The discussion about the concept of “emergence” seems so very broad and inclusive of so many topics and disciplines that distinguishing a solely architectural aspect is impossible. Emergence, with its concepts of connectedness and collectivity, will mean that architectural themes connected to the term emergence will be linked to other themes and topics. One such example is given in Stephen Johnson’s book “Emergence – The connected lives of ants, brains, cities and software,” where in the third chapter, he identifies the silk weavers of Florence, Italy as having remained in a single place throughout over a thousand years of history and being of a collective intelligence, which can be traced back to the guilds that originally established the communities of various trades in Florence. But the architectural and urban organization elements of Florence, although able to be categorized and interpreted under the concept of emergence and collectivity within the city of Florence, are linked to these silk merchants in a different way than the traditional situation of the silk weavers being occupants of the city’s architecture. They are instead the static element in the city, and the architecture is what has changed throughout the years.

On the second page of the Emergence in Architecture article, the author states that: “Emergence requires the recognition of buildings not as singular and fixed bodies, but as complex energy and material systems that have a life span, and exist as part of the environment of other buildings, and as an iteration of a long series that proceeds by evolutionary development towards an intelligent ecosystem.” Thinking about the slum of Dharavi in Mumbai, this is what occurs in the transient, kinetic cities that contain so many temporary structures. Each building or constructed shelter, outhouse, shop, market, home, etc. can be seen as a part of a development of the larger ecosystem and community of the kinetic city. The informal sector that these cities are a part of reminds of the lack of data able to be collected from these places, since many structures and land plots are not organized by a state or marked off with legal boundaries: they are a part of a larger, constantly-evolving system.

The above photo of Dharavi from the river demonstrates how the structures created in this larger system are somewhat indistinguishable from one another, and work together to create the spaces used for every part of an inhabitants life.

[Image from <http://www.mumbailocal.net/>]

Cities are organisms with the ability to grow, shrink, thrive, and self-organize.  They are constantly adapting to new situations, and with the ever growing urban population that we now face, they have countless changes to contend with.  As a result of this intense urban growth, cities cannot be seen as being physically static, be it a formal or informal settlement.  Rather, we must think of them in terms of emergence, which “requires the recognition of buildings not as singular and fixed bodies, but as complex energy and material systems that have a life span, and exist as part of the environment of other buildings, and as an iteration of a long series that proceeds by evolutionary development towards and intelligent ecosystem” (Emergence in Architecture, 1).  In this way, every portion of cities, not simply its inhabitants, makes up part of the dynamic city.

Not only are cities dynamic and ever adapting, but they are also made up of patterns and groupings that are self-organizing.  To many people, slums are simply disordered, chaotic, dense clusters of makeshift buildings.  If this were true, then squatters would never have any clue where they were or how to find anyone within their own community.  Of course this is not true, and squatter settlements work in a similar way to many growing urban environments throughout the world.  They are grouped much the way that Florentine silk weavers are discussed in The Pattern Match; they gravitate towards like-minded people.  Within slums, there are clusters of people from similar cultural backgrounds, religions, professions, etc. all living in a single area.  In this way, slum dwellers create a similar process to what is described in Nonorganic Life where “form emerges out of formless matter, order emerges out of chaos.”  What may appear formless and chaotic at first is in reality a highly organized network of people and groups that create a functioning whole.

The concept that cities “are more an imprint of collective behavior than the work of master planners” validates the organization and creation of squatter settlements. They grow organically, with few, if any formal interventions from governing bodies, and while this may not always be the most functional as far as infrastructure goes, it creates culturally rich, often well functioning communities (The Pattern Match, 109).

Many slums have been in the same location for decades, if not longer.  This suggests that even if the structures they inhabit are not permanent, and the world around them is constantly changing, they have a specific trait that makes them stay put.  It is “a kind of self-organizing stickiness” that allows the squatters to remain in their neighborhoods for decades (The Pattern Match, 106).  This is an astounding feat when compared to many of their counterparts living in the formal cities of the world.  Often city dwellers are constantly on the move, finding a new home every few years, never taking the time to settle in, or even meet their neighbors.  There is certainly quite a bit to be learned from communities of squatters.

The “answer” to the three readings The Pattern Match, Emergence in Architecture, and Nonorganic Life can be asserted through a multiplicity of lenses. That said however; the ideas that will be cataloged in the following paragraphs will be pertaining directly to the kinetic or informal city as that has been the scope of the class thus far.

Emergence can be explained as “how natural systems have evolved and maintained themselves, and a set of models and processes for the creation of artificial systems that are designed to produce forms and complex behavior, and perhaps even real intelligence.”(1) This relates to the informal city in the ways that they grow. Their layout and structures within have grown organically; meaning that the city has grown in such a way to exclude planning, it literally just happens that way. These types of cities grow from just a few people living together into a full blown metropolis, perhaps by chance, but mostly for the necessity of something. This something allows them to actually very well (for the people who live there), while much of the world spends time and money developing large schemes for zoning etc.

This organic and chaotic growth, on occasion allows great things to sprout, means of entrepreneurship which perplex researchers as their success continues to rise. This notion of entrepreneurial excellence turned into study by the developed (structured) world relates to the definition of emergence in that a natural system (think, dabbawallas or Alaba) is being studied and learned from, in hopes of future use in the structured world. In a way just like how researchers learned from the design of termite mounds (how they mound’s design allows it to stay at a constant temperature) and now can apply it to building design, in a sense it seems like a form of same species semi-biomimicry.

In addition the reading Emergence in Architecture alludes to the idea of buildings in a city as fabric(2); that they are not one singular entity but instead are a continuous surface that has energy and life. This, I believe this is an excellent representation of the informal city. Changing, morphing recycling (building materials and everything else), constant motion of selling and buying, popup festivals, etc. add to the life energy and flow of the city.  A less abstract demonstration of the informal city as fabric is the obvious, the aesthetics of the city. All the buildings in the city morphing together (sometimes literally using the same walls to hold up their roofs). In addition the wide array of materials in which they are constructed when multiplied by thousands turns into a beautiful, patterned, continuous landscape landscape (shown below in an image of an Indian slum)(3).

The reading Pattern Match poses the question rhetorically, “Do cities learn?”(4) How might that notion of learning cities be applied to the informal city? This though is not your typical type of learning, it is learning unconsciously, just like computers do, to draw conclusions from patterns. I will answer the previous question by saying that these informal cities learn to expand, multiply, and exist by the same notion as or immune systems do, simply by existing and confronting issues over time. Again, this is something seemingly unconscious and unplanned, again, just like our immune systems. These interesting correlations of pattern, nature, and the informal city may give us some insight into learning from the uncontrollable.

(1) Emergence in Architecture

(2) Emergence in Architecture

(3) Iaac (blog)

(4) The Pattern Match