Virtuous Disassembly: Material and Ethical Practice of a Global Electronic Waste Regime

International regulations have sought to curb illicit flows of electronic waste (e-waste) from Global North countries to Global South countries. At the same time, they provide a means for certified recyclers to imagine themselves as moral entrepreneurs with coherent industrial practices. Making the most value from discarded machines, however, is a process that requires careful attention to the indeterminate materiality of their supply. Used machines’ materiality is made indeterminate by the unpredictable amount of human wear on each machine. What this entails for the recycler is a process in negotiation with these unique conditions. Based on fieldwork and interviews with Euroamerican recyclers, brokers, auditors, and regulations staff, this thesis studies the moment a certified recycler decides how to process a discarded machine. It argues that the materiality of used electronics guides the production of ethical meanings and economic value

Waste City: alternative architecture for radical change

This thesis is an exploration into the possible creation of radically alternative ways of dwelling within the city, whereby inhabitants would construct their own environments through the use of waste as a building resource. The project challenges and contests the status quo of architectural production, market driven planning and a societal structure which is governed by the continuous consumption of 'stuff', while simultaneously attempting to address the ever-increasing social inequality experienced within Cape Town. Given our present conditions of crisis born out of modernity and the processes of modernization, the research brings foreword the utopian debate, questioning how we might begin to envision a better future. To this end the research begins with an exploration into the conditions of modernity and the implications these conditions have had on human existence. The modern social project of architecture forms the basis of this study, unpacking the complexities it faced when confronting the social conditions of modernity and its attempts to bring about social transformation. The conclusions drawn from this study formed the development of a personal philosophical position and the development of a series of propositions presented in the form of cartoons. The study thus formed the basis and genesis of ideas for the design project. This ideological response comes in the form of self-sufficiency support structures, whereby inhabitants would construct their own environment to meet their own desires. Free from the constraints of capital labour, people could engage in free play, creativity and celebrate collective life, thus potentially overcoming the alienating and fragmenting forces associated with the conditions of modernity. This thesis is an exploration into the possible creation of radically alternative ways of dwelling within the city, whereby inhabitants would construct their own environments through the use of waste as a building resource. The project challenges and contests the status quo of architectural production, market driven planning and a societal structure which is governed by the continuous consumption of 'stuff', while simultaneously attempting to address the ever-increasing social inequality experienced within Cape Town. Given our present conditions of crisis born out of modernity and the processes of modernization, the research brings foreword the utopian debate, questioning how we might begin to envision a better future. To this end the research begins with an exploration into the conditions of modernity and the implications these condition~ have had on human existence. The modern social project of architecture forms the basis of this study, unpacking the complexities it faced when confronting the social conditions of modernity and its attempts to bring about social transformation. The conclusions drawn from this study formed the development of a personal philosophical position and the development of a series of propositions presented in the form of cartoons. The study thus formed the basis and genesis of ideas for the design project. This ideological response comes in the form of self-sufficiency support structures, whereby inhabitants would construct their own environment to meet their own desires. Free from the constraints of capital labour, people could engage in free play, creativity and celebrate collective life, thus potentially overcoming the alienating and fragmenting forces associated with the conditions of modernity

Construction de modèles de données relationnels temporalisés guidée par les ontologies

Au sein d’une organisation, de même qu’entre des organisations, il y a plusieurs intervenants qui doivent prendre des décisions en fonction de la vision qu’ils se font de l’organisation concernée, de son environnement et des interactions entre les deux. Dans la plupart des cas, les données sont fragmentées en plusieurs sources non coordonnées ce qui complique, notamment, le fait de retracer leur évolution chronologique. Ces différentes sources sont hétérogènes par leur structure, par la sémantique des données qu’elles contiennent, par les technologies informatiques qui les manipulent et par les règles de gouvernance qui les contrôlent. Dans ce contexte, un système de santé apprenant (Learning Health System) a pour objectif d’unifier les soins de santé, la recherche biomédicale et le transfert des connaissances, en offrant des outils et des services pour améliorer la collaboration entre les intervenants ; l’optique sous-jacente à cette collaboration étant de fournir à un individu de meilleurs services qui soient personnalisés. Les méthodes classiques de construction de modèle de données sont fondées sur des règles de pratique souvent peu précises, ad hoc, non automatisables. L’extraction des données d’intérêt implique donc d’importantes mobilisations de ressources humaines. De ce fait, la conciliation et l’agrégation des sources sont sans cesse à recommencer parce que les besoins ne sont pas tous connus à l’avance, qu’ils varient au gré de l’évolution des processus et que les données sont souvent incomplètes. Pour obtenir l’interopérabilité, il est nécessaire d’élaborer une méthode automatisée de construction de modèle de données qui maintient conjointement les données brutes des sources et leur sémantique. Cette thèse présente une méthode qui permet, une fois qu’un modèle de connaissance est choisi, la construction d’un modèle de données selon des critères fondamentaux issus d’un modèle ontologique et d’un modèle relationnel temporel basé sur la logique des intervalles. De plus, la méthode est semi- automatisée par un prototype, OntoRelα. D’une part, l’utilisation des ontologies pour définir la sémantique des données est un moyen intéressant pour assurer une meilleure interopérabilité sémantique étant donné que l’ontologie permet d’exprimer de façon exploitable automatiquement différents axiomes logiques qui permettent la description de données et de leurs liens. D’autre part, l’utilisation d’un modèle relationnel temporalisé permet l’uniformisation de la structure du modèle de données, l’intégration des contraintes temporelles ainsi que l’intégration des contraintes du domaine qui proviennent des ontologies.Within an organization, many stakeholders must make decisions based on their vision of the organization, its environment, and the interactions between these two. In most cases, the data are fragmented in several uncoordinated sources, making it difficult, in particular, to trace their chronological evolution. These different sources are heterogeneous in their structure, in the semantics of the data they contain, in the computer technologies that manipulate them, and in the governance rules that control them. In this context, a Learning Health System aims to unify health care, biomedical research and knowledge transfer by providing tools and services to enhance collaboration among stakeholders in the health system to provide better and personalized services to the patient. The implementation of such a system requires a common data model with semantics, structure, and consistent temporal traceability that ensures data integrity. Traditional data model design methods are based on vague, non-automatable best practice rules where the extraction of data of interest requires the involvement of very important human resources. The reconciliation and the aggregation of sources are constantly starting over again because not all needs are known in advance and vary with the evolution of processes and data are often incomplete. To obtain an interoperable data model, an automated construction method that jointly maintains the source raw data and their semantics is required. This thesis presents a method that build a data model according to fundamental criteria derived from an ontological model, a relational model and a temporal model based on the logic of intervals. In addition, the method is semi-automated by an OntoRelα prototype. On the one hand, the use of ontologies to define the semantics of data is an interesting way to ensure a better semantic interoperability since it automatically expresses different logical axioms allowing the description of data and their links. On the other hand, the use of a temporal relational model allows the standardization of data model structure and the integration of temporal constraints as well as the integration of domain constraints defines in the ontologies

