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u

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z •

Are capable for communication with the city (each other, citizens, planners, environment etc): The units are able to receive information from the real-time status of the urban space by the communication with global servers, citizens and urban planners. They can be directed towards the locations where there is need for temporary spatial operation, while their ability to y sense the environment(radiation, air-flow, humidity) make x them useful tools for collecting real-time data.

u u

GS c •

c

c c

Figure 14: Diagram - communication

Can be organized to form temporary spatial configurations: The infrastructure becomes the medium for temporary architecture. It provides the physical material to isolate and subdivide the temporary semi-interiors from the exterior. The pre-designed static or responsive augmented envelopes (defined by architects) attract the infrastructural units which then populate those and become the building blocks of the shortlived spaces. The quality of the resulting semi-interiors and the level of their isolation from the exterior depend on the quantity of the populating units and their positioning. Their primary goal is not to produce complete separation between the interior and exterior space of the urban volume but to create a transitional zone (semi-interior, semi-exterior) where the required comfort for the users can be achieved with moderate

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climatic control.* The project distinguishes between two different unit configuration strategies: ‘the gravity dependent’ and the ‘gravity independent’. In gravity independent configurations each unit relies on itself without dependencies. Its failure should not effect the space. If the units of the space are ‘independent from gravity’, the space itself also becomes. In that sense, the ability for creating flying architecture redefines the notion of structure. It is not anymore a physically interconnected selfsupported system but a communication based, pixelized, porose and fluid entity. With this new definition of the ‘structure’ we could also redefine the design constraints of artificial spaces. As an example, we could imagine and realize open spaces covered with infinite horizontal surfaces, or envelopes which can change their porosities and densities real-time in large scale. The other strategy is applied once the real-time changing factor of the configuration is reduced. In such cases, the units are able to modify the populated envelope into static, gravity dependent structures. Each unit can be seen to function as a ‘basic brick’ which can be assembled and reassembled to suit various needs.

If the configuration sees potential in resting, its core becomes a space-frame, and once assembled with other units in its static position is able to achieve self loading structure. The distribution of the tensile and compressive forces, the rigidity and the ability of the structure to deform locally makes it safe and reliable.

Due to the communication between each unit, they are able to recognize their individual positions within the overall geometry and will maneuver to its set position. During the assembly process, the units are able to analyze collectively the global structural performance and calibrate themselves accordingly to its optimization by adding or subtracting units at weak points.

* There is an assumption that the domain of human comfort temperature is wider in the exterior. While in indoor spaces according to the study of Weilin Cui, Guoguang Cao, Jung Ho Park, Qin Ouyang, Yingxin Zhu (“Influence of indoor air temperature on human thermal comfort, motivation and performance”, Building and Environment, Volume 68, October 2013, Pages 114-122), the optimum temperature range for performance is between 22 °C and 26 °C the outdoor comfort zone may differ from that. (Tsuyoshi HONJO, Thermal Comfort in Outdoor Environment, Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University,2009)

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Figure 15: Diagram - Unit quantity and positioning dependent levels of spatial isolation

•

•

Are capable for self-organization* (flocking behavior**): While external systems (global servers, augmented envelopes) determine the main orders, destinations and the duration of spatial operation, they do not define the accurate flight DESTINATION trajectories individually for each unit.The default movement between the destinations are controlled locally. Each unit follows the rules of cohesion (steer to move toward the average position of local flock mates), separation (steer to avoid crowding local flock mates) and alignment (steer toward the average heading of local flock mates) and become part of the collective behavior without central coordination. The intelligence of the unit is defined by the radius of its perceivable environment. The higher this radius is, the more complex feedback system it creates within the infrastructure.

Don’t require external - human or machine driven physical support for the construction, transformation and

* Is a process where some form of overall order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. The process is spontaneous, not needing control by any external agent. It is often triggered by random fluctuations, amplified by positive feedback. The resulting organization is wholly decentralized, distributed over all the components of the system. As such, the organization is typically robust and able to survive or self-repair substantial perturbation.

** The behavior exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight.

There are parallels with the shoaling behavior of fish, the swarming behavior of insects, and herd behavior of land animals

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[‘how?’] < part iii Figure 16: Diagram - Flocking behavior until reaching pre-determined destination

DESTINATION

deconstruction of their spatial configurations: Due to the communication skills of the units and their three dimensional mobility, they are not only the physical materials of the created spaces but also the constructers and deconstructers of the designed configurations. The infrastructure is responsible for the entire production line of temporary architecture in the city (transport, construction, transformation, deconstruction) independently from any external physical supports (form-work, scaffolding) which decreases the duration of their ‘appearance and disappearance’.

•

Are capable of controlling climatic conditions: The units of the infrastructure does not only create climatically controllable zones by the isolation of the temporary spaces from the exterior but also by their ability to radiate heat, and direct light. In that sense, the units can operate individually and without the support of the whole can improve the conditions of the existing interior and exterior spaces. As an example, the flying units can redirect natural sunlight to indoor spaces without getting in physical contact with them. They become potentially the detached attachments to the network of interiors and by that can reshuffle the values of the built environment.

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With these properties such infrastructure would provide real-time reactivity and responses for the changing spatial demands of the city.

Its capability for self-organization and communication with external systems could create a good balance between the centralized control and decentralized behavior. Thinking of the built environment as the hardscape* of the city, by the integration of a fluid, ‘gravity independent’ architectural infrastructure, a new softscape** would start to operate. The softscape which alternates its flowing and hardening behavior could become the primary tool for updating the cities - we live in for centuries - by improving their adaptivity to the constantly changing trends of living.

Review: The evaluation of such infrastructure according to the criteria determining the level of spatial adaptivity*** would show definitely positive results: • High demand-sensing speed and resolution (communication) • Short duration of construction and - deconstruction (high large scale responsiveness ) • Good capability of transformation and reorganization (high small scale responsiveness) of the temporary (shortlived) spaces.

In order to be able to review the infrastructure and its relevant properties, it is necessary to gain some background knowledge about self-organizing systems - their benefits and disadvantages - in general. To do so, I will summarize some chapters from the book Out of Control, written by Kevin Kelly**** in 1994. *

I am using the word hardscape for the artificial, statically operating built environment.

**

I am using the word softscape for the artificial, dynamically operating built environment.

***

Part I; Chapter 02: Temporary Architecture; p.13

**** Is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review. He has also been a writer, photographer, conservationist, and student of Asian and digital culture.

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In ‘true’ self-organizing systems, each unit is like a cell. They behave individually as a unitary whole, maintaining their identities in space while resisting for dissolution. “No-one is in control and yet an invisible governs, a hand that emerges from very dumb members.”* Kevin Kelly in his book - Out of Control (1994) - explains the essence of self-organization on the behavior of the beehives and calls it hive mind. He argues that the hive mind is nothing else but a distributed memory that both perceives and remembers** which results in greater immunity to disruption. He illustrates the difference between the power of such systems and their elementary units with the emergence*** of the whirlpool, “...the whirlpool appears reliably whenever we pull the plug. It is an emergent thing, like a flock, whose power and structure are not contained in the power and structure of a single water molecule. No matter how intimately you know the chemical character of H2O, it does not prepare you for the character of a whirlpool. Emergence requires a population of entities, a multitude, a collective, a mob, and more.”****. Another interesting example for emergent property can be described by the attribute of temperature. Temperature is a group characteristic that a population of molecules have, and can not exist by a single molecule floating in space.

