Ins AD (rditechral Design) 67 a. 5-6 (MayJone Gi) eats) STAN ALLEN FROM OBJECT TO FIELD architecture's contextual assignment and at ine same time a propose to comply wih such cbligations.’ Fels ‘cancitions moves trom the one toward the many: om iniviouals to collacives, from objects to falas. The term ise plays on = Couble meaning. Architects work net only in the ofice or stucia (in te lancratery) out the Heid: on site, in contact with the fabric of architecture. ‘Fslc survey’, “ild oice, ‘verily in fei Yield concitions' here implies acceptance of the real in al its messiness and unorecictaoiliy. It pens architecture :o material improvisation co ste. Field conditions teats censiraiats as opporiunity and moves away from a Modernist ethic - and aesthetics ~ of transgression. Working with and net against the site, something new is arocuced by registering the cemlexty of the given ‘A cistinct but celateg set of meanings begins with an intuvion of a shilt tom cbject 0 fled in recent theoretical ard visual Practices (figs 1 are 2) In its most complex manitesiation, tis concept eters to mathematica eld theory, to non-inear dynam: ies and computer simulations ! avelutona’y change, It grails 2 shit in recent zecnaoiogis Irom analegue abject to oigital field (93). pays close atantion o arececents in visual art, fom the ‘0s:ract pairing of Pet Mondrian ia the 19206 to Minimalist and Post-Minimalist sculpture of tne 60s, Post-ver composers, as they moved away from the strictures of Serilism, employed Cconeeais such as the ‘ctouse’ of sound, et inthe cese of Yaris Xenakis, 'Satisical music where complex acotstical events Cannot be oroken cown into their constituent elements? The infrastructural elamante ofthe modern city, by their ratue inked together in apenvended natwores, eller anetner example of fois Cconcitions in he utoan context. Finally, a complete examination of the implicates of field conditions in arentecture would necessarily reflect ine complex and cynamic behaviours of arenitecturs's users ang speculate on new meinodologies to ‘model programme and space To generalise itm inese examples, we ‘ight suggest inat a field condition woule be any formal or spatial matrix capaole of Unifying diverse elements while respecting the identity of each, Field configurations are ‘oosely bounced aggregates charac: ised oy porosity and toca intercernectivty, The internal regula- tions of tne parts are decisive: overall shace and extent are Fighly fluid. Field conditions are bettem-up phenomena: defined not ty overarcning geometrical senemas Out fy ints local ‘connections, Form matter, but not 89 much tne larms ol things 2 the forms between things Field concitions carnot claim (nor does it itera to cai) to produce 8 sysiomatie -eory of architectural erm or eomposition T: term “field coneitions' is at onca a reassertion of 1 Monaran 2 evoucrary emerge ‘The theoretical madel proposad here anlicinates its own irl evarce in tre face of tha vealliae ol practice, These ara working concepts, derived from experimentation in cartact with the real Fiela conditions intentionally mixes high thacry with low rat 3, Tae assumption neve is that erchtectuel theory does not arise ina vacuum, but elveys in 2 complex dialogue witn practical work ‘Toe aticle is structured ike 2 ca'alegue, with ons thing at nother. Par 1 is broacly concernae wi issues f construction - the detinon of tha field, piece by aiece - while Part 2 will teat ‘questions of composition and the urban con:ex. PART 1 - FIELD CONDITIONS: ARCHITECTURE AND URBANIS® Geometric Versus Algebraic Combination ‘The civerse elements of classical acritecture ara orgenisec into coherent wholes by means of gearretic systems of aroportion Athaugh ralias can be expressed numerically, the reteionships intended are fundamentally geomet. Abe's well-known axiom that Beauty isthe consonance of te parts such tat nothing can be added or taxen away’ exoresses an ideal cl organic gecm ne unity, The convenvions of classicel architecture dictate not ‘nly the oroportions of incividual aerrents eu also the relation- ship bstwaen incvidual elements. Pais frm ersembles which in Turn form larger wholes. Precise rues of axially, symmetry or formal sequence govern the organisaion of ine whole, Classical architecture displays @ wice verigven on ines rules, but the Deineigle of hierarchical diertution ef past who. is Constant. Ingivgual slaments are maintained in nierarcnical orcer ty oxtonsive® geometric relaionships to preserve overall unity Tha mosque at Céreoba, Spain, under construction over @ span of nearly eight centutes, of ar instructive courts ‘xample.