[an unnamed Blog]

Emotions and Infrastructure

Mueller — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:57:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, the Design & Emotion conference adjourned at the IIT in Chicago (http://www.id.iit.edu/de2010/). Without doubt, buildings can evoke emotions. Nevertheless, infrastructure and emotions are two terms commonly not strongly associated with each other.

Here is an example of emotions coming to a boil over a long running project that just entered its "hot" (construction) phase:

While recently passing through Stuttgart, Germany, I noticed extraordinary activity at the Stuttgart main train station. I had been aware of the Stuttgart 21 train station revamp and the winning design competition entry a decade or so ago by Ingenhoven Architects (http://www.ingenhovenarchitects.com/). Since then I have been waiting to experience this facinating, daylight-filled, under ground train station when visiting Stuttgart, at some points in time wondering whether I had confused locations. The project intended to change the above ground terminus into an under ground pass-through station, thus reducing the surface area occupied by train tracks, opening developing opportunity on rail brownfield sites close to Stuttgart's downtown, and removing the strong boundary train tracks (like rivers) form between neighborhoods or boroughs.

The activities that I observed during my visit to Stuttgart indicated tensions, with demolition of part of the old train station under way under police protection, and protesters gathered around, discussing, occasionally yelling at each other. Obviously, emotions ran high. Reading up about this project, emotions have been running high ever since the first stones were torn off the old building. The construction site had developed into some well-guarded enclave on the perimeter of Stuttgart's old downtown core.

There are many issues that appear to percolate to the top, even if triggered by the start of the demolition as attention getter. Certainly, the visible, audible impact of demolition brought this construction project to people's attention who before may have missed a decade of opportunities to join the discussion or to voice opposing arguments. This seems to have changed due to obvious evidence. Now the vocal, active opposition has bubbled up even to German Chancellor Merkel's attention.

The parties on the two opposing sides were not able to talk with each other and now are working through a mediator. The party on one side appears to be comprised of those who made and supported the decision over many years. The project proponents finally see their project in the execution phase, which many infrastructure professionals know is very unresponsive to change. There are many reasons, with the obvious one that parts of a building have been destroyed and something will have to happen here; another reason comprising all the commitments made, contracts signed, that are difficult or impossible to unravel, definitely not without economic damage, in this case potentially even money spent without any return. The opposing party collects those, who may be opposed to change in general or just to the destruction of (in Stuttgart anyway) rare pre-WW II building substance in particular, and/or those who protest the expenditure of public money that might be better spent elsewhere.

In terms of demolition, the project will leave intact the main wing of the train station and its landmark tower which is visible along the main pedestrian street, the Königsstraße. (Explore it on Bing Maps.) Ironically, the historic value of the Stuttgart train station is ambivalent at best: it later earned its main architect Paul Bonatz approval of his architectural style by the Third Reich, qualifying him to continue to practice and opening his access to public commissions (Wikipedia). A recent book examines this ambivalence of Paul Bonatz's role in architectural history.

Most people will agree with the necessity to improve public (mass) transit to reduce dependency on cars and short-distance air travel. In the case of this project, there is a compelling architectural design on one side and on the other side plausible economic arguments that the project funds could benefit other parts of the rail system much more effectively (see the Umweltbundesamt study).

With all parliamentary (democratic) having failed to further delay or prevent the project, it seems not so surprising that commencement of demolition activities elicited such vocal, visible, and determined protests. It will be interesting to see how this situation gets resolved and whether or how this resolution will impact the project.

Selected additional information (some only in German):

"Pro"
Stuttgart Baut
German Ministry for Traffic, Construction, and Urban Development
German Rail
Project Website for High Speed Rail Stuttgart - Neu-Ulm

"Contra"
Kopfbahnhof 21 (K21) - Terminus 21
Umweltbundesamt "Schienennetz 2025/2030" - Federal Environmental Agency "Railsystem 2025/2030"

German Press
Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk (SWR)
Süddeutsche Zeitung - 10/10/2010
Spiegel - 10/01/2010

International Observations
UK Guardian
Turkish Forum
Russian RIANOVOSTI

3rd Extension

Mueller — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:35:00 GMT

OK, here it goes again: another rebooking. This time it went fast a few minutes altogether.

