Energetic Organizations

Our first reading assignment, Professor Sherman’s “Energetic Organizations” essay, discusses the various methods of urban flow and city layout that have arisen throughout history. The state of a city is broken down into five categories: the local/chthonic, hierarchical/classical, mechanical/mercantile, thermodynamic, and finally ecological/web. The text highlights the fact that these cities are not only created by the building and street structures that can be found, but also various complex social ideals, as well as the city’s political and economic states. Agricultural industry, global networking and the state of street fronts are just a few social circumstances that directly influence the architectural state of a city. As such, a city grows and changes not only in relation to what people need and desire, but even more so the basis and formative elements that are already in place.

 

The most interesting topic that this essay touched on was the idea of a city as a network of ideas and activity. In order to successfully and thoroughly design a city, we must understand the various flows of energy that pass through it. For example, the thermodynamic city is described by how “the city becomes animate, burning with a warm core, but rendered monstrous by the choking by-products of its productive capacity.” (Sherman, 144) The problem with this city structure, however, is that it assumes that energy is a never-ending resource, which is a false assumption that unfortunately can not be remedied by any amount of awareness or study. The thermodynamic city brings to mind images of industrialization and the formation of factories across the European and American landscapes, where intense amounts of energy are utilized to produce things that the population needs to live comfortably. 

 

In my opinion, while each city type has its own advantages and disadvantages, the ecological/web city seems to be the most responsible in terms of sustainability and addressing the rising issue of energy conservation. This typology responds the most directly to humans social and biological needs and results in the most optimistic outlook for our future.