I keep thinking about these random but organized systems that appear out of patterns as discussed in Johnson’s Emergence. It is so interesting to me how scientists were able to make connections between a pattern established by an animal and a pattern that could construct an artificial brain. The structure of the city mimics the structure of the brain, from macro, to micro, these patterns repeat themselves. Thinking from the bottom up instead of the top down is a very interesting idea. It seems so similar to the way in which many artists work. And yet I cannot think of an artist off the top of my head who deals with this process specifically.

This week in another class we have been reading about Debord and the Situationists. There has been a great deal of discussion in this class about urban planning and the way in which most Eutopean architectural solutions with socialist agendas have become abandoned spaces. This must be due to a lack of understanding of smaller patterns of individual behavior that might need to function on a small level within a larger space.

It is interesting to think about the challenge of urban planning as finding a space that exists in between an entirely utilitarian and an entirely liberalist space. If one thinks of this bottom up system of planning, does urban planning become obsolete? Must the way to fix the social, capitalistic structure that exists not come through a changing of the outer structure (the layout of the city) but through some change in social behavior on a smaller scale?

My feeling is that the architecture of a building definitely determines patterns within itself. The new Tyler building is an example of this, because the building has separated each department into a different pod in the building, with a closed off door. The result of this is that I (a sculpture major) have never once been to the Photography department and had to search and search to find the metals department. The building cannot completely dismantle cross-disciplinary work, as there are a few classes that bring students from different departments together. However, in its physicality, through issues of inconvenience, it does discourage interactivity. The building becomes an obstacle to overcome if one wishes to reach out to another department. The sometimes helpful but also questionable aspect of this, is that the building keeps the administrators in the front of the building and out of the way of the art installations.