Even though the news reported about one airline flying to Frankfurt tonight, the airline that holds my ticket rescheduled me to travel on Thursday, April 22nd. Perhaps time to take bets whether that trip will fly (pun intended). Chances are getting better.

Volcanic Ash Advisary from UK Meterorological Office.

These tracking boundaries are estimates; therefore, they are under considerable criticism, especially with the goals to open up airports again.

At the Mercy of Volcano and Winds

Mueller — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:39:00 GMT

Watching the news on TV and reading the reports in newspapers I can nod, and confirm: yes, air travel is a bit messed up right now. Originally scheduled to return from the US to Germany on Thursday last week, 15th of April, I received my flight cancellation notification literally on my way to the airport. Fortunately I had a meeting half way to the airport when I received that message so that within what seems a few minutes I was rebooked on a flight on Saturday, April 17th.

After online check-in on the 16th, I was careful enough on the morning of the 17th to watch for flight status changes --especially given the discouraging news about continuing eruptions of volcano Eyjafjallajokull on Iceland. Certain enough, the flight cancellation was waiting for me early in the morning. Working two reservation hotlines on Skype (thank you, Skype-guys and -gals!) the one quoting the shorter wait time (16 minutes --or did she say 60 minutes?) came through after about 40 minutes of holding. Someone with sufficient authority at that airline should listen that long to their wait loop... Now I am rebooked for a flight tomorrow night (Wednesday, April 21st) and keep my fingers crossed that Eyjafjallajokull, winds, air traffic control, and airline let me get back home...

Downside: extended separation from my loved ones.

Upside: since I was "stuck" in Exton, my colleagues and I had extended time to stick our heads together. I hope that GC will demonstrate a few months down the development road that there are benefits to these types of collaborative thinking. "Preview" opportunity will be a usability lab at Be Together in Philadelphia next month.

PS: just for the curious reader: the longer wait time was quoted to be 180 minutes. 3 hours on that wait loop would have made me all loopy...

Post Post-Scriptum: Thanks to Wikipedia and bing.com here is Iceland with a volcanic underlay, and Eyjafjallajokull volcano's location on the island:

Funded EngD opportunity in London, UK

Mueller — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:14:00 GMT

In collaboration with PLP Architecture and the University College London, supported by the EPSRC, there is opportunity to apply for funded postgraduate studies and research towards an EngD degree in London. Details are available at http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/vacancies/engd-pdder.htm. Please take note of the funding eligibility criteria mentioned in the posting.

Hanif Kara and Mark Burry confirmed as SmartGeometry 2010 Keynote Speakers

Mueller — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:08:00 GMT

This is a cross-reference to my post from a few minutes ago on the GenerativeComponents Forum Announcements that Hanif Kara and Mark Burry have been confirmed as SmartGeometry keynote speakers. Here is a shortcut to the SmartGeometry 2010 Conference registration info and button.

More information and links to additional contents in the other post.

Emergence

Mueller — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:16:00 GMT

Catching up on last year's skipped reading, I just came across a quote about "emergence" that told me I need to re-activate my blog:

Illustrating the concept of emergence, S. Rasmussen is quoted:

"[Hydrogen is] a colorless, odorless gas, which, given enough time, turns into people."

(Science Vol 327, p. 1632; http://www.sciencemag.org/, Sept. 25,2009 - report about the conference: Emergence in Chemical Systems 2.0, Univ. of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska, 22 to 26 June 2009; see www.math.uaa.alaska.edu/~afkjm/chemicalemergence/index.php)

After SmartGeometry 2009 ...

Mueller — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:09:00 GMT

... there will be other events this year. I'd like to point to one of those events, not because I will participate in it, but because of all the other brilliant people who will be there. The event is the 1st International Symposium on Distributed Intelligence in Design, consisting of a workshop and a symposium. I think that the topic is evocative, especially if one plays a bit with the language. If you have time on the 8^thor 9^th of May, and traveling to Manchester, UK does fit into your carbon footprint, then consider joining us for the symposium!

SmartGeometry Ante Portas

Mueller — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:17:00 GMT

Check out the SmartGeometry 2009 agenda, register, and join us at SmartGeometry 2009!

With SmartGeometry events starting March 25, and the Dow Jones taking a little up-tick in the past few days, perhaps things are not looking as gloomy in spite of all the disagreement about the stimulus package. However, we can all agree with the SmartGeometry stimulus package. As with any stimulus, it works by people feeling stimulated and acting accordingly, in this case by registering for the SmartGeometry events, booking travel if necessary, and arranging for lodging if so desired.