Building from these thoughts - mentioned above - the unit properties of self-organized systems are not the primary definers of their overall behavior. The intelligence of the unit is not directly proportional to the intelligence and complexity of the whole. The complexity of the whole is the result of the number of interactions * Kevin Kelly, “Hive Mind”, Out of Control: the new biology machines, social systems and the economic world, (1994) (p.14) **

K. Kelly, 1994:19

*** The fact of something becoming known or starting to exist.(dictionary.com) “Marvin Minsky describes an emergent system as an inner world of highly anthropomorphized agents. Each agent has a limited point of view. Complexity of behavior, emotion, and thought emerge from the interplay of their opposing views, from their interaction and negotiations.”(The Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture(2003)) ****

K. Kelly, 1994:20

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between its units. Since the total number of possible interactions - between two or more members - accumulate exponentially as the number of members increases, large number organizations may have completely different behavior than systems with less

Advantages

Disadvantages

Adaptable

Non-optimal

Evolvable

Non-controllable

Resilient

Non-predictable

Boundless

Non-understandable

Novelty

Non-immediate

Table 1: Advantages and disadvantaged of swarm systems GENERAL POINT OF VIEW (K. Kelly, 1994: 21-23)

units. Large number organizations are the “...collection of many of autonomous members. ‘Autonomous’ means that each member reacts individually according to internal rules and the state of its local environment.”*. K. Kelly lists 4 distinct facets which define the character of self-organized systems: • The absence of imposed centralized control • The autonomous nature of subunits • The high connectivity between subunits • The webby nonlinear causality of peers influencing peers. ** Table 1. shows the general categorization of swarm properties. * Kevin Kelly, “Hive Mind”, Out of Control: the new biology machines, social systems and the economic world, (1994) (p.21)

**

K. Kelly, 1994:21

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Kevin Kelly considers the properties: adaptable*, evolvable**, resilient***, boundless**** and novelty***** as the advantages, and non-optimal******,non-controllable*******,non-predictable********,non* “...-It is possible to build a clockwork system that can adjust to predetermined stimuli.

But constructing a system that can adjust to new stimuli, or to change beyond a narrow range, requires a swarm—a hive mind. Only a whole containing many parts can allow a whole to persist while the parts die off or change to fit the new stimuli.” (K. Kelly, 1994:22) ** “...-Systems that can shift the locus of adaptation over time from one part of the system to another (from the body to the genes or from one individual to a population) must be swarm based.

Non-collective systems cannot evolve (in the biological sense). “ (K. Kelly, 1994:22) *** “...-Because collective systems are built upon multitudes in parallel, there is redundancy.

Individuals don’t count. Small failures are lost in the hubbub. Big failures are held in check by becoming merely small failures at the next highest level on a hierarchy.” (K. Kelly, 1994:22) **** “...-Plain old linear systems can sport positive feedback loops—the screeching disordered noise of Pa microphone, for example. But in swarm systems, positive feedback can lead to increasing order. By incrementally extending new structure beyond the bounds of its initial state, a swarm can build its own scaffolding to build further structure. Spontaneous order helps create more order. Life begets more life, wealth creates more wealth, information breeds more information, all bursting the original cradle. And with no bounds in sight.” (K. Kelly, 1994:22) ***** “...-Swarm systems generate novelty for three reasons: (1) They are “sensitive to initial conditions”—a scientific shorthand for saying that the size of the effect is not proportional to the size of the cause—so they can make a surprising mountain out of a molehill. (2) They hide countless novel possibilities in the exponential combinations of many interlinked individuals. (3) They don’t reckon individuals, so therefore individual variation and imperfection can be allowed. In swarm systems with heritability, individual variation and imperfection will lead to perpetual novelty, or what we call evolution.”

(K. Kelly, 1994:22) ****** “...-Because they are redundant and have no central control, swarm systems are inefficient. Resources are allotted higgledy-piggledy, and duplication of effort is always rampant. What a waste for a frog to lay so many thousands of eggs for just a couple of juvenile offspring! Emergent controls such as prices in free-market economy— a swarm if there ever was one—tend to dampen inefficiency, but never eliminate it as a linear system can.” (K. Kelly, 1994:22) ******* “...-There is no authority in charge. Guiding a swarm system can only be done as a shepherd would drive a herd: by applying force at crucial leverage points, and by subverting the natural tendencies of the system to new ends (use the sheep’s fear of wolves to gather them with a dog that wants to chase sheep). An economy can’t be controlled from the outside; it can only be slightly tweaked from within. A mind cannot be prevented from dreaming, it can only be plucked when it produces fruit.

Wherever the word “emergent” appears, there disappears human control. “ (K. Kelly, 1994:22) ******** “...-The complexity of a swarm system bends it in unforeseeable ways. “The history of biology is about the unexpected,” says Chris Langton, a researcher now developing mathematical swarm models. The word emergent has its dark side. Emergent novelty in a video game is tremendous fun; emergent novelty in our airplane traffic-control system would be a national emergency.” (K. Kelly, 1994:22)

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understandable* and non-immediate** as disadvantages swarm systems.

of

Now, knowing the characteristics of swarms, we can agree that TPT’s proposed infrastructure is not a ‘true’ swarm. While its units are highly connected with each other and have autonomous nature, they are imposed to central control. The infrastructure’s swarm-like behavior is active only in small scale as a secondary system which supports the external orders coming from global servers, architect, urban planners, temporary space users, weather conditions, etc. It is a hybrid organization of the many which is capable to switch between fully decentralized and semicentralized modes. This switching property aims to optimize the operation of the system while it moderates both the advantages and disadvantages of swarm properties. This compromise makes the necessary collaboration - between the city and the infrastructure - possible by improving the controllability and immediacy of the system on demand.

Hani Rashid***: - Is AI part of their program? * “...-As far as we know, causality is like clockwork. Sequential clockwork systems we understand; nonlinear web systems are unadulterated mysteries. The latter drown in their selfmade paradoxical logic. A causes B, B causes A. swarm systems are oceans of intersecting logic: A indirectly causes everything else and everything else indirectly causes A. I call this lateral or horizontal causality. The credit for the true cause (or more precisely the true proportional mix of causes) will spread horizontally through the web until the trigger of a particular event is essentially unknowable. Stuff happens. We don’t need to know exactly how a tomato cell works to be able to grow, eat, or even improve tomatoes. We don’t need to know exactly how a massive computational collective system works to be able to build one, use it, and make it better. But whether we understand a system or not, we are responsible for it, so understanding would sure help.” (K. Kelly, 1994:23) ** “...- Light a fire, build up the steam, turn on a switch, and a linear system awakens.

It’s ready to serve you. If it stalls, restart it. Simple collective systems can be awakened simply. But complex swarm systems with rich hierarchies take time to boot up. The more complex, the longer it takes to warm up. Each hierarchical layer has to settle down; lateral causes have to slosh around and come to rest; a million autonomous agents have to acquaint themselves. I think this will be the hardest lesson for humans to learn: that organic complexity will entail organic time.” (K. Kelly, 1994:23) *** Architect;Co-founder the New York based Asymptote with Lise Anne Couture 1989;Since 2011 university professor and studio head at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

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> Artificial intelligence (AI) in its broader sense is the intelligence that makes a machines capable of perceiving its environment and taking actions that maximize its chance of successfully achieving its goals. If we take that as the definition of AI, TPT’s answer would be yes. On the other hand, current research associated with artificial intelligence has the core problems of programming machines for knowledge, reasoning, problem solving, perception, learning, planning and for the ability to manipulate and move objects.* TPT’s units are not designed to be highly intelligent on their own but their collective promises problem solving, learning and planning skills by the collaboration with the city. Most scientist, futurist envision a collaborative future between humans and AI. Instead of separating human and man made intelligence the two should work together in balance.

Greg Lynn**: > Do you have to put their intelligence, processing, mechanics and movement into each one of them?

Instead of having 250 000 smart bricks, you have 250 000 bricks and 2000 brains to move them?

