Design Diary

DEsign DiaRy

city 2.0

MArch, 2010

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULF

opEn-souRcED uBiQuitous inFo

nEW uRBan REaLitiEs thRo

THESIS DESIGN DIARY 31

This design diary mirrors a research blog entitled Information Society, an online resource which can be used for viewing any additional multimedia or interactive content.

The page footer details the relevant domain tree, an example of which is shown overleaf.

http://insoc.co.uk

#3

http://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/mapping-city-2/

#5

contents

INTRODUCTION

09

HENRIETTA STREET

10

DISSERTATION

18

PRIMER 23 Introduction Pilot One: OSM-GPS Pilot Two: 3D Motion Tracking Pilot Three: Memorial Memory Centreplan 70 Chronogram Thumbnail Sequence Selected Stills Conclusion

24 26 28 29 30 32 34 36 44

THESIS

45

Location

Site Rationale Site Background Site Analysis

46

Design Preconception

58

Tracing Urbanity: Rem Koolhaas

60

#6

48 52 54

Urban Analysis

62

IP City The Semantic City Mapping City 2.0 City Feed Architecture City Dynamics

69 70 72 73 74

Programme Areas Schedule of Accommodation

Panoramic Study

78 80 81

Thesis Geofeed

84

The Philips Pavilion The Blur Building

86 88

Pilot Four: Augmented Reality

94

City Model

Tectonic Strategy

95

Materiality Precedents

97

Design Development

98

82

96

#7

INTRODUCTION

#8

Cities fascinate me just as much as architecture and space. I see them as organisms that continuously adapt, mutate and modify in order to accommodate new social, political, technological and economic circumstance. I regard social progress and evolution to be equally as important as the balance of light, materiality and proportion.

My thoughts and projects attempt to stimulate and improve an existing building typology by exploring different creative connections between people and cultures, where elements of previously segregated activity are introduced and celebrated anew. My third year major project, a new Fashion School for Newport, Wales resulted in a building that enabled a multitude of events – identified and introduced from a detailed study of the surrounding city – to occur in and around the primary function, enabling juxtoposition on a number of different social, cultural and economic levels.

For my final year design thesis I intend to develop this theme further:My primary interest focuses on the intersection between architecture, urbanism and information communication technology.

Specifically, I am concerned with how the evolution of the Web and the emergence of the virtual ‘digital city’ may begin to revolutionise our approach in the physical, the tectonic form.

I believe in a new software transition that fuses the Web and the built environment, where both architecture and urbanism have the potential to be informed by a range of sources that extend far beyond conventional information and research streams.

#9

hEnRiEtta stREEt

#10

ABOVE: Introductory sketches exploring design preconception.

The year kicked-off with a study visit to Dublin. The project brief was a re-run of an open ideas competition (originally held in 2008) for a vacant end-of-terrace site, set within a historic yet semi dilapidated Georgian conservation area. The resulting scheme, which was awarded Second Prize by the competition Jury, made use of the narrow single-fronted plot by proposing a series of unusual gallery spaces for local artists and craftspeople.

http://insoc.co.uk/2009/10/hEnRiEtta-stREEt/

#11

ABOVE: Proposal storyboard illustrating key design moves.

#12

http://insoc.co.uk/2009/10/hEnRiEtta-stREEt/

#13

ABOVE: Inspired by the work of James Turrell, the gallery spaces would make use of both artificial and daylighting to create a unique, yet adaptable, viewing experience. RIGHT: Photograph of 1.50 scale model showing North-East sectional elevation.

#14

http://insoc.co.uk/2009/10/hEnRiEtta-stREEt/

#15

ABOVE: Approach from South-West along Henrietta Place. RIGHT: North-East Elevation. The facade is in no way pastiche; instead it is monolithic and does not compete with its historical context.

#16

http://insoc.co.uk/2009/10/hEnRiEtta-stREEt/

#17

DISSERTATION

#18

city 2.0 nEW uRBan REaLitiEs thRough opEn-souRcED uBiQuitous inFoRmatics

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF MArch, 2010

by George Edward Metcalfe

The dissertation was the principal focus for thei first part of the year. The following pages provide an extract, introducing the topic and summarising the relevant aims and objectives. A full copy is available to read online at the link below.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/dissertation/

#19

chaptER onE: intRoDuction & mEthoDoLogy BackgRounD This dissertation is the result of my interest in a hybrid practice that

crosses

architecture,

urbanism

and

information

communication technology (ICT). Inspiration for this research was born from a fascination with the notion that the evolving digital, virtual city will not only revolutionise the way we inhabit, but also the way we will begin to shape and develop it in the physical, the tectonic

form.

