Fulcrum THE A'S WEEKLY FREE SHEET BEDFORD SQUARE. objectification of organisms. afarzaneh ‘Not only do humans objectify mate vial anchiets, but living onganisms alike, Our infatuation with sexuality amests to this notion, inciting the de- personalisation of humans as sexual ‘objects through the suppression of their human qualities (qualities that diferente us from animal). Thus, lies the dichotomy: humans — 9s complex organisms of imellet are based due to thei fetishism with sexuality, fuer ignoring the shear complexity embedded in the devel. ‘opment of humans-as-organisms. Fetishism isthe product of objec tilication; it breaches the complex morphogenetic properties of the physical word into an hasory dimen- son of one’s augmented perception. ‘While living: organisms exemplify the highest form of complexity, bio- logical sciences focus on the process ‘of formation and development of ‘organisms (morphogenesis) and not ther aesthetie qualities. Hleganee is the product of process and method- ‘ology. Deduct process, and elegance becomes the product ofane's relative beliefs. Take the “ideal woman of the Renaissance, portrayed through her volupmous figure (a sign-of vitality and opulence) — standards tat would clearly be rejected in any western society today. This depiets the relaivisim that subsists in objectifying artefuts, or organisms, without any correlation to their logic of formation, To reverse this process would ‘mean 10 demand methodology and complexity from an artefact simply Decause it ts been objectified. Design-through objectification is the embodiment of this concept and has reached its climax due 10 the advancements of digital tools, Designers are empowered by ew capabilities, such as modelling through mimicry. ‘They disregard, ‘and rarely understand, the proc FULCRUM, css of formation. This depicts a de signcr’s infatuation with welinology, the result of fillacious assurances of novel and embellished designs a6 a result of git rechniques. ‘This is ‘different than the feish of our predecessors 1 religious anefits, ‘when they imbued supemanel powers to objects they themselsesere- sued. Ourielletscems tobe further victimised by the evolution of techno Jogieal advancement. The dficulryin ‘computing mathematical calculations ‘due 10 the ubiquitous asailbilty of ‘calculators emphasises de inability wo ‘comprehend the logic of calculations, ‘and not the dflcuty ofthe computa. tion Similarly, designers have lost sight (of the logic embedded in the design process, de to their techno fetish 8 did designers of the modernist ‘due to their machine fcshisan. Ths ‘emerges another dichotomy: human as complex organisms ofiatellet, are debased due to ther infiuation with designing through-objectification, stimulating their fetish of exuberant images and parerned forms (the result of spurious chological} fetishes), as opposed to the explort- tion of methadological processes that _gveriseto thebelaior of the atic. Ie is this scieific outlook that al- ows us 10 breach beyond the formal characterises of architecnre in. un derstanding the shear complexity, bbehuviour and connectivity that exists in the relationship between arcitee= ‘ural objec. The change of metaphor from 20th century machine wo 21st century biology portrays the evln- ofa society rough information, understanding complexity. Cities are no longer perceived as acllection of static anelets, rather asa complex stem, lvingas an organism of some sort. Thus lies the fimdamental need ‘olaltobjectiingorganisms svshift | snentveness towards the comprehen- sion oftheir development, iflerentia- tion and pattems of behaviour, | best of luck. mooradian johnny’s girlfriend often wondered ‘wheter he was gay. He seemed 0 Tose himself in his work so she fet neglected in his affections. He would come hom from the office cxiausted and smelling of sweat. She didn’t ‘mind the sweat so much, twas faintly ‘erotic, but the exhaustion left her feeling unwanted when it cune to lovemaking. Bur Johnny wasn’t gay, he was an architect. Long nights were spent in front of sereens as be romanced the permutations and parameters. that snerated his digital surfaces. Days. snd nights blurred perfected his skills, customised eom- mands, He grew the nail of his right pinkie so he could reach the numbers his keyboard: more ffciently The monitor’s glare was hypaotic tantric. He tweaked his NURBS, rorated axes, swept curves and ex ploded polysurfaces with the flex- ibility ofa great yogi. Inthe same way nat Michelangelo caressed the veins of David with his chisel under the se- tive glow of candlelight, electric pulses of eroticism channelled from Jotny’s fingertips through the cable ‘fis mouse into the neon haze of his He went to bed one night and lay nest to his girlfriend. As she dreamt of mamtage, perhaps even children, Johnny stared at the contours of her body. He imagined rearranging her £ like & mesh manikin in Poser 8 0, How imperfect she seemed in com- parison. Her moves paled to the el gat swagger of an animation. Every blemish on her skin stood out like a ‘ghastly tumour. He disappoincedly compared er eyes to the transpar- ‘ency and parity of glass, her tired skin to seamless Corian, He fellasleep. Johny wasn’t paid for overtime, bute didn’t mind, Te was 00 seared to ask for compensation because he didn't want his bosses to be disap- pointed. To save money, he walked fo work through the city instead of taking public transport. One day he wo one. He lead ‘AU Farzaneh Is an architect and theorist. He has taught at the University of Oklahoma and is 2 PhD candidate at the AA, HACKNEY. arrived late andl received an email from HR stating thar the time would be deducted from his holiday pay. So from then he lf halfan hour earlier Johnny's girlfriend woke up and he had already gone. She looked around artheir messy apartment. Dishes were piled in the kitchen, She put on rub her gloves and poured Fairy liquid ito her palm, She paused and stared ata pile of empty takeaway contain- cers. “I's such a fucking mess.” And ‘with the gloves still covered in soap, she walked out. (A fev days later he momentar: ily noticed the untidiness. “W she so fucking dirty?” And he fell asleep, As he walked to work, he gazed at the towers around him. Mullions, like tight leather straps, rapped the pulsating bulge of the Cherkin as it soared above the grotty chaos ofits surroundings, He imagined his hands wrenching and mugging at the tangled mesal ducts shat festooned the frontage of the Lioyds build: ing. He exhaled ashe fet stroking the eryslline panels of the ‘Shard, lewas architecture so pure, so cleansing, so elicit. The thrill of technology pulsated his heart as he imagined the City erupting around him in one great orgasm of perm: tations, His blood rushed and his eyes rolled back. He arrived at his offce and at his desk he took asp ofthe cold coffee that was left from the night before. ‘When he opened his Outlook there was an email. “Dear Johnny.” it read. His heant stopped. “With the coonomy as its.” it began, “We ‘wish you the best of luck." ended, ‘Aram Mooradian edits Fulcrum. TUFTED PUFFIN Every term we change the bird on ‘our masthead (as well 25 several ‘other aesthetic operations} Ploase say hello to the remarkable Tufted Puffin. With a wingspan of up to 1a metre itis capable of achiev- ing fight speeds of more than 60kmfh. Moreover it habitually ives as deep as 28m to catch fish,