Sponging the chair: diagramming affect through architecture and performance

This doctoral research, conducted through both practice-based and theoretical inquiry, is located within the field of psychophysical performance practice, informed by and intersected with philosophical and architectural approaches to diagramming. The aim of the research is to develop ways of understanding how affectivity works in a particularly diagrammatic manner within a performative event. This is considered through the experience of an individual person, between people as intersubjective and collective bodies, and within the built environments they occupy. The research begins with the problem of attaining a condition of ‘openness’, whereby performer(s) produce an affective, collectively held state of embodied presence. This may be recognized as moments in which we feel 'moved' by a performance, or when an inexplicable potential seems to emerge that transforms our habitual perceptions of time, space and subjectivity. This opening to affectivity is a double-edged sword. It radically de-centers the subject, but also allows a sense of shared constraint to act like an intangible glue, connecting individuals and even nonhuman or inanimate elements within the environment. This approach is very different to other performance practices such as Ballet or Contemporary Dance, especially in the way specific methods deal with sensation and movement, form and intention, memory and the image. A performer may often enact a sense of openness between selves and/or things when these qualities become tentative or indeterminate. Because of the importance of objects, artifacts, and built environments as ‘intermediaries’ within these performances, a comparison with theories of architectural diagramming and situated cognition provides a broader context for the research practice. In particular, I draw on a Deleuzian notion of ‘the diagram’ - an abstract or conceptual device for generating processes of transformation. In working through the experience of developing my own performance practice, alongside theories of diagramming and affect, I develop specific principles and procedures for generating openness. I draw on my training in Butoh dance and Grotowski physical theatre method to consider how bodies and selves are affected by the way they situate themselves within a given site. Objects, artifacts, and built environments are seen to stand in as intermediaries for holding open a tentative disposition and through which collective shifts in affectivity may occur. Using the conceptual figure of a ‘sponge-body’ I explore how this moves through many different openings in thinking, feeling and doing. In the project work, the constructed nature of this holding open becomes more overt by using chairs as physical performance apparatus. This culminates in the final project with the appearance of a gargoyle - a character who comes to stand in as an architectural figure for locating what may be at stake for resituating the role of the body within the built environment. The gargoyle presents a grotesque figure sitting on the very cusp of normal social interaction. In doing so, it reveals how the collective nature of affective openness - across diverse levels of experience, may have far-ranging implications for the future becoming of bodies and buildings, selves and environment

Knowledge practices in design: The role of visual representations as 'epistemic objects'

We use a detailed study of the knowledge work around visual representations to draw attention to the multidimensional nature of `objects'. Objects are variously described in the literatures as relatively stable or in flux; as abstract or concrete; and as used within or across practices. We clarify these dimensions, drawing on and extending the literature on boundary objects, and connecting it with work on epistemic and technical objects. In particular, we highlight the epistemic role of objects, using our observations of knowledge work on an architectural design project to show how, in this setting, visual representations are characterized by a `lack' or incompleteness that precipitates unfolding. The conceptual design of a building involves a wide range of technical, social and aesthetic forms of knowledge that need to be developed and aligned. We explore how visual representations are used, and how these are meaningful to different stakeholders, eliciting their distinct contributions. As the project evolves and the drawings change, new issues and needs for knowledge work arise. These objects have an `unfolding ontology' and are constantly in flux, rather than fully formed. We discuss the implications for wider understandings of objects in organizations and for how knowledge work is achieved in practice