Podcast S1E2: Biology, Computation, and Care in the Anthropocene

Can the buildings that we live in come alive? Could such living buildings help us to create a healthier, more sustainable future? Could they become adaptive, resilient structures that care for the planet while empathizing, comforting and inspiring us? The Living Dialogs series brings together scholars and thinkers to collectively reflect on living architecture and its implications for our changing world.

In each episode, guests and listeners are invited to reflect on prompts designed to encourage thoughtful, in-depth discussion. You are invited to contribute your own thoughts and questions, which may be taken up at the Living Dialogs Webinar with the same guests a couple of weeks following each episode’s release (webinar info in sidebar).

This extended format is born of our belief that knowledge creation is also a collaborative and living endeavour – that meaning is not simply created through the exchange of information but that ideas are formed through open and emergent conversations. For more on the format, feel free to listen to the podcast listening guide.

156.03 MB

Podcast S1E2: Biology, Computation, and Care in the Anthropocene

With Rachel Armstrong, Dehlia Hannah, and Mette Ramsgaard Thomson

28:23 — https://livingarchitecturesystems.com/podcast/s1e2/

August 30, 2021

Three prominent thinkers respond to the prompt, “Living architecture should prioritize biological resources over computational resources.” Listen in as they discuss the false dichotomy of computation vs biology, living technology and sustainability, and wonder about an ethics of Living Architecture.

Guests

- Rachel Armstrong, Ph.D.,
- Professor of Experimental Architecture,
- School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape, Newcastle University, UK
- https://livingarchitecturesystems.com/people/rachel-armstrong/
- Dehlia Hannah, Ph.D.,
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow,
- Royal Danish Academy of Art
- http://www.dehliahannah.com
- Mette Ramsgaard Thomson,. Ph.D,
- Founder,
- CITA – Centre for IT and Architecture
- https://royaldanishacademy.com/CITA

Supported by the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, Michigan State University Center for Interdisciplinarity and the University of Waterloo.

Your Thoughts

In each Living Dialogs episode, guests and listeners are offered a number of prompts for reflection. In this episode, the prompts considered by the guests are listed below. We encourage you to spend some time considering them, and leave us your thoughts or questions on the prompts or on living architecture more generally. Then, join us a couple of weeks following the episode release for the Living Dialogs Webinar (information in sidebar) with the same guests, during which some of your thoughts and questions may be taken up for further discussion. The webinar will also include a live Q&A portion.

In this episode, the prompts considered by the guests are listed below:

Living architecture should prioritize biological resources over computational resources.

Note: comments are moderated, so there may be some delay on submission.

In the weeks following each podcast, join moderator Sarah Bonnemaison and the podcast guests for a live webinar where they deepen and expand conversation, respond to some of your thoughts, and host a live Q&A.

The webinar for Episodes 2 & 3, Biology, Computation, and Care in the Anthropocene, took place on Friday November 12th. You can watch it here.

Show Notes

In the podcast you will have heard the following references; follow the links to find out more.

Part 1

4:05 – “…biology itself was considered a computational system…” Center for Fundamental Living Technology

10:25 – Philip Beesley

15:03 – Turing, A. M. 1952. “The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis,” Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, B237, 37–94.

20:03 – Roco & Bainbridge, NBIC Convergence [brief, full report]

Living Dialogs Team

Rob Gorbet
Executive Producer

Edgar Cardenas
Executive Producer & Podcast Host

Sarah Bonnemaison
Webinar Moderator