Page 10 - JCAU-5-4

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Working with the energies of life

generate far more power than living organisms, to the point capable of material change and essential to understanding
where they could even cause them harm), his invention the dynamic nature of living systems. The coupling of
set the benchmarks for much higher power expectations material properties to electron flow can be clearly seen in
and establishing a productive relationship between power chemical systems like the Belousov Zhabotinsky reaction
and machines. By coupling electrons to the movement of (Figures 4 and 5), where brightly colored fractal-like
metal, Volta separated the notion of energy from “life,” patterns are generated by electrons being passed between
and valorized increasingly more powerful sources to drive different atoms, which are reminiscent of dynamic
those machines capable of bringing about the Industrial computer-generated fractal images (Belousov, 1959;
Revolution. Zhabotinsky, 1964; van Roekel et al., 2015).The diverse
The quality of electron flow produced by natural systems outcomes of electron transfer can clearly be captured
such as Galvani’s organic electricity or “bioelectricity” at the human scale by establishing time-based self-
is very different in its quality than the industrial energy organizing chemical systems (Figure 6) that can spatialize
produced by Volta’s process. It is slower, more agile, this transfer, which can be demonstrated by a range of
less forceful, and can be used to alter the charge and dynamic chemistries from protocells (Armstrong, 2015;
configuration of molecules. Consequently, electrogenic Armstrong, 2019) to Liesegang Rings (Armstrong, 2015)
activities that take place within physiological limits have and osmotic structures (Leduc, 1911), and can account
the potential to perform metabolic work. Privileging for how a physical system can alter over time.
power over all other outputs within these systems, this
philosophical framework shaped the concept of energy
for the modern industrial era, specifically through our
relationship with electricity, which provided the most
flexible mode of delivery.
Both observers proved to be correct about the nature of
electricity, but in different ways. Generated from the flow
of electrons, which are fundamental particles, electricity
can be produced in many ways. It is both fundamental
to nature, being a kind of transactional (bio) chemical
currency that allows molecules to interact and transform
their characteristics, and is also one of the most widely
used forms of energy in modern society, which can reach
supranatural levels when it is channeled through metal Figure 4. Diagram of the electron transfer system that provides the basis
wires. for the changing, emergent patterns that typify the Belousov Zhabotinsky
reaction. Source: Diagram courtesy of Rachel Armstrong, Belgium, 2023
4. Electron transfer and chemical change

While industrialization remained the focus for the
development narratives about electricity as an energy
source, the commons of energies can be understood
by advances in physiology and cell biology in the
mid-20 century, where electrical phenomena were
th
demonstrated to be pervasive in all biological systems
– from the flow of ions across cell membranes, to the
transfer of electrons in metabolic pathways (Hodgkin
& Huxley, 1952). While these flows could never match
the sheer force that was generated by chemical energy
in batteries and subsequently, even more concentrated
sources of energy through their coupling with machines, Figure 5. Electron transfer in chemistry can be seen in action when ions
the energies of life proved to be more materially that receive and lose electrons change color, which is demonstrated here
performative. Through the process of electron transfer, by the dynamic patterns of the Belousov Zhabotinsky reaction. Source:
electrochemical processes produce physical effects based Stephen Morris, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.
org/wiki/File:Belousov_Zhabotinsky_reaction_(4297013382).jpg),
on change in atomic state that are distributed through licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
time and space. This creative and versatile platform is (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en), cropped image.

Volume 5 Issue 4 (2023) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0862