Another Day, Another ArchaID

As the scope of Architecture and Interaction Design expands, I'm now taking part in a primer project prior to my stage 6 thesis. This project, centered on learning to sketch in the programming language "Processing", will hopefully lead into a study of the financial sector and how space is structured in and around its institutions.

I have been interested in the role of banks as a black box, and how interaction design can generate architecture that is a data visualisation. Reading around the recent financial crisis, there are two slightly more specific areas worthy of investigation. "Moral Hazard" and "Double Agency". The former refers to the incentive for traders to gamble to gain short term gain, as they are not ultimately accountable for losses which are likely, even certain over the longer term. Similarly, most of the money staked by traders is borrowed, not belonging to the institution they represent. It is borrowed from pension or hedge funds, or other banks, and ultimately belongs to private individuals not the funds managers. Where in that chain is the person who will take responsibility and say no to a risky investment?

There is an interesting history of public space in the proximity of financial institutions, with Fosters HSBC building in Hong Kong a relatively contemporary and particularly well known example. The current "occupations" of these public spaces in both London and New York, right next to these black box institutions is another angle that I may be interested in investigating.