BUILDING ON TRANSIENCE: TOLERANCE AND THE SUBJECTIVE DIMENSIONS OF TECHNOLOGY

Taylor, WM

BUILDING ON TRANSIENCE: TOLERANCE AND THE SUBJECTIVE DIMENSIONS OF TECHNOLOGY

Taylor, WM

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Publication Type:: Article
Issue Date:: 2007-10-05T02:19:37Z

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Taylor, WM
dc.date.accessioned	2007-10-05T02:19:37Z
dc.date.accessioned	2012-12-15T02:35:05Z
dc.date.available	2007-10-05T02:19:37Z
dc.date.available	2012-12-15T02:35:05Z
dc.date.issued	2007-10-05T02:19:37Z
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/19674
dc.description.abstract	Technology acquires a provocative charge in different ways, one arising from observations of ‘transience’ in the built environment, particularly of the life and performance of buildings over time, their conception and construction, use and performance, inevitable failure or decay. Technological systems can be particularly thought provoking when human expectations and actions are implicated in the performance of buildings - which, of course, is always. This paper discusses how building technology (its conception, operation and valuation) is mediated by an ethical imperative aimed at managing change and the uncertainties it poses and from which an understanding of identity, character and values may be derived. The concept of operational ‘tolerance’ draws our attention to the capacity of building technologies to articulate change and perform according to varied physical and aesthetic expectations. Expectations might be said to include those for a certain kind of structural soundness and integrity or visual clarity. A failure to fulfil these serves to draw our attention yet further to particular environmental and even social circumstances which characterise, inhibit or enhance the operation of architectural medium – like unstable soils, pervious or defective building materials, poor workmanship or even extremes of weather and neglect. The concept of tolerance is related to the governance and normalisation of habitable space in modern times though has precursors in other times and varied modes of construction. Here it is cast as a useful analytical tool for understanding transience and the built environment in terms of technology and for describing the patterns of sensibility and self-awareness arising from an experience of technological systems.	en
dc.format.extent	39873 bytes
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.relation.replaces	http://hdl.handle.net/2100/498
dc.subject	operational tolerance	en
dc.subject	technological transfer	en
dc.subject	identity	en
dc.subject	values	en
dc.subject	tolerance	en
dc.subject	transience	en
dc.subject	character	en
dc.title	BUILDING ON TRANSIENCE: TOLERANCE AND THE SUBJECTIVE DIMENSIONS OF TECHNOLOGY	en
dc.type	Article	en
utslib.copyright.status	open_access

Abstract:

Technology acquires a provocative charge in different ways, one arising from observations of ‘transience’ in the built environment, particularly of the life and performance of buildings over time, their conception and construction, use and performance, inevitable failure or decay. Technological systems can be particularly thought provoking when human expectations and actions are implicated in the performance of buildings - which, of course, is always. This paper discusses how building technology (its conception, operation and valuation) is mediated by an ethical imperative aimed at managing change and the uncertainties it poses and from which an understanding of identity, character and values may be derived. The concept of operational ‘tolerance’ draws our attention to the capacity of building technologies to articulate change and perform according to varied physical and aesthetic expectations. Expectations might be said to include those for a certain kind of structural soundness and integrity or visual clarity. A failure to fulfil these serves to draw our attention yet further to particular environmental and even social circumstances which characterise, inhibit or enhance the operation of architectural medium – like unstable soils, pervious or defective building materials, poor workmanship or even extremes of weather and neglect. The concept of tolerance is related to the governance and normalisation of habitable space in modern times though has precursors in other times and varied modes of construction. Here it is cast as a useful analytical tool for understanding transience and the built environment in terms of technology and for describing the patterns of sensibility and self-awareness arising from an experience of technological systems.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/19674