From 'What' to 'How'

"All means of interchange and of human interassociation tend to improve by acceleration. Speed, in turn, accentuates problems of form and structure. The older arrangements had not been made with a view to such speeds, and people begin to sense a draining away of life values as they try to make the old physical forms adjust to the new speedier movement."

Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media.

In the Industrial Age, the rate of change was significantly slower.
Build a building and leave it be.
As it was designed, as it was built, as it remained.
Few changes changed few buildings.
Generate the plans, elevations and sections as the completed building form.
Describe 'what the building looks like.'
What else is there?

In the Information Age, times have changed.
When did you first use a computer?
Times have changed quickly.
Times are changing even more quickly.
Your ability to act is what counts.
Unpredict-ability requires flex-ability and change-ability.
'What' changes constantly.
'How' is an ongoing inquiry.
Shift to 'how a building looks'.
How it looks is how it's built is how it's used.
Switch from what the product is to how the process occurs.


The Future of Architecture Table of Contents
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