MEGAjason

the internet archipelago

2006-12-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

the internet is one of the most powerful global and globalizing forces whose existence has revolutionized the way in which many people live and many corporations do business. in fact, its existence has fostered the creation of vast stores of data, not unlike this blog, and has made possible the experiment that is arch451 beyond mega. despite all its acclaim, the internet is still largely confined to developed countries and will forever be bound by infrastructure and language. (see also a brief history of the internet). this project seeks to explore and document these boundaries and proposes the creation of internet archipelagos to surmount these boundaries and globalize the internet.

below, the project is presented in two parts. the first part focuses on the creation of a global map of the internet and the second elaborates on the proposed internet archipelago.

1.0 global mapimation

in his essay entitled the agency of mapping, james corner outlines several techniques for mapping that goes beyond a literal tracing of a condition to discover its latent potential. although this essay served as a point of departure for this project, its techniques had to be reconsidered and adapted to a new medium: an animated three-dimensional map, or mapimation.

a mapimation of the internet was created, filtered through the lens of language (and, to a lesser extent, internet infrastructure). it was spurred by a disappointing statistic on web content that revealed the dominance of ten languages on the internet. english accounted for nearly 2/3 of internet content; english together with nine other languages (in order: japanese, german, chinese, french, spanish, russian, italian, portuguese, korean) account for over 95% of internet content. accordingly, countless languages are underrepresented and countless people are restricted or completely prohibited from access to information on the internet.

this mapping is limited to countries are home to a significant population speaking an internet language (a significant population is defined as at least 100,000 first tongue speakers). the political map of the world is rearranged based on internet language populations to create the language archipelago.

img_1.1 the language archipelago / ascendancy

the united states is placed at the center of the language archipelago for several reasons. it is the only country that has a significant population speaking all ten internet languages. it has the most extensive internet infrastructure. and it was the birthplace of the internet. from there, all the other internet countries are arranged in rays corresponding to the countries’ dominant internet language based on their ascendancy. the national flag at the end of each ray is used as a visual legend to key the ray’s language. this map illustrates the dominant role of the world’s superpowers on in internet and reveal the circumstance of countries at the periphery.

img_1.2 the language archipelago / continuum

in this map, all the countries are woven together by a language continuum. this map illustrates the complex web of language that exists in the world and the potential of the internet to provide a common ground for these languages.

img_1.3 the language archipelago / perspective

each country is also placed in 3d space based upon its internet infrastructure. the internet is of course a physical network bound by infrastructure. the height of a country in the language archipelago is inversely related to the number of ip address per capita allocated to that country. (the number of ip address controls the number of devices that can simultaneously access the internet). the united states is allocated roughly 2 ip addresses per person and is placed to the bottom of the language archipelago. niger, which is allocated a total of 256 ip addresses, is placed at the top of the language archipelago.

anim_1.4 the language archipelago / mapimation

here, the known political world is morphed into the language archipelago. the lines of continuum are then constructed.

img_1.5 gdp of the language archipelago

here, the concentration of gross domestic product is clearly at the center of the archipelago. because the internet is so closely tied to its infrastructure, it stands to reason that wealthier countries have more internet .

img_1.6 aids in the language archipelago

notice that there is a tendency for aids to me more prevalent at the periphery of the archipelago. aids and other socioeconomic struggles seem to be inversely related to gdp and inversely related to the internet. it seems possible that the spread of the internet to and within these nations could provide the information and knowledge to begin to alleviate these problems and bring about change.

2.0 global network archipelago

in the second phase of the project, an architectural response was made to the language archipelago. this mapping revealed certain inequities that existed on the internet and within its infrastructure. there is the potential for the internet to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information at a truly global scale, and this project seeks to promote this through the creation of internet archipelagos.

img_2.1 the logic of the internet archipelago

each of these archipelagos is made up of a series of installations, connected to one another by antenna arrays carried by hot-air balloons. as such, the archipelagos are able to cover vast territories without depending on the existing infrastructure.

the installation is comprised of three volumes, each of which responds to a particular condition unique to the location of the installation and houses functions specific to this condition:

* the internet
* language
* local need (such as aids relief, disaster relief, etc.)

each of these volumes also serves to map the condition to which it responds. it orients itself towards the condition and derives its size from the weight of the condition. as the condition changes, so too does the installation. to determine the form of the installation, an algorithm calculates the relationship between the installation and each condition at various moments in time, and generates form accordingly. to accomplish this, the conditions are mapped and their tendencies for change animated. (see the final algorithm)

img_2.2 a single animation

anim_2.3 a single animation, morphing

anim_2.4 an internet archipelago

anim_2.5 a single installation, dynamically changing in a static world

anim_2.6 a single installation, morphing

this project walks the line between the real and the virtual. its function is closely tied to the real world and the current state of the internet and ambitiously seeks to change it. its form, however, is much more grounded in the virtual world. it seeks to explore the possibility of architecture to continuously respond to dynamic conditions and in fact affect these conditions through its change. an example of this potential: the local needs volume moves and grows as the aids epidmic spreads toward it. this physical growth informs its users, who can respond to this spread and stem its progress. these actions are then reflected in the form of the installation.

