Post-Cyberpunk Codec

Nannette Jackowski and Ricardo de Ostos

–– Knock-knock! –– Who's there?
–– Architectural tamagotchi postcyberpunk creatures.
–– Huh?
–– Augmented pseudo-friendly beings raised from digital anti-corporate networks in the trash bin of human files searching for some kind of home.
–– Come again?

Among pervasive contemporary libidinal technologies and social protectionism Intermediate 3 promotes the postcyberpunk codec – a design-oriented protocol for radical environmental speculation. How can architecture mediate between the emergence of digital technodriven urban cultures and the formation of neo-natural habitats?

Here is a handy A to Z survival guide:

• A is for artificial natures and the rise of human–machine ecology
• B is for building-related spaces (architecture as a construct is the goal)
• C is for collaboration between people, infrastructure and environment
• D is for DIY and drones
• E is for environmental 'prosumption' – a cross between ecosystem production and consumption
• F is for fictional speculations on augmented habitats
• G is for Gattaca, Ghost in the Shell and William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy
• H is for hacking, tinkering, testing, failing and re-making our Frankenstein environments
• I is for implications of technological and social growth in non-Western societies
• J is for joint intelligence
• K is for Kinect, Arduino and CG – a few of our design tools
• L is for lyrical devices
• M is for micro, macro and mega
• N is for narrative-based anamorphism
• O is for OuLiPo and other lunacies
• P is for prototypes and 3D models
• Q is for questions
• R is for response: neutrino observatories, augmented temples, acoustic landscapes, farm(acy), synergetic crematorium, hanging vineyards...
• S is for the southern hemisphere – our trip and research ground
• T is for time-based interactions
• U is for UV, MRI, RFID, AR, AI and the not-yet-mainstream technologies that we will fully indulge in
• V is for the virtual, of course
• W is for www.aainter3.wordpress.com for more information about postcyberpunk codec
• X is for x-ray vision (you need to be able to see through things)
• Y is for you – your designs, your statement, your theory
• Z is for 01000001 01101100 01100101 01100001 00100000 01101001 01100001 01100011 01110100 01100001 00100000 01100101 01110011 01110100

Unit Staff

Nannette Jackowski and Ricardo de Ostos (naja-deostos.com) are principals of NaJa & deOstos. They are the authors of The Hanging Cemetery of Baghdad and Pamphlet Architecture 29: Ambiguous Spaces

Nannette has worked for Wilkinson Eyre and currently works for Zaha Hadid. She has taught at the AA-SAKIA Summer School 2009 in Daejeon, South Korea as part of the AA Visiting School's programme.

Ricardo has taught at Lund University in Sweden and is currently an Associate Professor at Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture in Paris. He was appointed curator of the Brazilian Pavilion for the London Festival of Architecture in 2008 and 2010. Ricardo has worked for Peter Cook, Future Systems and Foster + Partners.