Architectural Critique of Connected Utopias

An Architectural
Critique of
Connected Utopias
Thomas Wendt
Surrounding Signiﬁers
@thomas_wendt
thomas@srsg.co
srsg.co

Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signiﬁers @thomas_wendt
Thomas Wendt
pronouns: they or he
Design Facilitator
Strategist and Researcher
Design Critic
Author
Based in NYC
Research Interests: HCD,
sustainability, design
philosophy, co-operative and
participatory design, design
ethics and the politics of design

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Prometheus_Adam_Louvre_MR1745_edit_atoma.jpg
Prometheus = “forethought”; Epimetheus = “afterthought”
Epimetheus tasked to create life, but forgot to equip humans (lack of foresight)
Trick at Mecone: tricked Zeus into taking the bones, Prometheus as designer, Zeus took ﬁre
Prometheus stole back ﬁre: dissenter, trickster, rule breaker
Prometheus punished by being tied to a rock and having liver eaten
Trickster, make ourselves at home through technology

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjnjpyGvYzOAhWH0iYKHThED8kQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.deviantart.com%2Fmorelikethis%2F437842361&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNETu1opEuqd2VApGBRU2UB31yXDdQ&ust=1469462602276397
Common connotations of “connection”
Intimacy, closeness

The connection being sold to us

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjniZykyqrOAhUNySYKHULVBokQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com
%2F2016%2F06%2F28%2Famazon-expands-its-dash-button-program-to-50-more-brands-says-orders-taking-place-twice-a-minute%2F&bvm=bv.128617741,bs.
1,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNHk53IK-_iuoOOZQ_6CIJrJffKjkw&ust=1470496941706454
Connected ecosystems increasingly only serve capital.
What are we trading for convenience?
They create cycles of consumption that are illustrative of our many people’s daily lives.

We are so alienated from our food sources in modern industrial capitalism that we rely on packaged garbage to feed us. So we might cook up some Kraft
Mac and Cheese for dinner.

The combination of sodium, carbohydrates, and artiﬁcial everything makes us dehydrated, so we turn to Gatorade to quench our thirst.

All this sweetened, artiﬁcial food packed with preservatives upsets our digestive systems, so we always need an abundance of Cottonelle toilet paper.

We use Clorox wipes to clean the kitchen, because anything less than clinical sterilization is unacceptable.

And since the wipes are conveniently disposable, we throw them away in a Glad trash bag to be shipped off to the landﬁll.

We put on some Loreal Youth Code after dinner to ward off any signs of natural aging.

Now it’s time to tend to the children, feeding them their own form of packaged garbage in the form of Gerber baby food.

And changing their Huggies diaper
And throwing the old one out in the Glad bag (it always ends in trash)
Problematize these cycles

Why Architecture?
Reviewer comment.

“Architecture” = “master builder”
Article about Google turning NYC payphone booths into advertising hubs. Sign in once and receive personalized ads whenever you walk by.

"One thing I know about my fellow
New Yorkers, they like things that are
completely free of charge.”
Mayor Bill De Blasio
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjx77vS7O7OAhVJlR4KHUqoAxoQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBill_de_Blasio&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNG5zE1H909KO14tQTY7MP4UVK_apA&ust=1472842656619228
Irony is that they’re not free at all.
Costing us a sense of dwelling. I’m scared by this neoliberal acceptance of invasive advertising.

Master ≠ Skilled
Master = Holder of Power
These corporations are our master builders. Not masters in the sense of highly skilled; masters in the sense of those in power.
Questioning the very idea of a master builder

“Architecture is too important to be left
to architects.”
Giancarlo De Carlo
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi4gM7m8e7OAhVJlR4KHf6vDdwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Falchetron.com
%2FGiancarlo-De-Carlo-767428-W&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNGN-ma0lCfhA0Cw8hU_XVdQtKoDWw&ust=1472844048049211
Where Tim Brown got the “design version”
Anarchism, Participatory architecture
Epimetheus was supposed to be a master builder
[don’t tell the steelworks story yet]

Points of Critique

“Practicing criticism is a matter of
making facile gestures difﬁcult.”
Michel Foucault
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi4-LGJ7e7OAhVJ1R4KHcOVDPAQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fredaccion.lamula.pe%2F2016%2F05%2F04%2Fcinco-peliculas-para-acercarnos-al-pensamiento-de-michel-foucault%2Fmanuelangeloprado%2F&bvm=bv.
131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNE3qL9R4PaBFzANOa50w_DK0aGHgw&ust=1472842773590572
The point of criticism is not to offer solutions, it is to make the normal ways of doing things problematic.
Google Booth