> By creating hierarchy and differentiation between the units the TPT infrastructure would loose from its promised flexibility and adaptivity. Flight Assembled Architecture (2011-2012)***, a project by Gramazio Kohler Architects, Zurich has been testing such system, Greg L. just proposed. Their project installation was a 6m high and 3,5 m in diameter structure made up of 1500 prefabricated polystyrene foam modules, exhibited in the Frac Centre, Orléans from December 2, 2011 to February 19, 2012. * Techopedia, Artificial Intelligence (Online). Available: https://www.techopedia.com/ definition/190/artificial-intelligence-ai

** Architect;owner of the Greg Lynn FORM office; University professor and studio head at the University of Applied Arts Vienna; studio professor at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.; Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2008 Venice Biennale of Architecture. *** Gramazio Kohler Architect in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Raffaello D’Andrea Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, Flight Assembled Architecture (2011-2012) ETH, Zürich

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The structure was constructed by several quad-copters* which were programmed to interact, lift, transport and assemble the small foam modules. The construction was lasting for several days. This project is a great achievement in the field of robotic building fabrication but it show the limitations of its construction time period. To reach the ideal level of reactivity with the reduced duration for construction and deconstruction, TPT requires all or most of its infrastructure elements to be mobile in all 3 dimensions, otherwise the non-mobile elements become only static building blocks which makes their appearance and disappearance discursive and highly dependent on other factors. Currently, I proposed a research with the general goal of investigating the potentialities for unmanned aerial vehicles to become not only supports in building fabrication processes (builders) but also as active building elements of short-lived structures in order to decrease the duration of the construction, transformation and deconstruction of temporary spaces.** Hernan Diaz Alonzo***: > In terms of the logic of organization: this would be a territory for designers to claim! I would not reduce it to a sensor architecture only because the potential of this has to do with many different values. ... Once we work with agents,our hope is that some kind of new architecture will evaluate. It would be interesting if it would completely change the notion of performance. For example the technology of netflix. New form of production of content. New economy of production.

Our profession claims the role of the control while there is a tendency for the democratization *

Multi-rotor helicopter that is lifted and propelled by four rotors.

** Viktória Sándor, Aerial Robotic Units: responsive building elements of ephemeral architecture, Research proposal 2017 (see Appendix) *** Architect; Director/Chief Executive Officer of SCI-Arc in Los Angeles, and Founder and Principal of Los Angeles-based design practice Xefirotarch

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of things and sometimes the city suffers too much from the democratization of innovations. (Netflix is different than youtube: Netflix controls,Youtube collects.)

> In the world of TPT architects become the curators of space, controlling the infrastructure as a whole. The sensing and communicating abilities of the units provide new tools for gaining implementable knowledge into the 4 dimensional design of temporary architecture. While today simulations and dynamic design tools are locked inside the virtual design canvas TPT’s infrastructure brings spatial animation to the physical reality.

The performance of the space is determined together by man and man-made. The man-made follows its pre-designed rule-set which provides space also for intuitive human input. The internal organization of the infrastructure is flat* and the collective of its elements is primarily directed by external curation. A good curator of TPT can write and speak the language of the system and is able to translate and convert his/her visions and intuitions to it. Architects can control...

Prof. Matthias Böckl**: > How to regulate that only those who have permission for curating gets access to the controlling servers of the infrastructure? What if the units are hacked?

> TPT proposes that each unit of the infrastructure has limited operation time. After a defined period they disengage and need to be replaced. Unfortunately this does not guarantee that miscontrolled units can not harm the system or cause damages in the city. On the other hand it is not that difficult to imagine that with the application of advanced encryption methods the risks *

= Horizontal organization structure with few or no levels between its elements.

** Professor of history and theory of architecture at the University of Applied Arts Vienna; Since 1999 has been editor-in-chief of the magazine ‘architektur aktuell’

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of hacking are drastically reduced.

Sanford Kwinter*: > Could you imagine that everybody has an app, everybody is doing his things and then the shape starts happening? It can be a system which simply reacts to the requests.

An interesting inspiration for the project was the Detroit foodtruck network. Instead of having fixed location for the trucks, via an app, the users in Detroit can define the type of food they wish to eat daily. The app collects the current location of the people with the same type of food requests and defines the optimized location for the food-truck and the customers to meet. Such system could be borrowed and implemented in TPT to define together with the functional requests of the citizens and the mapped urban capacities, the optimal destinations for the infrastructure to configure the temporary spaces.

Next to the thousands of remaining issues let’s discuss one lastly which disturbs the core of the concept: The fact that the infrastructure, just like a swarm, “The whole containing many parts” - which results in the high resolution and flexibility of spatial configurations - raises the risks of individual units to fail.

While in swarms “individuals don’t count. Small failures are lost in the hubbub” **, the failure of any TPT infrastructure unit does count. If one brick falls out from a wall, the wall may remain structurally stable, but not the person who is found by that falling brick... However, I have never seen a bird falling down from a flock...

In order to lower the risks for unit failure or to avoid the following harmful events, we either: * New York-based writer and architectural theorist, and co-founder of Zone Books publishers. Professor of Theory and Criticism at the Pratt Institute;Former professor at Rice University in Houston, MIT, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Head of Theory Institute in the University of Applied Arts Vienna. **

K. Kelly, 1994:22

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• •

•

Decrease the number of units (would lower the resolution and flexibility of spatial configurations) Increase the reliability of each unit by increasing their intelligence and communication skills (the benefit of swarms also comes from its complexity and intelligence which requires only simple rules to be followed in the unit scale. By increasing the number and the level of difficulty of individual rules, the complexity of the whole may turn the operation of the infrastructure slow/costly/unpredictable.

Embed a self-neutralizing reaction or property to each unit in case of failure. (If these properties could be coded in the materiality of the units (smart materials), in case of failure or deactivation, they could evaporize, melt, float etc. to avoid negative consequences.)

TPT: In order to bring the utopia to the next level, the project assumes that all the yet in-answerable questions related to the operation of a

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part iii > [â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;how?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;]

ADAPTS

REDEFINES

CREATES NEW

Figure 17: Diagram - primary tasks of the infrastructure

gravity-independent, urban infrastructure - which can adapt, modify and create new climatic conditions in the city to produce temporary spaces for new functions to appear - may be answered by the time.

The project names the adaptive or static virtual point clouds - designed by the curators (architects) - DPC-s. A DPC behaves like an attractor

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DPC ADSO VOMCOG REDSO Flibri

Designed Point Cloud Attractive Decentralized Self-Organization Volumetric Micro Condition Generator Repulsive Decentralised Self-Organization ‘Flying Brick’ - the name of the unit Table 2: TPT infrastructure vocabulary

for the infrastructure and its units. It activates the ADSO which is defining the motion of the units - Flibries - until they reach the destination DPC. After the Flibries populate the DPC, ADSO turns into a reactive VOMCOG. During the operation of a VOMCOG, Flibries are in active relationship with the users and the environment and are capable to adapt to the local needs while aiming for keeping the shape of the DPC. Once there is no need for the operation of the VOMCOG anymore, the DPC disappears from the augmented space and transforms the VOMCOG into a REDSO until the next DPC call.

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THE FLIBRI

The Permanently Temporay (TPT) - Flibri proposal: ‘How could architecture fly? Flight assembled architecture - ie drones to lay bricks - has been a topic of research since many years.

If drones would not only build but could function as the physical material of architecture they could become the flibries (units) of the ephemeral urban infrastructure.

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D

ialogue 3...

