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M1 : Drawing Things Together
X1: FIGURES OF ENTANGLEMENT
X2: ?
M2 :
Overview
This module initiates our inquiry into material entanglements within broader systems and scales. We begin in the middle, exploring un(fore)seen territories through mapping and representation. Through readings, discussions, and case studies, we will develop methods for understanding the built environment's complex relationships.
EXERCISE 1: FIGURES OF ENTANGLEMENT
Working in teams of 3-4, analyze conceptual lenses and representation strategies related to systems and entanglement.
A. Reading Discussion (Teams analyze assigned texts)
- Summarize main arguments (4-5 key points)
- Select 3-5 visuals to illustrate main points
- Choose key passage exemplifying relational lens
B. Case Study Analysis
Study examples of relational thinking in design through:- Annotated diagrams of key representational strategies
- Relational diagrams mapping entities and relationships
- Written summary of conceptual approach (150 words)
- Synthesis of findings
- Optional additional visuals
Schedule & Deliverables
- Mon Jan 06: Introduction, group reading & discussion
- Thu Jan 09: Mapping workshop
- Mon Jan 13: Diagramming workshop
- Thu Jan 16: Final presentations (15 min/group)
Evaluation Criteria
- Analysis of problem/context and formulation of ideas
- Quality of visual and verbal presentation
- Engagement in design dialogue
- Effort and completion
- Studio participation
Reading Discussion
Medium Design: Knowing How to Work on the World
- Culture is good at naming objects but poor at describing the chemistry and relationships between things and their latent potentials.
- Beyond declarations or obvious events, organizations have inherent dispositions (capacities to include, exclude, nurture, or harm) that shape real outcomes.
- Medium design inverts dominant approaches by focusing not on objects with fixed positions but on activating relationships and potentials between things.
- Solutions and declarations alone are weak positions - interplay between elements and entanglement create more robust and resilient outcomes.
- The physical materials and arrangements of space possess information and value beyond financial or quantitative assessments.
Examples
Everyone understands it's not just about the food items (rice, vegetables, meat) but about how they work together, how the flavors combine, how people share and interact - things we all experience but rarely name.
Without any rules posted, its layout, lighting, and seating naturally influence how quiet or loud people are, whether they interact or stay to themselves, how comfortable they feel - effects everyone intuitively understands.
Its success comes from how paths, benches, trees, and open spaces work together to create different possibilities for activities - something anyone who's spent time in parks can grasp.
Keeping a houseplant alive isn't just about following watering instructions, but understanding the relationship between water, sunlight, temperature, and season - a living system everyone can observe.
Everyone understands that the real value isn't in the cost of appliances but in how well the space works for cooking, gathering, and moving around - something we all experience regardless of age or background.
Key Passage
"Consider just a few simple objects in a room - table, chair, lamp, pen, teapot, teacup, apple, and window. Although static, they are projecting latent potentials, activities, and relationships. The chair is sized to accommodate a seated human body, and the table is sized to allow the human and the chair to slide underneath it. The teapot and teacup have handles that fingers can wrap around, and the apple is a fruit that a hand can grasp. Some of the interactions are timed. The tea will go cold. The sun will go down, and the lamp will go on. Each of the objects in the assembly offers some properties or capacities that are in interplay."
CASE STUDIES
“Superpowers of Ten” - A large-scale operatic performance reinterpreting the Eames' 1977 film "Powers of Ten."
- Uses over 50 homemade colorful paper propsIntroduces new characters such as Kodak's "Shirley Card," polio, and transgender pioneer Flawless Sabrina
- Explores social and historical details outside the original film's apolitical frame
- Challenges the idea that daily life can be framed within a universe solely explained by science
- Emphasizes the importance of politics in constructing multiverses
- Presented at various events, including the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015 and the ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 2016
- Serves as a nomadic temporary architecture, offering a critical perspective on the relationship between science, society, and politics
- Focuses on the previously unnoticed 1,050 square meter basement in the 1986 reconstruction
- Reveals the basement as the Pavilion's "portrait of Dorian Grey," containing elements that subvert the illusion of timelessness
- Distributed items from the basement throughout the Pavilion's upper floor
- Explores the concept of the "phantom public" in relation to Mies van der Rohe's architectural philosophy
- Currently on view in the Permanent Collection Galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago
"Going Live: From States to Systems" - A publication in the Pamphlet Architecture series (35th edition) exploring the shift from static to dynamic systems in urban environments.
“0-217km/h” - Analysis of the "demobilizing traffic junctions from the suburban metropolis of Columbus, Ohio" at a speed of 0-217 km/h (0-135 mph).
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Takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining earth sciences, engineering, and economics to understand urban environments.
- Emphasizes the importance of ecology and infrastructure in shaping contemporary urban life.
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The project seems to be exploring how to build "cultural density without building density" - in other words, creating vibrant urban areas without relying solely on high-density development.
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In terms of scale and its powers, the project appears to be examining how different scales, from the regional to the site-specific, impact factors like mobility, movement, and circulation across various suburban densities.
- The variety of scales and visualizations suggest an effort to understand the complex, multi-scalar dynamics at play in shaping contemporary urban environments.
“1:647” - A comprehensive analysis and design proposal for the Artibonite Valley region in Haiti. This project focuses on systems-based approaches to address environmental, agricultural, and social challenges.