I believe that this potential

interaction will not only inform the intelligence of the response in the physical making, but will also transform the way in which we proceed to inhabit, interact, understand, and ultimately author the city around us.

In the same way that the evolving information age has given rise to the ‘wiki,’ and how GPS is defining the new ‘hyper-local,’ the dawn of Web 2.0 and ubiquitous informatics has begun to radically alter our traditional ways and means. Architects, planners and urban designers increasingly require improved understanding in order to effectively and intelligently respond to what is a rapidly changing landscape.

1

#20

Our so-called ‘information society’ is an increasingly urban society; the information age is an age where more people are living in cities than in rural areas. This dissertation seeks to explore the critical relationship between two of the most significant processes of contemporary social, economic, geographical, political and cultural change across the world: The intensifying urbanisation of the planet, and the rapid acceleration in the use and capability of Web 2.0 technology. The title, City 2.0, implies a synthesis of the two.

aim & oBjEctivEs This dissertation seeks to evaluate the potential for a new architecture and urbanism - an integration of the built environment and the Web - powered through open-sourced ubiquitous informatics.

Specifically, the objective of this dissertation is to: Define the scope of the ‘digital city’ through a technical understanding

of

Web

2.0

and

open-sourced

ubiquitous

informatics.

Research and critically examine a range of relevant urban and architectural theory, in response to the technical provocation.

Evaluate the potential for a new ‘standard’ of urban reality, City 2.0, defined by a synthesis of the physical and digital.

2

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/dissertation/

#21

contEnts aBstRact

opEnstREEtmap - p35

a REaL-timE WEB - p19

-

LinkEDgEoData - p36 visuaLisation - p37

concLusion - p20

critical relationship between two of the most significant processes of contemporary social, economic, geographical, political and

chaptER onE: intRoDuction &

cultural change across the world: The intensifying urbanisation of

mEthoDoLogy

the planet, and the rapid acceleration in the use and capability of

city 2.0

intRoDuction - p34

thE WEB-map - p19

List oF iLLustRations - vii

society; the information age is an age where more people are living in cities than in rural areas. This dissertation seeks to explore the

chaptER FouR: city 2.0

thE smaRtphonE - p17 augmEntED REaLity - p17

acknoWLEDgEmEnts - v

Our so-called ‘information society’ is an increasingly urban

nEW non-pLan - p41 thE situationist intERnationaL - p21

aim & oBjEctivEs – p2

have on architecture and urbanism? From the Situationist

a nEW stanDaRD - p43

oRganisED compLEXity - p24

stRuctuRE & chaptER outLinE – p3

International to Augmented Reality, from Archigram to the Open

thE u-city - p42

thE imagE oF thE city - p23

mEthoDoLogy – p2

Specifically, what impact will new and future Web technology

gRatis vERsus LiBRE - p40

chaptER thREE: thE thEoREticaL

BackgRounD – p1

Web 2.0 technology. The title, City 2.0, implies a synthesis of the two.

timE - p38

-

-

non-pLan - p26 an intRoDuctoRy gLossaRy – p4

Source, this dissertation draws on a broad range of technical and theoretical proposition in an attempt to define a new standard of

inFoRmation agE - p27

-

urban reality.

nEW uRBan REaLitiEs thRough

concLusion - p31

thE intERnEt – p10

-

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

BiBLiogRaphy

thE DigitaL city - p29

chaptER tWo: thE tEchnicaL

opEn-souRcED uBiQuitous inFoRmatics

chaptER FivE: concLusion

LiBRaRy REsouRcEs - p47 ELEctRonic REsouRcEs – p49

cyBERspacE – p11

-

uRBan inFoRmatics - p14

appEnDiX

MArch, 2010

WEB 2.0 - p15

by George Edward Metcalfe

thE Wiki - p15 opEn souRcE - p16

i

ii

List oF iLLustRations

iii

SENSEable Lab's Real-time Rome [Online] Available at: http://senseable.mit.edu/realtimerome/ [Accessed: Dec 2009] FIGURE 10 ................................................................................................................................... 53

ARPANET in 1971 [Online] Available at: http://www.w3c.it/talks/2008/storia/images/arpanet71.gif [Accessed: Dec 2009]

v

society; the information age is an age where more people are living in cities than in rural areas. This dissertation seeks to explore the critical relationship between two of the most significant processes of contemporary social, economic, geographical, political and

