Simulation: Presentation Technique and Cognitive Method (Context Architecture) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 376438686X ISBN 13: 9783764386863

Publisher: Birkhäuser Architecture, 2008

Synopsis

Digitalization has transformed the discourse of architecture: that discourse is now defined by a wealth of new terms and concepts that previously either had no meaning, or had different meanings, in the context of architectural theory and design. Its concepts and strategies are increasingly shaped by influences emerging at the intersection with scientific and cultural notions from modern information technology. The new series Context Architecture seeks to take a critical selection of concepts that play a vital role in the current discourse and put them up for discussion.

In the context of discussions of the medial, the notion of simulation plays a central role in architecture as illusion and imitation. In dialogue with information technology and computer science, however, that notion has now taken on a new quality in architectural discourse. Today when we speak of simulation we primarily think of "computer simulation," the technical ability to simulate processes.

Whereas simulation used to refer to a mode of presentation, it now connects architecture with the sciences and represents a strategic and methodological instrument, a tool of discovery. With the scientific principle of simulation the focus shifts to the idea of "modeling a dynamic system" (Norbert Wiener), not just presenting finished products but going in search of solutions and developing systems!

About this title

About the Author

In cooperation with the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Zurich University of the Arts) and the Chair of Computer-Aided Architectural Design at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich).

From the Back Cover

Now established as a ubiquitous cultural technology, simulation is gradually transforming our interactions with the world. This is true not only for the arts, but also, and even more so, for architecture. Especially in the context of discussions of mediatization, the concept of simulation plays a fundamental role: as illusion and imitation, as dissimulation and reproduction. In dialogue with information technology and computer science, the concept of simulation has also acquired a new facet within architectural discourse. Against this backdrop, authors from a variety of disciplines explore the fundamental concept, which has long since transcended the level of traditional architectural discourse, and is increasingly the subject of reflections in the context of theories and philosophies of technology.What are the potentialities and limitations of contemporary interpretations of the concept of simulation?

 

With essays by Andrea Gleiniger, Gabriele Gramelsberger, Thomas Hänsli, Erich Hörl, Nils Röller, and Georg Vrachliotis

Edition details

• Publisher: Birkhäuser Architecture
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 376438686X
• ISBN 13: 9783764386863
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 118
• Editor: Gleiniger Andrea, Vrachliotis Georg