009 Research: Carlo Ratti - Architecture that Senses & Responds

I had the fortunate opportunity in attending a talk given by Carlo Ratti back in January in Stuttgart, at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. It was intriguing how, to me, he (re)introduced what I (we) would term as "interactive" achitecture in his talk. In its true sense of word, interactive, he discussed about architecture that are sense-able and responsive to the way human beings use a certain element. It is not about architecture of the physical four walls but about the architecture of interaction between the elements of a structure (note that I did not mention building), and then maximise the usage of those elements to interact with everyday human beings.

It is a bit more complex to explain to a layman what this "type" of architecture is because there are various factors being engaged in this sort of architecture, mainly the transition between the digital world to the physical world. But heavy usage of technology is the way forward in any industry for any nation, Australia included. Perhaps, think about simplifying the usage of technology so that it is embedded into the way the Australians live their lives? After-all, people today are alreaday constantly connected to the digital world, so taking advantage of this "characteristic" could boost a better image for Australia as a nation, what with the upcoming completion of the National Broadband Network. Therefore, for a hypothetical Australian Capital, it is important that I take this digital element in consideration when proposing the vision & strategy for "The Place to Be" proposal.

~ H