The architecture of dependence : a digital entertainment entrepreneurship laboratory in the network economy

Abstract

The dual phenomena of the information revolution and the rise of the network economy presents an interesting challenge to the architect. Architecture must shift away from the design of singular buildings, and more towards the design of instances (nodes) on a network - and indeed, the design of that network itself. This entails redefining the role of the architect, to introduce the profession into areas not traditionally though of as the architect's domain. It also demands an understanding of the unique social and economic characteristics of the informational society at the conceptual level, in order to define the correct priorities in physical design. The project is a business incubator located at the Burbank-Pasadena-Glendale Airport, in Burbank, California. The incubator is a collective work space that nurtures start-up companies involved in high tech entertainment research and development - for example, digital compositing, robotic prototypes, and advanced visual effects. In addition to providing funding and facilities, the incubator also gives member firms access to local and regional social/information networks. Local entertainment companies, such as Disney and Warner Bros., sponsor the incubator in exchange for the first right to use any technologies developed there, and to contract incubator firms to work for them. Five Organizing Principles: 1: Collective action. The inclusive aspect heightens creative cross-pollination, and transforms the nature of work from a top-down, rational, domination-based hierarchy to a collaborative, serendipitous, cooperative venture. 2: Synchronicity. The juxtaposition of unrelated uses, an architecture that reinforces chance interactions. 3: Juxtaposition of material + speed. Visual overlaps and juxtapositions highlight the multiple velocities and rhythms that permeate our lives, from the eternal to the instantaneous, reflecting the contradictions in speed in our own lives. 4: Architecture as a device. The autonomy of a building/organization is inextricably linked with its absolute dependence on connections to other buildings/organizations, for context, purpose, meaning and productive capacity. 5: Mapping of digital space onto physical space. Architecture has the opportunity to reevaluate the relationship between technology and (human) nature, to recombine and negotiate new concepts of rights, privileges, and access based on the interplay of digital fluidity and physical solidity.