This stimulus, though, is not only economic. Much more importantly, the agenda packed with high-caliber speakers promises that it will be an intellectual stimulus, appropriately at the start of Spring. With Spring comes renewal. Renew your skills, your knowledge, your motivation to approach design and engineering from a new angle. It's all there, for you to witness, discuss, and then afterwards for you to utilize in the coming months. Give yourself the leading edge!

(Source: CNNMoney.com)

Southwest Script, Donut Holes, and Creativity

Mueller — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:48:00 GMT

Recently I came across an interesting report about another area of research: the southwestern script which was used about 2,500 years ago in the south-western part of Portugal (hence its name) and in adjacent parts of Spain. The fact aside that it is among the oldest scripts in Europe, researchers have attempted without success for approximately two centuries to decipher this script.

The stele of Bensafrim (Wikimedia Commons).

The story appealed to me because of the image that came to mind: the void of not knowing what all the 90 or so writings on stone slabs say, surrounded by the body of knowledge generated by 200-odd years of research. That's like a donut-hole surrounded by the body of donut-dough (OK, dough-nut-dough). The analogy in the Gestalt of the spiraling script adds it's own mystery of the central void. In spite of all that research there also is not, yet, certain confirmation of authorship --most likely the authors are those who Greeks and Romans call the Cynetes or Conii.

While the thought of a club of researchers investigating something they don't know is intriguing --it is sort of the fundamental premise of research-- the southwestern script researchers' situation appears similar to the situation of researchers investigating the cause or source of creativity: most would agree that they would recognize when creativity occurs, but only little is known about what it actually is, how it works. There seems to be agreement that it is some sort of mental process, that it has something to do with cognition, and that some brains produce more of it and others less. Most likely there are other characteristics on which one could agree, for example that creativity could be stimulated, and that experiencing it is stimulating, as well. Perhaps creativity is what fills the voids in our knowledge, or, while benefitting from surrounding knowledge, one needs to make space within one's knowledge to open opportunity for creative sparks to occur.

Another agreement appears to exist that creativity may greatly enhance the potential for achievement in post-industrial societies. In combination with computing this is evidenced by the Creative IT program of the (US) National Science Foundation. As one would suspect, similar national research programs exist in other post-industrial societies.

The Big Picture

Mueller — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:14:00 GMT

When considering the total ecological and economical impact of any endeavor there are currently two fundamental approaches:

(1) Economic input-output (EIO) based analysis:
The economic input-output method is an entirely statistics-based approach. At the high level, there is a reasonably good understanding of the resources (energy and materials) that flow in and out of most national economies, and the fractions of those resources that flow in and out of the various sectors of an economy. Depending on the granularity of the available statistics, this method allows to determine the average impact of many activities within an economy.
(2) Process-based analysis:
The process-based method requires a detailed understanding of the specific processes that are involved in the endeavor under investigation and all materials and energy that flow in and out of these processes. This approach yields as result the ecological and economical impact of the specific endeavor that is being analyzed.

For any endeavor that consciously deviates from the average way things are done, for example when a particularly resource-preserving, or low-energy approach is chosen, the EIO-based approach is obviously ill-suited, because it cannot account accurately for non-average processes. However, the process-based approach can become extremely tedious, for example when accounting for the fractional contribution of specific car that a worker uses for her or his commute. Therefore, a hybrid approach is frequently selected, using the process-based method for those parts of the endeavor that deviate most from standard processes, and using the EIO method for the parts that use average processes, or for which detailed information is not available. Of course, none of this is as simple as it may sound, especially when attempting to sort out which parts considered under the EIO method may overlap with parts examined under the process-based method and how to account for these overlaps.

If we take a long-range, big picture view of the global endeavor (Earth), then we really have only a couple of inputs: gravitational forces and radiation. The peaks in those are Moon's gravitation which we experience as tides, and the Sun's radiation which we perceive as brightest light in the sky; invisible, sun-burn causing ultra-violet; and warming infrared. Most of the Sun's radiation is in the visible spectrum -most likely because visible capability in Earth's life forms evolved so it utilizes and perceives that electromagnetic radiation best which was most abundant...