* The type-'orm of the masque had baen cieary as'ab lsneo: an enclosed loracourt flanked by tre minaret lower, pening on to a coverec space for worshio (perhaps deriv vom markat structures, of adapiag fom the Roman basiica). The enclosure ig loosely oriented toward the quibla, 2 contirucus ‘orayer wall marked by a smal niche (mitrat). In he first stage ot the Cordoba Mosque [0785 to 800) tna Iysological precedent was respected, resulting in a simple stucture ol ten paratel walle perpencicular to the quibla, supporied cn columns ana pierced by arcnes, detining a covered space o! aqual cimarsion totne open court. The direcicnalty oie arcnea wails operates in courterpoint “0 the tramed wsies across :he 3rain of zh 308¢6, The columns are focated @: “ne intersection of these :wa vectors, forming an undiferesiatge But nighiy shargec fele20a bra Complex araiax ellects ara generated as the viewer mov throughout the leis. The erica west walls en to he couryarc, so thet once within :ne precinct of she mosque, there is 70 single enirance. The axial, processienal space of ine Chistin cnuren gives way to @non-drectional space, a serial orcer ef "one thing ater arainer | ‘The mosque was subsequently erlarged in four stages (hig 4) Sigailicanty, with each accion, the fabric of the oFiginal re- mained substantially intact. Te typological structure was reiter ated on a larger scale, while te Iocal relationships remaines fixed. By comparison wth Wastern classical architeccure, ti possible to icantly contrasting orinciples of combiretion: one algebraic. working with numerical units combined oF another, and tne other geometric, working with figures (ines, planes, sels) organises in zoace to ferm larger wholes In Cordota, for examole, independant elements are combined ‘ddively to form an indeterminate wncle. The relations of part to part ara identical in tne first and last versions constructed. The local symax is fixed, but there is no overarching geometric sealfoiding. Parte are not fragments of wholes, but simply cars Unike the idea of closed unity erforced in Western classical architecture, the svucture can be acded to without substantial ‘morphological ranslormaticn. Field con!iguratons ate inherantiy expandable; te possibilty of incremental growth is anticipated in the mathematical relations of the parts It could 08 argued tat there are numerous exemaies of Western classical buildings "hat have grown incrementally anc have been translormes over time. St Peter's in Roma, for ‘example, has an equally long history of construction ang evile- ing, But thace ie a significant differance. at St Peter's, adcitons 21@ morphological tansiermations, elaborating anc extending basic geometric schema. This contrasts with the mosque at Cordoba where each slage replicates ang preserves the prov us stage cl construction ny ine accition of repeated garts. Anc at Cordoba, even in eter siages when ihe mosque was corse. crated a a Christian church, anc a Gothic cathedral inserted ito the continuous ane undilerentiated tabric of the moscve, the existing soatial order resists recertring. As Rafael Manzo nas ‘observed: co not delieve thet the Cérdata Mosque has bean destroyed by all these macilications. Ratmer, | thik thatthe lact that ime mosque continues ‘0 ce itselt in face of all tnase Interventions is @ toute tits integrity.” To extend brie the argument to a more recent examole. L2 Corousier's Venice Hesotal (ig 5) employs a plan sya of fepeated parts, establishing mute links at its perphery witn re city fabric. The oreject develoes horizontally. through a logic of accumulation. The basic bleck, ne ‘care unit ‘ormec of 28 4 carsobe Mosque bets, is repeated tnrougnout, Consulting rooms occupy open Cteulation spaces in the covered space between, The rotating placement of blocks estsbilsnes connections an pathways fom ‘ward to ward, while tne cisplacement of ine blocks opens up ‘voids within the noxizontal ld of te hospital. There is no single focus, no unilying geemeivic schema. As at Cordoba, the overall lormis an elaboration of consis esiabiished localy, Walking out of Cubism Barnett Neswran, i has bean sale, used a sequence of planes lineiplane to “walk out ol the imperatives of Cubist space and close the €00¢ Dehing him'# The story of postwar American Painting and sculpture is Ia laige 2am a story of this elfor 12 "move beyonc in lis of Cutis omposional syntax, Sculptors in paricular, working in the anadow of the achieverarts of Abstract Expressionist painting, fell that a comolex language of faceted planes anc figural fragments inneritea trom prewar European ariss was inadequate to thei ambitions. It was out at this sense of tne exhaustion of avaliable composiicnal norms ‘that Minimalism emerged inthe mic-G0s, Aebert Morris’ efusal of ‘composition in favour of process, er Donald Jude's erique of composcion by part, evidenced