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After BitTorrent: Darknets to Native Data
Author(s) -
Burke Anthony
Publication year - 2006
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.328
Subject(s) - bittorrent , hacker , context (archaeology) , computer science , multitude , the internet , information exchange , sociology , reflexivity , world wide web , data science , media studies , computer security , law , telecommunications , political science , history , social science , archaeology
What are the implications of the inherent reflexivity of the Internet for the design professions? Anthony Burke argues that radically innovative and distributed forms of information exchange such as BitTorrent suggest a general shift away from the traditional conception of the architect as master builder to one more in line with the collaborative remixing and patching tactics of the hacker. BitTorrent is a communications protocol that allows massive information exchange across infinite users with minimum resources. Through its sheer force of collectively pooled imagination, it provides a potent example of the sorts of platforms of information exchange that foster the new forms of communal organisation that Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri term the ‘Multitude’, and which productively challenge conventional models of cultural invention and production. In this context, Burke raises questions about the implications of this broader shift for the design professions' business organisation, as well as their more general methodologies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.