pg.1

Behavioral URBANISMINVESTIGATING emergence of bottom-UP

and top-down organizational patterns of mass displacement through swarm intelligence theory

pg.3

INTRODUCTION

We have come to understand our urban establishments as vessels of time, history, culture,

and religion. These vessels crafted from the very clay of our patrimony. The sedentarization of our

nomadic ancestors ingrained societies to territories giving rise to a dualism of architecture and

landscape. The characteristics defining urbanity and ecology merge and yield the artifacts of our

cities, appraising context as the kiln of development. Human identity is coded into the depths of

our territory, scripting the lines of anthropology and geography. The State thrives until an external

force is introduced, severing the ties between man and land. Whatever force it may be, a diaspora

begins displacing those that once had place.

pg.5

There is an immense amount of studies concerning anthropological activity trying to

makes sense of human behavior. We understand ourselves further through the interrogation

of our surroundings whether it be geological, biological, and climatological; both artificial and

natural. Architecture and urbanism are sometimes understood as the byproduct of human

activity resulting from the processes and mechanisms of intelligence. The built environment is

studied from the historical perspective of linear progression understood through generalized

ascriptions of styles, movements, and eras. What if built form of collective behavior is viewed

as the active impetus for which human intelligence is scripted? Can human algorithms

be extrapolated from urban and infrastructural patterns? Is human behavior driven by the

architecture in which it is housed, or does state agenda script the architecture in which it

erects?

Architecture has always been studied for its cultural and historic significance. What

survives of the built environment usually manifests into cultural symbols or platforms of

social critique. The proposed investigation goes beyond that of social history to frame

an investigation of human patterns and behaviors in connection to classifications of

urban artifacts. The intention is to surface a new value to architecture as more than just a

physical representation of a perceived zeitgeist but rather a spatial counterpart of a codified

intelligence.

pg.7

Territorialization:

We must first consider how cities emerge and the conditions in which they continue

to thrive in which possibilities for displacement occur giving opportunity for distinct

organizations of urban configurations to emerge. According to Deleuze and Guattari, the

town exists as a function of circulation and through flow, a sort of “transconsistency”, a

network fundamentally maintains contact between towns. For this network of territorialiation

to exist, it is backed by a degree of deterritorialization as particles, enter and exit exhibiting

a polarization. And from what they describe as the state thrives as an intraconsistency

in which the interaction of particles produces a holistic resonance of what can consist of

“geographic, ethnic, linguistic, moral, economic, or technological. According to the theorists,

the resonance only occurs within the confines of each state and has no resonance across

multiplicities of state. In other words the horizontal network of towns within a state is not

comparable to the multiplicity of states as the State is an internal circuit or an isolated zone

within the larger framework.

Such rationalization of the State and its collective mechanisms relies on hypothetical

scenario in which internal circuits remain isolated, natural and artificial borders survive,

and territory continues as stratified object. If towns are interpreted as a melodic line and

the States as the harmonic cross section, how does an external force of discord affect

stratification of the State? How does the object of territory thrive as a catalyst of measurable

force disrupts the apparatus of the State?

pg.9

In these moments of discord, an erraticism ensues in which the members of town and the

State experience an urban displacement, or a mass exodus, circuits disrupt, natural and artificial

borders fade, and the object of territory dissolves. In these crucial moments, there is great

opportunity for the emergence of radical and unprecedented stratification or unforeseen resonance.

Circuits remap, borders shift, and materials amalgamate forming unorthodox hierarchies of town

and state. If one were to sustain the Deleuzo-Guattarian nomenclature, this phenomenon would

be called trans-erraticism or intra-erraticism. Trans-erraticism or intra-erraticism is the wandering of

a populace from town to town or within a state. Nonetheless, this provides a prime opportunity for

which emergence can occur.

According to Belgian cyberneticist Francis Heylighen, emergence, as a concept in systems

theory, denotes the principle that “the global properties defining higher order systems or “wholes”

can not be reduced to the properties of the lower order subsystems or “parts”. Michael Weistock

describes emergence as a result of systems of the world, whether of civilization, ecology, or

climate, evolving close to “critical thresholds of stability”. Through the collapse of systems of

civilization, a dispersal of people and mass migration begins. From the reduction of assemblies to

simpler forms, reorganization and reordering allows for an emergent complexity of self-organized

cities, people, systems, etc.