This Stuff Critiques
Itself
This stuff critiques itself.
Coming from an American context. Silicon Valley.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjbipnLsYzOAhXGJiYKHWjQDMcQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Flaughingsquid.com%2Fegg-minder-a-smart-egg-tray-that-uses-an-app-to-provide-updates-on-how-many-eggs-are-inside%2F&bvm=bv.
127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNEauJ6Z3tKMe4OfzJoAWyDMhMRd_Q&ust=1469459559853243
Quirky’s egg minder
Tells you how many eggs you have
Assuring abundance

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiCyr3OsozOAhWCSCYKHVN6ASQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.wezzoo.com%2Foombrella&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNFW9f-w2Ufj03AtTfV8df-PvqDzeQ&ust=1469459832355942
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwj86Yq7s4zOAhVKgiYKHacOAKMQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leeo.com
%2Fdesign-and-the-internet-of-things%2F&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNF53P6bO-02UhXnbT5hhQ8R8U58ZA&ust=1469460062384279
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjX3pGEtYzOAhVMOSYKHePgBpwQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fanimalia%2Fwp%2F2016%2F07%2F22%2Fso-it-has-come-to-this-an-app-that-ﬁnds-someone-to-pick-up-your-dogs-poop
%2F&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNHG2K6LGrWC1zrMv4z-3n4CaVVQUg&ust=1469460466094999
Pooper
Finds someone to pick up your dog’s shit
Labor exploitation

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiCyr3OsozOAhWCSCYKHVN6ASQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.wezzoo.com%2Foombrella&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNFW9f-w2Ufj03AtTfV8df-PvqDzeQ&ust=1469459832355942
Kars 4 Kids
Alerts when child is still in car.
Basically, we pay more attention to phones than children

(In)visibility
Solutionism
Sustainability
3 Critical Points

1. (In)visibility

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwj0i7uaqK3OAhXLmh4KHW0ICqIQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.amsvans.com%2Fblog%2Fbrain-computer-interface-can-help-those-with-disabilities
%2F&psig=AFQjCNGJ27gT6AJHgwlA3wKhlUobdbLzrQ&ust=1470590904970973
Invisible interfaces hold promise for certain applications, such as for those with differing abilities

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjjpejMpq3OAhXB9h4KHXy9DLkQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tbo.com
%2Flist%2Fmilitary-news%2Fid-summit-showcases-gadgets-that-can-ﬁnd-a-face-in-a-crowd-20150922%2F&psig=AFQjCNGOxGPz59JlKJAJK-
uSDaWdNN8agw&ust=1470590458149298
“The project of everyware is nothing
less than the colonization of everyday
life by information technology.”
Adam Greenﬁeld
Invisibility in this context is not a blending into the background for the sake of anonymity. It is quite the opposite; by making interfaces invisible,
corporations are able to extract even more information without needing to be explicit about it.
“colonization”
Google booths

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwj1gqTbga7OAhVEph4KHU5VDdcQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FAbandonedPorn%2Fcomments%2F1yp9zb%2Fpresidio_modelo_a_panopticon_prison_built_on_isla
%2F&psig=AFQjCNGO54qqob8EqRrCmkIMxO9o5NsIjw&ust=1470614891216141
“And this invisibility is a guarantee of
order.”
Michel Foucault
Among many other things, Foucault was an architectural theorist.
Panopticon
-Invisibility of those in power guarantees compliance
-Invisibility of fellow prisoners
-Ensures that power is always visible in abstract form, never veriﬁable

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjQ75_isbDOAhUKRCYKHRdfCUwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscience-
all.com%2Fdungeon.html&psig=AFQjCNG9ixoJC84vpKyQHXdjnaGyLJHp9w&ust=1470696554944679
Foucault argued that the Panopticon functions opposite to the dungeon, the previous method of imprisonment.
Dungeon = locking away, invisibility of the undesirable
Panopticon = publicizing the undesirable

