From: Stephen Lauf
To: design-l@lists.psu.edu
Subject: Re: architecture in cyberspace?
Date: Date: 1999.09.11 15:55
[I have interspersed my replies within bc's text. I hope that's ok with you, Brian.]
Lauf:
Those that view or want to make cyberspace and the real world the same are really only defeating the "real" nature of cyberspace.
bc:
i don't know if i am misinterpreting this statement steve, but i have to disgree if you mean that architecture should not try to make the two realms, actual and virtual, fluid with one another.
Lauf:
I doubt you are misinterpreting my statement, and your disagreement is just that. Can you explain why architecture should make the actual and virtual realm fluid? Where exactly does this imperative come from?
bc:
i think the case can be made, like you noted with e-bay, that there is a shared architectural "program" that could exist in both realms, such as an offline gallery space being extended in cyberspace via an online gallery space.
Lauf:
as I noted yesterday at electricity-l, I once owned and operated an art gallery, and, quite frankly, because of cyberplaces like ebay (and quondam for that matter), there really is no more need for me to have a physical gallery space in a certain part of town and open a slated number of hours during the day. Moreover, if I wanted to have an art exhibit reception (where incidentally many of the traditional sales occur), I'd simple have it in my house.
bc:
i am working on a definition of electromagnetic architecture which seeks to unify these realms, contra to what you state, as i think the two realms need to be better (and more rationally) connected.
Lauf:
if my opinion of cyberspace as something distinctly other than real space holds validity and at the same time is contrary to your opinion of cyberspace and its relationship to architecture, then part of your thesis on electromagnetic architecture might have to clearly demonstrate what is gained by connecting the real and the virtual and then specifically address how that gain is greater than the loss of the virtual's otherness. Personally, at this point at least I am not alone, I think there is more to be gained from exploring and capitalizing upon cyberspace's otherness.
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