Performance of Scale

<p>Cities are for people. As the scale of modern day cities continue to grow with overbearing homogeneity, the human body has become a disengaged entity among the repetitive monolithic forms. This city environment has come to lack the facilitation of personal, social, spatial and economic connections. Architecture can be seen to be the major facilitator in engaging and shaping urban space and subsequently the connection between people and space. This thesis responds to these static environmental conditions, questioning how ‘shifts in scale’ could influence the performance of space, and resultantly how performative space can create a connection between the body and the city. The thesis identifies a gap in performance research which considers ‘shifting scales’ as a non-human active agent. Active agents are assessed for their effects on the body (subject) and space (form), becoming critical to successive design evaluation and development. The notion of ‘Performance in Architecture’ is defined and grounded through acknowledging current modes of discourse in architectural theory, establishing the relationships between the interconnected theories of ‘subject performance’ and ‘performance of form’. These two theories explore the performative relationships between the body ‘subject’ and architecture ‘form’, setting up the research structure and subsequent conditions for the production of progressive design iterations. The framework for the performance design iterations engages two alternate scaled conditions (Act One & Act Two), both of which are explored through parametric based software in conjunction with physical modelling. This parametric based technology enables the comprehension and fabrication of complex forms, allowing the design process to move between the digital world and real world with ease. Engaging with this technology allows the scaled conditions to become specifically responsive to parameters defined by the architect. Each design iteration ‘shifts in scale’, focusing on a select combination of components, providing feedback on the productive application as to how ‘shifts in scale’ influence the performance of space. The design iterations systematically bring together parameters responding to: Scaled Volume, Intersection, Context, Traversal Movement and Access, Circulation, Speed, and Connection. The resultant design is evaluated for its performative success in allowing the body to shift and move between multiple scaled volumes and floor levels. The production and evaluation of these design iterations grounds the importance of ‘shifts in scale’ as an active agent that generates a connection between the body and city. The uniqueness of each space provides a set of diverse tenanting opportunities where the design strategy begins to address the expansion and densification of cities, re-enlivening and connecting ‘unused’ ‘left over’ space. The design strategy acts as a catalyst for dealing with complex architectural parameters while maintaining its sensitivity to the human scale.</p>

Performance of Scale

<p>Cities are for people. As the scale of modern day cities continue to grow with overbearing homogeneity, the human body has become a disengaged entity among the repetitive monolithic forms. This city environment has come to lack the facilitation of personal, social, spatial and economic connections. Architecture can be seen to be the major facilitator in engaging and shaping urban space and subsequently the connection between people and space. This thesis responds to these static environmental conditions, questioning how ‘shifts in scale’ could influence the performance of space, and resultantly how performative space can create a connection between the body and the city. The thesis identifies a gap in performance research which considers ‘shifting scales’ as a non-human active agent. Active agents are assessed for their effects on the body (subject) and space (form), becoming critical to successive design evaluation and development. The notion of ‘Performance in Architecture’ is defined and grounded through acknowledging current modes of discourse in architectural theory, establishing the relationships between the interconnected theories of ‘subject performance’ and ‘performance of form’. These two theories explore the performative relationships between the body ‘subject’ and architecture ‘form’, setting up the research structure and subsequent conditions for the production of progressive design iterations. The framework for the performance design iterations engages two alternate scaled conditions (Act One & Act Two), both of which are explored through parametric based software in conjunction with physical modelling. This parametric based technology enables the comprehension and fabrication of complex forms, allowing the design process to move between the digital world and real world with ease. Engaging with this technology allows the scaled conditions to become specifically responsive to parameters defined by the architect. Each design iteration ‘shifts in scale’, focusing on a select combination of components, providing feedback on the productive application as to how ‘shifts in scale’ influence the performance of space. The design iterations systematically bring together parameters responding to: Scaled Volume, Intersection, Context, Traversal Movement and Access, Circulation, Speed, and Connection. The resultant design is evaluated for its performative success in allowing the body to shift and move between multiple scaled volumes and floor levels. The production and evaluation of these design iterations grounds the importance of ‘shifts in scale’ as an active agent that generates a connection between the body and city. The uniqueness of each space provides a set of diverse tenanting opportunities where the design strategy begins to address the expansion and densification of cities, re-enlivening and connecting ‘unused’ ‘left over’ space. The design strategy acts as a catalyst for dealing with complex architectural parameters while maintaining its sensitivity to the human scale.</p>

