Turning point

Abstract

It is a great pleasure to introduce the reader to the third number of the academic journal V!RUS with its theme Systems. In fact, Nomads.usp, the Center for Interactive-Living Studies at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is interested in the use of complex theories in the design process within the digital context.

We are today at a turning point, forced in a certain way to question traditional design methods and evaluate their relevance. Circulating information and especially various forms of communication, helped by different kinds of media and computer technologies, lead us to live in the so-called glocal dimension, this hybrid state formed by global and local spheres, which considerably alter the social and cultural relations, as well as ways of living.

We believe that some organizational scientific methods supporting complex thinking in design, that were valid in the 1960s, when several architectural and urban explorations were carried out supported by the Systems and Cybernetics Theories, are today more valid than ever. In order to better integrate cutting-edge technological capabilities and pedagogical, cultural and social issues related to the use of digital media, the goal in our time is to develop an integrated architecture by considering man, designed devices and environment together.

It is certainly about the review of the contemporary design processes, which addresses in priority performance issues, introducing a concern of agencing and promoting "doing things in - and with - the world, the emergent interplay of human and material agency [Pickering, A., 2002, p. 414]. By using a systemic approach in the design process, we believe that the contemporary production of architecture can be more responsible in its cultural and environmental context, considering variability, diversity, different viewpoints and perceptions.