Context
From thesisWIKI
Contents |
CONTEXT: Abstract
‘no.D’ = Nomadic Deisgn. ‘no.D’ is a methodology for a mobile lifestyle. This thesis proposes that more mobile AND more responsible lifestyles can be enabled by innovation and service design.
Although our present day society is globally connected, the spaces that we occupy—specifically our living and working environments—remain sedentary. Our definition of place at home and work is relatively unchanged to that of 50, possibly even 100 years ago. We have relied upon technological advancements in transport and data communication to enable our mobility—often with brute force and at the expense of our quality of life and of our local and global environments.
Rather than accepting our existing static surroundings that encourage consumption of products and space, ‘no.D’ looks towards sociologist Manuel Castells’ theories of ‘the space of flows’ to propose a new societal model based on the integration of mobility with physical spaces and objects.
- ”A new form of space emerges--’the space of flows.’ It is made of electronic circuits and information systems, but it is also made of territories, physical places, whose functional or symbolic meaning depends on their connection to a network, rather than on its specific characteristics as localities.” (Castells, Towards a Sociology of the Network Society, pg 696)
- ”The space of flows is made of bits and pieces of places, connected by telecommunications, fast transportation, and information systems, and marked by symbols and spaces of intermediation... “ (Castells, Towards a Sociology of the Network Society, pg 696)
The ‘spaces of intermediation’ of living and working and their interaction with local and global transport and communication infrastructure are the design focus of ‘no.D’.
CONTEXT: Theory
'Nomadology'
Somewhere between the 1950’s ideal of the suburban home (sedentary lifestyle) and a dedicated itinerant or world traveler (migrant lifestyle) lies the notion of modern nomadism. Although mobile, the modern nomad has location specific purpose (lifestyle or business related). Nomadic mobility thus refers to purposeful movement between nodes rather than continuous and random floating. In the context of ‘no.D’, mobility is measured in terms of lifestyle vectors (direction and intensity of personal or business pursuits) rather than instantaneous velocity (travel or movement without a larger goal) .
- ”The nomad is not at all the same as the migrant; for the migrant goes principally from one point to another, even if the second point is uncertain, unforeseen or not well localized. But the nomad only goes from point to point as a consequence and as a factual necessity: in principle, points for him are relays along a trajectory.” (Deleuze & Guattari, Nomadology: The War Machine, pg 50)
In a modern interpretation, the points (or nodes) are the ‘global cities’ as defined by Castells. Network flows occur on infrastructure (land, sea, air, or digital) that connects the global cities. This infrastructure reinforces cities as our economic and cultural centers. As our societies adopt to our recent demographic shift from a rural to a urban majority, our dependence on global centers is even more clear.
The modern nomad is a particle of these global flows. Like an atom or molecule in the kinetic theory of matter, the nomad is in constant motion (but not always geographically). The determination of static and dynamic states (solid, liquid, or gas) in kinematic theory occurs because of changes in particle movement and arrangement, not in a change of the matter composition. As a solid, particles are arranged in a regular pattern and vibrate locally on their position. Asa liquid, the particles start to slide past one another but still maintain close proximity. As a gas, particles are far apart and moving rapidly—often bouncing off of the walls of their container or conduit that they flow.
Likewise if we view our built environment as matter that compositionally doesn’t change, we dismiss our current western dualities of urban vs. rural. Then, the modern nomad does not seek to become the center—a third signifier—uniting or resolving urban and rural extremes (like the 1950’s notion of suburbia which dominates U.S. cities today). Instead of physical descriptions, spaces are characterized by their types of flows. The local or urban space, as the solid and liquid, maintains laminar flow. The nomad particle in this flow is suspended in a supportive and organized composition but allowed the freedom to ‘vibrate’ and create. At the global scale, the nomad particle is released into the vortical state of the global network to enable rapid transport and communication. The French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari also define spaces by their flow characteristics (rather than their opposition to each other) as ‘striated’ and ‘smooth’:
- ”…sedentary space is striated, by walls, enclosures, and roads between enclosures, while nomad space is smooth, marked only by ‘traits’ that are effaced and displaced with the trajectory. “ (Deleuze, pg 51)
‘Nomadology’ is a term adopted from the collaborative works of the Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari.
