Meme Cloud

Viral Crochet May 18, 2012

Meme?

So what is this meme business?

I’m not trying to patronise, just attempting to kick start my brain out of it’s maternity leave mush. Consider this post as a bit of revision.  So, we get the basic definition of a meme……why, thank you, Mr. Dawkins (The Selfish Gene)………building on William S. Burroughs “language is a virus“………as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices.  Memes behave in a similar way to genetic material, through processes of replication, variation and selection in reponse to pressures exerted by the cultural environment.

However, consider architecture as a whole frenzy of memetic material vying for supremacy.

We might even consider the city as a giant memeplex (meme complex – groups of memes).  Apparently, it’s where ideas have sex……really?!? (See thisbigcity.net).

Ask a child to draw a house.

Inevitably, they will draw a square, topped with a triangle. Maybe a rectangle chimney with spiralling smoke, even if they have a gas fire.  3 square windows and a rectangle door completes the image.  We bring these to our creation of and understanding of architecture.  Our minds are fuelled by more memes as we grow and are exposed to music, social networks, conversation, imagery and the grandaddy of all meme conduits – the tv.  Oh and I forgot books – do people even still, like, read them?

The building and the city embodies these memes that flow, grow and become extinct without us even being aware of them. Perhaps, if we were aware of them, they’d be called ideas.  Perhaps, if they changed the world, they’d be called culture.

The building is the physical manifestation of the Meme Cloud.

So, our revision complete, we can reiterate the focus of the Meme Cloud blog.  I want to conciously express the unconcious memes and ideas, that may not traditionally be thought of as relevant to architectural or urban theory, but nevertheless shape or thoughts on how architecture should be created or appreciated.  We will not be discussing the relative merits of the Doric vs. Ionic column, but perhaps there will be some mention of viruses and crochet.

Comment and offer memetic material