Lexicon

Abject
Accretion
Actant
Aeration
Aerobic
Algae-boosted
Animal
Anthropomorphism
Anti-Continuous Construction
Apocalypse
Aquaculture
Aquanaut
Ark
Artificial Intelligence
Autopoiesis
Assemblages
Asymmetry
Atrophy
Attraction
Autarchy
Automata
Automation
Autosymbiosis
Bambassador
Bathyscaphe
Bioconurbation
Biomedia
Bionics
Biosphere
Biotechnique
By-product
Capacity
Actant
Coisolation
Composting
Conservative Surgery
Consumer Envelope
Consumption
Continuous Construction
Conurbation
Correalism
Cultural_Memory
Cybernetics
Cybertecture
Cyborg
Dispositif
Diving Saucer
Dross
Earthship
Ecocatastrophe
Effluvium
Egosphere
End-use
Entanglement
Eutopia
Feedback
Foam
Folk
Gadget
Garbage House
Green Cyborg
Heuristic
Hoard
Holism
Homogenization of Desire
Hostile
Human Affect
Hybridized Folk
Hydroponic
Hyper-Materialism
Information Economy
Inner Space
Interama
Intra-Uterine
Maque
Megalopolis
Min-use
Mobility
Monorail
Multi-Hinge
Non-Design
Oceanaut
Oppositional Consciousness
Organic
Ouroboros
Panarchy
Parasite
Perceived Continuation
Permanence
Place
Prototype
Post-Animal
Reclamation
RI: Data Farms
RI: Garbage and Animals
RI:Shipbreaking
RI: Toxic Sublime
Sampling
Scale
Sensing Structure
Simulacrum
Simulation
Soft Energy
Spaceship Earth
Submersible
Superwindow
Symbiosis
Synthetic Environment
Technocratic
Technological Heredity
Technological Sublime
Telechirics
The Sublime
Thermal Panel
Actant
Thing-Power
Thinking Machines
Tool
Toxic Withdrawal
Turbulence
UV-Transparent Film
Vibrant Matter
Waste
Work

Symbiosis

Reyner Banham discusses the American phenomenon of lacking indoor monumental space. Banham recognizes that the monumental space of the United States is in the great outdoors which is so highly valued in American society. As American architecture becomes less integrated with the many appliances and mechanical systems present in typical housing, Banham argues that the American home has become just a shell to mask all the systems that are performed on the interior to regulate the space. Banham has suggested the introduction of standard-of-living package into the daily life off the independently mobile American who will then have the ability to set up their home in any given location as the unit is towed behind their vehicle. The enclosure for the standard-of-living package could be a thin plastic covering, which become inflated by the treated air pumped from the machine or even a sheet of air, which is blown from the support package over the surrounding site to keep out the elements and pests. Reyner Banham has taken this discussion a step further by suggesting that Americans integrate themselves into nature by finding their place among the natural hierarchy of animals and plant life. He suggests that the attraction of certain animals or insects to the site of the standard-of-living package can deter the presence of other less desirable species. This interspecies relationship can exist to provide a desirable environment for both parties to coexist in safety and comfort.

1. Reyner Banham, “A Home is not a House” (illustrated by Francois Dallegret), Art in America, Vol.53 (April 1965), pp.70-79.