In any case, meteorites aside, solar radiation and lunar gravitational pull are the only two inputs "endeavor Earth" receives. All other "inputs" into our endeavors here on Earth come from Earth and, therefore, are limited.

Side note: given the first law of thermodynamics that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, in theory, with increasing number of tidal power plants, in the long run we will slow down Moon's rotation around Earth.

Sun, Earth, and Moon from NASA.gov.
Insights into EIO-based and process-based analysis from Prof. Seth Guikema.

Stones and Oil

Mueller — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:58:00 GMT

Just a couple of days ago I came across a quote that I thought was... well, see for yourself:

"We didn't leave the Stone Age because we ran out of stones. Likewise, we must leave the oil age before we run out of oil." [Tom Demarco, Whistler, BC; in National Geographic Vol. 214, No 4, October 2008, Letters]

A quick search on dogpile shows that in the past few years this has been a recurring sentiment (at least the first half of it), even being called a cliché already in 2005 on WorldChanging. In 2006 T.H. Culhane attributes it to former Oil Minister Sheik Yamani.

2007 Thomas P M Barnett, uses it in an opinion piece which is only worthwhile because of the subsequent responses -quote "We didn't leave the Stone Age because we ran out of stones, and we won't leave the Oil Age because we've run out of oil. Instead, humanity moves progressively "down" the carbon chain (wood to coal to oil to gas to nukes and hydrogen) for the sheer reason that each step we take brings us higher efficiency and less pollution -- a total win-win." One can take a guess whether that sequence was actually meant to follow the carbon chain to the first source of the energy that we use when burning fossil fuels, ie. solar energy, or whether it is just an inconsistent, if not vacuous, statement, that unsuccessfully attempts by all means to avoid mentioning sustainable sources of renewable energy.

The double inversion of the argument from WorldChanging to Barnett to Demarco is compelling. Apparently, like a sword the argument can cut both ways, and perhaps with Uranium we would be moving into another type of Stone Age.

So, compared with how long it took us to leave the Stone Age, how quickly can we leave behind the Fossil Fuel Age?

[image source http://paleodirect.com/ach-062.htm]

Ecology (4): "Break Through" paradigm shift

Mueller — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:27:00 GMT

Even though this may look like yet another book review, Ted Nordhaus' and Michael Shellenberger's book "Break Through" ¹⁾ picks up the trail of musings about human experimentation and happiness in a different way: "Environmentalism and other progressive social movements of the 1960s were born of the prosperity of the postwar era and the widespread emergence of higher-order postmaterialist needs. [...] This powerful correlation between increasing affluence and the emergence of quality-of-life and fulfillment values has been documented in developed countries around the world." ²⁾

"Break Through" describes the traditional approach of the environmentalist movement which is based on the idea that humans are disjoint from nature and, therefore, uses strategies to limit development, preserve the present state, or restore past states. That concept may work for populations that are content, perhaps affluent, but secure enough in their living circumstances that they have the luxury of attending to other, "external" issues like environmental protection. However, populations that struggle with day-to-day survival will not worry about their actions' influence on the environment until they have won the struggle and left the worries for their lives behind. "It is unreasonable to expect individuals whose basic material needs haven't been met to care strongly about the nonhuman world. Likewise, until the populations of China and Brazil have achieved a minimal level of economic development and security, it is unreasonable to expect those countries to sacrifice economic development for the purposes of reducing pollution and protecting nonhuman ecosystems." ³⁾

Building on Maslov's idea of the hierarchy of needs ⁴⁾ and supported by additional and also more recent research results, "Break Through" makes the point that for success of environmental policies it is important to understand humans as integral part of nature, and that only multi-dimensional strategies will work. Strategies must address improvement of the human condition as integral part of any environmental improvement strategy or are bound to fail in the long term. "And herein lies the anomaly that most frustrates the environmentalists' pollution paradigm: the fact that overcoming global warming demands something qualitatively different from limiting our contamination of nature. It demands unleashing human power, creating a new economy, and remaking nature as we prepare for the future. And to accomplish all of that, the right models come not from raw sewage, acid rain, or the ozone hole but instead from the very thing environmentalists have long imagined to be the driver of pollution in the first place: economic development." ⁵⁾