gna 3.0

2006-12-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

based on monday's desk crit with ron and vinnie, i began to explore making my form dynamic. it had proved to be a real headache. the script functionality that i really need is not yet available, so i have to manually run the algorithm on each frame, manually generate each frame, and the put all the frames together using quicktime. this first video is short, but illustrates the direction i am heading. the idea is to use a gently tapered form that 'points' towards the condition it responds to and morphes shapes as this condition changes. click below for the quicktime video:

below is a plan view of all the frames:

gna 2.1

2006-12-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

in my previous post, i focused primarily on the new internet archipelago as a system. to reiterate a very important point, the scale of each installation as shown in the previous posts is extremely exaggerated so that their relationship to one another can be understood at a large scale.

individual installation

below is an explanation of a single installation, including its form and its use.

img 1.1 - single installation

img 2.1 - the installation from above. the installation is made up of three volumes, each of which responds to a particular condition unique to the location of the installation:

the internet
language
local need (such as aids relief, disaster relief, etc.)

each volume is oriented toward the nearest epicenter of each condition as mapped in formZ and interpreted by the algorithm.

now we will look at each of the volumes individually:

img 2-2 - the internet volume. the internet volume is made up of three sub-volumes. each of these sub-volumes responds to a specific router within the internet infrastructure. the lowermost sub-volume orients itself to the nearest local router; the middle sub-volume orients itself to the nearest mid-level router; the uppermost volume orients itself to the nearest mega-router. (the classification of each router is based on data relating to its prominence in the internet infrastructure.) the vertical dimension of each of these sub-volumes is determined by the distance data travels to move from the installation to the super-router.

this volume is used to house the equipment necessary to provide internet access to the installation. the logic internet service in the internet archipelago is explained below.

img 2.3 - the language volume. the primary language volume orients itself toward the nearest language epicenter. it is then bombarded by parasitic forms in order to reflect the complexity of language specific to the location of the installation. each parasite represents a language epicenter within 200 miles; its size reflects the number of speakers present at this epicenter. accordingly, in areas with a great diversity of language, the form language volume becomes quite complex.

this volume provides computers for internet access in each local language. it also serves as a digital repository and archive for language in order to preserve language and facilitate the growth of other languages on the internet.

img 2.4 - the local needs volume. the form of this volume is determined in the same way as the language volume, as explained above.

this volumes would provide a response to the local need (for example, an aids clinic or a relief headquarters or a polling booth).

logic of the archipelago

it is important to understand how the internet archipelago functions as a whole. the basic concept is to provide and easy and rapid method for expanding the internet infrastructure. the first installation in each archipelago is hard-wired into the existing infrastructure. it then flies a small balloon carrying a radio antenna to a height of 1 miles. the next installation is places within 178 miles. it too flies a balloon to a height of one mile. at this distance, these balloons share line of sight and can communicate using radio waves. each successive installation is placed within 178 miles of an existing installation, and the archipelago grows.

img 3.1 - the archipelago. here, three installation as shown. the earth's curvature and the size of each installation is extremely exaggerated. note the line of sight connection between each balloon. for the sake of comparison, 178 miles is the distance from clemson to florence or from genoa to venice.

layout test

2006-11-30T23:04:00.000-08:00

i am experimenting with some techniques to improve the presentation of information with our blogs. its seems that a lot of us have really long entries, so maybe some section headings will make them easier to read.

section heading

so there is a simple section heading made possible by a quick change to the template html/css.

i also thought that it would be interesting to have portions of the blog expand and collapse.

click here to check it out

here is the hidden text. you can click the link again to collapse this text again. you can also place images in this area:

to collapse this area, you can also click here.

ron, this is what i had in mind for the sumo post. let me know what you think. this think it could be nice to embed some of the process photos in there expanding/collapsing areas.

final review format

2006-11-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

my biggest complaint about our mid-semester review was the lack of visual contact. it is always nice to be able to see your critic so you can interpret what he really thinks about your project, so you know if he is questioning you because he thinks your project/premise is really bad or because he is really impressed and what you to take it farther. i would imagine that the jurors felt a similar sentiment, as they had no way of knowing how we were taking their criticism. while i was in charleston, i took a class via polycom, a self-contained video conferencing device. the video hardly every froze and you could control the camera at the other end. it allowed for fairly fluid interaction; in fact, we gave a presentation to the class from our end. i am not sure if this technology is available to ron and other global jurors or if it can handle more that two locations. i do think that it could be a good medium for a/v communication that could be supplemented by blog posts and other web content for graphic communication.

i do not this that we should use breeze again. it seemed very slow and buggy. i recall that it repeatedly crashed peoples computers. its biggest flaw, in my opinion, is it the fact that you have to push a button to talk. this made it feel like we were in a lecture, not engaging in an open, fluid dialogue. someone would speak, then there would be a pause while everyone waited to make sure they were done and that there was not a lag, and then the next person would begin and repeat. accordingly, the conversation was choppy. perhaps a skype group chat with blog/vyew to supplement would be better.

