Scalability and Efficiency by… De-Centralisation

A somewhat contraversial thought in recent times, but one that I think has merit and perhaps will see a resurgence as much human brain power is expended trying to understand the recent Brexit vote in the UK. People are beginning to understand that massive scale completely centralised systems actually don’t work – primarily, it seems, because they reach a scale where nobody actually cares about them! Now IMHO a centralised system can work, if it is sufficiently introspective – taking time to celebrate its efficiencies and understand and work on its failures, but the notion of centralisation does tend to work in the opposite direction.

Economy-of-Scale vs Economy-of-Flow

Rebel Architecture on Aljazeera

Watching ‘Rebel Architecture’ on Aljazeera… The role of architectural design in a range of situations, for sustainability, on water, at scale and potentially as a weapon.

Some cross-cutting disciplines are highlighted, such as Forensic Architecture (which TBH I had never thought about), and some have parallels with the computing industry, i.e. User Experience Design, Security.

‘A Traditional Future’ followed a team of University students designing the smallest unit of earthquake-resistant family housing and implementing a project to educate the populace to build these structures. Sustainability was not only found through materials, but also through the self-reinforcing educational process, hands-on practice and community spirit. The students themselves could not assist with the builds due to security constraints, so used a remote ‘Train the Trainer’ type process to disseminate the knowledge through local ‘Artisans’.