Stewart BrandReseñas

If you are concerned about the future of human life on this planet from an ecosystem point of view this is a key book to read. Stuart Brand brings up issues that will be controversial to ecologists, conservationists and lay people alike but approached pragmatically as contributors to ecosystem stability. Some of the key ideas and references in this text are the most well thought out, practical, internally consistent I have ever found collected in one place.
The biggest question is that we may need to rethink the idea of man vs. ecosystem in the sense that we may need to engineer it for our own long-term survival. That to assume that the environment is resilient enough to sort things out on its own might be a dangerous existential view.

The idea itself of a clock designed to run 10,000 years is incredible: on the one hand preposterous, ridiculous, pharaonic even. My first reaction was to think that the idea was a bit crazy, and I could not see the point to such a construct. The process that took me from absurd to enthusiastic follows the words of this book.
Only if we seriously work on projects for our deep future, can we come to respect and care for it, like we would our personal descendants. And I do believe many of the most complicated problems we face today seem to transform and become less severe in the perspective of millennia ahead for our species. And new tricky classes of problems gain in importance, it is my running question whether humanity will manage to start paying attention to the threats that most endanger its long-term survival.
The clock of the long now, matters as an idea even before its real construction.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. It's still quite relevant, but occasionally shows its twelve-year-old age. Lots of activity in the climate sector in the last few years, and you'll need to read more broadly to get coverage of that.

Stewart Brand is a captivating writer and a genuine polymath, though, so this is an outstanding overview both of the seriousness of the coming climate crisis, and of the practical work that we can do that will address it.

Strongly recommended.

Another 'gee whiz' pop account of the wonders and inevitable progress of American ingenuity and big business. The holography references looked over-egged then, and particularly naive now. It's debatable whether any substantive elements of the future came from the Media Lab.

Superficially-assessed convictions; I don't recognise any discipline in Brand's reasoning or writing.½

Great book on the relationship between people, places and things (in this case: buildings). The anthropological side is analyzed just like the architectural one and this is what makes this book a great book. And by the way, Brand's observations are always smart, deep and witty. The set of photographs which fills the book is more than a complement, is substantial to the comprehension of the concepts. Great read.

To David Dec 97 Happy Birthday , With Love from Gunhild. Not sure where it came from, bit I think it is cool.

Architecture book that takes a "buildings through time" perspective, boasting a huge variety of annotated side-by-side photographs. I really enjoyed the way this book broadened my perspective. I've been especially enjoying looking at neighborhoods of different ages since starting this one. I'd recommend How Buildings Learn to anyone interested in how buildings change, what makes buildings or spaces endure, or seeing the commonplace in an entirely new light.

I wish that all of our thinking could extend out 10,000 years, a necessity that becomes ever more true with the constant decline of our attention spans.

Great idea, pretty terrible book.

Anathem is one of my all-time favorite books, but this still has interesting insights on levels of interaction between fashion, culture, law, infrastructure, etc

Really phenomenal graphic design, otherwise idk. A great looking book.

First Stewart Brand is an expert observer. Next Stewart Brand is skilled at thinking about what he has seen. How Buildings Learn is a fantastic read from a writer that who has the uncanny ability to take what he has seen and distill it into something more than the obvious. Brand's musings and observation, after having read them, feel like 'oh yeah I knew that' but of course the point is you did and you do but it takes someone like a Stewart Brand it takes Stewart Brand to lead by example to show and teach how to look at what has been around you all along - buildings - and see and recognize and realize the things that you already knew.

How Buildings Learn is a must read not only because it clearly and coherently stands up to the arguments that Stewart Brand is making but it also stands the test of time. From its initial writing to now the arguments ring true. Additionally it clearly lays out how to observe and how to think about what you have seen and if you read well and take notes you just might learn how to present your observations in a compelling way.

A great topical book. A great sourcebook on architecture. A super effective reference book for seeing & writing.

> All buildings are predictions. All predictions are wrong.

Notionally a book about buildings, but is often shared by the Web design community for the inchoate idea around layers and paces of change which Brand goes on to flesh out fully in [The Long Now].