TPT: The project investigates current flying machine technologies and their potentials to become the elementary units of the proposed new urban infrastructure. In order to fulfill the criterias - listed in the previous chapter - the drones of the infrastructure need to be:  identical  mobile in all three dimensions  capable of communication with eachother and with the city  organized to form temporary spatial configurations (gravity

dependent and -independent)  capable of self-organization  independent from external physical support in their entire

operation ( construction, deconstruction, transformation)  capable of controlling climatic conditions

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The project proposes a new generation of drones inspired by the ETH Zürch research project, THE OMNICOPTER. The original research - shown in Figure 18. - was led by Raffaelo D’Andrea at the Institue for Dynamic Systems and Control. The omnicopter is a sixdegree freedom aerial vehicle. Its eight-rotor configuration - based on static force and torque analyses for generic actuator configurations - maximizes the vehicle’s agility in any direction. In this sense, an omnicopter - other than most multi-rotors - is able to navigate in 3 dimensions while decoupling its translational and rotation dynamics.

Its ability to point its thrust and torque vector independently in any directions, lowers the limits of its set of feasible positioning and attitude trajectories and improves its ability to physically interact with the environment or to perform complex manimupation tasks which often require the vehicle to instantaneously resist arbitrary force and torque disturbances. *  mobile in all three dimensions The project took the concept of the omnicopter as the base of the Flibri design because of its high level mobility in space. The new design - shown in Figure 19. - had to maximize the usable surface area around the cubic frame (without blocking the air to move through the 4 diagonal axes) to make it capable of climatic control and energy production. These new surfaces are: • 1 opaque PV panel/Flibri • 1 transparent PV panel/Flibri • 1 reflective panel/Flibri • 1 illuminative panel /Flibri to make each flibri able to produce energy from solar radiation, radiate heat, reflect light and shade according to its orientation in the DPC defined configurations.  capable of controlling climatic conditions * Dario Brescianini and Raffaello D’Andrea, “Design , Modeling and Control of an Omni Directional Aerial Vehicle”, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2016.

Available: http://flyingmachinearena.org/wp-content/publications/2016/breIEEE16.pdf

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zB

pdes , ṗdes , p̈des qdes , q̇des

fprop,4

fprop,2

fprop,5

xB

fprop,6

Attitu Contro

F

fprop,1 fprop,8

fprop,3

Posit Contro

yB

fprop,7

Figure 18: Illustration of the omni-directional vehicle design with its body-fixed coordinate frame β. The vecicle actuated by eight propellers.

Dario Brescianini and Raffaello D’Andrea, “Design Fig.is 4: Illustration of Image the from proposed omni-directional vehicle , Modeling and Control of an Omni Directional Aerial Vehicle”, IEEE International Conference on design with its body-fixed coordinate frame B. The vehicle Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2016. Available: http://flyingmachinearena.org/wp-content/ is actuated by eightpublications/2016/breIEEE16.pdf propellers.

a second-order s ratio ζ. An integ steady-state effe modeling errors rotors caused by therefore given b

fdes = mR(

where the propor 1 kp = 2 + 2 τ rotational degrees-of-freedom are parametrized using a unit 2ζ + kd = quaternion q = (q0 q1:3 ) (see e.g. [17], and references τ therein). The attitude kinematics are given by B. Attitude Cont

1 0 The vehicle’s , (12) q̇ = q ∙ ω 2 structure. First, a where ω denotes the vehicle’s body rates and (∙) denotes the rates ωdes in ord that the desired quaternion multiplication operator.

The vehicle is modeled as a rigid body with mass m and inner control loo inertia J . The translational and rotational dynamics are then be neglected wh able to exploit th given by the Newton-Euler equations: reflective panelglobally asympto opaque PV panel mp̈ =R(q)f − mg, (13) the one proposed can be tracked. T J ω̇ = t − ω × Jω, (14) the attitude erro transparentwhere PV panelR(q) is the rotation matrix that maps a vector from order system wit the body-fixed coordinate frame B to the inertial frame I, defined as g denotes gravity and f and t are defined by (2) and (3), qerr = q −1 ∙ respectively. illuminative panel The desired body IV. C ONTROL 2 ωdes = s τ att In this section, we introduce a control strategy the Figure 19: Exploded Diagram - showing the TPT proposed Flibri design (based on thefor project Omnicopter) with the additional - and III illuminative panels, opague - and transparent vehicle modeled in reflective Section to simultaneously trackPVa where ωff is the panels. desired position and attitude trajectory pdes and qdes , reωff = 2qerr ∙ spectively. Because the translational and rotational dynamics 67 are decoupled, the task of tracking position and attitude The sign of the trajectories is done in two separate control loops. Figure 5 the controller fro shows the proposed control architecture. First, a desired force more than 180 d The inner con and desired body rates are computed by the position and is designed such

part iii > [‘how?’]

With magnetic strips embedded in the panels and the top and bottom surfaces of the flibries, within a defined radius they attract eachother and are able to attach to create more stabilzed flying elements. The resulting combinations also support the structural performance of the gravity dependent configuration of the flibries.  organized to form temporary spatial configurations (gravity-dependent and -independent) Other than magnetic strips, GPS, light, humidity, wind, motion and visual sensors are also placed on the surfaces of the flibries.

This makes them capable of sensing the actual conditions of the environment and support their callibration individually during the operations.

The Flibri core (Figure 22) is fixed at the unit’s centre of gravity.

The core includes all necessary elements for communication, power storing and distribution and flight control. Flibries are able to recieve their positions and speed by their GPS recievers and via XBee radiofrequency communication modules - within the effective range - they can communicate it with their neighbors. From the collected information the algorythm based on mathematical rules of flocking*, calculates the optimal speed for each unit for every moment during the operation. The basic elements of that algorythm are: • repulsion - every flibri tries to avoid collision by keeping a certian distance from all other flibries • cohesion - every flibri tries not to go farther than a given distance from its neighbours.

• alignment - every flibri aligns its velocity vector towards the average velocity vector of the flibries in its neighbourhood including itself. **  capable of communication with eachother and with the *

Defined by Craig Reynold, computer scientist, 1987

** Csaba Virágh, Gábor Vásárhelyi, Tamás Vicsek, “Collective motion of flying robots” EU ERC COLLMOT project, Department of Biological Physics, Institute of Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, 2014

68

MAIN BODY

[‘how?’] < part iii

4 IDENTICAL UNIBODY MOUNTING SHELL CF CHASES - 8 BOOMS RETRACTABLE MAIN BODYDOCKING MECH

MAIN BODY DIMENSIONS: 4FLIBRI IDENTICAL UNIBODY 4 IDENTICAL UNIBODY 150mm x 150mm MOUNTING SHELLx 150mm MOUNTING SHELL WEIGHT: CF CHASES - 8 BOOMS CF CHASES - 8 BOOMS 600g RETRACTABLE DOCKING MECH PROPELLERS RETRACTABLE DOCKING MECH DUEL BLADE CARBON FIBER FLIBRI DIMENSIONS: FLIBRI DIMENSIONS: 150mm x 150mm x 150mm 150mm x 150mm x 150mm WEIGHT: 1804 DC OUTRUNNER BRUSH MOTOR WEIGHT: 600g RCX H1306-8 3100KV PROPELLERS 600g PROP 8 ELECTRONICDUEL SPEED CONTROLLERS (ESC) BLADE CARBON FIBER DUEL BLADE CARBON 4 TRACTOR PROPELLERS 1804 DC OUTRUNNER BRUSH MOTOR 4 PUSHER PROPELLERS 1804 DC OUTRUNNER BRUSH RCX H1306-8 3100KV RCX H1306-8 8 ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLERS (ESC) 8 BRUSHLESS MOTOR 8 ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLER CF MOTOR MOUNT 4 TRACTOR PROPELLERS 4 TRACTOR PR 4 PUSHER PROPELLERS RETRACTABLE DOCKING MECH 4 PUSHER PR 8 BRUSHLESS MOTOR CF MOTOR MOUNT RETRACTABLE DOCKING MECH Figure 20: Top view and elevation of the Flibri Main Body.