gna 2.0

2006-11-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

based on the feedback, i made several changes to the algorithm. my first step was to create a funtion to map the points each volume was responding to. in the process of doing this, i found a bug in the previous algorithm which took me a while to fix. i also rewrote the placement function, so the archipelago generated is much more 'linear'. in appearence, the current algorithm is very similar to the previous, but the inner working have some major revisions.

i also played around with using metaballs. i didnt like the forms it was generating, so i put that exploration on hold. i may come back to it.

i also looked into animating the points. i posted on the formz forum for some help. the functions if need will not be available until formz 6.1 is released. i was told that they were hoping to release this upgrade by january. so i may be able to explore that further if the new version is released.

the next step is to have the size/form of each volume also respond to the conditions. i think that i have a good backbone in place, so now i can really begin to experiment.

here are some images of the current algorithm:

here is a .txt file of the algorithm

global network archipelago

2006-11-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

as is proposed in a previous blog entry, the intent of my megaproposal is to create a network archipelago to facilitate the spread of the internet through the creation of a network of small installations. as i set out to create an algorithm to create this architecture, i first considered the form and program of each individual installation. the program would be based on:

the internet
language
local need factor

the first two program functions would work together to provide interenet access and foster the development of more languages on the internet. the third program function would provide a response to a local need. i noticed in my mapimation that areas with low internet development tended to have high instability. this third program function could serve to house aids clinics, polling booths, disaster relief or refugee camp headquarters, etc.

each of these functions would be housed in a separate volume, and this volume's placement would respond to the condition of that function at the installation. to determine this, i mapped epicenter points for language, internet, and local needs across the globe. my algorithm analyzes these points at each installation and places each volume accordingly. currently, each volume represents a 40' shipping container.

what i find particularly intriguing about this approach is that the architecture becomes a map of several conditions. these condition are dynamic, and each installation could respond to the instantaneous condition at its creation. if this network were constructed, it would serves as a three dimensional database of these condition. the algorithm could be reversed in order to understand these conditions at a specific point in time.

the next iteration of the algorithm:

size each volume to respond in some way to its condition
create dynamic conditions so that the archipelago responds to differently over time

below are a few images of the archipelago. an important note: these drawings are NOT to scale. each volume represents a 40' shipping container. they have been exaggerated to show relationships over great geographical distances.

perspective

plan

plan detail

formz scripts

2006-11-16T12:30:00.001-08:00

formz scripts allow you to expand the possibilities offered by formz through the creastion of an algorithm. it seems to me that there are two basic uses for a script in formz:

1- to improve efficiency in modeling. you could write a script to quickly handle any repetitive tasks, from renaming groups of objects to quickly reproducing an object hundreds of times to accurately and precisely creating nurbs surfaces and other object.

2-to generate architecture form. this is know as algorithmic architecture. the algorithm can be used to covert a data set (the could range in size from a few entries to thousands of entries) into a three dimension form through a specific and calculated set of deformations. randomization and fractal patterning can also be introduced to replicate organic growth and decay.

to develop scripts in formz, the formz script editor is used. formz scripts are written in the c++ programing language. you must also download and install the formz sdk, available here, to use the functions and classes specifically written for formz. included with the sdk is a reference manual that outlines the use of all the functions and classes. it also contains sample scripts.

the first step of scripting is to have a basic grasp of computer programming with c++. a few online tutorials that may be helpful can be found here and here. there is also a tutorial available from the formz website; it is limited to creation of nurbs surfaces. the formz forum of scripting can also be helpful. unfortunately, it seems that most of the references and documentation on scripts are only available at the formz website, and are somewhat limited.

mega proposal

2006-11-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

i propose to create a mega-network to facilitate, among other things, the true globalization of the internet. this network would be made up a hundreds or thousands of small units. each unit would be inexpensive, easily deployable, scalable, sustainable, and capable of adapting to local climate, culture, etc. perhaps each unit would be a simple construct/framework onto which locals could graft their building traditions to make the unit their own.

each unit would deploy a tethered balloon that carries a radio antenna. therefore, each unit would act as a node in a new network. one unit could be hardwired into the current infrastructure and act as the portal for all other balloons connected by line of sight. this is similar to some of the ideas i mentioned in my ILLINOIS post. this would allow an infinate number of new networks to grow from an infinate number central points. these network would begin to overlap and merge.

these units could serve a multitude of purposes beyond simply allowing internet access. it could also serve as a portal for medical care, a voting hub, etc.

mapimations finale

2006-11-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

we live in a world that is increasingly dominated by the internet. a mega-collection of information is instantly available to us at all times. what we take for granted, it seems, is the position of dominance that the u.s. enjoys. becuase the internet revolution began in the u.s., we have the most extensive network infrastructure; we can also rely on english to access roughly 70% of internet content. compare this with the world's non-english speakers who can access no more that 6% of internet content with their native tongue. (more about the internet)

the dominance of the english language on the internet in beginning to diminish, as more and more content in other languages is made available. these languages, however, only represent the world's superpowers that have the resources to implement a network infrastructure at a large scale. in the third world, access to the interent is severely limited. and even when it is available, users are usually forced to use a second language to access internet content.

