Gordon Pask: exchanges between cybernetics and architecture and the envisioning of the IE

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study a series of exchanges between cybernetics and the arts, focusing on Pask's lifelong envisioning of the so‐called information environment (I.E). It follows the author's previous PhD dissertation which was concerned with the exchanges between systems research and architecture; Gordon Pask et al.; and a couple of outstanding architectural projects related to systems and computation.Design/methodology/approachThis paper was mainly supported by archival research of Gordon Pask's Archive (held at the time by his daughter) and Cedric Price's Archive (held at the Canadian Centre for Architecture); supplemented with interviews and bibliographical research (research was made possible by a FCT grant – POCI 2010).FindingsThe paper details and discusses exchanges between the fields of cybernetics and the arts; and it focuses on Pask's lifelong exchange with architecture and the manifestation of his ideas in this field. One highlights, among others, Pask's exchanges within the British milieu and the AMG during the 1960s and 1970s; the seminal manifestations of his main C2 achievement – the Conversation Theory – in the field of architecture; and his later architectural performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe previous primary archival research conducted at Pask's daughter house, is being expanded by the author through use of new material.Originality/valueThis paper is intended for historians of sciences and the arts. It briefly overviews Pask's well‐known main works and, in addition, it includes reference to some rare little‐known materials.