“All systems of the world, in nature and in civilization, have tended to evolve until they are posed close to the critical threshold of stability. The outcomes of the collapse and reorganization of the systems of civilization have been the complete loss of social order and dispersal of the people by famine, disease, abandonment of cities and mass mi-gration; a simplification into smaller and simpler assemblies or a reorganization to a lower level of complexity; and the reordering of the cities, people, and subsidiary systems into a more complex system with a higher flow of energy and information. The world is within the horizon of sys-temic change that will cascade through all the systems of nature and civilization, and new forms will emerge.”

THE ARCHITECTURE OF EMERGENCEMICHAEL WEINSTOCK

pg.11

Self-organization (Autopoiesis)

There might be an inherent value to the emergence of complex systems from self-

organized beginnings. Although self-organization can be perceived as intrinsically primitive

or only evident in the underdeveloped more rudimentary systems found, it is the prime

principle in which the evolution of complex systems can be understood. Heylighen frames

the question as “How can a property become emergent?” rather than “How can a property

be emergent?”. Essentially, we must look at where ‘wholes’ or “systems” come from. Is

commonly understood that the natural interaction of elements within a system produce

multiple assemblies which then undergo a natural selection process which in turn are used

to build up more complex assemblies of higher order and level. Weinstock ascribes this

metabolic process to the collective behavior or group intelligence. For example, organisms

such as bees individually execute a common action, which results in interactions producing

a “coherent behavior” of the whole. The production of built artifacts, such as nests or hives

do not result from an imposing central intelligence.

pg.13

Allopoiesis

When considering what may contrast the idea of self-organization or autopoiesis of

complex system, the term “allopoiesis” provides the basis for which such a duality can be

drawn. To be “allopoietic” would mean to be produced by an external system other than the

system itself. Essentially, systems are produced through an industrial, factory, or assembly line

methodology. When

In his essay, “Manmade Tabula Rasa”, Adriaan Geuze argues urban planning is irrelevant

to the essence of urban development, that rather the first step of colonization or the influx

of a populace to a tabula rasa of synthesizes nature is a “self-guiding process” in which the

founding of cities such as Manhattan and Paris can be attributed to. Rem Koolhaas criticizes

urban sprawl in his essay “Pearl River Delta” in which amalgamations of typologies in the

built environment are accelerating at unstable rates. Shenzhen, a fishing village in 1980, has

exploded into metropolis of 15 million people. This prototyped megacity is driven by pure

economic activity or quantities, rather than by qualities that we value in cities such as culture

and history. Koolhaas sheds light on the nature of architectural production and programmatic

fulfillment in such parasitic cities, in which building are rebuilt before completion and program is

changed before use. Understanding the current trends of our present day cities, we can realize

the inherent dangers of urban displacement and the resultant urban concentration driven by

opportunity and economy.

As the State seeks to fulfill the demands of urban density while concurrently unleashing

economic potential, mutations occur within the urban fabric that if anything provides valuable

lessons for future models. Heylighen discusses the formation of assemblies and the nature of

stability in evolution of complexity. Usually, assemblies of sufficient stability can only undergo

“It has been useful to look at the behavior of adaptive systems in terms of the concepts of feedback and ho-meostasis, and to analyze adaptiveness in terms of the theory of selective information. The ideas of feedback and information provide a frame of reference for viewing a wide range of situations, just as do the ideas of evolution, of relativism, of axiomatic method, and of operationalism.”

THE ARCHITECTURE OF COMPLEXITYHERBET A. SIMON

pg.15

further evolution for the formation of higher ordered systems. However, he recognizes a scenario

in which stable assemblies “slave” lower-leveled unstable assemblies producing more stable

configurations. Thus the failed emergence of complexities found in cities such as Shenzhen can

be attributed to a fast-forwarded, hyper development with no stable worthwhile emergence. As

Koolhaas states, at the time of the article, nothing of the built environment is older than 8 years.

How can anything contributing to the urban conditions of a highly invested-in, capital-intensive city

be of any substance when no “variation-and-selection” model of evolution. According to Herbert

Simon in his article, The Architecture of Complexity of 1962, there is great value in the homeostatic

feedback loop models for the adaptiveness of systems. The existing guess-and-check attitude of

the urban planners and developers can no longer be relied on in the rapid transformation of cities.

The projected urbanization of our future populations leaves no room for error. Is there a way in

which the characteristics of successful developments can be extrapolated and scripted into the

beginnings of nascent urban models?

pg.17

Historical Analysis

Pure economic pursuit doesn’t necessary equate to a failed prototypical utopian model

of urbanism and architecture. Roughly 700 kilometers away from Shenzhen lies Sandu’ao, a

vast aquacultural community entirely floating on the sea. Located in the Fuijian Providence,

the self-sustaining village was established on the economy of fishing and ocean farming.