the first goal of this project is to illustrate the current state of language on the internet. geography has been abandoned, and the world has been transformed into the language archipelago. the hope is that this map can inspire a vision to remake the archipelago and revolutionize the internet by means of global inclusion.

img_1.1

img_1.2

each country is placed within the archipelago to indicate its ascendancy on the internet within each of the ten most dominant internet languages. each language is indicated by the flag of its origin. the closer a country is to the origin (in x, y, and z axes), the more power in enjoys in the internet. language and network infrastructure are considered in this placement.

img_2.1

each country is also connected by a language continuum. here, ascendancy is ignored. each country is considered for is contribution to the internet culture in all languages.

img_2.2

it is also important to appreciate the archipelago in three dimensions:

anim_1.1 - transformation

anim_1.2 - the archipelago (quicktime VR)

as would be expected, network infrastructure is directly related to many other factors, as illustrated below:

img_3.1 - night
note the density of light at the origin

img_3.2 - router density
shows a trend that is very similar to the 'world at night' map above

img_3.3 - gdp
note the density of gdp at the origin

img_3.4 - aids pandemic
aids tend to be inversely related to gdp in the archipelago

its seems that creation of a global mega-network to supplement the internet infrastructure could provide true globalization of the internet. a network of scalable, easily deplorable units could be created to provide access to information via the internet in remote regions currently lacking appropriate infrastructure. this would serve to provide more universal inclusion on the internet. it would also result in a diversification of language on the internet as more people speaking more languages could contribute. it would also aid in the preservation of languages by providing a forum for small language communities to interact and by creating an archive (both written and spoken) of less known languages.

this new mega-network could also serve purposes beyond language and the interent. it could serve as a portal for the delivery of health care. it could also facilitate the spread of democracy by providing a terminal for electoral voting in remote areas.

semantics of the language archipelago

2006-11-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

ascendancy |əˈsendənsē|
occupation of a position of dominant power or influence

continuum |kənˈtinyoōəm|
a continuous sequence in which adjacent elements are not perceptibly different from each other, although the extremes are quite distinct

collage mapping

2006-10-31T18:52:00.000-08:00

language archipelago at night:

satellite imagery of the world at night reveals the relative industrial development of an area. it also reveals population hubs, transportation systems, etc. internet development parallels industrial development, which explains the concentration of light at the center of the language archipelago.

the world at night...without the language archipelago:

mapimation final

2006-10-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

animations:

fixed camera / axon

moving camera / perspective

stills:

axon

perspective

2006-10-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

animations:

internet hops

quicktime VR

powerpoint:

mapimation 1.7 - legend?

2006-10-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

a sufficient legend?

mapimation 1.6

2006-10-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

here is the lastest. this represents the first portion of the animation. more to come later.

quicktime movie

keyframe01

keyframe02

keyframe03

mapimation 1.5

2006-10-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

here are a couple stills of the internet hops:

mapimation 1.4

2006-10-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

in order to map the 3d language archipelago more readable/understandable, i placed each country as a 2d surface in the place of each of the spheres from the last draft. below is a quick animation fly-by followed by rendered frames.

click above to see the animation

plan

keyframe01

keyframe02

keyframe03

keyframe04

mapimation 1.3

2006-10-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

i am still trying to refine my direction in my mapimation. i have decided to further limit the scope of my investigation to make the data more manageable. as such, i will look at all countries with a population greater than 10 million (megacountries) that speak one of the ten internet languages.

it seems that i have two things to map: physical and virtual; language and the internet exist in both of these realms. (when i speak of language, i will limit it to large, concentrated communities that share a common language and overlook small language pockets.) language is generally grounded to physical/geographic regions; it also virtually connects people acoss great distances. the internet is exactly the same....grounded in the physical world by existing in the virtual world. as such, i would like to map the physical condition of the internet and language. (see keyframes 1 below). i would then like to morph the map from he 2d geographic world to a 3d language archipelago and abandons geography to illustrate the interconnection of countries based on the language and the internet. (see keyframe 2).

keyframe01: as in earlier drafts, traceroues are geolocated and mapped to show internet infrastructure. topography will be added to indicate router location. color will be added to show language groups.

keyframe02: the countries will morph to this orientation. the image shown is a prototype. each red sphere represents a country. in the final, the size of the sphere will represent the population of the country. the lines represent language connections. in the final, i hope to make these lines have less visual impact so that i can map internet hopping back to the origin.

click the image below to see a quicktime vr of the language archipelago:

thoughts on breeze

2006-10-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

i think that breeze has some very interesting features, but im not sure that it alone is suited for desk crits. the desktop share feature is a great way to let ron see our thought process and to possibly assist in formz. i do not like the way that the talking works, since only one person can speak at once. as a result, it seems that we give ron our little speech and then he gives a little speech back to us, instead of a more interactive conversation. maybe breeze is more suited for formal presentations/reviews and that vyew + skype + blog is better for desk crits.

mapimation 1.2

2006-10-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

here is the next iteration of the mapimation. i have been working on creating a trail that marks the path that the hops take. the method that i used is extremely time consuming and not really feasible at a large scale unless i can create a macro to do it for me.