tne ellos fo produce a new ‘meds! for working, 2 model trat migrt have seme of the inavtabilty that charactericed the painting of the previous few cocaces ‘Minimalisi work of the 603 and 70s sought to emoty the work of ar ofits figurative o decorative characiar in order tc loraground its architectural condition. The construction of meaning was isplaced fram the cbject ital! othe spatial fete between the viewer ang the object: a fluid 2ore of 2erceptual interference, Populated by moving bodies. Such arists 2s Car! Ancre, Dar Flavin, Robart Mortis or Conald Judd scught 0 ge Eeyond formal or comacsiional verlaton, to engage the space ol tha gallery and the body a tre viewer. In wetter statements, beth Jucd and Morris express heir scepticism toward Eurcpean (that is, Cuvis} Compositional norms and place thee work instead inthe context of recent American examples: European art since Cubism nas been a history of permutating relatonsivas around the general premise that relationships should remain crtical. American art has developed by uncovering euccessive oremises for making itgel.? 20m single out Jackson Polk for his decisive contibu- tion, Jude notes that ‘West sculoture is made part by part, By action, composed ...” For dues, wast is requifec is consolida- ‘ion: "in the new werk zne shape. image, cclor and surtace are ingle and not partial and scattered, There aren't any neural or macerate arazs or pars, any conrections or wransitional areas."* ‘The aspirations of Minimalist work are therelore towarc unitary 25axial symmetey inked assemoies patchwork 2 forms, direct use of industrial materials and simple combinations: 2 ‘pre-executive’ clarity of intellectual and material terms. Minimalism’s decisive tectonic shift activated the viewing space ‘and reassarted the work af a's condition as ‘specific object Yet il Minimalism rearasents a significant advance over ore wer compositional principles, it remains indebted to certein ssarialising models in its reductive formal language and use o materials. ts objects are clearly delimited and solidly con- struc:ed. (Conald Jude's later architectural constructions con fiem this essential tectonic conservatism.) Minimalism develoos in sequences, but rarely in fields, iis for this reason that the work of arists usualy designated 'Post-Minimalis of particular inter 2st here,” In contrast to Andre or Jude, tne work of such artists = Bruce Nauman, Linda Benglis, Keith Sonnier, Alan Saret, Eva Heese or Barry Le Va is materially diverse and imoroper. Words, movement, technology, fluid anc perishasla materials, represen- tations of the body ~ all of these ‘extrinsic’ contents t Minimalism had repressed ~ return in moditied form. Pos: Minimalism is marked by hesitation and cntclogical doubt where the Minimaists are definitive: itis painterly and informat where the Minimalists are restrained: it remains committed to tangible things and visibility where the Minimalists are concerned with underlying structures and ideas, These works, from the wire ions of Alan Sarst, to the pourings of Linda Benglis, to sites’ of Rober: Smithson introduce chance anc contin gency into the work of art, They shift even more radically the perception of the work, trom discrete ctiect racess of its making, in the field The artist whe moves most dacisively in the direction of what ! ‘am calling field conditions is Barry Le Va (ig 6). Parly trained as an architect; Le Va is acutaly aware of the spatial field implicated by she sculptural werk. Beginning in the mic-60s, he began making pieces, some plannec in advance, others incorporating random process, that thoroughly dissolve tre idea of ‘sculoture record of the as a delimitad ent'y, an object distinct trom the field it sccupies. He called these works distriqutions: “.. whether "random" or “orcerly’ a “cistribution” is defined as “relationshics of points and contigurations to each other” or concomitant of evenis”."= As with the other examples d ‘alationships are more important than ov tion of form tnrough ‘sequences of ever:s'is somewhat related to tre gererstve rules for flock tehavicur or algetraic combina tion. La Va signals a key compositional arnciple emerging out o Post-Minimalism, one that is linked to previous exampies: the cisplacamant af control to a series ci intricate local rules for Combination, or as ‘sequences cf events’ and not as an overall ‘ormal configuration. And in the case of Post-Mirimalism, this |S8 vettersonian gris often related to material choices. Wren working with materials such as wire mesh (Alan Saret), ecured latex (Linda Senglis) or blown flour (Le Va), the artist simply cannot exercise @ precise formal control over the material. Instead, the artist establishes ‘he conditions within