Computer Modelling

"The effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or concepts, but alter sense ratios or patterns of perception steadily and without resistance."
"In terms of the ways in which the machine altered our relations to one another and to ourselves, it mattered not in the least whether it turned out cornflakes or Cadillacs."

Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media.

In the Industrial Age, a line is a line.
A neat splodge of ink that follows the path of it's ruler.
The line represents what you want it to be.

In the Information Age, a line is a group of pixels.
A picture element is data that has the power to inform.
Pixels represent the mathematical model of the world that you have created.
Be it a summary graphic of over 1000 experiments.
A collision between two spiral galaxies that would normally occur over a one billion year timeframe!
An Ozone hole no one knew existed.
A building?
Computer modelling is performance.
Test and pre-test.
Test the options and optimize the tests.
Generate and explore new patterns.
The environment is no longer an issue for architects, it is architecture.
What becomes How.
Clothing is an extension of the skin.
Model the hand and it fits like a glove.
Architecture is an extension of the skin.
Model the body and it fits like a house.


Related Articles
Design Optimization: This article outlines the design process undertaken to design a world class ocean racing yacht.
The Ozone Hole: The detection of the hole in the Earth's Ozone layer demonstrates a prime example of the possibilities and also the limits of computer modelling.

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