SPSRG #1

Dear co-workers and readers,

A few days ago i re-read the text "Hamnstadens flöden" by Karl Palmås (swedish only), which once again caught my attention since it seems to combine my approaches to life in general with how I approach architecture and cities. Simply it's about flow and emergence, rather than the creation of static stuctures.

Even though things (buildings for example) seems static, they are always a part of a bigger flux, it's just a question of the (time) frame and focus. In addition to "Hamnstadens flöden", I read a talk, also by Karl Palmås, about an updated perception of Koyaanisqatsi, Godfrey Reggio's masterpiece from 1982. At first seen Palmås writes, Koyaanisqatsi was a critique of our way to civilize mother earth. However, seen today Koyaanisqatsi is much more of an understanding of how our civilization emerges.



After those readings, I decided to look closer on Palmås sources and references, and two names caught my attention: Manuel De Landa and Steven Berlin Johnson.

For those intersted, co-writers or readers, I have compiled a reading list, and you are welcome to join SPSRG #1 (South Pole Station Reading Group #1) by reading one or more of these books within the upcoming 6 months (or so).

Steven Berlin Johnson - Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software (2001)
Steven Berlin Johnson - The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World (2006)
Manuel De Landa - A New Philosophy of Society (2006)
Manuel De Landa - A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History (1997)
Manuel De Landa - Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy (2002)
Manuel De Landa - War in the Age of Intelligent Machines (1991)

As we carry on our readings, situations for discussion will surely emerge.