which the material will be deolayed, anc then proceeds to direct its flows. In the case of Le Va's felt Pieces, itis a matter of relating fold to fold, line to fine, In later ‘works from the 60s, the materiais themselves become so ephem- eral as to function as a delicate registration of process anc change. Field Constructions ‘The common element in these twe examples - one from within the culture of architecture, and one from outside - is a shilt in emphasis: irom abstract formal description towards a close attention to the operations of making. Questions of meaning are secondary. In the case of the Cérdcba Mosque, the architects gave only rucimentary consideration to the exterior form (dic- ta¢ by and large by che consirairis of site), ut paid close attention to the measure and interval of the individual elements, Similarly, a contemaorary architec: such as Flenzo Pieno works from tne individual joint outwards (tig 7). For Piano, the joint isnot an occasion to articulate the intersection of two materials (as i the case, for example, wih Cario Scarpa), but is instead a locus ‘of an intensive design erergy nal proceeds outwards te condi- tion the form of the whole. What is proposed hers is not simoly a return to the mystfica- tion of construction and the phenomenclogy of materials. Rather. it is an attempt to go deyond the conventional epsosition of construction and form-making. By ‘ooking for a precise and eatable link between the operations of constructicn and the overall form produced by the aggregation of those ears, it becomes possible to begin to bridge the gap between auiding ‘and form-making. In Studies in Tectonic Culture, Kenneth Frampton has pointes te the split between ‘the reoresentational scene and the onto- logical construct’, expressing a clear preterence for the latter."* What is pronesed here follows Framoton in its refusal of repre- sentation. The field is a material cordition, not 2 ciscursive Practice. But | also want to suggest nat a raturn ta :he cntalogy of construction ~ solidly grounced in conventional :ectonies = is rot the only aiternative to @ scencgraphic or semiotic architec: ture, By remaining attentive to the celailed condiiens tat Cetermine the connection of ene par: :¢ another, ay understanc- ing censtructicn as a ‘sequence of events’. it becomes possible to imagine an architecture that can respond ‘luicly and sensi- ivaly to iccal cifference nile maintaining overall stznlty, PART 2 - DISTRIBUTIONS AND COMBINATIONS: TOWARDS A LOGISTICS OF CONTEXT Distributions Field concitions' is opposed “0 conventional Medernist modes of compasition as much asi is to classical rules of composition. My thesis hare is thal in Modernist composition ty fragmerts — montage strategies that work to make connections between separate elements brought together atthe site of composito: the classical assumptios that composition is concerned with the arrengement of, anc connections among, those parts persisis, ‘As Robert Morris has putt, ‘European art since Cubism has been ‘history of perrutating relationsmips arounc the general premise that relationshios should remain critical" While painting and sculpture have gone beyond Cubism, architecture, | would gue. is by and large still operating with compositional princi ples borrowed from Cubism. The organisational srinciples pro- posed here suggest the new definitions of ‘parts’ and alternative ways of conceiving the question of relationshios among those parts, What is required is a rethinking of some of the most familiar elements of architectural composition. Fiele concitions is aot @ Claim for noveity, but rather an argument for the recuperation ct existing terrtory, ‘The American City: Open Field The rectilinear grid ig one of architecture's oldest and most persistent organising devices. From the cutsel, he grid sucpor's a double valence: at once a simple and pragmatic means to partion tertory or standardise elements and at the same time an ‘emblem of universal geometrias, with pelantial metaphysical cr ‘cosmological overtones. Hence the Jelersonian crid, projected unconditionally over the open teritories of ihe western United ‘Sates (ig 8) is at once a symeol of democratic aquality and an ‘expedient means to manage vast quantiles of teritery: an attemgt to imeose measure on tne immeasuraoie, But as Colin Rows has ‘remarked in a different contex, in America, the pragmatic tends 10 win out ever the universal, Paraohrasing Rowe, we note that inthis context, the grid is ‘convincing 2s act rather than 2s icea’.