MinnaRadakovits,SamuelBlaschke
ChairofArchitecturalInformatics
LoweringThresholds
TechnicalUniversityofMunich
2 LoweringThresholds: ParticipationinNeuperlach ChairofArchitecturalInformatics Prof.Dr.-Ing.FrankPetzold CriticalModeling IvanBratoev,NickFörster,FrankPetzold SamuelBlaschke,MinnaRadakovits 03688856,03753913
3 4 6 11 15 18 22 30 Chapter1:start! Chapter2:thetopic Chapter3:theconcept Chapter4:theproduct Chapter5:tech Chapter6:loweringthresholds ReflectionandOutlook TableofContents
4 Thismapisanoverlayofthemobilityhubsalready plannedbytheMGS,andtheareaswheree-scooters ande-bikeswerefound. Chapter1 Ourproject startedwith twoprompts:„Interfaces andVisualization“, and„Post-Fossil Mobility“.WemetupafewdaysbeforeourfirstoutingtoNeuperlachandstarted discussinghowwecouldtacklethesetwotopics,butourconversationquickly derailedintofocusingmoreonthepeoplelivinginNeuperlach,andtheirpersonal preferencesregardingthingslikemobilityandtheexperienceofsaidthings. WheninNeuperlach,wedecidedtotracke-scootersande-bikes;wheretheywere placedandhowmanytherewereinacertainarea.Thequestionweendedup posingwas:whoisactuallyusingthesevehicles?WhatpartofNeuperlachdoes thisrepresent?Theanswer, wethought, wastheyoungerdemographic. Andso, our projecttookasharpturnintothestudyofcitizenparticipationregardingcertain demographics. Initially,wehadbothbeeninterestedincitizenparticipationasatopic,andwhen lookingatthe demographicofNeuperlach, andhowskewed thepopulationwas to ayounger- aswell asa 65+demographic, wesaw ourchance totackle thisquestion. Alongtheway,the post-fossilmobilityangledidn‘t feellikeitfit intoournewtopicof-interest,andwasleftbehind. „start!“
6 Chapter2 Thetopic:citizenparticipationinarchitectureandcityplanning.Thefocus:themost elusivedemographic,acrossnearlyallresearchregardingparticipation-young people.Tostaywithinthescopeoftheprompt „interfacesandvisualization“,we decidedtotestthetheorythatoneofthereasonsthatyoungpeoplesooftenare unrepresentedinparticipatoryresearchisthatthey‘rejustnotengagingwiththe visualaspectsofthemarketing,andhencetheirinterestisnotbeinggrabbed. Ourinitialplanwastocreate4differentQRcode„stickers“,putthemupspreadout equallyaroundNeuperlachandseewhichonegotthemosthits/scans. However,wealsorealized quicklythatwewould havenowayof knowingwhatage demographic was scanning said QR code, which ruled out this strategy. Additionally, QRcodesarea designchoicetobegin with,andwewould havenowayof knowing iftheuseoftheQRcodesthemselvesskewedtheresultsinawaythatcouldhurt thevalidity. Thethoughtthatpartoftheproblemmightlieinthevisualdesignandhowyou advertise citizen participation stayed, the QR codes didn‘t end up coming to fruition. Weneededanewplanofaction,anewbasisforourresearch. „thetopic“
7 QRcodedesignsforthefirstidea:testingwhatvisual designlanguagewouldgarnerwhatresponse,andif therewasawaytotrackwhatayoungergeneration interactedwithmore.
PhotosfromtheMGSeventinNeuperlach,taken bySamuelBlaschkewhentryingtoscopeouta
demographic.
MindMap-Howdoourthoughtsandplansconnect?
Initialideaofphysicalinteractiveobjecttogarner attention,predecessortotheaccesspoints.
Theorizing,wecameupwiththethoughtthatitis, mostlikely,atleastpartiallyadesignproblem.How doesoneconnectwithacertaindemographic?How dovisualcuesdiffer?
why didwefindit interesting?Andwhatendproductwerewehopingtoachieve?
Wehad,atthispoint,startedquestioningwhatourgoalwiththeprojectactually was.Wewerealreadysetonthetopicbeingparticipation,but
HavinglefttheQRcodesontheback-burner,wemovedontothinkofwhatother waysofengaging withpeoplemightbeuseful,andthisalsoledtouscontactingthe MGS,thepeopleinchargeover„StädtebauförderungNeuperlach“,andscheduling ameetingtoseeifwecouldsomehowcollaboratewiththem,orcreatesomething forthemtouse.
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Ifpeoplewhoworkprofessionallywithcityplanningcannotfindthesolutionover thepasthunderedsofyears,wecertainlyweren‘tgoingtofigureitoutinthespan ofonesemester.Instead,ourintentionsweresetontryingtocreateawaytomake iteasierandmoreaccessibletoparticipate,andcreatethat initialcontact between thepeopleinchargeofcityplanningandtheactualpopulationofthearea.