- ”Smooth or nomad space lies between two striated spaces: that of the forest, with its gravitational verticals, and that of agriculture, with its grids and generalized parallels, its now independent arborescence, its art of extracting the tree and wood from the forest. But being ‘between’ also means that smooth space is controlled by these two flanks, which limit it, oppose its development and assign it as much as possible a communicational role; or on the contrary it means that it turns against them, gnawing away at the forest on one side, on the other side gaining ground on the cultivated lands, affirming a noncommunicating force or a force of divergence like a ‘wedge’ digging in.” (Deleuze, pg 57)
CONTEXT: Mobility
Existing mobility
For our lives to become more mobile, certain necessities need to travel with us while others need to be integrated in our environments. To make mobility more economically and environmentally feasible, one could argue that a modern nomad simply needs to travel light (nomad + suitcase). However, this type of mobility increases the need for overbuilt infrastructure that strives to meet travelers’ expectations. Often, even if essential needs are met (shelter, food, etc.), needs of convenience and familiarity are not satisfied.
To meet these more individual needs, modern nomads have to either bring more of their environment with them or foreign environments have to be more customizable and interactive. ‘no.D’ will attempt to define this balance.
In doing so, consumption patterns will be redefined. In addition to satisfying comfort needs, the new ‘no.D’ lifestyle will encourage more responsible and fulfilling environmental and economic practices.
- ”A path is always between two points, but the in-between has taken on all the consistency, and enjoys both an autonomy and a direction of its own. The life of the nomad is the intermezzo. Even the elements of his dwelling are conceived in terms of the trajectory that is forever mobilizing them.” (Deleuze, pg 50)
The need for mobility
Why do we need to be mobile? Proposing a static existence might be more challenging to our current lifestyles than questioning mobility. A static person, the 'anti-NOMAD', would live a simple life with little dependence on others. One can imagine their ancestors living such a life as they farmed the land and tried to provide for themselves. However, even the simplest lives had some networking. They probably shared or traded with neighbors for items that they didn't produce. As the industrial revolution and technology provided more opportunity for transport and communication. Their network got bigger and presumably their opportunities became greater. My American citizenship is the result of my ancestors' mobility when my great-grandparents moved from Norway and Sweden to small towns in northern Minnesota. We desire mobility for the pursuit of something better. We desire better networks of people and products and greater access to information. We desire more diverse leisure opportunities.
'Ubiquitous mobility'
Mobility requires complexity. The purpose of ‘no.D’ is to integrate this complexity into our lives with good design to make mobility easier. ‘no.D’ acknowledges that more mobile means more connected. This connectivity should be readily and intuitively available. ‘Ubiquitous technology’ (or ‘ubiquitous computing’) strives for integration of computing in everyday work and leisure activities. Unlike desktop computing which requires significant knowledge of the technology to operate, an ubiquitous computing environment strives for smart environments that respond to or even predict the users actions without direct programming (for example, a room that adjusts temperature based on sensors responding to your body temperature and activity rather than physical adjustment at a thermostat). Applying this attitude to connectivity leads to a new term for the built environment–’ubiquitous mobility’.
For the modern nomad, ‘ubiquitous mobility’ would be the integration of service design and architectural design to intuitively and efficiently fulfill the need for movement and connectivity.
Tribe connectivity
A nomad does not exist without its tribe. The tribe is the nomads’ social unit or organization that relies on collective ownership and participation. A lone wanderer would be disconnected and more challenged to prosper. Applying this theory to a digitally networked society as described by Castells, ‘no.D’ proposes that a modern nomad can maintain connections to their network through technology. Tribe cohesiveness is no longer dependent on physical interaction. Rather, today’s societal connections can sometimes be stronger in the digital realm. It is evident in personal communication innovations (mobile phones, email, internet video conferencing) and collaborative communication methods (wiki sites). Furthermore, the concept of physical space as identity is further challenged by digital projects like myspace.com or friendster.com. This digital cohesion also strengthens the concept of teleworking (a more recent term for ‘telecommuting’) further redefing the workplace.
Mobility definitions
- Technomad - An itinerant person who remains connected to the internet. Originally coined by Steven Roberts to describe a nomadic person who remains connected through communications media such as the internet during travel, exploration, and online nomadic living.
- Itinerant - A person who travels from place to place with no real home.
- Perpetual traveler - People who live in such a way that they are not considered a legal resident of any of the countries in which they spend time. They seek to avoid the legal obligations which may accompany residency, such as taxes, jury duty, and military service.
- World citizen - A person who disapproves of traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship and approves world government and democracy.
- Nomad - A member of a group of people who, having no fixed home, move around seasonally in search of food, water, and grazing etc. A wanderer. There are three kinds of nomads: hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads, and peripatetic nomads.
- Peripatetic Nomad - Nomads in industrialized nations traveling from place to place offering a trade wherever they go.
- Slabber - A term used by RVers for a person who lives primarily in a house.
- Burner - A Burning Man participant who modifies their recreational vehicle to fit their beliefs.