* The earliest examples of gricded planning in tha New World ‘were Jesuit colonies, defensive enciaves organised nierarchically afoune the cathedral square in imitatios of Spanish modols. In sharp contrast to these sel-enclosed units, and equally cisient from the figural concepts cl aighteenth-century town planning in Europe, the American cities of the Micwast ang the West are local intweatiors ane perturcations 10 the extenced Jeffersonian grid (tig 9). The town is an elaboration of the order applied to tne farmiane surounding it. The gid is given as 2 convenientNESS} 10 mors patterns starting point, not as an overarching ideal. Over time, the accumulation of small variations establishes a countar principle to the universal geometry of ine grid. In these American citles, pragmatics unpacks the ideality of the gr, in the same way as the unthinkable extent of the grid itself nullfes its status as an ideal ebject. These cities are prototypical field conditions. Local variations of topography of history are smoothly accommodated within the arall order; borders 2re loosely defined and porous. They are connacted with one another ia ‘arger networks. Organisation ang strocture display almost infinite variety within patterns that 2r2 Publicly legible and institutionally manageable. Variation anc Tepettion ~ individual and collective - are held in delicate balance Thick Surfaces: Moirés, Mats All grids are fields, but not all fields are grids. One of the Potentials of the field is to redefine the relation between figure and field. Legal and social theorist Roberto Mangateira Unger has identified the traditional attioutes af religious expression in the architecture of iconoclastic sociaties (that is to say, where explicit figuration is arohibited): ‘The basic architectural devices of this expression were and are: blankness, vastness and Pointing ~ pointing to a world cutsice this world ..."" The Conjuncrion, within this shert catalagua, of concepts which might fecall Modernist values of abstraction (‘biankness’) and even suggest @ universal, undifierenviaiad grid (‘vastness’) with the mote figural concept of ‘pointing’ implies something more com plex than a simple cppesition between the figurative end the abstract, between field and figure. However, if we think of ha figura not as a demarcated object but as an effect emerging trom the field itself - as moments of intensity, 28 peaks or valleys within a continuous field = then it might be possible to imagine these two conceots 2s allied. While recognising a certain dependence on radical Modernist ‘compositional models (Mondrian, for examele), it seems imoor- tant to differentiate this proposition irom conventional Mocernist compositional strategies, What is intenced here is close attention to the production of difference at the Iccal scale, even while maintaining a relative indifference to the form of the whole Auihentic and productive social differences, it is suggested thrive at the local level, and not in the form of large-scale semiotic messages. Hence the study of these fialo combinations ould be a study of models that wark in the zone between figure arc abstraction, models that refigure the conventions! opoosi- tuen between figure anc abstraction, or systems of crganisation capable of procucing vortexes, eaks and protuserances out of ingividual elements that are themselves regular or repetitive ‘A moiré is 2 figural effect produces by the superposition of two regular fields (fig 10). Unexoected affects, exhiiting complex and apparently irregular pehavicu’s resut ftom the combination of elements that are in and of themsevas rapetiive anc regular. But mote effects are net random. They shit abruptly in scale, and repeat according fo complex mathematical rules. Moiré effects are clten used to measure hidcen stresses in continuous fields. of to map complex figural forms. In either case there is an uncanny coexistence of a regular field and emergent figure. In the architectural or urban ccntext, the example of moirs sffects begs ihe question of the surface. The field is « horizontal Phenomenon - even a graphic one - and all of the examples escrived so far function in the plan dimension. Instead of relusing this characteristic, | would suggest examining it more closely. although certain post-modern cities (Tokyo for example) might be characterised as fully three-dimensional fields, tne prototypical cities of the late twentieth century are characterised by horizon:al extension, What these field combinations seems 10 promise in this context is thickening anc intensification of ‘experience at specified moments within the extended fiele of the ciy. The monuments of the past, including the skyscraper ~ a ‘Modernist monument to ellicient procuction ~ stood out from the fabric of the city as a orivileged vertical moment. The new institutions of the city will perhaps cccur at momants of intensity inked fo the wider network of the urban fald, and marked