- Scale: 1:647, located in the Plateau Central, Artibonite Valley, Haiti
- Emphasis on women as "potomitan" (central pillars) in regional agricultural economies
- Addresses environmental hazards, agricultural cycles, and social resilience
- Proposes over 5,000 evacuation parks with various facilities
- Integrates micro-scale elements with macro-scale systems
- Combines traditional agricultural knowledge with modern infrastructure planning
“Tactical Archipelago” - A conceptual master plan for the Kyiv Islands in Ukraine.
- Focuses on reimagining the 37 islands in the Dnieper River in Kyiv
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Proposes a series of operational clusters to be inserted onto the islands
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Aims to transform the river islands into functional areas within the urban context of Kyiv
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Emphasizes ecological infrastructure, balancing urban development and environmental considerations
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Reimagines the islands as spaces for recreation and public use
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Part of Callejas' portfolio that contributed to him being awarded the 2013 Architectural League Prize
- Highlights an innovative approach to urban planning and design, integrating natural and built environments
“Medellin: The river that is not” - An urban plan project for Medellin, Colombia, focusing on the city's river.
- Recognizes that Medellin's river is no longer a natural river and cannot be restored to its original state
- Shifts focus from the main river to the 57 streams feeding into it
- Proposes public platforms over the channelized river at stream intersections
- Suggests gradual, open-ended interventions that can host various public programs
- Aims to reconfigure the relationship between the city, its hydraulic system, and its citizens
- Encourages additional public competitions for specific interventions along the river
TRANS-SCALAR INFRASTRUCTURE
- Interdisciplinary approach: All three projects blend various disciplines, including architecture, urban planning, ecology, and social sciences, to address complex urban challenges.
- Dynamic systems thinking: They all emphasize the importance of understanding cities and landscapes as dynamic, interconnected systems rather than static entities.
- Critical perspective: Each project offers a critical reinterpretation of existing ideas or spaces, challenging conventional approaches to urban design and planning.
- Multi-scale consideration: The projects examine urban issues across different scales, from local interventions to broader systemic changes.
- Innovative presentation: All three use unique methods to present their ideas, whether through performances, publications, or conceptual master plans.
- Ecological focus: There is a shared emphasis on integrating ecological considerations into urban design and infrastructure.
- Reimagining public spaces: Each project, in its own way, explores new possibilities for public spaces and their role in urban life.
THE RIVER THAT IS NOT - in detail
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The project radically reframes the problem by accepting that "Medellin's river is not a river anymore and this condition is not reversible"
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Instead of trying to restore the river (which they argue is "naive and impossible"), they work with its current channelized state
- This demonstrates a pragmatic approach to infrastructure transformation
Multi-scalar Systems:
The project operates across multiple scales:
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Micro scale: 56 individual streams
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Meso scale: Public platforms and intervention points
- Macro scale: The entire valley system and mountain watershed
The drawings effectively show these scalar relationships, particularly in diagrams 2.4 and 2.5
Network Thinking:
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Rather than focusing on the main river, the project shifts attention to the network of 56 tributary streams
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These streams become the "backbone of the city's hydric landscape"
- The project creates nodes of intervention at stream-river intersections
The proposal embraces gradual transformation over time
Uses an open-ended approach that allows for future programming flexibility
Proposes multiple future design competitions to involve different designers
Representational Strategies (from the drawings):
Uses multiple representation types:
- Aerial photography for context
- Abstract diagrams for systems
- Photomontage for interventions
- Sectional diagrams for relationships
The drawings effectively show both existing conditions and proposed interventions simultaneously
What's particularly interesting is how this project demonstrates infrastructural relationships across scales and systems. Its a great example of how infrastructure (in this case, water systems) interacts with:
- Urban form
- Public space
- Social systems
- Ecological systems
- Existing built infrastructure
Easterling argues against looking for single solutions, writing that "interplay is an expression of interactivity within an ecology over time" and "Solutions do not have a long enough temporal dimension to respond to changing conditions and new failures." This aligns perfectly with LCLA's approach - they acknowledge that "re-naturalizing the river is naive and impossible" and instead propose an interplay of streams, platforms, and civic spaces that can evolve over time.
ON SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS
She emphasizes how "spatial relationships embody actions and latent potentials." This manifests in LCLA's project through their focus on "the points where streams meet with the polluted river, triggering the encounter of civic public occupation." The project is about activating relationships between components rather than fixing a single solution.
ON DISPOSITION & TEMPERAMENT
Easterling discusses how "Organizations have inherent capacities to include, exclude, nurture, or harm, even in the absence of an event or declaration." We see this in how LCLA's proposal creates new dispositions in the city by establishing platforms that host multiple programs and create new possibilities for interaction.
ON PROBLEMS & ASSETS
A key concept from Easterling is that "Problems, ordinarily considered to be deficits, advance forward as assets." LCLA embraces this by treating the polluted, channelized river not as just a problem to fix, but as an opportunity to create new types of public space and urban relationships.
ON MULTIPLIERS
Easterling notes that "Multipliers—can be accelerants for interplays." LCLA uses this concept by proposing that their interventions at stream intersections would become "additional public competitions that would bring other designers into the conversation" - allowing the impact to multiply through the involvement of many designers over time.