also, here is a link to my data worksheet.

i plan to add topography to the countries based on the location of the most important internet routers. the degree of the deformation of the land caused by these routers will correlate to their influence in the internet. here is a rough draft:

mapimation 1.1

2006-10-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

of course, my mapimation is still very much a work in progress. gathering data has proved to be very time consuming. i have sketched out a storyboard to convey the general concept. i should have preliminary animation done by studio on monday.

i am going to focus on the internet and world wide web as they relate to language. i also hope to make the infrastructure of the internet apparent through the map. language is of course a limiting factor in communication and thus the internet. the languages of the 313 billion website online:

english / 68.4%
japanese / 5.9%
german / 5.8%
chinese / 3.9%
french / 3.0%
spanish / 2.4%
russian / 1.9%
italian / 1.6%
portuguese / 1.4%
korean / 1.3%
all others / 4.6%

more to come on language of the internet in a megablog post.

i will map the path that data takes from the u.s. to each country that significantly speaks one of the above ten languages. a language will defined as significantly spoken if it is an official language for the country, an official language within a region of the country, and/or spoken by more that 1% of the inhabitants of the country. as such, some countries will fall into multiple language categories (the u.s., for example, belongs to each language category)

here is the storyboard:

keyframe01: the data begins to hop from origin. appears as continuous stream of packets (represented by small spheres or other simple geometric shape). the height of each hop is determined by the total number of packets that make the same hop.

keyframe02: the data continues to stream from origin. it continues to hop to its final destination, an internet server in each country. the order is determined by the ping time of each final destination. the data leaves a trail/residue along the path that it travels. this begins to create spatial implications that indicate the structure of the internetwork.

keyframe03: all the packets have reached their final destination. the residues of their hops creates an interwoven fabric across the globe. the animation pauses here briefly.

keyframe04: the globe is reorganized to create language continents. the movement of the countries is animated. the residue of each hop is moved with each country. the animation pauses briefly. then, each packet hops back to the origin along the reorganized paths. this intent is to show not only the 'language continents' but the dependence on the infrastructure which pays no mind to language barriers.

keyframe05: all the residuals are gone. here is the globe reorganized by language.

mapimation base map

2006-10-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

this is base map that nate found, a bit cleaned up. i fixed some overlapping lines. also, because i needed to for my map (and because it am a total dork) i labeled all the countries. the map is a bit distorted to reflect the earth's curvature. the lines are not the smoothest, but it should be more than sufficient for this scale. each country is a surface. the surface style is light blue rendered with a grey wireframe. click on the image below to download the .fmz file:

mapimation 1.0

2006-10-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

here is a first attempt at a mapimation. it shows the path that data takes to travel from germany to clemson. click the image to link to the .mov file.

the thought is that a mulititude of traceroutes to clemson could be animated at once. the 'velocity' of each leap needs to be refined to better reflect the actual time of the transfer (in milliseconds).

internet mapping proposal

2006-09-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

i would like to attempt to map the internet. i think that it would be interesting to map the connection between the virtual world of the web and the geographic location of the data. the route that data takes as it travels from a server to the end user on the web can be map. i propose to map these routes from various location to the clemson network, which will serve as the base point of the map.

below are a few examples of the traceroute operation. the ip addresses compared to a database of geographic locations and then mapped using google map. these maps were generated by mapulator, which seems to have a minimal geographic database. i plan to create a simple webpage that could access a larger geolocation webpage and generate maps using the google map api.

here are the maps:

germany to clemson

switzerland to clemson

japan to clemson

texas to clemson

pennsylvania to clemson

here are some examples of similar maps:

map of global traffic

global internet traffic

the internet

2006-09-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

the internet has a very complicated history that begins in the 1950s. but first, it is important to properly understand terminolgy, specifically the meaning of 'internet' vs. 'world wide web'. the internet is the collection of interconnected computers and computer networks linked by physical connections (telephone lines, ethernet cables, fiber-optics cables). the world wide web, which is often mistakenly called the internet, is a collection of documents and resources that exist in the virtual world and are interconnected by hyperlinks and urls. in other words, you can view documents on the world wide web because you know there unique web address (url) or because you link to them from another web page, which is often a web page dynamically generated by a web search engine, like google. these documents and resources, which are located on computers around the world, are available through the internet.

now a brief history of what we now call the internet. the first computer networks began to emerge in the 1950s, epescially in government agencies and universities. these network connected computer terminals with direct, dedicated lines (even over great distances), allowing for intra-netting. by the early 1960s, national security concerns and the desire to allow researchers in different geographical locations to share resources and ideas created the need for inter-netting. J.C.R. Licklider theorizes on the idea of an 'Intergalactic Network' where people can access data and programs on one computer from any other computer anywhere else in the world (or galaxy...he was quite the visionary). The early internet pioneers faced two key challenges: how to efficently move data and how to overcome the lack of standardization among computer hardware and software used on each individual network.
Paul Baran, Donald Davies, Leonard Kleinrock address how to move data. They develop the notion of packet switching. When data is sent from one computer to another, it is broken into small packets of information which are routed from the source to the destination computer through various nodes. If one of these packets is lost in transmisison, it can simply resent from the source, and therefor the entire transmission is not lost. becuase a didicated line is not required for the duration of the transmission, packets from diffenent sources bound for different destinations can be sent across the same communication line, which maximizes bandwidth. packet switching also allow for complete decentralization of the internet. it is plausable that each packet in a transmission could take a different route to the destination. also, as the architecture of the internet changes, data can still move through it without reinfrastructing.