Thiswasourfirstpointoffocusandinterest.
Howdoyoureachtheelusiveyoungerdemographic?
Thinking about this led to one big conclusion:We were never going to find a solution totheproblem,andthisshouldn‘tbethegoaloftheprojecteither.Participationis atopicthathasbeentackledbycountlesspeopleincountlessstudies,andthusfar everyoneseemstobringupthesameissue:youngpeopleareunderrepresented, andtherefore,theresultsarenotindicativeoftheactualcommonopinion.
10 Thiswasourgeneral planofactionahead ofourMGSmeeting.
11 Firstsketchforfirstcomicdraft Chapter3 DuringourmeetingwithMGS,wewentthroughourideasforwhatwemightbe abletodotoincreaseparticipation,andwhatmightbethe easiest and mostfun waysforpeopletogetacquaintedwithparticipationandcityplanningefforts. Weleftthismeetingwithalotofdifferentideas,butmoreimportantlywithaclear motivationforourproject:wewantedto lowerthethreshold toparticipation, andbuild familiarity, trust and interest,inordertocreateafoundationforfuture participatoryefforts. Thiswasfollowedupbyaworkshopwherewemade1)amanifesto,and2)acomic representativeoftheprojectandourvision. „theconcept“
12 Manifesto thebottomupapproach ischance. architecture ischance. urbanplanning ischance. participation ischance. trust isn’tchance. transperancy isn’tchance. acceptance isn’tchance. dependence istrue. societyis,atitscore,acollaborativeeffort. humansare,afterall,socialanimals digitalisation istrue thedependenceonbuiltspaceandbuilt environmentisturningmostbuiltenvironments intoworkingones. it willbeloved. it willbedespised. it willbeused. Humansarenotrational–selfishemotionstrump thelogicallybestchoices. trustandtransperancycanbebuiltin correspondancetothebuiltspace. trust willcreateacceptance. transperancy willcreateacceptance. acceptance willcreatechange. acceptance willcreatechange. somewherealongtheway,though,thistrust, transparency,acceptancehasbeenlostinthemess ofcapitalismandindividualism but digitalisationclosesgapsinphysical,digitaland mindspaces. digitalisation cancreatetrust digitalisation cancreatetransperancy digitalisation cancreateacceptance thosewhohavelivedthelongest,thosewhohave paidthehighestpriceforeducation,arethosewho decidefor thefuture ofthe city,for thosewho could notaffordtheluxuryofhigherstudies,forthose not-so-fortunateandthosewhoarestruggling. thebottomupapproach hasachance architecture hasachance urbanplanning hasachance participtaion hasachance thefuture hasachance thecurrentyouth arethefuture participate
13 Ourfirstcomic-amuchmore childishandsillyrepresentation ofhowsomethinglikethe (predecessortothe)access pointsmightworkingarnering thisinitialcontactandinterest.
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Oursecondcomic,aimingto moreclearlyandprecisely illustratetheaimofthe interactiveobjectsandtheir effect/howtheymightgrab people‘sattention.
Thenext stepwas crystallizingthe concept,and gettingclearer onwhat weactually wantedtocreate,andhowitwouldwork.
WelandedontheconceptofAccessPointstiedtoanInteractiveMap,andstarted finetuningthedetailsofthisplan.Atfirst,wefocusedheavilyonthemap,andthe differentforms ofinteractivity: drawing,placing objects,etc.TheAccess Pointswere justameanstoanendtogarnerattentionforthemap.
OurfirstdraftoftheInteractiveMap. „theproduct“
15 Chapter4
16 ConceptsketchforAccessPoint: Soundlevelsensors,bringingattentiontotheloud roads. ConceptsketchforAccessPoint: darknessandlackofstreetillumination. ConceptsketchforAccessPoint: needforplacestorest,benches,etc. Conceptexample:Firstdraftofmapasseenona phoneafterconnectingviaAccessPoint
17 1.MapDraft Initialbasicconceptsketch 2.MapDraft Cleaningupthelayout 3.MapDraft 3DconceptandfirstreferencetoAccess Points,stillwithcentralhub(reddot) 4.MapDraft Colourchangeandupdatedvisualsformorefun feeling Initially,theAccessPointswerecreatedaspurelyaphysically interactiveobjecttolinkbacktothemap.Thegoalwasalwaystohave themapandtheinteractivityofitbeinfocus. Thefirstdraftoftheaccesspointswassupposedtobedirectlylinked toacentralhub,inthiscaseQuidde35,theofficeoftheMGS,where themapandallinteractionswouldbewouldbedisplayedonascreen Vectorwork Educationa Version
18 FirsttechnicalsketchofAccessPoint Left:Individual,smallinteractive Right:Centralhubwithscreen Chapter5 „tech“
19 AccessPoints Theaccesspoints`hardwarewaschosentobeeasilyassembled,replicatedand understood.Thecore ofitis anArduinoUNO, whichischeap, welldocumentedand readilyavailable. Thesensorsandcomponentscanbeassembledwithoutexpertiseknowledgeand areaccurateenoughtobeusedforprojectslikethis. Mostof theaccess pointswill containa proximitysensor basedon ultrasonic waves andalcdscreenorspeakertocommunicatewiththepersoninteractingwithit. Beyondthat,thecomponentsmayvarybetweentheaccesspoints. Theadvantagesofthisgeneralsetuparethattheconceptoftheaccesspointsin thisformcouldbeadoptedbydifferentorganisationsandinitiativestoservetheir needs.Additionallyititeasytoscaletheconceptuptoamuchbiggerarea.