BackgRounD

FIGURE 11 ................................................................................................................................... 55 Giambattista Nolli's Map of Rome [Online] Available at: http://www.cooltownstudios.com/images/nolli_central.gif [Accessed: Dec 2009]

FIGURE 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 18

Our so-called ‘information society’ is an increasingly urban

intRoDuction & mEthoDoLogy

OSM Mapper: London Rail Network [Online] Available at: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3204/2679719276_e503c61c89_ o.png [Accessed: Dec 2009]

FIGURE 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 15

iv

chaptER onE:

cultural change across the world: The intensifying urbanisation of

This dissertation is the result of my interest in a hybrid practice that

Sir Tim Berners-Lee Invents the Web [Online] Available at: http://www.computerhistory.org/internet_history/full_size_i mages/berners-lee_diagram.gif [Accessed: Dec 2009]

crosses

architecture,

urbanism

and

information

communication technology (ICT). Inspiration for this research

the planet, and the rapid acceleration in the use and capability of Web 2.0 technology. The title, City 2.0, implies a synthesis of the two.

was born from a fascination with the notion that the evolving

FIGURE 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 25

aim & oBjEctivEs

digital, virtual city will not only revolutionise the way we inhabit,

MVRDV's Market Hall in Rotterdam through AR [Online] Available at: http://layar.com [Accessed: Dec 2009]

but also the way we will begin to shape and develop it in the physical, the tectonic

FIGURE 4 ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Constant Nieuwenhuys' New Babylon [Online] Available at: http://thesis.lailee.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/NewBabylon-Bridge-orig.jpg [Accessed: Dec 2009]

form.

This dissertation seeks to evaluate the potential for a new

I believe that this potential

architecture and urbanism - an integration of the built

interaction will not only inform the intelligence of the response in

environment and the Web - powered through open-sourced

the physical making, but will also transform the way in which we

ubiquitous informatics.

proceed to inhabit, interact, understand, and ultimately author the

FIGURE 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 32 Guy Debord's Naked City [Online] Available at: http://voidmanufacturing.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/naked -city.gif [Accessed: Dec 2009] FIGURE 6 ..................................................................................................................................... 34 Kevin Lynch's Map of Boston [Online] Available at: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/96/247631122_9a86e41402.jpg [Accessed: Dec 2009]

city around us.

Specifically, the objective of this dissertation is to:

In the same way that the evolving information age has given rise

Define the scope of the ‘digital city’ through a technical

to the ‘wiki,’ and how GPS is defining the new ‘hyper-local,’ the

understanding

dawn of Web 2.0 and ubiquitous informatics has begun to

informatics.

of

Web

2.0

and

open-sourced

ubiquitous

radically alter our traditional ways and means. Architects,

FIGURE 7 ..................................................................................................................................... 36 Archigram's Plug-In City [Online] Available at: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iZe9m0aZbKQ/SDOGdaEX6HI/ AAAAAAAAAko/7NXqin0ckeU/s1600h/plug_in_city_8.gif [Accessed: Dec 2009]

planners and urban designers increasingly require improved

Research and critically examine a range of relevant urban and

understanding in order to effectively and intelligently respond to

architectural theory, in response to the technical provocation.

what is a rapidly changing landscape.

Evaluate the potential for a new ‘standard’ of urban reality, City 2.0, defined by a synthesis of the physical and digital.

FIGURE 8 ..................................................................................................................................... 37 Cedric Price's Fun Palace [Online] Available at: http://www.audacity.org/images/features/SM-26.11.07-D.jpg [Accessed: Dec 2009] FIGURE 9 ..................................................................................................................................... 42

x

xi

cERn (consEiL EuRopÉEn pouR La REchERchE nucLÉaiRE) is now known as the European Organization for Nuclear

1

1

2

a gis (gEogRaphic inFoRmation systEm)

javascRipt

opEn souRcE

svg (scaLaBLE vEctoR gRaphics)

captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that is

is an object-orientated scripting language used to enable

describes practice in production and development that promotes

is an XML-based language schema for describing two-

linked to geographic location. It may include mapping, remote

programmatic access to objects within a software application. It is

access to the end product's source materials - typically the source

Research and is the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. It

sensing, land surveying, aerial photography, history, mathematics

primarily used in the form of client-side JavaScript, implemented

'code'. Software development is considered the most common

was also home to Sir Tim Berners-Lee during the 1980s where he

and geography.

as an integrated component of a Web browser, allowing the

form of open source practice. The model allows for the

development of enhanced user interfaces and dynamic Web

concurrent use of different agendas and approaches in production,

gps (gLoBaL positioning systEm)

content.

