Automação transversal: discussão sobre o uso de novas tecnologias para viabilizar a produção auto-regulada da arquitetura

Abstract

This thesis is about how the automation of spatial production relates to the adaptability of architecture. Adaptability is a property of the relationship between inhabitant and architecture and describes the effort required to fit the space to the user’s needs. The lower the adaptability of the architecture, the greater the resistance of the space to modification. The concept is related to the construction system and materials used, as well as to the resident’s physical and intellectual skills needed to transform it. A low adaptability increases the effort for creating a self-regulated production of space which can be described as acting to correct the deviations caused by disturbances (changes in the context or in the inhabitants’ desires) to stay within the goal (good fit). Goodness of fit is a way of rating the relationship between building and context. The more misfits between the demands of the inhabitant and the architecture (for example, instability, gutter, too little light, too much heat, lack of privacy), the lower the quality of adjustment. When adaptability is high, people change the space as soon as the deviations appear, such as replacing a burned-out light bulb, maintaining the space always well-adjusted. If the adaptability is low, the misfits accumulate until it is inevitable to transform the space. The generalized poor quality of the buildings in the big cities is partially caused by to the low adaptability which in turn is the result of: the division of labor on the process of production; the difficult accessibility of building materials; and the speed of change of the context. The division of manual and intellectual labor is due to entrepreneurs’ need to politically dismantle workers at the construction site to reduce wages and increase profits. In order to do so, decisions had to be centralized in the hands of the architects, who in turn are controlled by the market and the investors. Architects, usually unconsciously, design spaces that increase segregation between people of different social classes and also contribute to the maintenance of inequality. From these observations we try to understand how the automation of architecture affects the process that reproduces inequality. Based on a review of researches and in examples of the architectural practice, we found that automation of architecture can increase or decrease the reproduction of social inequality and the quality of adjustment depending on how it is done. Furthermore is presented an interface prototyped by the author that synthesize some of the ideas discussed in this thesis. The results shows that if automation is used to give more control to the user it could be able to increase the adaptability, consequently improving the goodness of fit and reducing the inequality. However, as technological development is subjected to economic and political forces, the more widespread forms of automation reinforce existing divisions and do not change the process of production. The conclusion shows the necessity to continue the investigation of the computational technologies and to promote the development of new ones that increase users participation in the production of the space.