In four weeks, my colleague, Jeremy Altman and I will pack our bags as inaugural American Institute of Architects (AIA) Knowledge Scholar representatives. As each day passes I am increasingly excited as we near departure for the Crafting the Future conference. Landing in Tokyo we’ll hear about rebuilding efforts after the March 2011 devastating earthquake and tsunami in Northern Japan. This is a unique moment to hear from an architectural perspective the discussions of how a country rich with history, tradition, and landscape thinks about dwelling.
Learning about the political, cultural, and physical context of Japan, coupled with carefully chosen tours will guarantee an avalanche of experiences. How should information be captured and curated so that these experiences can be accessible to ourselves and others in the future? My proposal for capturing knowledge at this conference is to ask the simple question - "How is [IT] done well?" After discussions with my mentor, Professor Dick Williams, FAIA we realized that ‘how things are done’, might render a top ten list, but a better question would be - ‘how are things done well’? Well is the adverb that modifies how things are done, and changes our experiences and observations into design problems.
An example question might be: “How is [the pedestrian scale] Done Well?” We’d like to capture words, sketches, details, photographs, etc to effectively communicate the thoughts of what we’re learning and experiencing. In Japan, we will use pen and paper to record our thoughts. We’re going to augment these analog technologies with digital tools to allow for asynchronous sharing. Organizing this information can enable us to reflect on how this opportunity has been meaningful to our selves, our architectural practices, and future constructions.
I appreciate the AIA for bringing like minded people together to share experiences and insights. In my work with the AIA Arizona Associates and Young Architects (YA), we have used social media tools and techniques to creatively connect with each other; extending physical discussions to a digital community that spills back into the physical spaces. I hope to continue this pattern of sharing through AIA events to foster thought leaders for the built environment.
The opportunity to be a Master’s student at the School of Information at UC Berkeley, has exposed me to various new and traditional communication mediums. In thinking about the conference as an information ecosystem, varied familiarity as users of social media can be a catalyst to organize knowledge around materiality, constructibility, and modularity. Insights and connections will spark at this conference. As we travel to various traditional and modern buildings, museums, and developments and meet architects and clients, we will gain a further understanding into the design process and methodologies of crafting.
I can’t even begin to wrap my head around experiencing Kengo Kuma’s GC Prostho Museum Research Centre, that used traditional Japanese toy construction and local skilled craftsmen to construct 6,000 pieces of cypress wood without a single nail or metal fitting. During the same day we will be taken to Meiji-mura (Meiji Village) an open-air museum, preserving and exhibiting Japanese architecture of various periods3.
From the organized traditional Japanese banquets to finding our own dinners and exploring the human scale of Tokyo neighborhoods -- this six-day conference and tour will fly by quickly. Our blogs, tweets, foursquare tips, and flickr photo feeds might inspire our friends, colleagues, classmates, family, and urban enthusiasts to join in on the dialogue of craft, regionalism, modernism and dwelling.
Knowledge Capture and Delivery proposal