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Darwin Among the Machines
Author(s) -
Self Jack
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
architectural design
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.128
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1554-2769
pISSN - 0003-8504
DOI - 10.1002/ad.1620
Subject(s) - darwin (adl) , disengagement theory , charles darwin , power (physics) , sociology , environmental ethics , computer science , epistemology , philosophy , gerontology , medicine , physics , software engineering , quantum mechanics , darwinism
Abstract In the mid‐19th century, Samuel Butler in his article ‘Darwin among the Machines’ provided a theory for the iterative development of machines over time. Here, London‐based architect, theorist, editor and writer Jack Self casts ‘the modern city’ as ‘a multiplex superposition of network infrastructures’, defined by hierarchical systems of information and material exchange. He argues that current informational technologies have the power to conversely hyper‐centralise or hyper‐localise the city, thus either encouraging disengagement or nurturing engagement with the emergent social practices of the city's inhabitants.