complexity, design, q-analysis, science, life & everything · complexity, design, q-analysis,...

Complexity, Design, Q-analysis,

Science, Life & Everythingin ten minutes

Jeffrey Johnson

Department of Design and Innovation

The Open University - UK

CUPUM – AHRB/EPSRC – ECiD Design out of Complexity UCL 2nd July 2005

Complexity, Design, Q-analysis, Science, Life & Everything in Ten Minutes

Complexity

Complexity – nobody knows what it is!

but everyone knows about

self-organising systems

evolutionary & cooperative processes

emergence

networks & distributed control

scaling effects

but everyone knows about

self-organising systems

evolutionary & cooperative processes

emergence

networks & distributed control

scaling effects

Design

Design – everybody knows what that is!

the act of working out the form of something (as by making a sketch or outline or plan);

www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn2.1

Design is everywhere – and that’s why looking for a definition may not help you to grasp what it is

Why is CAD lousy for sketching & early stages of design?

computer representation not rich enough!

geometry and arithmetic are great

… but design uses other constructs

geometry and arithmetic are great

… but design uses other constructs

how to get these inside computer?

Design is about relationships between things

Set of partsCUPUM – AHRB/EPSRC – ECiD Design out of Complexity UCL 2nd July 2005

Set of parts Relations between themCUPUM – AHRB/EPSRC – ECiD Design out of Complexity UCL 2nd July 2005

Set of parts Relations between themas a Graph

… and emergence from assembling things

Graphs are not rich enough

3 binary relations ≠ one 3-ary relation

From Links to Multidimensional Polyhedra

University of Lancaster - Seminar 21st April 2004Binary relation 3-ary relation 4-ary relation

1-simplex 2-simplex 3-simplex 4-simplex

2-vertices 3-vertices 4-vertices 5-vertices

The generality is n-ary relations – not just links

Set of parts Relations between them asa Graph

Set of parts Relations between them asa Graph Simplicial Complex

Polyhedral Connectivity

0- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

2- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

2- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

2- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

2- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

2- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

2- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

2- near polyhedra

1- near polyhedra

0- near polyhedra

2- near polyhedra

Polyhedra can be q-connected

through shared q-faces

e.g. 1-connected components

through shared faces

1-connected components

Q-analysis: listing q-components

The Bull The Dog The Ship The Royal Oak

Polyhedral Connectivity & q-transmission

My dog’s got

No nose

How does he smell ?

My dog’s got

No nose

How does he smell ?

My dog’s got

No nose

How does he smell ?

My dog’s got

No nose

How does he smell ?

My dog’s got

No nose

How does he smell ?

The joke is 1-transmitted through the backcloth

Can design connected structures for transmission

Relations and Incidence Matrices

International Workshop on Exploring Complexity in Collaborative Design and Solutions Brunel University 23-24 June 2005

Transmission of jobs between zones

N-ary relations and emergence

Blocks assembled to make an arch

University of Lancaster - Seminar 21st April 2004CUPUM – AHRB/EPSRC – ECiD Design out of Complexity UCL 2nd July 2005

Design assembles wholes from parts

University of Lancaster - Seminar 21st April 2004

Arch Level N+1

assemble

block-1 block-2 block-3

assembly relation

Level N

creating a multi-level hierarchy

Design assembles wholes from parts

Hierarchical Cones

Level N+1

Level N

The intermediate word problem“The System”

The intermediate word problem

Design as the process of building an ontology

Traffic on the hierarchical backcloth

Computers in Urban Planning and Urban Management UCL 29-June – 1 July 2005

Unpacking functions to structure

System dynamics as traffic on a fixed multilevel backcloth

System time and System Events

Planning involves changing relations

… as well as trying to manage the traffic

Relational dynamics working up a design

Designers as scientists

If a designer creates a completely new system, they are the sole possessors of knowledge about that system.

The design process involves building a language and a science of the synthetic system.

Involves hypotheses, deduction, prediction, experiments, testing hypothesis.

Conclusions

Everything is multi-dimensional

Conclusions

Need multi-dimensional Q-analysis - not just graphs

Conclusions

Design involves building multi-level languages

Conclusions

Complexity - the science of artificial systems

Conclusions

Designers - heroes of the complexity revolution

Conclusions

Designers - heroes of the complexity revolution

That’s Life …

complexity, design, q-analysis, science, life & everything · complexity, design, q-analysis,...

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