not by demareating lines out by thickened surfaces. Digital Fields Analogue technologies of ceproduction work through imprints, tuaces or translers, The image may shit in scale or value (as Ina negative), Out its iconic form is maintainad throughout, internal hierarchies are preserved. A significant shift occurs when an image is converted to digital information. A notational schema intervene’. Digital electronic technology atomizes and abstractly schematizes ne analogic quality ct tha photographic anc cin: amatic into discrete pixels and its of information that are wansmitted serially, each bit discontinuous, discontiguous. anc absolute - each bit “being in ise” even as it is part of @ A field of immaterial ciohers is substituted for the value! ‘al races of the object. Hierarcries are dis:ributed: 12C out. These ciphers differ ene ‘rom the other only 28 place-helders in a code. At the becinning of this century, Viktor Shklosky anticipated the racical leveling effect of the actational sign: ‘Playful or tragic, universal or particular works cf art, she ‘oppositions of one world to ancther or af a cat fo a stone ero ‘equal among themselves."11 order anal chacs: flocks This evening out of value has implications for the traditional Concept of figure/ield. In the digital image ‘backgreund' informa. tion must be as densely coded as the foreground image. Blank space is not empty space: there is emply space throughout the field. If classical composition sought to maintain clear relations of figure on ground, which mogern composition perturbed oy the intodvetion of a complicated play of figure against figure, with digital technologies we now nave to come to terms with the implications of a field-to-ield relation, A shift of scale is involves and a necessary revision of comoesitional parameters implied It might be noted that che universe! Turing machine - the conceptual basis of the modern digital computer ~ performs complicated relational functions by means of serially repeaiec operations of addition. Paradoxically, it is only when the indi vieual operations are simpliied as far as possible that he incredibie speed of the modern computer is achieved Flocks, Schools, Swarms, Crowds In the late 1980s, artificial ite theorist Craig Reynolds created computer program to simulate the flocking behaviour of bieds. AS described by M Mitcre! Waldrop in Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos, Reynolds placed a large number of autonomous, birdilke agents, which he called ‘boids’, into an on-screen envionment. The Doids ware aro: grammed to follow three simole rules of behaviour: first, to maintain a minimum distance from other objects in the environ ment (other boids, as well as obstacles); second, to match velocities with other boids in the neighbourhood; thd, to mov toward the perceived centre of mass of boids in its neighbour- hood. As Waldrop notes: ‘What is striking about these rules 3 that none cf them said “Form a flock" ... the cules were entirely 'ecal, rsterring only to what an individual boid coula go and see ints own vicinity. i a flock was going to form at all it would nave ta do from the bottom up, as an emergent phenomencn. And yet flocks did form, every time. The flock is clearly a field phenomenon, defined by precise and simple local conditions, and relatively indifferent to overall form and extent (lig 11). Bacause :ne rules are cefined locally, obstructions are not catastrophic to the whole. Var‘ations ard ‘obstacles in the environment are accommadated by fuia adjust ment. & small flock and a large ‘lack display fundamentally the same structure. Over many iterations, patterns emerge. Without repeating exactly, lock sehaviour tends coward rougrly similar Configurations, not 28a fixed tyre, but 8s the cumulative rasuit of localisec behavicur pattems. C:owds present a differen: dynamic, motivated oy more complex desires, interacting in ess predictable patierns (tig 12) "Border and enacs: crowds Elias Canetti in Crowes and Power has proposed a broader taxonomy: open ard closed crowds; shylnmic and stagnating crowcs: the slow crowd and the quick crowd. He examines the Veriaties of the crowd, from the religous throng formed by pilgrims to the mass of participants in speciacle, even extending his thoughis to the flowing of rivers, the piling up of crops and the density of the forest. According to Canetti, ihe crowd has tour forimary attributes: the crowd always wens 10 grow: within a crowd here is equality; the crowd loves density; the crowd needs & direction ** The relation to Reyrolos' rules outined atoveis oblique, Du visible, Canetti, however, is not interested in prediction or vettcation, His sources are Ierary historical and personal. More- lover, he is alays