Texts
- The Problem of Learning
- Problemistics Courseware
- Corso su Problemistica
- Resources Management
- Manuale/Intellettuale
- Campagna/Città
Problemistics - Problémistique - Problemistica
The Art & Craft of Problem Dealing
Modules
Definition (Reference Books)
Definition (Philip Howard)Modules in architecture (György Doczi)
Modules in design (J. Christopher Jones)
Modules in music (Morris Kline)
Modules in planning production (M. K. Starr)
[1981] Webster’s Third New International Dictionary
- 2. “A standard or unit of measurement.”
- 3b. “A unit of size used as a basis for standardizing the design and construction of building parts and materials or articles of furniture.”
Etymology : modulus = ‘small measure’ from modus = measure
[1983] The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
3. "A standard or unit for measuring."
4. "In the classic orders, the unity of length by which the proportions of the parts are expressed."
[1978] Philip Howard, Weasel Words, Corgi Books, London, 1983
"A standard or unit for measuring".
"In architecture: a standard unit of measurement used to create proportional relationships between parts and the whole."
"In building : one of a series of production units that are standardized to facilitate assembly or replacement and are usually prefabricated as self-contained structures."
"By analogy, from building: a standardized part of a piece of furniture and especially of transistorized artifacts such as telephone exchanges and switchboards."
"A number of distinct, well-defined units from which a computer program may be built up, or into which any complex process or activity is analysed, each of which is complete in itself but bears a definite relationship to the other units." (pp. 111-112)
[1981] György Doczi, The Power of Limits, Shambhala, Boston & London, 1994
"Such an element, chosen in order to express the proportion of an entire structure is called a module, a concept that was to play an important role throughout the history of architecture." (p. 106)
[1970] J. Christopher Jones, Design Methods, 1982
“The best examples of design I can think of are ... all modules of some kind : bricks, playing cards, cassettes, plugs-and-sockets, nuts-and-bolts, alphabets, numbers, musical notations, the ‘page’ (as sub-module of ‘the book’) ...
This is a different scale of designing from that of ‘product’ or ‘complete system’, one that opens out unending possibilities for assembly-design, and use, that extend far beyond what designers of modules could consider in any detail, or at all.” (p. xxix)
[1953] Morris Kline, Mathematics in Western Culture, 1972
"... each musical sound, however complex, is merely a combination of simple sounds." (p. 336)
“Any complex sound, then, can be built up by a suitable combination of simple sounds. The simple tones are called the partials or harmonics of the sound.”
“Each such sound, simple or complex has three properties that serve to distinguish it from other musical sounds, namely, pitch, loudness, and quality.” (p. 338)
[1970] M. K. Starr, Modular Production, in M. K. Starr (editor), Management of Production
“To achieve this variety [maximum productive variety or maximum choice] what I call ‘modular’ or ‘combinatorial’ productive capacities - that is, capacities to design and manufacture parts which can be combined in numerous ways - are required, as well as compatible managerial abilities.” (p. 36)
“The emphasis on maximizing the combinatorial variety of assemblies from a given number of parts is the new element of interest to production managers.” (p. 44)
"... an interchangeable module enters with equal ease into many different product configurations” (p. 51)
“Creating real productive variety - that which comes with modular production - is equivalent to building into the system pre-planned potentials for diversification. In a related sense, activities such as long-range planning and master planning will span new horizons and assume new dimensions.” (p. 52)