It's a book that's been on my wishlist for a few years, along with a few other design classics, so I was pleased to find I enjoyed it immensely. His advocacy of the vernacular and avuncular chime with my Jane Jacobs inspired views. And there's many a good quote to nick.

this was probably the most influential book i read while in architecture school (aside from Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland). Brand reminds us that the number one way to create a sustainable environment is to make it adaptable. He argues that the best buildings are buildings that change with the times. Warehouses are an excellent example. They can become almost anything, from manufacturing plants to high-end condos. a very thoughtful and well-written book.

I will never look at a building the same way again! These are the random notes I had in my Bbrry about this book:

Architects either have too much control or too little
Architecture skills as craft vs art
Inability to adapt during build due to legal contract crap
Buildings leak!
Curse of architectural photography-awards won by picture, not by if clients think the building serves their purpose

And so much more!

A great book that never misses its mark. It entertains, informs, and educates the reader all throughout its duration.

Recommended for thinkers, philosophers, academics, and students.

Much more of a magazine format than the Whole Earth Catalogs themselves, the Difficult But Possible: Supplement to the Whole Earth Catalog [September 1969] contains corrections to the Spring 69 Catalog (see my other review), and new suggestions. But the real stars here are the articles:

Liferaft Earth: A Hunger Show (held in Berkeley on October 11-18, 1969)
The Unanimous Declaration of *Interdependence (We hold these truths to be self-evident that all species have evolved with equal and unalienable rights...etc.)
Libre (an advanced behavioural research team)
Four changes (Population, Pollution, Consumption, Transformation) - by Gary Snyder; this is only the first draft. The final article can be found in Spring 1971's The Last Whole Earth Catalog: access to tools (see my LT review of that issue for further details)

There is also readers mail and the Farm Bulletin Board.

*The editor can't decide whether to spell interdependence 'interdependance', 'interdepedence' (without an 'n') or the correct spelling 'interdependence'. It's not the only error, but because it's a title heading it is kind'a hard to ignore. ;D

The Fall 1969 edition of the Whole Earth Catalog - access to tools contains some interesting articles of special interest to film makers; publications from the 'American Cinematographer', along with books on 'film making in schools', 'documentary film', and the techniques of television production. There is also a nice article on the Moog Synthesizer, and Rolling Stone magazine; as well as the usual goat husbandry, Indian crafts, and building eco-domes.

I've always wondered what other people were ordering from these catalogues when they first came out. Now, thanks to a red felt tip someone used back in November 1970, I know!

To satisfy your curiosity, this is what the anomymous reader purchased from this edition on 11-30-1970

Structural Integration by Ida Rolf
The Owner-Built home by Ken Kern
How-To-Do-It Plumbing and Wiring Books by Richard Day
*Foam Design by Deeds Design Associates
The Unicorn - book for craftsmen
The Book of Country Crafts by Randolph Wardell Johnston
Plastics by E. G. Couzens, V. E. Yarsley
Allied - Electronics for Everyone
Allied - Industrial Electronics Catalog
Vocations for Social Change
The Modern Utopian - Dick Fairfield
Green Revolution - Mildred Loomis
Sauna: The Finnish Bath by Stephen Green Press
**Consumer Reports
Government Publications - Frederic O'Hara
Kibbutz: Venture in Utopia by Melford E. Spiro
How to Live On Nothing by Joan Ranson Shortney
Dune by Frank Herbert
Motor Tread Repair Manual
Kaiser Aluminum News
Fundamentals of Yoga by Rammurti Mishra

*Polyurethane foam as structural insulant
**like Which

Whole Earth Catalog - access to tools [Spring 1969]
1st Print run: 10,000
then another: 20,000 printed and sold.

Another incarnation of the counter culture magazine/catalogue that provided Head culture Freeks (like myself) with details of how to get information on everything from Aeronautics to Yoga.

In the years before the Internet became the hub of public knowledge, this was as close to surfing the net as you could dream of, and it was awesome! The only Adobe products you'd find in here were on page 28 for Adobe Wall Construction; and printers involved blocks of movable type that got drawn over drums of sticky ink. Even the few early computer clubs consisted of learning to use machines no more sophisticated than the Commodore Calculator (but at least we actually had to use our brains to learn back then).