aware thatthe croxd can be liberating as well 25 confining, angry and destructive as well as joyous. ‘Composer Yannis XenaA's conceived his early work Metasta- sig as the acoustical equivalent to the phenomenon of the crowd Specifically, ne was locking ‘or a compesitional :echnique ad fu\ personal memories: Athens ~ an anti-Nazi demonst-ation - hundreds of thou- sands of people chanting a slogan which reprocuces itselt like a gigantic rhythm. Then combat with the enemy. The ‘nythm burs:s into an enormous chaos of sharp sounds; the whistling of bullets; the crackling of machine-guns. The sounds begin to disperse. Slowly silence falls back on tre town, taken uniquely trom an aural poiat of view and Ccetached from any other aspect these sounds events mace cut of a large number ot individual souncs are nat sepe: rately perceivable, but reunite them again and a new sound is formed which may be perceived in ils entirety. itis the same case with the song of the cicadas or the sound of the hail or rain, the crashing of waves on the cliff, the hiss of waves on the shingia."? In attemeting to reproduce these ‘global acoustical events Xenakis drew upon his own considerable graphic imagination, nd his Iraining in descriptive geometry to invert conventional procecures of composition, That is to say, he began with a graphic notation describing the desired effect of ‘fields’ or ‘clouds’ of sound, and only later reduced these graphics to conventional musical notation, Working as he was with materia! ‘that was beyond the order of magnitude of the available compo sitional techniques, he Rad to invent new proceaures in ord to Cchoreograph the ‘characteristic cistribution of vast numbers of Crowds and swarms operate atthe ecge of control, Asiae from the suggestive formal possiblities. | wish to suggest with these twe examples that archiecture could profitably snit is attention ‘rom its traditional top-down forms of centro! and begin 10| y inated 3 hi investigate the poss'bilties of 2 move fuid, bottom-up approach Field concitions offers a tentative opening in architecture to address the dynamics of use, behaviour of crowds and the tries of masses in mation compiex g A Logistics of Context One of modern architect evident ialings hes been its inability to address adequately ine complexities of urban con- text, Recent detatas have alternated between an elfort to cover over tne difference between ald and naw (the contextuaiism of Leon krier or the so-called "New Urbaniste), and 2 forcetul rejec- tion of context (deconstruction, and related stylistic manifesta- tions). The potential of a well-developed theory of field conditions is 19 find a way out ofthis polarised debate, acknowledging the distinct cacaailties of new construction, and at the same time recognising a valic desire for diversity and coherence in the city ow to engage all the complexity and indeterminacy ot the ccty through the methodologies of a discipline so commities to control, seearation ane unitary thinking? This is the dilemrra of the architect working in the city today, Architecture and planning historically aligned with technical rationality and committed 10 the production of legisle functional relationships, have had tremendous difficulty thicking ‘heie roles apart from the exercise fof control. This is all the more true today when the asl power of architecture has been eroded everywhere by a swollen bureau: atic apparatus. Architecture end planning, in a desperate attemot to survive, have simply opeesed tneir idea ct order to chaos: planning versus uncontrolled growth. But this is a kind of zero-sum thinking, in which architecture can only be diminished in tre measure to which itlinquishes control aver the uncontrol labie. We thrive in cities precisely because they are places of the unexpected, products of a complex arcer emerging over time. Logistics of context suggests the need to recognise the limits of architeerure’s anil to order the city, and at tne same time, tc learn from the complex seil-regulating orders already oresent io the city. Attention is shifted ro systems of service and supply. # logic of tlow and vectors. This implies close attention to existing concitions, carefully defines -ules for intensive linkages at ‘he local zeale, and a relatively meilferent atitude toward the overall coniiguration. Logistics of context is a loosely de‘ined working framework, It suggests @ network of relations capaole of aécom modating cifference, yet rotusi encugn 10 incorecrate chan: without des:roying sts internal coherence, Permeacie bounds: figs, lexible internal relationshies, multiole pathways ang ‘Iuio nierarchies are the formal aroperties of such systems. Above all itis necessary to recogrise the complex ierpiay of