The Philosophy of Dumbness - by Joseph Choma (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the dumbest smart book on contemporary architecture. What really is this 'technology' that we speak of? How do we define 'intelligence'? These are just two of the questions that this book attempts to answer through the unconventional (and seemingly ironic) lens of 'dumbness'. Historical examples in science, art, and architecture ground 'dumbness' as a means to convey a trajectory to practice 'smarter'. Instead of a singular authoritative vision, over 50 contributors answer the question, 'What is the dumbest, but smartest thing you've done?' These unique responses provide a vivid lens into the culture of contemporary architecture and the rigour behind it.

Book Synopsis

This is the dumbest smart book on contemporary architecture. What really is this "technology" that we speak of? How do we define "intelligence"? These are just two of the questions that this book attempts to answer through the unconventional (and seemingly ironic) lens of "dumbness."

Historical examples in science, art, and architecture ground "dumbness" as a means to convey a trajectory to practice "smarter." Instead of a singular authoritative vision, over fifty contributors answer the question, "What is the dumbest, but smartest thing you've done?" These unique responses provide a vivid lens into the culture of contemporary architecture and the rigor behind it.

With contributions by:
-- Jonah Ross-Marrs
-- Carl Lostritto
-- Jürgen Mayer H.
-- Robert Silance
-- Ted Krueger
-- Joseph Choma
-- Mark West
-- M. Wesam Al Asali
-- Coy Howard
-- Catie Newell
-- Siobhan Rockcastle
-- Joyce Hwang
-- Fabio Gramazio
-- Brandon Clifford
-- Michael Ramage
-- Julia Watson
-- Philippe Rahm
-- Rahul Mehrotra
-- Curtis Roth
-- Stefan Behnisch
-- Winy Maas
-- Marc Manack
-- Herb Greene
-- Jae Kyung Kim
-- Nader Tehrani
-- Ben van Berkel
-- Patrick Harrop
-- Patrik Schumacher
-- Mark Foster Gage
-- Gilles Retsin
-- Masoud Akbarzadeh
-- Cecil Balmond
-- Chris Williams
-- Joseph Tanney
-- David Riebe
-- Allison Dring
-- Bruce Danziger
-- Hitoshi Abe
-- Marlon Blackwell
-- Sean Godsell
-- Brian MacKay-Lyons
-- Roberto de Leon
-- Ross Primmer
-- Michael Boucher
-- William O'Brien Jr.
-- Michelle Chang
-- Hilary Sample
-- Michael Meredith
-- Caroline O'Donnell
-- Anthony Ames
-- Jeannette Kuo
-- Kivi Sotamaa
-- Dominique Jakob
-- Brendan MacFarlane
-- Steven Holl
-- Dimitra Tsachrelia
-- Florian Idenburg
-- Jing Liu