Letter From the Editor: Issue 07
"HACK JOB."
Hi there, Housemates.
Boy, it’s been a month, huh? If you’re on your phone, laptop, or other screened device as much as I am (it’s a hazard of the job, unfortunately), it’s hard not to see technology as a runaway train—one that’s coming for our creativity, our livelihoods, and our relationships. Even some of the drudgery of our everyday chores, which suddenly seem… not so bad?
But one good thing does come from all of this acceleration: We are forced to confront, however painfully, what we value, what we will and won’t tolerate, and what we’ll create room for in spite of everything. (See also: Why Wrong House exists!)
Our seventh issue, “Hack Job,” takes on technology—virtual worlds, ingenuity, and gaming the system—both as an assessment of where we are currently, and where we can be in the future.
Diana Budds makes her second Wrong House appearance in “Extending the Playing Field,” a reported story that examines how video games are trickling into architectural education and practice. Speaking with professors, practitioners, students, and the team at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London (who recently launched their own program, Portals to the Past, in Minecraft), Budds gives us a state-of-the-industry look at the ways these digital interfaces change how a new generation thinks about collaboration, technology, and worldbuilding.
In “Have You Seen This Couple?”, Daphne Lundi—an urban planner, climate policymaker, writer, and artist—tracks two ubiquitous “scalies” (those little figures you see in architectural renderings) she’s dubbed Jacques and Claudette. “They persist across renderings, offering a sense of permanence, even as the material conditions of most cities make that permanence increasingly difficult to achieve,” she writes. Following their appearances in visualizations of large-scale developments throughout New York City, Daphne uses the figures to explore bigger questions of representation, development, and who the city is for.
And Alex T. Williams of Hudson Valley event platform StüdiGroup is back this month with his creative-conversation series in “The Art of Coding Compositions.” This time, he goes into the studio of Aaron Alden, an interdisciplinary artist who uses diverse real-world inputs, like environmental data and biometrics, to create visual and sonic compositions—projects that Alex calls “part engineering experiment, part sensory spectacle.” Alden’s path is a reminder of the ways that curiosity gets rewarded, and how using technology to a generative end is often less about a particular fixed outcome, and more about systems and process.
But, as Anthony Paletta points out in “Learning From Indigenous Technology,” not all tech is the stuff of gadgets, renderings, and robotic arms. In his interview with researcher and architect Julia Watson—whose book Lo—TEK Water: A Field Guide for TEKnology came out last year—Paletta and the designer discuss the place-based, adaptive systems that Indigenous cultures around the world have devised to manage and harness one of Earth’s most powerful and precious resources: water.
And finally, something totally new. This month, we’re debuting an advice column: “Chair Time With Eric Trine.” I have admired the designer’s candor on Substack and Instagram, where he’s openly shared about the ups and downs of practice, branding, licensing, finances, and more. Now, for Wrong House, he’s taking questions from all of you. Whether you’re a designer or—like me—just a *creative at large*, it’s always helpful to get a second opinion. This month, Eric answers queries about personal work and hiring. Want to submit a question? You can do so anonymously through our portal here.
Finally, the House of Wrong House just got an addition! I’d like to welcome and introduce July Winters—a whip-smart writer and architectural thinker, and now, Wrong House’s first editorial assistant. July is already demonstrating excellent editorial instincts (and saving me from making embarrassing typos). Happy to have you here, July!
As always, thanks for reading—we’ll see you next month.
’Til next time,
Lila