MAGNETIC STRIPS

8 BRUSHLESS M CF MOTOR MO

RETRACTABLE DOCKING MECH

6 SIDED MAGFIELD FLIBRI ASSEMBLY MECHANISM INDUCTION POWER TRANSFER

MAGNETIC STRIPS

6 SIDED MAGFIELD FLIBRI ASSEMBLY MECHANISM INDUCTION POWER TRANSFER

MAGNETIC STRIPS

CF UNIBODY 6MOUNTING SIDED MAGFIELD SHELL FLIBRIFLIBRI ASSEMBLY COREMECHANISM INDUCTION POWER TRANSFER CAMERA SENSOR CF+ UNIBODY MOUNTING SHELL FLIBRI CORE CAMERA + SENSOR

CF UNIBODY MOUNTING SHELL FLIBRI CORE CAMERA + SENSOR

PROPELLERS DUEL BLADE CARBON FIBER

1804 DC OUTRUNNER BRUSH MOTOR RCX H1306-8 3100KV PROPELLERS EMBEDDED MAGNETIC STRIPS PROPELLE DUEL BLADE CARBON FIBER MAGFIELD DUEL BLADE CARBON FIB 1804 DC OUTRUNNER BRUSH MOTOR CAMERA 1804 DC OUTRUNNER BRUSH RCX H1306-8 3100KV + SENSOR Figure 21: Flibri attachment with magnetic strips, embedded to the panels and to the top and bottom RCX H1306-8 EMBEDDED MAGNETIC STRIPS surfaces of the units.

EMBEDDED MAGNETIC MAGFIELD MA CAMERA + SENSOR 69

FLIBRI

ASSEMBLY + SPECIFICATIONS part > [‘how?’]

FLIBRIiii CORE FLIGHT CONTROLLER

POWER DISTRIBUTION BOARD CARBON FIBER CHASE

city

8 SOLAR CELL (LIPO) POWER MODULE  independent from external physical support in their entire CF PROPELLERS operation ( construction, deconstruction, transformation) ESC



capable PANEL of self-organization TYPES: OPAQUE PV TRANSPARENT PV

FLIBRI CORE

REFLECTIVE ILLUMINATIVE

MAGNETIC STRIPS MAGFIELD

FLIGHT CONTROLLER F4 ADVANCED FC (MPU6000, STM32F405) GPS + MAGNETOMETER MODULE GLONASS MODULE TELEMETRY RADIO RECIEVER SENSOR CHIPS

CF PROPELLERS ESC

FIRMWARE TGY--SIMONK FIRMWARE OPEN SOURCE FIRMWARE FOR ATM GA-BASED BRUSHLESS ESCS POWER DISTRIBUTION BOARD (PDB) ATAS PRO MINI PDB POWER LEVEL MONITOR

POWER MODULE 8 SOLAR CELL (LIPO) 4xDUEL-CELL LITHIUM POLYMER VENT AND CIRCUITRY CHAMBER CARBON FIBER CASING

Figure 22: Exploded diagram - Flibri core including flight controller, firmware and power module.

70

[â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;how?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;] < part iii

Greg Lynn: > How far would you go before building the prototype? You go 100 years out to speculate but it s only 15 cm... I am really curious what do you think what the problems are... i would be really worrying if you go 200 years ahead instead of thinking of the real problems. How do you create a structure that creates airspace? How do you deal with windage? How do you deal with vehicle to vehicle communication? Then architecture is dealing with the same problem like autoindustry is dealing with. Even if you just started to make one.Or buy a couple of vacuum cleaners. It s gonna move the research much faster.

Hani Rashid: > I m really happy you did not do that. There is a struggle to understand applications of these tools in city spaces. Defensive systems, anti terrorism, there is a whoole bunch of stuff you are questioning, In a way it is our disciplines to question those things.

Maybe you go out there, start to employ people to do prototypes for this thing.

Greg Lynn: > I agree, you dont need formwork or scaffolding, It just seems like that there are 20 propositions which come out to push into more rigorousity, deeper directions, rather than...i get the sense you have kind of done it and now you re just going to sites and gonna blow things there...

71

part iii > [‘how?’]

>

On the 28th of March, 2017 I submitted a prototyping proposal for the the Flibri design of my thesis project, The Permanently Temporary: in the age of gravity independent architecture.

On the 26th of April, 2017 I got informed - by the Bundeskanzlerarmt für Kunst und Kultur, Österreich - that I am one of the recipients of the 2017 Start-Stipendium Architektur und Design which provides 6 month financial support for the realization of my Flibri proposal.

In October, 2017 I got in touch with the COLLMOT project (EU ERC) team*, whose research focuses on the complex structure and dynamics of collective motion and who have already the experience and knowledge to construct and build vehicles that are capable to exhibit flocking behavior in the three-dimensional space.** After the first few meetings, we realized that the given time and budget does not make the realization of TPT’s flibri yet possible. Instead we collected the issues and the potential directions for the development of a micro-condition generator, autonomous aerial vehicle.

* Coordinated by Prof. Tamás Vicsek at the Department of Biological Physics, Institute of Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. ** Department of Biological Physics, Institute of Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, Collmot project, (Online). Available: https://hal.elte.hu/flocking

72

[â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;how?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;] < part iii

Review: Surprisingly or not, the main issues of the realization of a Flibri is not due to its requirements of flight control and communication technologies but due to our limitations in modelling and controlling the aerodynamical behavior of flying machines. Current communication technologies like onboard XBee radiofrequency communication modules and GPS recievers make the communication and callibration of flying vehicles decentralized and smooth. Of course as the number of drones increases in the flock, the communication between them becomes more and more challenging.

The research of COLLMOT proves that with up to 50 quadcopters it is possible to create autonomous collective motion in the three-dimensional physical space. However, due to the fact that turbulence - generated by drones flying close to their neigbours - can effect eachother, collision and avoidance mechanisms remain challenging in the operation of drone flocks.

In the experiements of Collmot projects, fyling drones keep the minimum distance of 5 meters in order to avoid aerodynamical conflicts. In case this minimum distance can not be decreased, in the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles, they may not be the ideal units of an infrastructure which should provide temporary isolation from the exterior.

Collmot drones are not flibries.

The first main issue comes from its weight vs. flying duration.

The amount of work a battery have to do to keep the entire structure in the air depends primarily on the weight of its rotors and surfaces. A heavy drone needs a large battery to ensure long flight time. Drones that are made from light weight materials will fly longer.

The average flight time of drones today is 10minutes. High-end drones with powerful batteries may fly up to 30 minutes without carrying any additional elements.

Flibries are heavy. The Flibri design maximises the surface area of its volume in order to provide heating, lighting and reflecting 73

part iii > [‘how?’]

surfaces for climate control. These additional elements increase its weight drastically compare to the original omni-copter which may result in minimizing the duration of its flight. Even if these surfaces could generate enough energy by solar radiation (most probably not...), current energy storage technologies are not advanced enough to make that beneficial. Prospective directions in the field are: • wireless energy transfer • increased accumulator capacity, etc.

Even if the energy problem would be solved, the geometrical properties of the Flibri design may not make it possible to fly.

The control of the original omni-copter is already highly complex and inefficient due to its eight propellers and by complicating its geometry its controlling complexity may increase exponentially.

In the booleaned pipes of its body, hypothetically the propellers would be more efficient but the resulting turbulences at the intersections would result in unpredictable aerodynamical behavior.

“I can hear one drone. I am sure I could hear a hundred much louder.”* All aerial vehicles using rotors are loud, so are flibries. Several research currently is focusing on the noise reduction of flying machines. Some deals with the control of rotor blade-vortex interaction noise, some are implementing new noise reducing materials and structures to the design of aerial vehicles. Still, until noise remains the collateral of drones, their integration to urban environments remains problematic.