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ThecodefortheArduinotoruntheaccesspointsis basedaroundtheconceptoffinitestatemachine, whichenablestheaccesspointtoidleindifferent states. Thisisnecessarytoacoountforhuman elementsintheinteraction,suchasnotcompletingit orinteractinginunexpectedways.Itensuresthatthe accesspoint willbe usableand readyfor aninteraction evenafterunexpectedevents.
Asforthehardware,thesoftwareiseasytoadaptfor newconceptsorforchangeinthecurrentsystemifit doesntproveeffective.Itrequiresbasiccodingskills withC++,butthedocumentationforthehardwareis veryaccessibleanddigestible.
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AccessPointsarethemostimportantpart,andthemapisconceptualand supplementary.Wefiguredthatthemapwouldbeanadditionalstep,andnot ourover-archinggoal-wewantedtomakeeachstepofparticipationassmallas possible,sothatpeoplehaveachoiceinwhetherornottheyinteractfurther,and dosooutoftheirowninterestandcuriositywhentheydo-makingparticipation morelight-hearted,lessintimidating,andnotbothersome.
The final product of our project is an attempt to lower the threshold of participation, andconnectingplannerstocitizens.
Buildingarelationshipwiththepopulationisthefirsthurdle,andoncethat foundationoftrustandcuriosityhasbeenlaiddown,participationeffortswillbe easierfromthereonout.
Thesearethefinalproducts,includingthefinalmapvisualizationconcept,flow chartsoftheconceptinteractivityandourproject‘stimeline,aswellasconcept examplesforadditionalAccessPointsandaphotoofthefinishedAccessPoint prototypes.
22 Chapter6
„loweringthresholds“
23 Thefinishedmap,withthegreen „stars“illustrating whattheaccesspointsmightlooklikeonsaidmap, growinginsizewheninteractedwith.
24 Projectconceptdevelopment
25 Socialengineering Aim/MissionStatement
A visualization of the problematization of participation: Whereindothedifficultiesofparticipationlie? Weconcludedthatthereareamyriadofdifferent answerstothisquestion,butintheendopted totacklewhatwebelievetobethefirsthurdle forpeopletryingtoparticipate:Gettingstarted!
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27 AccessPointconcept: Lackofrestingspaces AccessPointconcept: Pong
28 AccessPointconcept: Lackofstreetillumination AccessPointconcept: Lackofshading/shelter
29 AccessPointprototypes:
Left:tobeplacedintrashcan,makesnoisewhentrashisdroppedin
Right:Promptsyoutocovedalightsensor,thenthanksyouandreferstowebsite
30 ProjectFocus ProblemThesis ProblemThesis Flow:
Reflection,DiscussionOutlook
Theaccess pointsare nota holistictool totackle thisconcept offirst impression,but mightproofto beusefulin combinationwithconcepts alreadyinplace orconcepts inthefuture,whichwillutilizedigitalinterfacesinanurbanenvironmentmore.
Thepriceandsimplicityofthepartsusedcomeswiththedownsideofaccuracity andthereforereliability,whichmightnotbesustainabeifscaledup.Inascaledup scenario,amorestreamlined,integratedandcustomhardwareseemstobemore sustainable. With the digitalisation of tools like this comes the possibility of connectivity between theaccesspointsandacentralhublikethemappresentedinproject.Thiswould bethenextstepofdevelopmentinthefuturetohavehighertransperancyandthe possibilityofgatheringandcomparingdataontheaccesspoints
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Theprocesofdicussingthetopicofpublicparticipationinplanningforanurban environmentwasnoteasy,becausetheproblemsarounditexistsincethefirst democratisationofplanning.
Theinitialideaofgatheringdataarounddifferentfactorsoftheprocessof participationheldmanylimitationsincludingthefactthatalotofresearchwas alredaydone,butwasntfullyconclusive.
Sointhelaterstageoftheprojectitmadesensetofocusnotononeparticular factororinitiative,butlook attheconceptofhow peoplefirstcomeincontact with participationandwhatthethresholdsaretofollowuponthis.
32 Contact SAMUELBLASCHKE 03688856 4.MASTERSEMESTER MINNARADAKOVITS 03753913 2.SEM.AUSTAUSCHMASTER
Thankyou! MinnaRadakovits,SamuelBlaschke
