4.110J / MAS.330J / MAS.650 DESIGN ACROSS SCALES, DISCIPLINES AND PROBLEM CONTEXTS Instructors: Prof. Meejin Yoon, Prof. Neri Oxman Assignment 4 Networks _______, 2015

The Opte Project, Visualizing routes through a portion of the Internet Assignment: Design (or represent) a network Background: “I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet. The president of the United States, a gondolier in Venice, just fill in the name.”

- John Guare, Six Degrees of Separation Networks surround us. We are a component of some of them, while others exist within us. They play an influential role in almost everything that we do. We observe and study them in a wide variety of fields, ranging from computer science to physics to macroeconomics to epidemiology to telecommunications. Networks can be static, or in a constant state of flux. They can grow and ebb, and sometimes even heal themselves. The design of a network can define and deeply influence the behavior of its agents. For instance, a public social network predicated on asymmetric relationships (Twitter) fosters the creation and sharing of content that is extremely different from the content that is generated on a symmetric, private network with many small cliques or clusters (Instant Messaging) Lecture Part 1: An introduction to networks – how to analyze, visualize and design networks. The lecture will look at networks in nature, and then talk about how they inspire man-made networks. It will also look at how function informs form and vice versa.

1. Networks in Nature

a. Circulation and Distribution: Leaves, Insect Wings and River Deltas b. Communication: Ant Colonies and Nervous Systems c. Construction: Spiders and Silkworms d. Navigation: Viruses and e. Behavior: Complex Networks and Collective Behavior

2. Man-made Networks

a. Urban Network Analysis b. Telecommunications networks and The Internet c. Artificial Neural Networks and Network Algorithms d. Architecture and Mediated Matter e. Social Networks, Influence and Behavior

Part 2: Guest lecture by Cesar Hidalgo, Director, Macro Connections, MIT Media Lab Cesar, as someone who has analyzed Macroeconomic theory through the eyes of a complexity theorist, could potentially speak about a wide array of topics that he has worked on. Some of the topics that he might cover include the following:

1. On the meritocracy and topocracy of networks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTJ8TAMv3sk#t=82

2. On Visualizing Comparative Advantage using Product Networks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRp382ynu-Q#t=254

Assignment For this assignment, design or represent a network that you find interesting. Your network can be biological, social or technological, and some of them. Your network (or its representation) can be static or dynamic, digital or physical (or both), inert or responsive. Agents or nodes in your network can be passive, or they can interact with and influence each other as well as the network itself. Relationships between nodes can by symmetric or asymmetric and weak or strong. Go over the recommended readings and videos, and attend the class on “Networks” before you begin working on the assignment. Submission date ________, 2015 Format Class presentation, groups of 2-3 students from different departments / disciplines. Produce a video that documents your sources of inspiration, the process of designing the network (or building the representation of the network), and the network (or the representation) itself. Recommended Readings / Videos 1. Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age, - Duncan J. Watts. Paperback. W.W. Norton,

2003. 2. Networked Life on Coursera (Watch the Introductory Video) 3. A network view of economic development – Cesar Hidalgo, MIT Media Lab 4. The Hidden Influence of Social Networks – Nicholas Christakis 5. Micromotives and Macrobehavior, - Thomas C. Schelling. Paperback. W.W. Norton, 1978. 6. The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell. Paperback. Little Brown & Company, 2000.