* Irving Lachow, “The upside and downside of swarming drones”, Bulletin og the Atomic Scientist, 73:2,96-101 (2017)

74

[‘how?’] < part iii

Hani Rashid: > I wonder if the geometry could not be tuned more for nesting? Maybe there is a mophology where they really want to nest in a certain ways.

Maybe there is...

•

The next flibri design should investigate more efficient flying technologies, and maybe abandon on following the direction of current multi-rotor drone designs.

•

It should consider new flying technologies inspired by nature (flapper wings vs. fixed wings).

•

In order to increase their operational flexibility it also needs to wait for technologies which can solve the problems of energy production and storing.

•

Its capability of climatic control may be provided by the use of lightweight smart materials which require a deeper research of the state of the art.

•

Its materiality may allow its shape to transform in order make it more reactive to occuring turbulences and aerodynamical demands.

•

And yes, its morphology should be determined more by possible nesting positions.

TPT’s flibri remains only a piece of an utopian vision for now.

Although it may be provocative enough to be discussed. Once there is a good reason, detected in the narrative, it will create space for new vision to appear.

75

Continual refinement of parameters and reciprocal adaptation between the environment and the flibry system cases and evolution in our perception of time and space.

76

CHAPTER FOUR

TPT EVOLUTION

77

part iv > [tpt evolution]

INTRO

T

he TPT utopian vision is developed on a timeline which allows the evolutionary explorations of new, ‘permanently temporary’ infrastructural interventions and their speculative impacts on urban dynamics.

URBAN HARDSCAPE TIME

78

4

3

2

1

AFTER TOMORROW

TOMORROW

TODAY

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

[tpt evolution] < part iv

Stage 1 – Today: The project assumes that the exploitation of the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles to become not only supports in building fabrication processes (builders) but also as active building elements of short-lived structures in order to decrease the duration of the construction, transformation and deconstruction of climatically controlled temporary spaces, will lead to the design of the „drones of tomorrow”...

Stage 2 _ tomorrow: The project proposes a new design for the unmanned omnicopter (Eth Zürich research project by Raffaello D’Andrea), and names it: FLIBRI. Flibries (“flying brick”; drones of tomorrow) can generate and store energy, radiate heat, supply and reflect light and by that create specific micro climates to provide optimal qualities for new functions to appear at locations it could not happen before.

Stage 3_ after tomorrow: The integration of the Flibri-system ( Flibiri flocks) into the urban volume is visualized (hypothesized) in 4 evolutionary steps. The project narrative emphasises the changing relationship between the existing, static urban fabric (hardscape) and the new Flibri-System (softscape), while it highlights the altering goals of the new infrastructure and its level of influence on the urban dynamics: 1. The Basics: detached Flibri-flock operation for existing interior and exterior quality improvements, 2. The Event: physically connected space-reactivation, 3. The Playground: construction of new static structures to provide space for flock experiments 4. The New Ground: hard- and softscape equalization period 79

part iv > [tpt evolution]

THE PERMANENTLY TEMPORARY

I. THE BASICS

FLIBRI SYSTEM

FLYING NATURE

FLIBRI

URBAN HARDSCAPE

VIENNA TODAY

in the age of gravity-independent architecture

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

The project investigates the future of urban

While taking all fact, statistics and predictions

...

It proposes a new ephemeral infrastructure which can be integrated with the existing urban

THERE IS A NEED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF AN “UTOPIAN” image

environments using Vienna (Austria) as case study.

hardscape (urban-fabric) in order to increase the city’s dynamism and adaptivity and by that also its capacity.

80

into consideration it is easy to build up a dystopian image of the future.

which visualizes together with the facts also the platforms which can provide place for social excitement.

2040

2030

2020

timeline

[tpt evolution] < part iv

IV. THE NEW ROUND 2060

2050

II. THE EVENT

III. THE PLAYGROUND

Continual refinement of parameters and reciprocal adaptation between the environment and the new “FLIBRI” system causes an EVOLUTION in our perception of time and space.

PRESENTATION SET: INSTALLATION MATRIX

81

MATRIX

part iv > [tpt evolution]

TODAY the urban environment

-

not dynamic enough

URBAN ISSUES: 1_

By 2050

urban POPULATION will INCREASE with 20 % 2_

New strategies for inner-urban DENSIFICATION

has to be investigated in regard to the persistent global population growth and significant mass migration

which is likely to occur also in response to climate

change.

‘IF ARCHITECTURE COULD BE EPHEMERAL and adaptive ... ... the existing city volume could be programmed more efficiently by the activation of the time depending deadzones.

URBAN HARDSCAPE

VIENNA TODAY

The resulting shift in the urban pattern would support the intensification of the city and the establishment of a new social contract.’

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

82

2030

2020

TIMELINE

[tpt evolution] < part iv

RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

MIXED-USED BUILDINGS

WIND PATTERN

83

2060

STREET HIERARCHY

2050

NOISE PATTERN

part iv > [tpt evolution]

flibri

-

TOMORROW to modify environmental conditions

FLIBRI (drone): The unmanned omnicopter - which “hypothetically” can generate and store energy,

the propellers function. In order to make it able to produce energy, fly, reflect, radiate and shade

it could not happen before.

The flibries are able to detect highly radiated surfaces and optimize their positions for efficient charging. //For energy production,

they use opaque- and transparent solar-cells, reflective panels and for each unit 8 propellers.

radiate heat, supply and reflect light... - creates specific micro climates and provides optimal qualities for new functions to appear at locations

//The FLIBRI design is inspired by an ETH Zürich research project, the OMNICOPTER (By Raffaello D’Andrea) which by being highly symmetric, with its 8 propellers is ambivalent to

other than the solar-cells they could potentially

use moisture mill technology which is still under development at the Columbia University (Ozgur Sahin, Ph.D., an associate professor of biological sciences and physics). The technology derives

orientation.

The new design maximizes the usable surface area within the cubic frame while it still allows air to move through the diagonal axises to let

power directly from evaporation. //

FLIBRI

URBAN HARDSCAPE

VIENNA TODAY

DESIGN FILM

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

84

2030

2020

TIMELINE

MAIN BODY 4 IDENTICAL UNIBODY MOUNTING SHELL CF CHASES - 8 BOOMS RETRACTABLE DOCKING MECH FLIBRI DIMENSIONS: 150mm x 150mm x 150mm WEIGHT: 600g PROPELLERS DUEL BLADE CARBON FIBER

4 TRACTOR PROPELLERS 4 PUSHER PROPELLERS

1804 DC OUTRUNNER BRUSH MOTOR RCX H1306-8 3100KV 8 ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLERS (ESC)

8 BRUSHLESS MOTOR CF MOTOR MOUNT RETRACTABLE DOCKING MECH

FLIBRI CORE FLIGHT CONTROLLER

FLIBRI

FLIBRI CORE

ASSEMBLY + SPECIFICATIONS

FIRMWARE TGY--SIMONK FIRMWARE OPEN SOURCE FIRMWARE FOR ATM GA-BASED BRUSHLESS ESCS POWER DISTRIBUTION BOARD (PDB) ATAS PRO MINI PDB POWER LEVEL MONITOR

FLIGHT CONTROLLER F4 ADVANCED FC (MPU6000, STM32F405) GPS + MAGNETOMETER MODULE GLONASS MODULE TELEMETRY RADIO RECIEVER SENSOR CHIPS