the first internet was the ARPANET developed and managed by ARPA (advanded research projects agency), an agency of the u.s. department of defense. ARPANET went live in 1969 and had four nodes: ucla, us santa barba, university of utah, and the stanford research institutue.

the following is the map of arpanet in 1971:

and then the ARPANET in 1980:

increases in technology and demand for internetting caused the internet to continue to grow. various other networks were created and integrated. standards were implemented to allow these various networks to interconnect. in 1990, the ARPANET was disbanded as it had been rendered obsolete by other networks.

the growth of the internet (charts show the number of internet hosts):

today, there are 1,086 billion users connected to the internet. this represents roughly 16.7% of the worlds population.

a map of the interet (just in north america):

as we all know and experience daily, the internet allows for information to be exchanged at a blinding rate. rarely, however, do we consider the geographic movement of our data transfers as them move through the internet. below is a map that traces the path of data from dallas texas to tuscany, italy (generated by traceroute). it represent the shortest path between the two points at the time of the trace.

below is the same route by traditional means of travel:

air travel

land + sea

some great links:
internet history
internet maps

pod latch

2006-09-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

this is what we were thinking for the door latch. we need the latch for two reasons: to hold the door/desk shut while the pod is being occupied and to hold the door/desk shut when the pod is being rolled. the challenge we to design a lock that could be operated from both side with the same mechanism. we chose to implement a mechanism similar to a garage door lock which had a rotating handle that drives two rods into the 'jambs' at the side of the door. we shaped the handle of our lock as a derivative of the overall form of the pod.

exterior of door

interior of door

close-up of lock

lock mechanism (concealed within door)

city + dam

2006-09-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

china's three gorges dam is the largest hydro-electric dam in the world. at 185 meters tall and 2,309 meters across (included in the ship lifts and locks), it is five times the size of the hoover dam and is the same length as the golden gate bridge in san francisco. construction began in 1993. the reservoir behind the dam began filling in 2003, and should reach its capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters by 2009, when all of the construction will be complete.

three gorges dam compared to hoover dam + golden gate bridge

the cost of the dam was staggering. the original budget was around 25 billion USD. however, it is expected that the final budget could be in excess of 100 billion USD (there have been no official statistics released). at full capacity, the dam will generate 85 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. when the dam was designed, it was thought that this would provide 10% of china's electrical needs. however, china's economy has boomed since the dam was designed. in light of the higher demand for energy, the three gorges dam will only be able to supply 3.88% of the china's electrical needs. the dam could, however, provide enough electricity to fulfill the combined needs of ireland, peru, north korea, and croatia. although its impact will not be as great as initially planned, the dam will have a generally positive effect on the environment. currently, 80% of china's electricity is generated by burning coal, which creates an immense amount of air pollution. the dam will affect a net decrease in coal consumption of 40-50 million tons. as a result, china's discharge of carbon monoxide will be reduced by 10,000 tons.

the greatest impact of the dam will be felt upstream. approximately 244 square miles will be flooded when the reservoir is full (i.e. the reservoir will be 2.75x as large as lake hartwell and 12x as large as the island of manhattan). over one million chinese in 1200 villages and two major towns have been or will be displaced. critics argue that the chinese government has underfunded the relocation effort, as those who have been displaces are often given poor quality land on which they cannot sustain. as a result, many have resorted to begging, garbage collecting, and prostitution.

reservoir area comparison

the three gorges area is also a cultural treasure trove. the area was first inhabited over 2 million years ago. a last minute effort has been made by the chinese government to save the 1,200 known archaeological sites, but it seems that it may be too little, too late. experts claim that the the chinese government had provided only 10% of the funds necessary to properly excavate and preserve all the archaeological sites soon to be flooded.

the only way to avoid the loss of artifacts would have been to reconsider the location of this dam. however, the problem of relocating the people could possible have been solved with a mega-solution. is it possible for the dam to become a city, to be constructed so that it could be inhabited. the flow of water could of course generate all the electricity this dam could use. it could also serve to irrigate green spaces and farming operations that could be incorporated into this mega structure and could also be used for thermal cooling and industrial processes.

daily thoughts - 09.13.06

2006-09-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

i thought that studio was really productive today. i liked having time to work in the beginning of studio with a short conversation with ron at the end of the studio. it seemed that this was much more productive than an early meeting with a short charette in the middle of studio.

ron may also recall an outburst of laughter last week in one of our meetings. the screenshot below shows the cause of the laughter. since ron indicated his diabolic intentions today, it seemed fitting to post this screenshot.

a/v1.1

2006-09-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

in a quick charette with members of other teams, we made modifications to the a/v proposal. see these changes on melissa's blog and mandi's blog.

a/v1.0

2006-09-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

Nicole and I have developed a proposal for one contained unit that can be rolled to any destination:

Once in place, legs fold down to secure the pod in its location:

The top hinges up to allow the student to enter the pod:

Once inside, the student can close the flap to view the video screen, which is also visible to those outside of the pod. The translucent portion of the pod allows light in so the camera is able to see the student within the pod. The bottom flap remains open to allow leg room for students, allowing for the different heights of the students in the class.

