From Buildings to Software

"With digitalization all of the media become translatable into each other - computer bits migrate merrily - and they escape from their traditional means of transmission. A movie, phone call, letter, or magazine article may be sent digitally via phone line, coaxial cable, fibreoptic cable, microwave, satelite, the broadcast air, or a physical storage medium such as tape or disk. If that’s not revolution enough, with digitalization the content becomes totally plastic - any message, sound, or image may be edited from anything into anything else."

Stewart Brand, The Media Lab.

In the Industrial Age, the drawing board as hardware produced more hardware.
Hardware is like the brain, it has a physical presence.
The software came courtesy of Medusa, fixed in place on the surface of the hardware.
Let's get physical.
Ink on paper.
Rub it, scratch it or start again.

In the Information Age, software makes software.
Software is like the mind, its usefulness exists only in our thoughts.
Doing the 'drawing' on the computer creates binary code.
Binary code is a bit of software.
The software comes courtesy of Midas, flowing like gold.
Systematize the design process as software.
Re-use it as a design system.
Ad infinitum.
From designer of buildings to designer of software that creates buildings.
Throw away the baggage of the electronic drawing board.
Welcome to the Olympics.
Faster, further, higher, stronger, easier…
Award the gold medal to the Software Architect.


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