MAGNETIC STRIPS MAGFIELD

REFLECTIVE ILLUMINATIVE

PANEL TYPES: OPAQUE PV TRANSPARENT PV

8 SOLAR CELL (LIPO) POWER MODULE CF PROPELLERS ESC

CARBON FIBER CHASE

POWER DISTRIBUTION BOARD

CF PROPELLERS ESC

POWER MODULE 8 SOLAR CELL (LIPO) 4xDUEL-CELL LITHIUM POLYMER VENT AND CIRCUITRY CHAMBER CARBON FIBER CASING

2060

6 SIDED MAGFIELD FLIBRI ASSEMBLY MECHANISM INDUCTION POWER TRANSFER

MAGNETIC STRIPS

CF UNIBODY MOUNTING SHELL FLIBRI CORE CAMERA + SENSOR

PROPELLERS DUEL BLADE CARBON FIBER 1804 DC OUTRUNNER BRUSH MOTOR RCX H1306-8 3100KV

CAMERA + SENSOR

EMBEDDED MAGNETIC STRIPS MAGFIELD

85

2050

[tpt evolution] < part iv

86

2030

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

FLIBRI

FLIBRI ATTACHMENT WITH EMBEDDED MAGNETIC STIPRS

VIENNA TODAY

ANIMATION

URBAN HARDSCAPE

2020

part iv > [tpt evolution]

TIMELINE

2050

87

2060

PLA PRINT _ FLIBRI PARTS

FLIBRI WALL

[tpt evolution] < part iv

part iv > [tpt evolution]

AFTER TOMORROW

FLYING NATURE

FLIBRI

URBAN HARDSCAPE

VIENNA TODAY

research fields

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

88

2030

2020

TIMELINE

[tpt evolution] < part iv By taking more inspirations from nature in the field of aerodynamics we can assume that in the future, flying machines will have extended flying periods, reduced level of noise, increased responsiveness and collaborative behaviour etc.

As a result, such machines could form the units of a new urban infrastructure which by its high level

89

2060

2050

mobility would produce permanently temporary spatial micro-climates and increase the level of urban dynamism.

part iv > [tpt evolution]

the flibri system properties

=

softscape

_

vocabulary

_ EPHEMERAL SPATIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

| gravity independent _ REACTIVE SOFTSCAPE

| flows and hardenings * _ NEW BEHAVIOR LOGIC

| independent from existing urban fabric, hybrid state (local + global) > _ ADAPTS TO, REDEFENES AND CREATES NEW ... ...ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS!

FLIBRI SYSTEM

FLYING NATURE

FLIBRI

URBAN HARDSCAPE

VIENNA TODAY

ANIMATION

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

90

2030

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TIMELINE

[tpt evolution] < part iv SYSTEM VOCABULARY:

DPC = Designed Point Cloud

ADSO = Attractive Decentralised Self Organisation

VoMCoG = Volumetric Micro Condition Generator SUN

WIND

USER

91

2060

2050

ReDSO = Repulsive Decentralised Self Organisation

part iv > [tpt evolution]

evolution

-

THE BASICS interior and exterior quality improvements

SCENE 01: Densifying by intensifying.

With the implementation of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;flibri systemâ&#x20AC;? enhance the neighbouring building qualities. the project aims to re-qualify exterior snoozed During the micro-climatization of the exterior zones by providing temporary micro-climatic , flibries will also improve the qualities of the neighbouring interiors. conditions for certain functions to appear.

By the use of specific materials and surfaces in Using the noise maps of Vienna,exterior areas were detected in the inner districts where the daily activity is minimum and could be used as potential locations (sites) for the spatial operation of the Flibri system. These areas -

the design of the flying units (reflective panels, pvs, sound isolator materials etc.) there is a potential for natural sunlight supplementation, sound isolation and energy production.

snoozed zones - will be re-inhabited by various functions after the Flibri system provides optimal climatic and spatial qualities. The gross floor area

of certain mobile programs will be minimized in the current interior spaces and on demand be

SOUND ISOLATION

expanded towards the public and semi-public volumes. The exterior temporarily will turn into a semi-interior space without exact isolation. The

STREET COVER

appearance of the resulting Pop-up functions on the streets will increase the level of safety and

I. THE BASICS

FLIBRI SYSTEM

FLYING NATURE

FLIBRI

URBAN HARDSCAPE

VIENNA TODAY

STREET-COURTYARD MERGE

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

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TIMELINE

[tpt evolution] < part iv ANALYSES

VIENNA - NOISE LEVEL >60 DB

SNOOZED STREET ACTIVITION

VIENNA - NORTH FACING FACADES

NOISE PROTECTION

LIGHT SUPPLEMENTATION

FACADE

TRANSFORMATION

FACADE

TRANSFORMATION

2060

2050

MOVIE-LINK

93

part iv > [tpt evolution]

THE EVENT evolution

-

space activation

ANIMATION EV

SCENE 02: The flibri system is attracted by the event, happening at an outdoor auditorium.

The Flibri-populated designed point cloud (DPC) turns into an adaptive micro condition generator

I. THE BASICS

FLIBRI SYSTEM

FLYING NATURE

FLIBRI

URBAN HARDSCAPE

VIENNA TODAY

(VOMCOG) and provides constant comfort for the audience by the climate - and function determined reconfigurations.

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

94

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TIMELINE

2050

95

2060

II. THE EVENT

URBAN FOOTAGE FRAMES

[tpt evolution] < part iv

4D RENDER EV

96

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URBAN SOFTSCAPE

I. THE BASICS

FLIBRI SYSTEM

FLYING NATURE

FLIBRI

VIENNA TODAY

URBAN HARDSCAPE

2020

1:300

N

+10.35

PPL paths

1

1

1 1

+10.35

69 73 77 78 81 84 87

90

K J I N M L Q P O S R

58 61 60 60 61 58 59 58 57 55 57 59 62 61 61 62 59 60 58 59 56 58

S R Q P O N M L K J I

1

1

13 15 18 18 20 22 24 26 28 28 27 14 16 19 19 21 23 25 27 29 29 28

1

1

1 1

3

2

4

1 1

4

3

5

1 1

5

4

3

5

1 1 4

7

4

6

1 1

8

5

6

7

1 1

9

6

7

86

73 75

82 81 85 85

82

81

76

75

72 72

69

10

7

71

8

1 1 8

68

11

67

8

7

9

1

1

8

66

9

10

1

1

79

67 68 69 74 72 70 76 71 73 73 73 76 78 71 77 79 81 81 73 78

76

80

THE EVENT ~2060 - day scene

89

80

79

42 42 41 41 41 41 40 40

43 43 41 41 40 40 38 38

H G F E D C B A

42 42 40 40 39 39 37 37

41 41 40 40 40 40 39 39

+4.95

91

1

AUDITORIUM

+2.70

TOP VIEW

STAGE

0.00

HARDSCAPE TOP VIEW STANDING AREA

0.00

part iv > [tpt evolution]

TIMELINE

2050

97

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II. THE EVENT

SOFTSCAPE DYNAMICS_ 4D DRAWINGS

[tpt evolution] < part iv

part iv > [tpt evolution]

THE PLAYGROUND evolution

-

space for behavior experiments

SCENE 03:

ANIMATION PG

The visitors are attracted by the flibri show. In this scene, without pre-designed point clouds (DPC) flibries are experimenting with their collective intelligence.

The new spatial configurations are the result of their

I. THE BASICS

FLIBRI SYSTEM

FLYING NATURE

FLIBRI

URBAN HARDSCAPE

VIENNA TODAY

collaged depicted memories from previous missions which can be used as inspiration for the design of prospective DPC-s.

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

98

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TIMELINE

2050

99

2060

III. THE PLAYGROUND

II. THE EVENT

URBAN FOOTAGE FRAMES

[tpt evolution] < part iv

4D RENDER PG

100

G

URBAN SOFTSCAPE

2040

+20.12

7

F

I. THE BASICS

TOP VIEW

+26.1

6

E

THE PLAYGROUND ~2060 - day scene

5

D

1:300

N

+5.30

4

C

FLIBRI SYSTEM

+00.00

+14.12

3

B

FLYING NATURE

+00.00

2

A

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softscape-hardscape equalization

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The flibries are attracted by the new ground and the citizens.