This proposal also contains the possibility of a detatchable upper flap, allowing the video screen to be set up in another location for conversations involving the entire class.

environmental forces

2006-09-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

despite our ever increasing level of building technology, we are constantly humbled by the power of mother nature. year after year, we feel the cost of natural disasters both in dollars and in human life. in less developed countries, the effects of these disaster are even more dire.

following graphics courtesy of the un's international strategy for disaster reduction

frequency of natural disaster by year, 1900-2005. divided into three disaster types: biological (epidemics and insect infestations), geological (earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions), & hydrometeorological (floods and wave surges, storms, droughts, and landslides & avalanches).it is clear that there is a generally increasing trend in disasters, especially hydormeteorological and biological disasters. the aids epidemic worldwide (and especially in africa) is included in these statistics, which explains the increase in biological disasters. the increase in hydrometeorological disasters can be attributed to the general increase in global temperature which results in more disasters of this type.

disaster type by region/continent, 1991-2006. this graphic indicates the various types of natural disasters that affect each area of the globe.

deaths caused by natural disasters, 1991-2005. peak in 2004 is direct result of tsunamis that struck southern asia.

cost of natural disasters worldwide, in billions of USD, inflation adjusted to 2005.

it is also important that we consider the implication of future changes in environmental patterns that will affect the way we live. it seems clear today that the global warming is a real issue and will result in an increase in sea level in the coming centuries. whether this global warming is a result of humans' actions or a natural climatological trend is inconsequential. the fact of the matter is that a rise in sea level will affect a huge number of people. approx. 10.5% of the earth population lives within 10m of sea level and is thus at risk with impending rise in sea level. the following graphics are were taken from research conducted for the epa.

map of charleston, sc. shows current water level.

map of charleston, sc. shows 'medium scenario' prediction for water level in 2075 based on current trend in sea-level increase.

charleston after the change in sea-level change of 1m. the battery sea wall would no longer be able to protect the historic city from the water, escpecially during a hurricane.

it is clear from these graphics that an increase in sea level is a real issue that designers must content with. since much of the worlds wealth is concentrated in large coastal cities (new york city, tokyo, hong kong, london, etc.) it follows that mega structures are often proposed in these areas. as a result, it is important to consider the long term environmental changes that a mega building must endure.

a/v

2006-09-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

nicole and i researched audio/visual technology for our pod. we came up with two basic schemes. the first very simplistic: each person would use their own laptop and connect it to headphones, webcam, and a microphone provided in the pod. the drawbacks of this solution is a certain amount of downtime between each video conference as each person would have to configure their computer. the advantage is that it would allow for a great degree of portability of the pod, as their would be very little a/v equipment.

the prefered solution would require a larger pod that could accommodate more a/v equipment. the concept is to create a screen that would be visible both inside and outside the pod. this screen would be connected to the pod's computer which would serve as the host for video conferencing. this would free the individual's laptop to be used for following links and text chatting. the system audio would also be connected to this internal computer (i.e. speakers and microphone). this idea for the screen is to disassemble an lcd monitor and remove the backlight. this would allow the screen to be viewed from inside and outside. the pod user would be required to orient the pod toward an environmental light source to provide the backlight for the screen. conceptually, this would be very interesting as the isolated person would be required to respond to the changing environment around them. in this scenario, focused audio could be used on the outside of the pod so that observers could hear the conversation within the pod if they were close enough to it. the pod could also be used for studio conferences with ron. and internal light could be switched on and backlight the screen. external speakers and microphone could be used to communicate with ron. the studio could the gather around the pod. (see diagram below)

daily thoughts - 09.01.06

2006-09-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

i thought that studio was much more successful today. it was very nice to actually be able to talk as a group and then talk on an individual basis.

daily thoughts - 08.30.06

2006-09-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

it seems that blogger has provided us with a great medium to exchange information in the form of written text and graphics. it also seems that the individual conferences with ron via skype (both with video conferencing and text messaging) are working well. i do not think, however, that we have yet found the best way to communicate and interact as an entire studio. on wednesday, the entire studio was sitting within 10 yards of one another, but the primary form of interaction was via skype text messaging. when we did have personal interaction, ron was completely out of the loop. it seemed to be a race for everyone to type their ideas/comments/suggestions so that they would be 'heard'. and it was hard to keep up with the conversation because everyone was trying to go in different directions at the same time. i propose that we try an approach similar to our first meeting in the library conference room. we could set up a library computer with a webcam at the front of the room so that the whole studio could communicate more personally. we could also each have our laptops so that we could view posts online and exchange relevant links with skype text messaging. i think this would allow a more coherent and consistant conversation and would allow everyone in the studio to be heard more equally. it seems that for this to work, however, that we need to improve the microphone situation so that ron could hear more clearly what we had to say. since the arch library does not have a better solution, maybe we should contact the a/v people in poole hall for a better conference type microphone.