Nordhaus and Shellenberger are optimistic: "There is quickly emerging a new political lobby and movement for clean-energy investment that is unburdened by either the pollution paradigm or the politics of limits." ⁶⁾ They are also clear about the outlook if this changed approach does not gain the traction necessary to achieve both, economical and environmental improvements: "The questions before us are centrally about how we will survive, who whill survive, and how we will live." ⁷⁾ [italicized in the original.] "Many environmentalists imagine overcoming global warming to be about saving the planet. But the fate of the planet is not in question. The earth has survived meteorites and ice ages. It will certainly survive us." ⁸⁾

They analyze in depth the current condition of U.S. environmental policy and come to the conclusion that "[r]ising status insecurity and the continuing move away from traditional forms of authority [...] all helped create the conditions for a powerful conservative backlash against [...] environmentalism." ⁹⁾ The recognition that absolute necessity does not drive attitudes but the perception of the security of one's status does, may currently be a strong driver of policies. The authors suggest that it is necessary to restore or create people's sense of security, that in the current, postindustrial and postmaterial times ⁴⁾ it is essential to play to the strengths of the American people, not to their fears and insecurities. ¹⁰⁾

The authors observe: "Even if humans had stopped emitting greenhouse starting in 1988, when NASA scientist James Hansen announced the Congress that global warming had arrived, all of the changes today resulting from global warming [...] would still be under way. There is so much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that even if humans stopped emitting new greenhouse gases tomorrow, the planet would continue to heat up for several more decades and probably longer." ¹¹⁾ Therefore, they advocate that one of the activities in which we should engage is global warming preparedness. ¹²⁾

While they first attempt to deconstruct the concept of "The Nature" as an independent self-evident truth that could direct us "We are Nature and Nature is us. Nature can neither instruct our actions nor punish them." ¹³⁾ they also question in similar fashion the idea of "The Market" as a personified independent actor in the world: "The market, for conservatives, like nature, for environmentalists, is a thing separate, sacred, and inviolable." ¹⁴⁾ [italicized in the original.] "All markets are constructed and shaped by humans through laws and regulations as well as through values." ¹⁵⁾ This deconstruction seems necessary to overcome the ideological divide that has stood in the way of effective steps which require broad bipartisan support because of the immensity of the tasks ahead of us.

While the task ahead of us may be immense, the authors claim that there is a possible way if we embraced Greatness in a fashion similar to the Apollo program in the sixties. ¹⁶⁾ We need to take heart and face the current challenge like the USA faced the challenge to send humans to the moon. In 2003 the authors helped create a proposal for this new Apollo project on clean energy, requesting $30 billion per year for ten years, with Representative Jay Inslee as sponsor in Congress. Investments would flow predominantly into the clean-energy market, wind, solar, etc, but also mass transit. ¹⁷⁾ Concrete descriptions of the initiatives are available on the internet at the Apollo Alliance, the Apollo Challenge, Representative Jay Inslee's web site, and Apollo Fire, a new book about this initiative.

In "Break Through" the authors dare to expand from the USA perspective ¹⁸⁾ to a more global perspective, starting with their description of the situation in Brazil ¹⁹⁾ and ending in conjecture by presenting a fictitious speech that Tony Blair could have delivered -of all places in Columbus, Ohio. ²⁰⁾ It is rather important to emphasize the authors also point out that "the developing world will not agree to any international approach that constrains the economic aspirations of their people -- nor should they. [...] [T]he implications of this are momentous: to equalize global carbon emissions is, in the end, to equalize global living standards." ²¹⁾

It is perhaps difficult to agree with everything the authors write. In parts they themselves seem to be unable to escape habitual labeling, partisanship, and perhaps resentment that they weren't immediately successful in 2003. That could detract from the overall optimistic and encouraging message of their book: multi-dimensional approaches with a focus on international policies addressing poverty and domestic policies supporting public investments in sustainable infrastructure including renewable energy projects may provide us with the best way forward.

