Mereotopias: Assembling Novelty

Starting point of this proposal is the concept of creative innovation, understood as an amalgamation of processes between the material and immaterial networks, from the personal to the local and all the way to a global scale. Studies in neuroscience suggest that creativity could be interpreted as a form of behavior, influenced by cerebral functions. Perhaps the most essential feature of a creative brain is its degree of connectivity. Connectivity correlates functions and forms bonds of structurally isolated domains on brain modules sub-serving different functions. The more signals sent between two neurons increase, the stronger the connection becomes.

The formation of synapses between neurons in the nervous system is called synaptogenesis. Each new experience or event is recorded in the brain, causing it to rewire its physical structure. According to research, in order for a mind to become more creative, it needs to be placed inside environments that share the same network properties as the brain. This calls for a re-evaluation of existing typologies and established practices. Neural networks are formed through part to whole relations between neural cells. Applying this principle on the structure, a modular architecture is formed by using discrete units, following a digital instead of an analog approach to construction. The component computed digitally is also the one which will be assembled physically. Each stage of creativity requires an environment of stimulation, distraction, solitude, organizational support, publicity and frequency of face-to-face contact. Enhancing the components’ structure with motors, sensors and MRI scanners, and by calculating dopamine and serotonin levels, the optimized condition for creativity can be measured. The structure can be updated in order to respond accordingly, through the use of lighting, transparency, acoustics and connectivity. This proposal attempts to imagine a post-human world where Nature and Culture (technology) can coexist symbiotically under a new urban ecology; a world where behaviors and data become tools, enriching the architectural vocabulary. A new type of architecture is required in order to address this novel way of understanding space, one that is ubiquitous and that incorporates real-time knowledge in the fabric of its conception. We call this type a Mental Propulsion Centre, which combines interdisciplinary research on neuroscience and application of its findings, in order to enhance synaptogenesis and creativity.