formZ exercises

2006-08-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

formZ animation exercises in quicktime (.mov) format:

exercise 1
exercise 2
exercise 3

ILLINOIS

2006-08-30T12:39:00.001-07:00

frank lloyd wright was one of the most influential american architects and is perhaps best known for his prairie style which emphasized the horizontal. in this light, his 1956 proposal for the mile-high ILLINOIS skyscraper would at first seem quite ironic.

his proposal would tower one mile high, with 528 inhabitable floors and over 18 million square feet of floor space. its general form is that of a tripod, tapering along its height. it was to rest upon a "tap-root" foundation, an inverted pyramid tapering toward the bedrock beneath the building. the structural core of the building would consist of a steel frame embedded in lightweight concrete. each floor would cantilever from the central structural core. wright had applied this method of construction (albeit at a smaller scale) in his recent built work including the imperial hotel in tokyo and the price tower in oklahoma. here, wright applied this inside-out approach to design (rather than outside-in of traditional steel from construction) in the spirit of organicity: his building is as a tree, with the structural core acting as trunk, the cantilevered floors as limbs, and the foundation as roots. wright conceived the tower as city within itself, housing all aspects of society including residences, businesses, government, entertainment, etc. he estimated that it could sustain approx. 45,000 permanent inhabitants and another 67,000 transient inhabitants (staff, visitors, etc.) for a total population of over 100,000 people. for the sake of comparison, only 251 of the 23,435 municipalities in the u.s. have more than 100,000 inhabitants. wright also provided parking for 15,000 cars and 100 helicopters.

a comparison to today's skyscrapers

one of the most basic implications of wright's mile high skyscraper is its role as a symbol. despite his earlier utopian views of the city, Wright had accepted the role of the city in american society and as such placed the Illinois at the center of his previously utopian broadacre city to be its most powerful symbol (the symbolic nature of a utopia, he realized, was no longer enough). had it been built, the Illinois would have been a symbol unrivaled by anything manmade, and would remain so to this day.

the ILLINOIS's shear size would have made is visible from 89 miles away (disregarding atmospheric conditions and topography). this means that if the Illinois were built in manhattan, it would be visible from philadelphia and beyond. an identical structure could be built 178 miles away to allow the two structures to be mutually visible at all times. this creates an interesting parallel to the observation infrastructure used in the past that relied solely on visual communication. an archepelego of mega towers creates the opportunity to use technology to create a tangeable/sensory connection over great distances (rather than the ivisible data that connects us today).

visibilty (if placed in nyc)

a building of this size would also passively make itself known locally with its emense shadow. this model shows the mid-afternoon shadow in winter, which would stretch 3.4 miles. it is interesting to consider how the building's shadow becomes the largest physical manifestation of the building in the horizontal plane that wright worked in so often.

again, the building has been sighted with its original orientation, but in nyc. the shadow is cast on the winter solstice at 3:30 pm.

new york land use
source

the most interesting implication of wright's proposal is its potential to be a city within itself. i looked for an analogue in a existing city whose configuration could be applied to the Illinois. i realized however that my conception of a skyscraper as a series of repetatively stacked planes centered around a core would was incongruous with the organic nature of the layout of a city. in his book reinventing the skyscraper, ken yeang proposes that we rethink the skyscraper and plan it in the model of an existing city. so, the following is a study of the land use of manhattan and quick studies on how this use could be applied to planning a mega skyscraper.

studies on applying nyc's land usage to Illinois. these studies make it clear how the typical repition found in a skyscraper could not apply to a vertical city.

as a traditional horizontal city grows, changes, and recreates itself organically, so to should a vertical city. this study it meaant to suggest how the illinois could be built over time, constantly growing vertically but also changing vertically. this implies than the designer would have to plan the structure to allow this change. but in order to contend with gravity, it seems that a certain degree of rigidity in planning would be required. this could be compared to the city grid of a modern city. but in a city, the grid is a response to the needs of the city. when the needs of the city change, the grid system can change, either in whole or in part, to repsond to these needs. in the vertical city, however, the development of the city must always respond to some degree to the 'grid'; if the needs of the vertical city change, the 'grid' cannot be changed in part becuase this would undermine the entire system. the only remedy for change would therefor be destruction and rebuilding.

objectives

2006-08-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

my goal for the studio is to further explore the possibilities that technology offers the architect. the mega scale of the studio offers an opportunity to explore these possibilities at the grandest scale which goes beyond the simply built and delves into all aspects of life. my time in italy gave me a first hand glimpse of how our predecessors' architecture was shaped by the technology of the day; i am very interested in exploring how the technology of today can shape a new architecture and how architecture can shape technology and the way it is implemented in our every day lives. i also hope to set the tone for clemson's fluid campus as we explore ways to communicate architecture across thousands of miles.