inzeterminacy ana oraer at wore in the city "This place. on ts13 urban growin surface, seems to be a collage. In ality, its depth is ubiquitous. A piling up of neterogeneous places,’ writes Michel de Carteau These ‘neterologies’ are not arbitrary anc uncontrolled, but rather ‘managed by subtle and compensatory equilibria that silently guarantee complementarties’* Even a very simole model ‘of urban growth, ignoring large-scale accidents of history or geography, but incorporating fine-grained difference in the form ‘of multiple variables and nen-iinear ‘eedback, demonstrates how the interplay between laws and chence produces complex, but roughly predictable configurations of ¢ non-hierarchical nature ucts ovtined ner, nthe content laude aug at Coke Univers 0 forng 1995. As re areiescolaces hee cemons, | mot on i my sna Santoxs Kwi:er should be mentioned, Herais Kwiner. for exami ating in 1996, Ths neon he ac" exorenses ne complesimmanence o! ees a3 ‘veneenioavppiring the old conces of space ianuihac win te Cartas Subsatum ara ener reay «The find aeeerbes 2 sp808 6! propagation! acts. conaing no maar or matera pont, rather Reins, vectors = ({acitanueva Moceraty ane Caran Zane 72 (1686), ps. enals,anonassiraacy sn nimate cmecson a/entectre uses language ard concepts very slots io thew vuaed mere, ae desenbee Fy Nous Matossiann ne oprah of Nanas cance om aryece saved ae ¢ Uuseul cogative sonere ‘or cnaractaning tha expatence me notion ofthe "oid avegenl soacesunectto saci, magnet or grnwiatoraliorce, Just se remagnetl forces arene eaten na ii ton ings, 20g sauna IgM be created oy varying ie qualities and cactons of he ‘eras, ie (Conder). 269 ‘One ofthe essenialcnaracceisies af th raim of muti sina a8eh cement cesses vanes ara arr atarcsnriton iho ars Thess bSelpwacartan mesrais ney carnotinersee or rnin wnincurensnging he ‘pha Gias Calauze and “ex Guten 2 Thoueara Pltea.e lowing sacveron s acaoa tom Alaa) Morac “Us 38 de eaiieios. Argutecsure 255 (Sep-Oct 1988), 2627-28. §5 Ths wal known onrase i ther fer Canela Juga's Sacuasion ofthe pamengs frank stata. Tha Gar soicaionalc and vrdarvieg But = smart, ‘ke matoiconinuty. ane hing shor ancter (Specie Objet’ te Year=see 1368. repue ened nDenale Juss, Compare Ang 959-975, Nowa (Coleg o rs and Sesign (Haslon NS) 21 6 Tha tem algeara’ dares om ne Aran state (‘ha ounon ot rckan 23} (g2neraizea arehmatc“Gaometry on ha ar nand is 2 wore I Greek aren {na 2 etinac ane cranen of "her stes tnt dea win poets ne =n (lig 13) Field conditions and logistics of context reassert the potential of the whale, net bounded anc complete (hierarcrically ordered anc closed), but capable of permutation: open to time and only orovisionally stable, They ecognise that the whole of the city is not given all at once. Consisting of multiplicities and collectvities, its parts and piaces ars remnants of los: orders or fragments of never-realised totalities. Architecture needs to learn to manage this complexity, which, paradoxicelly, it can only de by giving up some measure of control. Logistics of context proposes a provisional and experimental approach to tnis task. ‘pace. Wors arignt ane canine taken rm Waostes New Wote Dion, ‘oid Publening lvelara OF). 188, 7 Mane, Laviga dees asec 905 1 Giea by Rossing Krave in Remar Sets: Soupture Radrawn,Atara, iay "972, 9 Raver Wor, Ant Frm Artor, 10 Juco, Comatee stings. 2188 11 inf much ote wort dmeiones atnaaty ie same ive Pasa: navemabae a cern cages of dependence and oppediion rher than erveraogis! rgha or esas, A cara hac in teen eolagoriss is 8 Tequied Rober, Nem, for sxamaia. e often grouped win tm Post-Minmass.Sa6 Robert reus-aten, Intedon '0 Dee-Minmaian (1977) Posmineab fo UManmatsm: Amarcan Ar 166-1896, Unwerty ot Menigen Reeearen Pros (om arbor 1987 12 lane Livegeon, Bary Le V8. Daiioutenal Seuolue, Antoun, November 368 1a nT Prats (Caronsge MA), 996, 12 Mori Ani Porm 95 18 Calm Rewa.‘Cneaga Mame, n Me Manemance of Exsaye MIT Prase (amor, WA), 1978989 1a ones Mangabers Unger, The Ber Futures of enacts Anyone, 198, Unger slornoition see TowarceaNew Acniecure AD Probie 102: Fong in 17 ian Sopensk The Scane of te Soreen Towarce a Phenemaraiogy Cinemati ara Eacrone Prosancs"Poer-Sent¥0("200) 956 1 Cited by Markco Taf The Dialactes a1 ne Avant-Garde: eratin, Qopostans 1: (te 1977) BPS 18 Mittene aires. Compton: Te Ermerping Science athe Eage of Ore and Cnaos, Semon an Semuser Nem Yor, 1238, 9200-11 20 Lnda Roy nas stuceg swaim senavicur ang te a/sacacrt mpucatens (gester dap See ner upcoming aricie n ANY 21 Eas Cane iowas ain Power, Fr. Sa. a7 Gro.4 (New Yor, "64,220 2o1ee, 9958558 24 Monat ee Cares, neater Catton rors Sorte. 2). 25 This ciseuagr cl ne Crea Stoeger, roar cut of Cnaoe (Gow Yer "988 9 iat vie ana Omer