

With the advent of new technologies there comes a change in the culture that uses those technologies. No singular culture can be described or even classified as a culture without use and analysis of the particular technologies that are prevalent at that time. It would be impossible to classify Greek culture without studying the building technologies that created the monuments and building that are Greek “culture”. On the flip side of the coin, technology becomes obsolete if there is no culture to support it. One such example is obvious in the medieval dark ages. The culture of Western Europe did not allow for new advances in technology and thusly the culture went on a hiatus.
Author Ali Rahim communicates these principles in more modern terms and in relation to the field of architecture. Rahim also takes it one step further. Rather than just insisting that these two spheres of influences are solely interdependent on one another, he coins the term “feedback loop”, insisting that there is a never ending cycle of cultural influence on technology and technological development of culture. “Advances in technology have accelerated the pace of innovations in architecture, the arts, sciences, and media: these cultural developments have led, in turn, to new technological discoveries.”(10) Rahim also insists that architects need to take a more involved role in realizing the potential of cultural maturity through the use of technological innovation.
Rahim’s first chapter of his published work is spent entirely explaining the “feedback” loop in terms of the technology, the technique, and the technical. Terms which on the surface appear to be almost identical, once one peels back the outer layer become fundamentally different and three separate bases for the definition and realization of the “feedback” loop.
In the second half of the work, Rahim focuses exclusively on the theories of temporality and time. He illustrates the definition of time not in the rational, conventional sense of the word but rather through “two models of time from the sciences.”(22) He bases his first model of time on physics and classical mechanics and the second on the study and theory of thermodynamics. Or, in laymen’s terms the static never changing “reversible” verses the fundamental asymmetrical, “irreversible” past and future, respectively.
To more clearly illustrate the “feedback loop” Rahim starts by explaining the relationships within the technological side of the premise. A technology advancement can be defined quite simply “the application of a purely technical or scientific advance to a culture context.”(11) New technologies are constantly emerging in day to day life. But for these new technologies to be considered an advancement in the eyes of Rahim, they can’t simply be an improvement on a previous idea. Merely making a seat in a car larger and more comfortable does not make it a technical advancement because it does not “produce in users new patterns of behavior and levels of performance” it simply makes their particular car ride a bit more relaxed.
The next logical step from developing a true technological advancement is to create a technique for the use of that advancement. Before we could even begin to use the new and innovative technological advancement of the automobile we as humans had to develop the techniques for operating said automobile. “Techniques are behaviors and procedures that are systematic, repeatable, and communicable.”(12) Technique development can also carry over to architecture, the overriding emphasis of Rahim’s publication. There are two ways in which Rahim elaborates for architects to develop techniques to further the culture of architecture. There is the option within architecture to “rework existing methods” such as CAD programs in “experimental ways, or even by rewriting parts of the software and adapting it to entirely new functions.”(13) Secondly architects have the option to research other fields of professional study and use those tools to further the advancement of our own field of architecture. Aerospace, automotive, and film industries are just a few of the proverbial goldmines that architects can mine for useful tools. This has already started to happen with the uses of maya and CATIA.
In order to advance culture and innovation technology and technique must be simultaneously integrated. “Technical advances (such as the networking of computers) give rise to new uses or technologies ( such as the internet), leading users to create techniques ( designing interactive Web sites) that, in turn, demand technical advances (faster internet connections), which spawn new technologies (real-time three dimensional online communities)”(12). There is a never ending cycle of innovation that needs to be tapped by the architectural community.
Architects on a whole have an obligation to society to advance the human culture in a positive and innovative way. The only way for the field on a whole to do this is to accept, develop, and further explore those technologies that are already out there in existing fields as well as increasing our own technologies to further the design process on a whole. There is no scale too small to be using ground-breaking technology coupled with the design through fabrication process.