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjTs9H7srDOAhVC4CYKHeLlBBUQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3AJail_Cell_NMCP.jpg&psig=AFQjCNEchMBiKY7KOruzE0rgbpZtfRwvRQ&ust=1470696877339456
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mycity-web.com%2Fkatarina-milovanovic
%2F&psig=AFQjCNGaGBkJl_INxbwuHMEeKK54v7JNJg&ust=1470697006430502
Control vs Discipline
Note the difference in visibility (child looking directly at cigarette)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjIx8mWsrDOAhUTfiYKHZZrCkUQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.imedicalapps.com%2F2012%2F11%2Freview-popular-myfitnesspal-app-fitness%2F&psig=AFQjCNG0146Y4fwq2n6cxt10vMzEWgb0-
A&ust=1470696660976102
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjZtsS0srDOAhVLQSYKHUdGBMYQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fhehaseyes.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fpedometer%2F&psig=AFQjCNFTSSgl6l9JC7Sn9kMR1TpyuuA7uw&ust=1470696726772968
Private and public
Policing is designed into the app

“Our society is one not of spectacle,
but of surveillance […] Behind the
great abstraction of exchange, there
continues the meticulous, concrete
training of useful forces […] The
individual is carefully fabricated in it,
according to a whole technique of
forces and bodies.”
Michel Foucault
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiE_NLm9-7OAhWDFR4KHb74D0wQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Falittlemoresauce.com%2Ftag%2Fmichel-foucault%2F&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNGUZ1HRP544i9vsvtd7IXRNjﬂ6tg&ust=1472845662732862
Techniques of self (dieting) serve discipline designed into our technologies. Submit to power systems we can’t see.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwivzYbbp7LOAhVBﬁYKHTlTA0AQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.oneonta.edu%2Ffaculty%2Ffarberas%2Farth%2FARTH214%2Fambassadors_home.html&psig=AFQjCNGLNPJb-
NlSff_JmaSaTtxkhjXVTw&ust=1470762563580062
We’re left with this sense that something exists in our environment that we cannot readily perceive.
Hans Holbein
“The Ambassadors”

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dodedans.com%2FEholbein-
ambassador.htm&psig=AFQjCNEjZd-x06Uk2891lA8ohuBvlRwrBw&ust=1470762637400146
In Holbein’s case, it was the image of death.

Gaze, Lacan. Anxiety felt when one feels they are being watched, objectiﬁed. Foucault also referred to the medical gaze.
Hieronymus Bosch
“The Conjurer”
Woman in green is looking at you.

Nest thermostat

2. Solutionism

Solutionism
The belief that all problems have easy,
often technological solutions.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjewsiK7u7OAhUGKx4KHTfKDBcQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuYHiE1GX1HI&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNGf09_OBMAyiNDdBVXvwim4U5FfBg&ust=1472843045586497
Evgeny Morozov
Silicon Valley. Does a disservice to the complexity of most issues.

“One could say that
nothing conceals the
emergency of the
unsustainable more
effectively that the
blinding and enduring
power of this faith in
technology as
salvation.”
Tony Fry
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjY8JXZ7u7OAhULpR4KHY_LAvgQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.sd.polyu.edu.hk%2Fen%2Fevent%2Finternational-speaker-series-tony-fry-lecture-workshop&bvm=bv.
131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNEqafTzdx24wCXx0YFhR5nWq0WVyw&ust=1472843183166135

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjy8syqx7fOAhVLﬁYKHXlMDFQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPetnet-SmartFeeder-Automatic-Feeding-iPhone%2Fdp
%2FB010QYTN2K&psig=AFQjCNE_Kl5_BFmxFvS3lTvEEj1lMpyuiQ&ust=1470942836174148
Pet net.
Feed pets remotely so you can stay at work.
Don’t rely on social relationships and burden your friends.
Problem is not about feeding pets, it’s about not being home enough

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiwn5aeybfOAhXQZiYKHTQQDS8QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnbiehler.com
%2F2012%2F10%2F02%2Ftech-tuesday-bluetooth-gloves-the-lifestraw-water-ﬁlter%2F&psig=AFQjCNFIkbCZHlKwH9S-zmbRFEQIzHk8Pg&ust=1470943214743833
Bluetooth glove.
Instead of not being on the phone while outside in cold weather, we designed around it.

Febreeze Home
Instead of cleaning your house, release scent with your phone.

Innovation for innovation’s sake.
The world as material to be hacked at the infrastructural level.
Wasted effort on inconsequential problems.

3. Sustainability

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjJwLnSnq3OAhVDHR4KHTLHAPcQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.sciﬁnow.co.uk%2Ftag%2Ffrankenstein%2F&psig=AFQjCNEaifph2LRa28w2E5CUWjUYXi3GAA&ust=1470588321714850
Dr Frankenstein’s sin was not that he manipulated nature, nor that he created a monster. It’s that he failed to love his monster (Latour).

