CAD optimism. How Architects Interested in Media and Computation Talk about Design

Abstract

"Great new design" is a phrase that emerges from simple counting of words in social media discourse among architects and designers working with computation and interactive technologies. With an underlying concern for the narrative of optimism and efficiency that propagates in practice of working with CAD tools, I study the way Media Architecture is discussed within the community of architects, designers, researchers and policy makers. The bi-yearly event, Media Architecture Biennale, organised by the Media Architecture Institute gathers a large community of architects, designers and engineers interested in using and understanding computational tools in the context of design of media architecture (and media facades more specifically). I combine text-mining techniques of Twitter posts with practical knowledge of architectural profession and review of computational concepts in literature (Dalsgaard et al, Tomitsch et al, Brynskov et al but also Easterling, Bratton and Parisi). Using some of the digital humanities techniques, I identify a network of social media profiles that belong to architects, engineers, community managers and policy makers, with a mixed presence of practitioners and academics. I identify important concepts and patterns in this prolific communication stream, which I then critically examine through the way these conversations, literature and practice inform each other. I take social media as a rich, and digitally documented communication channel that relies on a multitude of media and forms. What can we infer from opinions on digital infrastructures, networked places and hybrid public spaces about their implications for practice of architecture, and methods architects use in design? Which occlusions and blind spots can be observed in the discourse? By looking at how contemporary practice is discussed, we can identify and offer a critical perspective on certain social and cultural aspects within the community.