The range of so called tools is eclectic to say the least! Foam swords called 'Boffers' designed to build your psychic and physical skill, as well as interpersonal energy - all for $11.00 postpaid; or how about Bean's Improved Sandwich Spreader (QVC anyone?) along with more traditional tools such as Kaibab boots and every hippies favourite the 'Volkswagen Technical Manual'.
I found an article on the 'Cuisenaire Rods' which brought me back to my childhood. For those who don't know what they are (yes, they still exist), they were mathematically precise blocks for teaching pre-school children mathematical concepts. I remember these being proffered to me in the early 70s. Despite this early advantage, I have to admit that maths remained my weakest subject for life!
There are lots of small articles and stories; remember Jimi Hendrix's plaster (dick) cast. Well its here too on page 81 with funny quotes from Frank Zappa. Also Included is this prophetic poem (originally printed in The Realist):

All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace

I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.

I like to think
(right now, please)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.

I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
Returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.

Book reading as a form of meditation.

Many of the predictions were variations of "personalized information portals" but without discussion of the content bubble these could create. Nobody quite seemed to put their finger on the World Wide Web, exactly. A perhaps ridiculous amount of text dedicated to holography. Most interesting was/is the funding model. They've convinced companies to fund thematic areas rather than specific projects.

Review of: The Last Whole Earth Catalog: access to tools [Spring 1971 issue]

The Whole Earth Catalog became something of an institution. It took all the hard work out of researching and sourcing useful books and tracking down distributors; which back in the late 60s and 70s meant knowing a friendly and well informed book shop owner, or making lots of phone calls and chasing down leads on your own. I know. I did it myself!
These books were a hub for the 'Good Life' generation. The place you came to find out how to do everything from making North American Indian moccasins, to keeping your Volkswagen alive!
All you had to do was select what you needed from any one of the 2,100 listings. Post off your cheque. Then wait a week or two for your items to be posted out (if you lived in the U.S.), or a few months wait (for surface mail to the U.K.).

This issue (called 'The Last' because they stopped their entire business of researching the Catalog in May 1971 - permanently. or, so they thought) also includes:

'Think Little' article on the Environmental Movement. By Wendell Berry.

Jarfalla: City of the Future.

4 Changes: Choōfō - which appears to be Gary Snyder's finished article; the draft of which appeared in September 1969's Difficult But Possible: Supplement to the Whole Earth Catalog. (See my LT review for that issue)

Steps in Chinese Wok-Frying

Some of a hand written letter by Ken Kesey.

A five page article on the WEC sponsored 'Hunger Show' game 'Lifeboat Earth'.

Making it With Rock (Re-print of article that appeared in the Berkley Barb, April 4, 1969)

A reprint from ALLOY (Spring 1969) of the four day event near La Luz, New Mexico (Thursday March 20th - 23rd),

Divine Right's Bus, Urge - by Gurney Norman

...as well as articles ranging from home birth and the art of breastfeeding, to death and dying.

In addition, many of the reviews include a lot of good information (even some diagrams too) Certainly enough to wet the apatite for more.

n.b.
The Last Whole Earth Catalog combines both the CATALOG and the SUPPLEMENT (previously sold separately) into one volume for the first time.

The Last Whole Earth Catalog was later expanded over two volumes (making this one in essence Vol.I) with the introduction of The Whole Earth Epilog (see my other review) acting as Volume II, and starting from pg. 449 where the LWEC leaves off.

The Last Whole Earth Catalog was fully updated in September 1973; and received another major update in the Spring of 1975, which included some additional articles and a slightly different cover design.½

What's it about?

The Whole Earth Catalog was part of a non-profit foundation in San Francisco set up by Stewart Brand during the 60's. In true 'hippie' style, cash from sales of the book were donated to local goodworks in the area (Ref. Page 616 of 'The Seven Laws of Money').
This incarnation of the catalog, titled 'The Whole Earth Epilog' is in fact a continuation of 'The Last Whole Earth Catalog' (in effect it's volume II). It commences where the LWEC left off, at page 449, and does not repeat any of the material in volume I.

So, what is it?