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwit6uKBiMnOAhXHHB4KHfcwBZwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.general-
ebooks.com%2Fsearch%2Fmary-wollstonecraft-shelley-frankenstein-or-modern-
prometheus&psig=AFQjCNFQeWkSOMgBoFDemDfGPb2u4yioSQ&ust=1471544339829339

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjirNrIiMnOAhWIVh4KHbj2C78QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fxﬁlesposterproject.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F131256048400%2Fthe-post-modern-prometheus-episode-102-
instead&psig=AFQjCNHO048U-3WEt_kAIeg3qT_ecG4mXA&ust=1471544486378346

https://aeon.co/essays/innovation-is-overvalued-maintenance-often-matters-more?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f5f6abc3ac-
Daily_Newsletter_7_April_20164_4_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-f5f6abc3ac-68898121
We associate design with creation, but sometimes the best design decision are to not create, to maintain what we have.

“An activity is sustainable if it does not
damage the capacity of the landbase
to support its members.”
Derrick Jensen
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjvp7G78-7OAhWBJh4KHYZODYIQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.coach.me
%2Fderrick-jensen-interview%2F&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNETAFmz2oEOEYwMpWT_FKROYozIIQ&ust=1472844476561644
Because when we create, we need to think about sustainability. Historically, we are not good at that.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi7w6eGl8vOAhUBKB4KHfkqDeQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fadambemma.com%2F2013%2F04%2F21%2Fthe-proliferation-of-e-waste-in-africa-full-length-documentary
%2F&psig=AFQjCNEﬁSgDTYci7I7MAlBTS9_COktU6Q&ust=1471616988180381
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwimnoPq9O7OAhXGqx4KHetEBY4QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Ftopic%2Fewaste&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNENHNAFFEgC3-DUfurB9BVqMJx8ug&ust=1472844679082920
Our inability to love our monsters is fundamentally unsustainable

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjNw_zllsvOAhXIPB4KHeCnBK4QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgreatforest.com
%2Fsustainability101%2Fwaste-recycling-composting%2Fmaking-difference-transforming-africas-largest-e-waste-dump-model-recycling-center
%2F&psig=AFQjCNEﬁSgDTYci7I7MAlBTS9_COktU6Q&ust=1471616988180381
These are the people who have to deal with the waste products of bad design.
Bad design is not hard to use, but the feral, unloved monsters we have created.

Politics
Ecology
Conviviality
Being good little designers, you’re all asking “What can we do?”

Ecological Thinking
=
How We Dwell
Ecology = the study of dwelling
Not how we exist, but how we thrive and ﬂourish.
Architecture’s concern as well

Tim Morton says ecological thinking is the thinking of the trickster, and Prometheus is one of the most well known tricksters in history.
He used cunning intelligence to take power from the gods.
Designers and IAs are responsible to take back power from corporations and Silicon Valley

Be cunning
Resisting Connection
We’re caught up in an industrial system that demands participation, but our cunning intelligence can provide moments of resistance.

Be cunning
Be critical
Bright and shiny IoT products often begin with borderline slave labor and end in e-waste dumping grounds. Let’s get real about whether this is acceptable.

Be cunning
Be critical
Be political
We all know design is never neutral. Let’s stop acting like it is.

Be cunning
Be critical
Be political
Be co-operative
Fewer architects, more cooperation
Story of De Carlo’s steelworks project

“I choose the term 'conviviality' to designate the opposite
of industrial productivity. I intend it to mean autonomous
and creative intercourse among persons, and the
intercourse of persons with their environment; and this in
contrast with the conditioned response of persons to the
demands made upon them by others, and by a man-made
environment. I consider conviviality to be individual
freedom realized in personal interdependence and, as
such, an intrinsic ethical value. I believe that, in any society,
as conviviality is reduced below a certain level, no amount
of industrial productivity can effectively satisfy the needs it
creates among society's members.”
Ivan Illich
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwik0dORr_POAhWDMx4KHcjODEMQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fnagasenamenandre.blogspot.com%2F&psig=AFQjCNF8dtF9FVC7Jk1VjqF9yjAfMuwA2w&ust=1472997887148422

Thomas Wendt
srsg.co
thomas@srsg.co
@thomas_wendt

Architectural Critique of Connected Utopias

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