The vast network of cages, platforms, houses, and nets are built with salvaged pontoons,

bamboo, wood, wire, and plastic. Located in in the Sandu Bay, the infrastructure of the

villages is safe from any tidal wave action, floating to the changes in sea level. Seasonal

typhoon cause minimal damage on the structures allowing farmers to quickly repair and

continue on with their trade. Throughout the years, farmers developed a resilient attitude

towards natural forces by expecting and mitigating seasonal damage.

The most cultivated species is the abalone, a very rich and desirable delicacy in the

global market. Seaweed and kelp are grown on strung buoys that are harvested to feed the

abalone. Daily lives of the aquaculturalists are spent entirely on the bay creating an extreme

example of a work-live scenario. Purely driven by opportunity, life of farmers is completely

designed around their aquacultural interests. Real estate of cage locations is contingent on

factors such current strength, water depth, or coastal proximity. Expansion of the network

follows the natural forms of the land and sea. Although the species harvested face issues of

overfishing, poaching, and interbreeding, farmers have learned to mitigate damage through

collective methods.

To contrast the favorable conditions found in the unique example of Sandu Bay, we

must look at an urban of similar region with unfavorable developments. Tin Shui Wai, known

as The City of Sadness, began development in 1987 on 220 hectares of land. Currently,

pg.19

270,000 people live in the housing developments. The complex is notorious for the incidents

that occur there, which include domestic violence, mental illness, suicide, and murder. This

collective deterioration of social health has been ascribed to the lack of social services and

resources. However, the most daunting issue of the development is the failed planning and

design that was worsened by the expedited development process.

Geopolitical activity can also bring about very informative urban models that have

developed from a scenario of urban displacement. When considering the Palestinian-Israeli

Conflict, there are at least two scenarios of mass exodus with counterpart developments.

These include the influx of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and the concentration of

Palestinian refugees in Gaza City. According to recent New York Times article, the collective

identity of Palestinian refugees settled on the idea that eventual return to their homeland

shaped the design of public space. The scarcity of amenities, parks, and public squares

stems from a “self-deprivation” strategy garnered early on as means of hope for the right

of return and a denial of permanence. However, in recent years public spaces began to

emerge throughout refugee camps in form of stadiums, squares, and parks through various

revitalization initiatives. Alessandro Petti, an Italian architect collaborating on the design of

the newly established spaces, describes an emergent neither-public-nor-private quality as an

“unformulated urbanism” especially as “citizenship in a normal city is represented by public

space.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Settlements, designed to house the influx of Jewish settlers from

all over the world, are also created a distinct in-between scenario. The Israeli Pavilion for

the 2014 Biennale, titled URBURB SPRAWL, is a critique on failed plans for settlements

throughout Israel and into the West Bank. The installation featured beds of sand inscribed

pg.21

with various networks of settlement maps in shifting scales. The “Sharon Plan” was initially

envisioned by Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, as a grid of towns laid out across the

entire country of Israel. The dangerous sprawl gave birth to a very distinct urban condition of that

between an urban and suburban one.

sandu bay, fujian, china

pg.23Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong, China

israeli settlements, pisgat ze’ev, jerusalem

pg.25jabaliyah camps, gaza city, gaza

pg.27

SWARM BEHAVIOR

A large portion of investigation will rely on the discipline of swarm intelligence as a means

of generating parallels between architecture and human behavior. Geopolitical precedents will be

studied from architectural and territorial planning of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and

various models in China.

The approach to these topics stem from an interrogation of architecture and urbanism from

a behavioral standpoint. The discipline of swarm intelligence has been applied to many fields. My

approach makes use of this discipline to garner a larger understanding of architecture in relation to

human behavior.

SWARM BEHAVIOR 1: ADHERE

pg.29

SWARM BEHAVIOR 1: ALIGN

SWARM BEHAVIOR 1: CHASE

pg.31

SWARM BEHAVIOR 1: REPULSE

SWARM BEHAVIOR: COMBINATION 1

pg.33

SWARM BEHAVIOR: COMBINATION 2

pg.35

Works Cited

“The Architecture Of Complexity Herbert A Simon.” Journal Articles in PDF RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.

Crary, Jonathan, Michel Feher, Hal Foster, and Sanford Kwinter. Zone 1/2. New York: Urzone, 1988. Print.

Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minne-apolis: U of Minnesota, 1987. Print.

Kimmelman, Michael. “Refugees Reshape Their Camp, at the Risk of Feeling at Home.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.

Heylighen F. (1989): “Self-Organization, Emergence and the Architecture of Complexity”, in: Proceedings of the 1st European Conference on System Science , (AFCET, Paris), p. 23-32.