The Cell, the Field, and the Tower: the spaces of ecological cybernetics

Goodbun, J. 2018. The Cell, the Field, and the Tower: the spaces of ecological cybernetics. in: Rumpfhuber, A. (ed.) Into the Great Wide Open Barcelona DPR Barcelona.

Chapter titleThe Cell, the Field, and the Tower: the spaces of ecological cybernetics
AuthorsGoodbun, J.
EditorsRumpfhuber, A.
Abstract

Ecology and cybernetics, in their everyday folk meanings at least, might seem to be completely dissociated fields: the first suggesting the study of living organisms in their environments, and the other conjuring images of automation, machines, and their control and management. They share however a concern with understanding systems, and as even the most cursory study shows, the histories of these concepts are intimately intertwined with each other. In fact,, and have in fact I argue that they have, a common structure in a certain abstract spatial imaginary which determines thinking about systems in modernity. This spatial abstraction itself emerges through a new division of labour which transformed our production and thinking about bodies, machines, and buildings. This is the story of three architectural typologies – — the bounded cell, the networked field, and the observatory tower – —, a story which raises questions about the nature of architecture and its relationship to other forms of technical and scientific knowledge, and to systems theory in general.

KeywordsArchitecture, Ecology, Cybernetics
Book titleInto the Great Wide Open
Year2018
PublisherDPR Barcelona
Publication dates
Published2018
Place of publicationBarcelona
ISBN9788494752315
File

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