Glitch Architecture
Glitch architecture is a heretofore unexplored approach to looking at architecture. It draws on the concept of glitch art that explores often-unintentional disruptions that can occur when using technology. These disruptions are all-the-more disturbing in the context of architecture given our predisposition to believe in the highly planned and structured nature of building. Even the pairing of words seems to indicate a mistake or error leading to failure. But these glitches can actually lead to innovation and success.
The interstitial space between glitch and architecture are not as drastic as they may at first glance seem. Aside from the obvious connections between methods of architecture and means of technology, the Media Lab’s founder and esteemed computational architect Nicholas Negroponte was an early explorer in the field of algorithmic architecture along with cybernetic architect Gordon Pask. These two, along with many others, grew the field of architecture hand in hand with that of media art while exhibiting alongside each other at shows like 1968’s groundbreaking Cybernetic Serendipity.
In my intention to use the concept of the glitch as applied to architecture I envision two primary courses of inquiry:
1 glitch art based on architecture building as a subject
Here we see an example of Bruegel’s Tower of Babel seen through the now defunct net art portal “glitch browser.” This image disturbs the linearity of the structure and upsets our notions of the stability of architecture and buildings.
Secondly, an example from Olivier Ratsi’s series anarchitectures clearly weds the concept of the glitch and the building as the subject. This photomanipulation upends our assumptions of the nature of a building and intentionally uses the concept of the glitch to explore the impossible.
2 Glitch art informing architectural innovation and conceptual architecture
Renzo Piano’s singularly identifiable Centres Georges Pompidou was constructed to embody the principles of a new form of modernism that took into account the increasingly networked structure of society and the growing influence of computers, algorithms, and cybernetics.
More recently, some architects have been exploring the concept of the glitch as a method of architectural innovation. Here we see theoretical work by Hannah Durham at the Architectural Association in London that explores the effects of unintended duplication on the façade of the imperial plaza.
Related Tendencies
3 Digital Architecture
Of course, the concept of the glitch also brings us into association with the realm of the digital. Digital architecture projects that explore the way we inhabit digital spaces allow for a freedom of expression that references reality but also designs the impossible. Second Life and the work of Cao Fei’s RMB City pictured here demonstrate these principles in the digital sphere.
4 Glitches in the Urban and Built Environment
(Food Deserts)(Food desert Caravan) (Urban Farming) (Urban Homesteading)
As an extension of the concept of the glitch I imagine exploring failures in infrastructure and the unintended consequences of urban development and decay. This type of glitch can occur when urban design and infrastructure encounter an anomaly and become estranged from their original design. For example, urban food deserts occur in many cities in the United States where access to fresh produce is severely restricted for urban (often poor and minority) residents. This glitch arose from the unintentional results of extended economic depression and population decline in areas like Detroit and parts of South and West Chicago. However, these glitches also provide opportunities for ‘patches’ or solutions to ameliorate these conditions. Some examples include a proposed mobile grocer called the Food Desert Caravan in Chicago, and the revitalization of decaying urban areas through urban homesteading and farming in cities like Detroit.
I think it is most important to see glitches in their most expansive definition possible. A glitch can be defined as a sudden or unintended irregularity. Applying this concept historically in the process of architecture, as well as creating bridges between architecture and computational art, will help to elucidate the ways in which glitches have contributed to our current built environment.
Firstly, the project will be multidisciplinary in scope meaning that it will draw on a variety of methods used by architects, urban planners, and urban designers. I plan to investigate and find examples of glitches that may occur at any point in the process from sketches to modeling, implementation, and the realized product.
This approach will allow for an (a)historical methodology that will seek to highlight the cause and effect of glitches rather than a chronological progression. Since the concept of the glitch is so linked to the use of technology, and technology being such a foundational element of architecture and design through the ages, I expect to be able to compile a cross-sectional view of the concept as it has manifested throughout history despite the glitch itself being a relatively recent phenomenon.
