ENAC Seminar Series by D. Cristobal Olave
Event details
| Date | 29.04.2021 |
| Hour | 14:15 › 15:00 |
| Speaker | Diana Cristobal Olave |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
14:15 – 15:00 – D. Cristobal Olave
PhD Candidate at Princeton University / Barnard College, USA
Algorithmic Drawing: A Material History of Computer-Aided Techniques
In 1966, a computer centre was formed at the University of Madrid. Linking mathematics and computer science with disciplines as diverse as art, architecture, linguistics, and music, this institution became one of the first ones in Spain devoted to the application of computer techniques to academic research and education, rather than management. Working under the umbrella of what mathematician Ernesto García Camarero called the “algorithmization of creativity,” the participants of this institution saw in the new technology the means to resolve the difference between two terms that had hitherto been considered antagonistic: “algorithmia” and “creativity.” This presentation will draw on previously unexplored archival resources to show how the architects working at this institution formed interdisciplinary alliances by way of a new inscription practice that I call algorithmic drawing. Architects used these abstract structures of interconnected nodes and links to transcribe private and idiosyncratic design processes into step by step visible sequences, seemingly unifying architecture with a wide range of fields. They called this transcription process “externalization,” and valorized it as a moral and democratic virtue (and obligation) that could transform architecture into a generalizable and teachable “method.” Thinking along the lines of media theory and architecture techniques, this research offers an alternative theoretical approach to current historiographies, framed around immaterial and frictionless readings of “data” and “digital” procedures. Alternatively, this presentation examines the reciprocal entanglements between the material and the immaterial, the digital and the analogue. It follows paper trails, sketches, computer rooms and software—and its associated habits and rituals—through the technique of the algorithmic drawing.
Short bio:
Diana Cristobal Olave is a PhD candidate at Princeton University, where she is pursuing a joint degree in History and Theory of Architecture and the Council of the Humanities. Her research interests are situated at the intersection of architecture, technology, science, and politics, with a special focus on histories and practices of computing and information visualization. In her dissertation, she theorizes the rise of algorithms during the fascist regimes that ruled over Spain and Portugal in the 1960s and 1970s, and traces its applications and impacts in modern architecture and urban design. Her work has been published in Contour Journal, NNJ, Bitacora, Design Issues, and Dialectic., and has been supported by grants from PIIRS, IHUM, and Princeton University. She holds architecture master degrees from Columbia University (GSAAP), at New York, and the Polytechnic School of Barcelona (ETSAB). She has taught in a number of schools of architecture, including Barnard College, Columbia University, Princeton, Pratt Institute, and NJIT.
PhD Candidate at Princeton University / Barnard College, USA
Algorithmic Drawing: A Material History of Computer-Aided Techniques
In 1966, a computer centre was formed at the University of Madrid. Linking mathematics and computer science with disciplines as diverse as art, architecture, linguistics, and music, this institution became one of the first ones in Spain devoted to the application of computer techniques to academic research and education, rather than management. Working under the umbrella of what mathematician Ernesto García Camarero called the “algorithmization of creativity,” the participants of this institution saw in the new technology the means to resolve the difference between two terms that had hitherto been considered antagonistic: “algorithmia” and “creativity.” This presentation will draw on previously unexplored archival resources to show how the architects working at this institution formed interdisciplinary alliances by way of a new inscription practice that I call algorithmic drawing. Architects used these abstract structures of interconnected nodes and links to transcribe private and idiosyncratic design processes into step by step visible sequences, seemingly unifying architecture with a wide range of fields. They called this transcription process “externalization,” and valorized it as a moral and democratic virtue (and obligation) that could transform architecture into a generalizable and teachable “method.” Thinking along the lines of media theory and architecture techniques, this research offers an alternative theoretical approach to current historiographies, framed around immaterial and frictionless readings of “data” and “digital” procedures. Alternatively, this presentation examines the reciprocal entanglements between the material and the immaterial, the digital and the analogue. It follows paper trails, sketches, computer rooms and software—and its associated habits and rituals—through the technique of the algorithmic drawing.
Short bio:
Diana Cristobal Olave is a PhD candidate at Princeton University, where she is pursuing a joint degree in History and Theory of Architecture and the Council of the Humanities. Her research interests are situated at the intersection of architecture, technology, science, and politics, with a special focus on histories and practices of computing and information visualization. In her dissertation, she theorizes the rise of algorithms during the fascist regimes that ruled over Spain and Portugal in the 1960s and 1970s, and traces its applications and impacts in modern architecture and urban design. Her work has been published in Contour Journal, NNJ, Bitacora, Design Issues, and Dialectic., and has been supported by grants from PIIRS, IHUM, and Princeton University. She holds architecture master degrees from Columbia University (GSAAP), at New York, and the Polytechnic School of Barcelona (ETSAB). She has taught in a number of schools of architecture, including Barnard College, Columbia University, Princeton, Pratt Institute, and NJIT.
Practical information
- General public
- Invitation required
- This event is internal
Organizer
- ENAC
Contact
- Cristina Perez