To put it in simple terms, for those who may have heard of these books but have little to no idea of what to expect; it is a big book, about what you would expect from one of those enlarged poster art books (a true coffee table book); but, rather than being filled with psychedelic art prints, you will find page after page of black and white adverts for other books, interspersed with ads for soft technologies such as Duct Tape, or metal working kits, but mostly books. There are a small number of editorials and articles of interest, but these books were created for people as a source of information and 'access to tools' in the dark ages before the Internet.
It may be hard now for those born with easy access to the information superhighway to appreciate just how invaluable these books and others like them were to people at the time. The concept of the Internet as we know it today is not new, only the format it now takes.
Think of this book as representing the search engine; 'altavista' or 'yahoo'; if you are too young to remember any of those then just think 'google'.
Once you find what you are looking for in the catalog you then need to mail off for the right book, which should contain within it, the pages of information that you require. See. Just like the internet, only more leisurely; but, you probably had plenty of other things to take up your time while you waited. Life was much less fast paced back then.

You probably wouldn't find many answers within The Whole Earth Catalogs, but you could be certain that you would be pointed in the right direction; and that was something that many people (not just the Freeks) desperately needed access to. The Whole Earth series provided access and was a very powerful tool in the right hands.½

My approach is to examine buildings as a whole -- not just whole in space, but whole in time. Some buildings are designed and managed as a spatial whole, none as a temporal whole. In the absence of theory or standard practice in the matter, we can begin by investigating: What happens anyway in buildings over time? [2]

Brand posits a view of buildings as defined by 6 distinct layers (adding to 4 from Frank Duffy). Duffy counseled: Imagine not a monolithic edifice, instead four layers of 'built components' with each layer aging at a different rate. Over time, they will shear apart unless they are able to adapt to both external pressures and internal stresses. [12-13] It is a design imperative to separate the layers to allow for adaptive change, for instance ensuring simple upgrades to conduits and plumbing. [20] It is sensible to think about the nature of these external and internal forces, whether changing real estate or neighbourhood standards or an expanding family, and accommodate them.

• Site
• Structure (Duffy = Shell)
• Skin
• Services (Duffy)
• Space Plan (Duffy = Scenery)
• Stuff (Duffy = Set, primarily furniture)

Added to this outlook is Brand's preference for buildings which succeed either by meeting a specialised purpose through long-term adaptation, becoming ever more suited to that purpose (High Road); or, which succeed by prioritising function and flexibility over any preset design, aesthetic, or even purpose (Low Road). Primarily he looks to vernacular designs. Perhaps this focus indicates an ultimate preference for Low Road, and an intention to redress the imbalance exemplified in such cultural icons as Architectural Digest.

All of this seemingly condensed into the 3L rule, introduced in 1972 by Alex Gordon: Long life, loose fit, low energy. [57] Brand also refers multiple times to the Pattern Language of Christopher Alexander and his colleagues, and notes the affinities with preservation efforts and regular, mindful maintenance. At one point, Brand draws a parallel between successful building adaptation and Batesonian cybernetics. [167]

It seems to me that the best designs are those which accommodate the most contradiction. Looked at the other way, the most boring design is that which is directed at a simple, well-defined future. A lot of New Age music exemplifies this, as does, for me, Le Corbusier. They are both addressed to simple world pictures, and to simple ideas about how humans behave and what they want. [189, quoting Brian Eno]

//

Brand's appreciation for vernacular and hybrid design now informs my outlook in keeping up my home, and not merely as a measure by which to evaluate buildings I see around me. Later chapters discuss strategies for builders and architects as well as owner-occupants: scenario planning, financing alternatives to conventional mortgages, adopting methods most suitable for later adaptation and changing.

More broadly, Brand's general outlook underpins my take on architecture, to some extent in articulating a sensibility already held but not closely examined, and partly in introducing new concepts. A commonplace of architecture, I thought, was the ideal of melding function and beauty. It's interesting to read that Modernism receives a good amount of criticism if not outright scorn for jettisoning utility (buildings leak, can't maintain a livable environment, feature layouts which impede occupants), when a plebeian criticism was that Modernist buildings are all function and no beauty.

//

The wide format is well suited to the content, which features a great many diagrams and photos, but not easily read except at table, nor easily notated in margins or back pages as my custom. There exists a six-part BBC Television series hosted by Brand, as well.