¹⁾ Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger: "Break Through", Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY 2007.
²⁾ ibid. pg 6
³⁾ ibid, pg 52
⁴⁾ definition of Abraham Maslow's work and "postmaterial" needs are on pages 5 through 7.
⁵⁾ ibid, pg 113
⁶⁾ ibid, pg 128
⁷⁾ ibid, pg 142
⁸⁾ ibid, pg 143
⁹⁾ ibid, pg 167
¹⁰⁾ ibid, pg 187
¹¹⁾ ibid, pg 221
¹²⁾ ibid, pg 223
¹³⁾ ibid, pg 143
¹⁴⁾ ibid, pg 233
¹⁵⁾ ibid, pg 234
¹⁶⁾ ibid, pg 257
¹⁷⁾ ibid, pg 257
¹⁸⁾ a very specific US-perspective is mentioned on pg 257 ff and elsewhere in the book
¹⁹⁾ ibid, pg 40 ff
²⁰⁾ ibid, pg 268; in Columbus, OH: how much more ficititious could they have made it?
²¹⁾ ibid, pg 269

SmartGeometry 2008 Pictures

Mueller — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:45:00 GMT

WIth a few business trips and tax time thrown in, time passes rather quickly. So I went digging through hundreds of SmartGeometry 2008 Pictures and then realized that the surroundings were so interesting, they deserve to be shown, too --even if with the necessary restraint glimpses will have to suffice...


The Angel of Peace (Friedensengel) in Munich, commemorating 25 years of peace after the war of 1870-71.	A bicyclist in front of the Residenz in Munich, the palace of the Bavarian Electors, Dukes, and Kings. The facade dates from 1612 to 1616, during the reign of Duke and Elector Maximilian I (ruled from 1598 to 1651).


Prof. Rob Woodbury lectures in the pre-workshop training (2008-02-28).	The three SmartGeometry Directors (left to right; 2008-03-02): Hugh Whitehead, Foster and Partners J Parrish, Arup Lars Hesselgren, KPF


The BMW Welt double-cone; architects Coop Himmelb(l)au; engineers B+G Ingenieure, Bollinger und Grohmann GmbH (Prof. Grohmann was one of the SG Conference presenters).	The Olympic Stadium by Günter Behnisch and Frei Otto


GC Product Manager Makai Smith at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, with the Component Membrane, Prof. Achim Menges instructor, students, Buro Happold as engineering and technology consultant.	The Component Membrane roof at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, Prof. Achim Menges instructor, students, Buro Happold as engineering and technology consultant.

Additional Links:

Munich in Wikipedia
Residenz in Wikipedia
official web pages of the Residenz (English)
Munich Olympic Stadium Official Site
Behnisch Architekten
Frei Otto (Atelier Warmbronn)
Architekturmuseum München: Frei Otto

Ecology (3): Gross National Happiness

Mueller — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:27:00 GMT

In this month's National Geographic in the report about Bhutan ¹⁾, Brook Larmer describes King Jigme Singye Wangchuck's concept of "Gross National Happiness" (GNH), based on four principles: sustainable development, environmental protection, cultural preservation, and good governance ²⁾ (promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance per Wikipedia on 03-21-2008. ³⁾)

Bhutan is described as a country roughly the size of Switzerland ⁴⁾ with about 700,000 inhabitants (Bhutanese Census of 2005 ⁵⁾); geographically isolated and difficult as well as expensive to access; one of the least developed countries on Earth, over 60% of the population working in agriculture ⁶⁾, and over 70% of the country covered by forests ⁷⁾.

Gross National Happiness appears to be an experiment that seems to run counter the grand experiment of civilization conducted almost everywhere else as described by Ronald Wright in his book "A Short History of Progress" ⁸⁾ (see earlier post Ecology (2)). Questions that come to mind immediately are how realistic such approach is; how long-term success of Bhutan's experiment could be achieved; and how this model could be applied elsewhere.

A brief search on the internet provides indication that this is a quite serious initiative:

In Bhutan, the idea of GNH is not just idle talk but is a Matter of State and of research, by appearance as involved (comparatively) as the US Census: The Center for Bhutan Studies does conduct a GNH survey ⁹⁾.
There is a GNH movement ¹⁰⁾, which organizes GNH conferences.
It seems not without challenges, as two reports in Bhutan's official newspaper Kuensel indicate:
- On GNH is a brief report about the third GNH conference in Bangkok, emphasizing "We want, and we need, to make GNH a success in Bhutan." ¹¹⁾
- GNH needs to come home comments on the need to find practical implementations beyond the various conferences that have been held: "As the path to happiness, GNH is both a means and an end. It is a long journey. We are at the beginning and there is no end." ¹²⁾
Earlier I already pointed to the Wikipedia entry for Gross National Happiness.