(A new landscape is constructed in order to improve the collaboration between the soft- and hardscape.)

After flibries detect and populate the active areas,

they supply natural sunlight and that create optimal environmental condition for the newly designed public

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landscape above the Wien Fluss.

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Appendix

A - Research Proposal: Aerial Robotic Units: responsive building elements of ephemeral architecture 2017 by ViktĂłria SĂĄndor 1. Motivation and Statement Emerging issues due to population growth in urban environments and changing patterns of social behavior require the investigation of novel strategies for architecture and urban design. The increasing contrast - between the rigidity of the physical environment and the rising value of the notions of temporality and flexibility in everyday life - generates tension in the operation of global cities.

One way - of facilitating to release this tension â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is to increase the level of adaptation and responsiveness of the physical space.

Current trends in the implementation of aerial robots to architecture are commonly focusing on their application in building fabrication processes, rather than on their activity in building adaptation and responsiveness.

Taking advantage of this potential of an adaptive system might lead to an Ephemeral (hyper-temporary) architecture. Its capability to appear and disappear creates potential to support the physical space (urban volume) in adapting to local contexts, on demand. In this sense, the level of adaptation is primarily determined by the duration of the construction and deconstruction and the capability for the transformation of short-lived structures.

The acceleration of these processes could be achieved by increasing the mobility of the individual building elements of the temporary space.

The main idea for my proposed research is the exploitation of the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in ephemeral architectural systems, since - their mobility is not dependent on pre-built physical infrastructures - they have a high degree of mobility in the 3 dimensional space - they have the ability for autonomous operations - they have the potential for real-time communication with the environment and digital design tools.

The investigation of the potentialities for unmanned aerial vehicles to become not only supports in building fabrication processes (builders) but also as active building elements of short-lived structures in order to decrease the duration of the construction, transformation and deconstruction of temporary spaces, is the 108

general goal of my research.

The project aims to build on existing research results, developed at the ETH: - Flight Assembled Architecture; Gramazio & Kohler, Raffaello D’Andrea, ETH Zurich 2011-2012 - Aerial Construction; ETH Zurich, 2013-2015 - Distributed Flight Array; Raffaello D’Andrea, ETH Zurich since 2008 - Omni-Directional Aerial Vehicle; Daria Brescianini and Raffaello D’Andrea, ETH Zurich 2016.

Since the research requires competence from different disciplines - including architecture, robotics and system control – I wish to work in collaboration with the chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication and the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control at ETH Zurich.

2. Research Objectives To gain benefits from the use of aerial robots as responsive structural elements of ephemeral architecture, the research needs to develop strategies where: - aerial robots can be combined with the elements of stable structural systems; - these combined structural elements interact with their environment and communicate with designers through digital design tools to improve the responsiveness of the architectural space; - the resulting structural system is reconfigurable; - the duration of the construction, transformation/reconfiguration and deconstruction is reduced compared to existing construction systems where flying robots are separated from the structural elements and play a role distinctively in the fabrication process.

3. Significance and Innovation The development of aerial units which are able to nest on eachother and create selfsupporting structures is the general innovation this project promises. The evaluation of the results should direct or redirect the conversation about the potential methods and techniques for increasing adaptivity and responsiveness of the physical space. The multiple digital design tools that this research will combine for creating performative architecture - not only in the digital space but also in the physical – can be beneficial for the transformation of current design approaches.

4. Methodology 109

The research methodology is inspired by previous studies in the field of aerial construction.

The goal of the first research phase is to collect the design constraints for the combined units whose movement in the 3-dimensional space remains flexible while they are able to become the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;partâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of a stable structural system: It will require the investigation of - different types of aerial robots (multi-rotors, single rotors, flapping wing mechanisms, etc.) and their specific constraints due to size, weight, strength and energy consumption; - nesting strategies of the aerial elements (kinetic solutions: folding, stretching; magnets; etc.); - configuration dependent turbulences, generated by the collision and avoidance of specific number of flying units.

The second research phase will focus on the design of the unit and the potentially ephemeral structural configurations: The previously defined constraints will provide the primary factors for the design of the ephemeral structural system. Using digital design-, simulation- and structural analyses tools, the aim is the implementation of specific aerial robots to a highly flexible and reconfigurable space frame. The design development will take place simultaneously in two different scales. On one hand, it will focus on the overall structural configuration, its materiality and performance and on the other hand, an aerial unit will be developed which provides the capability for transformation/reconfiguration.

The third research phase aims to develop the prototypical ephemeral system which can produce a series of predetermined spatial configurations. Through experimentations, the flexibility and the duration of transformations of the structure will be tested and validated.

The fourth phase of the research will focus on the improvement of the feedback loop between the sensed environmental condition (i.e. light, humidity, airflow), design concept and the aerial robot-combined structural elements in order to enhance the spatial adaptivity.

Both the design methods and the physical experiments will require competence from multiple disciplines, including architecture, robotics and system control.

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5. Conclusion The research aims to map the advantages and disadvantages of the use of aerial robots as active elements in architectural structures, while it highlights the value in spatial ephemerality. It builds on, and continues the existing research in the field of aerial robotics in architecture, and pushes the envelope of aerial robot applications in spatial design in order to clarify the position of the affected disciplines relative to architecture.

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Bibliography 1. BRESCIANINI, Dario and D’ANDREA, Raffaello, “Design , Modeling and Control of an Omni Directional Aerial Vehicle”, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2016. Available: http:// flyingmachinearena.org/wp-content/publications/2016/ breIEEE16.pdf 2. BÖRNER, Andrea, GULINSKA, Anna, MONCAYO, Galo, SOMMER, Bernhard, “The big bubble bursts:Urbanism Remains”, Energizing Vienna Newspaper, Venice edition ( May 28, 2018) 3. CUI, Weilin, Cao, Guoguang ,Jung Ho Park, Qin Ouyang, Yingxin Zhu, “Influence of indoor air temperature on human thermal comfort, motivation and performance”, Building and Environment, Volume 68, October 2013 4. EVA, “State of the Art”,Evaluation of visionary architectural concepts research project; Energy Design Department, University of Applied Arts Vienna and Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology, TU Wien [May 2017] 5. eVie Cross Over Studio, “At Stake How to Densify”, Energizing Vienna Newspaper, Venice edition ( May 28, 2018) 6. HILLIER, Bill and Penn, Alan, “Dense Civilizations: The Shape of Cities in the 21st Century”, Applied Energy, Vol. 43, Issues 1-3, page 41-66 (Bartlett School of Architecture 1992)

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7. HONJO Tsuyoshi, Thermal Comfort in Outdoor Environment, Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University, 2009 8. YARNAL, Brent, “Human Vulnerability to Climate Impacts”; https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog438w/ node/252 [2017] 9. KELLY, Kevin, “Hive Mind”, Out of Control: the new biology machines, social systems and the economic world, (1994) 10. LACHOW, Irving, “The upside and downside of swarming drones”, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, 73:2,96-101 (2017) 11. MUMFORD, Lewis, Technics and Civilization (Harcourt, Brace & Company, Inc., New York, 1934) 12. The Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture, ACTAR Barcelona 13. VIRÁGH,Csaba,VÁSÁRHELYI,Gábor,VICSEK,Tamás “Collective motion of flying robots” EU ERC COLLMOT project, Department of Biological Physics, Institute of Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, 2014 14. YARNA, Brent, “Human Vulnerability to Climate Impacts” [Online]. Available:

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