Bruno Latour, Aramis, or the Love of Technology, PDF - Dss-edit.com
Bruno Latour, Aramis, or the Love of Technology, PDF - Dss-edit.com
Bruno Latour, Aramis, or the Love of Technology, PDF - Dss-edit.com
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
were full <strong>of</strong> articles on <strong>the</strong> 'lille inventions.' In terms <strong>of</strong> local implementation,we couldn't have done better; and besides, we moved from something simpleto something <strong>com</strong>plicated." [no. 15]"If I understand c<strong>or</strong>rectly, to write <strong>the</strong> <strong>Aramis</strong> st<strong>or</strong>y we have t<strong>or</strong>ewrite <strong>the</strong> VAL st<strong>or</strong>y.""Yes, since it's <strong>the</strong> same <strong>com</strong>pany, Matra was w<strong>or</strong>king on bothsystems during <strong>the</strong> same period, and <strong>the</strong> two project heads had beenclassmates. Fur<strong>the</strong>rm<strong>or</strong>e, this gives us an admirable point <strong>of</strong> <strong>com</strong>parison:a failure, a success, <strong>the</strong> same men. There's no way to say <strong>the</strong>industrialist is no good, since he succeeds in one case and loses in <strong>the</strong>o<strong>the</strong>r. With <strong>the</strong> <strong>com</strong>parison, we're <strong>com</strong>pelled to see <strong>the</strong> symmetry. Andtechnologically speaking, one is as <strong>com</strong>plicated to produce as <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r,even if <strong>Aramis</strong> is even m<strong>or</strong>e on <strong>the</strong> cutting edge. No question about it:I sense that we 're about to add a chapter to Plutarch's Lhes, and if youstill think it's impossible to be both a good engineer and a goodnegotiat<strong>or</strong>, get ready to squirm, Mister Young Engineer.""But I've been squirming all along, Mister Literary Graybeard!"As you can see, over time I had be<strong>com</strong>e ra<strong>the</strong>r cheeky."Right. So our next meetings will be about VAL?"[INTERVIEW EXCERPTS]At Matra headquarters, in <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> M. Freque, who w<strong>or</strong>ked on VA Lbef<strong>or</strong>e going back to <strong>Aramis</strong> in 198 I . The same postmodern ceramic building.The same charming hostesses. The <strong>Aramis</strong> cabin is still in <strong>the</strong> hal!. Delightedto be able to talk about his <strong>of</strong>fspring VA L again, M. Freque <strong>com</strong>pares <strong>the</strong> twoproiects f<strong>or</strong> an hour, without waiting f<strong>or</strong> questions."Yes, it's true, <strong>the</strong> contrast between <strong>Aramis</strong> and VAL is striking. In ourresponse to <strong>the</strong> call f<strong>or</strong> bids, we had proposed a Single line without a netw<strong>or</strong>k.We had nonreversible units with loops and a do<strong>or</strong> at each side, f<strong>or</strong> <strong>the</strong> purpose<strong>of</strong> simplification. The functional specifications <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>com</strong>petition were very fewin number: a one-minute interval during rush hours, and a fairly low externalnoise level, f<strong>or</strong> <strong>the</strong> site. The greatest possible technological freedom was leftto <strong>the</strong> manufacturer. That was in total contrast with <strong>Aramis</strong>.__ __ __ ___ __ S_ H _ I ll y _· S H _ A l LY I N G IN _ T H E S E V E N T I E S 11
Change language