The concept of making Happiness a Matter of State is not entirely alien to us; it is one of the unalienable rights listed in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence: "[...] among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". ¹³⁾ The Second International Conference on Gross National Happiness in 2005 was reason for the New York Times to report in the Science section about research on happiness "A New Measure of Well-Being From a Happy Little Kingdom" "[...] beyond a certain threshold of wealth people appear to redefine happiness, studies suggest, focusing on their relative position in society instead of their material status. [... The] researchers, Sara J. Solnick and David Hemenway, gave the subjects a choice of earning $50,000 a year in a world where the average salary was $25,000 or $100,000 a year where the average was $200,000. About 50 percent of the participants, the researchers found, chose the first option, preferring to be half as prosperous but richer than their neighbors." ¹⁴⁾

Obviously, surrounded by reports about how rich wealthy people are, it becomes very difficult to name one's happiness number. However, just published research about happiness hints at the possibility that it may not be about the amount of money one has but perhaps all about giving (some) money away, sharing one's wealth. ¹⁵⁾ A few of the wealthiest individuals in this country may have sensed that even before this research was published: Bill and Melinda Gates started the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is performing tremendous work that matters, and Warren Buffet supports this good work with his donations. While the donors hopefully experience the effects that the research describes, the work they finance hopefully helps to move many people closer to a place in their lives where they can stop worrying and perhaps start experiencing some happiness.

I will attempt to describe why this matters in future posts.

¹⁾ Brook Larmer "Bhutan's Enlightened Experiment"; in National Geographic Vol 213, No. 3, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. March 2008, pg 124ff.
²⁾ ibid. pg 130.
³⁾ Wikipedia entry for Gross National Happiness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness as of March 21^st2008.
⁴⁾ Larmer 2008, pg 130.
⁵⁾ Bhutanese government website http://www.bhutan.gov.bt/government/aboutbhutan.php as of March 21^st2008.
⁶⁾ CIA Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bt.html#Econ as of March 21^st 2008.
⁷⁾ Larmer 2008, pg 130.
⁸⁾ Wright, Ronald: A Short History of Progress; Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York, 2005.
⁹⁾ Center for Bhutan Studies http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/main/highlight_detail.php?id=28 as of March 21^st2008.
¹⁰⁾ http://www.gnh-movement.org/ as of March 21^st2008.
¹¹⁾ KUENSEL ONLINE http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9468 as of March 21^st 2008.
¹²⁾ KUENSEL ONLINE http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9478 as of March 21^st 2008.
¹³⁾ Wikipedia entry for "United States Declaration of Independence" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence as of March 21^st 2008.
¹⁴⁾ New York Times online archive Science section http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/science/04happ.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin as of March 21^st2008.
¹⁵⁾ Associated Press report http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GOOD_TO_GIVE?SITE=VTBEN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT as of March 21^st2008.
also ScienceNOW http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/320/2?etoc as of March 22^nd 2008.

SmartGeometry 2008 in Munich

Mueller — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:44:00 GMT

This year's SmartGeometry events in Munich were quite an experience. The pre-training introduced Prof. Rob Woodbury's concept of design patterns which is available at http://www.designpatterns.ca/. Design patterns establish higher level conceptual gizmos for parametric, dependency-based (associative) design (with GenerativeComponents) as a common language between designers as well as a new way of thinking about approaches to solutions for design problems. In the workshops individuals and groups of participants pursued a wide variety of projects from very abstract through highly conceptual to very concrete real-life projects. Those projects that participants are willing to share publicly will be posted on the SmartGeometry website within a few weeks. As soon as I know that they have been posted I will insert a notice in this blog.

After the workshops SmartGeometry event alumni presented their latest work and insights in applications for parametric design. Most of the event has been recorded and will be posted. These were fascinating confirmations of the maturity of GenerativeComponents. gc left the area of courageous experiments behind and has completed projects in its portfolio. This collection will grow without doubt, thanks to very innovative design practices and academic institutions; and those individuals within those organizations who are not afraid to push boundaries or cross them, obliterate them. This is exciting to watch!

The last couple of this year's SmartGeometry events were the Conference in the BMW-Welt, an amazing place designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au and the concluding reception in the Deutsches Museum. I will post some of my pictures of the venue in another post. The Conference was full of thought-provoking presentations, as well as the summaries of the work done by the various SmartGeometry workshop groups. All presentations were recorded and will be posted.

Now it's time for me to get to the airport to travel back home.