Accompagnying technology as a twin story, metalithicum is thought as concerning the symbolics of the forms, and scheming humans apply to accomodate themselves to their environment. Based on the thesis that both stories change character over time, the book looks at the technological and economical developments with which the physical characteristics of materials can be symbolically programmed, for example in the field of photovoltaics or in electronics. These devices are being industrially produced by printing procedures. It is no exaggeration to call this a veritable printing revolution, although unlike in Gutenberg’s day, the printed products represent, primarily, their own functionality. They demonstrate what they can do in a technological, operative way.
Applied Virtuality is a book series which is edited by Ludger Hovestadt and Vera Bühlmann, ITA Institute of Technology in Architecture, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, and based on the Metalithicum Conferences organized twice a year, where distinguished personalities from a broad range of architecture-related fields come together to discuss particular technological developments that are economically significant and philosophically interesting.
