A Phenomenology of Protocols

Tay develops a phenomenological approach to understanding protocols as human-built systems, arguing that current protocols fail to nurture human flourishing because they were designed without centering human capacity for self-making, character cultivation, and wisdom. She contends that truly human-centered protocols must be reconstructed to be hospitable to human development rather than extractive of human attention and agency.

Related resources

Paper

Four Doors: An Architectural Memory Protocol

This paper presents 'Four Doors' as an architectural memory protocol that applies medieval monastic mnemonic techniques to a contemporary retreat space, using the building's physical architecture and inscribed doorways as mnemonic devices organized around the intercolumnia principle. The author draws on Mary Carruthers' scholarship on medieval memory practices to transform the Lodge at St. Edward Park into a 'gathering site' and 'machine for thinking' where each architectural threshold functions as a gateway to associated ideas.

culture fiction memory

Dec 2023

Summer of Protocols

Framework

Protocol Lexicon

A glossary of terms coined or specifically defined within the Protocol Institute corpus — from protocolization and hardness to Kafka protocols, dynamic non-events, and protocol dysphoria.

protocols theory reference

May 2026

Protocol Institute

Paper

Protocol Pattern Language

This paper presents Pattern 03 of a Protocol Pattern Language for Urban Space, specifically addressing how regulatory frameworks can be redesigned to enable domestic retail and small businesses to operate from residential spaces. Austin argues that loosening residential business restrictions would formalize existing informal commerce while allowing communities to capture economic and social benefits of locally-grounded retail, using California's legalization of home kitchen operations as a concrete example.

design foundations governance

Dec 2023

Drew Austin