Human as the cybernetic system

Предложены авторские трактовки понятий «человек» (как высокоразвитая кибернетическая система (биоробот), которая функционирует на основании определенных программ (врожденных и сформированных в процессе жизни), «кибернетическая антропология» (как наука, рассматривающая человека как компьютеризированную систему управления, которая функционирует на основании определенных программ), «психопрограммистика» (как отрасль кибернетической антропологии, изучающая врожденные программы человека, которые определяют мышление и поведение последнего). Раскрывается структура человека как биоробота, основными элементами которой являются: 1) Органическая машина (объект управления); 2) Управляющий орган (субъект управления); 3) Устройство «прямой связи»; 4) Устройство «обратной связи». Выявляются основные элементы Управляющего органа человека как биоробота: 1) Совершенный компьютер; 2) Персональный компьютер; 3) Сенсор (Душа). Предложены авторские трактовки понятий «чувства» и «эмоции» с позиции кибернетической антропологии. Раскрываются основные элементы программ, которые лежат в основе безусловных и условных рефлексов. The author's interpretations of the concepts of “human” are proposed as a highly developed cybernetic system (biorobot), which functions on the basis of certain programs (innate and formed in the process of life); “Cybernetic anthropology” as a science that considers a person as a computerized control system that functions on the basis of certain programs, as well as “psychoprogramming” as a branch of cybernetic anthropology, which studies the innate programs of a person that determine the thinking and behavior of the latter. The structure of a person as a biorobot is revealed, the main elements of which are: 1) Organic machine (control object); 2) Managing body (subject of management); 3) "Direct communication" device; 4) Device "feedback". The main elements of the Managing body of a person as a biorobot are revealed: 1) Perfect computer; 2) Personal computer; 3) Sensor (Soul). The author's interpretations of the concepts of "feelings" and "emotions" from the standpoint of cybernetic anthropology are proposed. The main elements of programs underlying unconditioned and conditioned reflexes are revealed.

Ensuring the competitiveness of goods: the biocybernetic aspect

Предложена авторская трактовка понятия «конкурентоспособность товара» как способности товара (объекта обмена) демонстрировать наибольшую потребительскую привлекательность на данном рынке. Констатируется отсутствие сред ученых и специалистов единого мнение по поводу теории, согласно которой покупатель выбирает товары на данном рынке. Предложена авторская трактовка понятия «кибернетической антропологии» как науки, рассматривающей человека как компьютеризированную систему управления, которая функционирует на основании определенных программ (врожденных и приобретенных). Выявлены четыре элемента системы управления «Человек»: 1) Органическая машина (объект управления); 2) Управляющий орган (субъект управления; 3) Устройство «прямой связи» (Исполнительное устройство); 4) Устройство «обратной связи» (Коммуникационное устройство). Установлено, что Управляющий орган состоит из трех элементов: 1) Совершенный компьютер; 2) Сенсор; 3) Персональный компьютер. Предложены авторские трактовки понятий «чувство» и «эмоция» с позиции кибернетической антропологии. Выявлены четыре базовые программы психопрограммистики, а также три базовые программы теории выбора товаров на рынке (теории принятия решения о покупке). The author's interpretation of the concept of "competitiveness of a product" as the ability of a product (object of exchange) to demonstrate the greatest consumer appeal in this market is proposed. The absence of a consensus among scientists and specialists about the theory according to which the buyer chooses goods in this market is stated. The author's interpretation of the concept of "cybernetic anthropology" as a science that considers a person as a computerized control system that functions on the basis of certain programs (congenital and acquired) is proposed. Four elements of the "Human" control system have been identified: 1) Organic machine (control object); 2) Governing Body (subject of governing); 3) Device of "direct communication" (Executive device); 4) "Feedback" device (Communication device). It has been established that the Governing Body consists of three elements: 1) Perfect computer; 2) Sensor; 3) Personal computer. The author's interpretations of the concepts of "feeling" and "emotion" from the standpoint of cybernetic anthropology are proposed. Four basic programs of psyprogrammistics, as well as three basic programs of the theory of choosing goods on the market (the theory of making a purchase decision) are identified.

New Materialist Openings to Children's Literature Studies

New materialist and posthuman thinking denote a range of approaches that have in common a focus on materialities as a turn against the persistence of Cartesian dualisms (mind/body, subject/object, nature/culture, for example). In this article, we explore how the feminist new materialism of Donna Haraway, Karen Barad, and Rosi Braidotti, among others, may provide openings to research in our field, especially when considering what is recurrently taken up as one of its central problems: the positioning of the child in a world ruled by adults. We first discuss recent approaches in children's literature studies that show interest in these theories and then use these to offer a toolbox of terms and notions – from ethico-onto-epistemology to diffraction – that may open possibilities for research in more-than-human environments.