Postdigital Architecture. What Now?!

Abstract

The hyphenated term ‘post-digital’ was coined over twenty years ago by sonic artist Kim Cascone as a means of thinking about the aesthetics of the time beyond the digital revolution in electronic music, and then adopted in the arts, media, and architecture. In architecture, the term has been adopted to promote an anti-digital ‘downgrading’ aesthetic agenda: as post(minus)digital. However, if understood as post(plus)digital – in short: postdigital – the expression appears to be indicative of an evolution of the digital beyond its first implementation as numerical or virtual alternative to traditional analogue design and making techniques. What postdigital traits and characteristics can be identified? How can they be implemented in architectural design? Why does it matter?