in contrast with more centralised models of development.

kmL (kEyhoLE maRkup LanguagE)

RDF (REsouRcE DEscRiption FRamEWoRk)

developed the inaugural Web server. cRoWD-souRcing

reliable positioning, navigation and timing services to worldwide

cyBERspacE

information that is implemented in Web resources and uses a variety of syntax formats to make statements in the format of

data format that can be used for describing waypoints, tracks, and

transmissions, processors, controllers) and generates a virtual

routes. Its tags store location data, elevation and time for use

interactive experience accessed for the purpose of communication

within software applications.

and control regardless of geographic location. htmL (hypERtEXt maRk-up LanguagE) thE DataWEB

is a general method for conceptual description or modelling of

subject-predicate-object expressions.

refers to an open source project to develop a framework that

complex tool.

are Web pages or applications that combine data or functionality

RFiD (RaDio FREQuEncy iDEntiFication)

from two or more sources to create new services. Mashups

is a form of tagging, applied to or incorporated within an object,

uRBan inFoRmatics

frequently use APIs and other data sources to produce results

animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking

is an emerging field of study that focuses on the use of computing

different from the original reason for producing the source data.

using radio wave technology.

in public environments and the potential interaction between humans and such environments.

an oLap cuBE (onLinE anaLyticaL pRocEssing

format a web document.

and normalises it into a standard stream.

FoLksonomy

a smaRtphonE

cuBE)

networks distributed statistical databases into a seamless virtual a hypERLink (Link)

ui (usER intERFacE) is the means by which a human (the user) interacts with the system – a particular machine, device, software application or other

mashups

is a mark-up language or encoding scheme used to create and

whole. The software pulls data from different database structures

computing)

information processing is thoroughly integrated into everyday

is an XML-based language schema for expressing geographic annotation and visualisation on existing or future Web-based, two-dimensional and three-dimensional browsers.

is an XML-based language schema designed as a common GPS

integrates a number of capabilities (sensors, signals, connections,

dimensional vector graphics, both static and dynamic.

objects and activities.

users on a continuous basis. gpX

group (crowd) of end users.

uBiQuitous computing (aLso pERvasivE

is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which

is a space-based global navigation satellite system. It provides

is a neologism for the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing the them to a

is a data structure that allows the analysis and manipulation of

is a mobile phone that offers advanced capabilities, running a

a uRL (uniFoRm REsouRcE LocatoR)

complete operating system that provides a standardised interface

describes the address

is the electronic equivalent of a reference and points to other

data from multiple perspectives. The arrangement of data into

and platform for application developers. Key additional features

documents on the Web.

cubes overcomes a limitation of relational databases.

include QWERTY keyboard, high speed Internet access, GPS and

thE intERnEt

opEn Data

camera facility.

is a system of classification derived from the practice and method of collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorise content.

is a global system of interconnected computer networks that

is a philosophy and practice requiring that data that is freely

sQL (stRuctuRED QuERy LanguagE)

enables the transfer of information resources and services. It

available to everyone, without restrictions from copyright, patents

is a database computer language designed for managing data

provides the hardware and software infrastructure that facilitates

or other mechanisms of control.

in relational database management systems.

the Web.

7

8

9

Gibson’s portrayal of cyberspace was of a near-future, post-

interconnected documents and other resources; a passive, non-

industrial dystopia; resulting cyberpunk culture was often seen as

interactive service communicated by that of the Internet.

a combination of “low-life and high tech,”4 or as Lawrence Person described in his Notes Toward a Postcyberpunk Manifesto:

Gibson’s fictional interpretation of cyberspace clearly predates that of the Web. But a study of cyberspace since its conception

Characters were marginalised, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society ... where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerised information, and invasive modification of the human body.5

reveals somewhat different insight and opinion. As urban historian Christine Boyer explains in her 1996 book Cybercities:

10

the 1980s and 90s discussion of cyberspace was predominantly

world will continue. The underlying hypothesis of this dissertation certainly does not involve the sociological or pseudo-

becoming apparent that it is in fact more about the embedded,

urban intricacies of cyberspace. Instead it aims to propose a new

enhancement of reality these technologies permit. The more

urban reality – that of the digital city; characterised by this

seamless the relationship between the Web and the physical city,

enhancement of physical experience through unprecedented

the more unequivocally ‘anti-spatial’ cyberspace becomes.

integration with the Web.

Consequently, we require a new description of this relationship, Cyberspace is a new electronic, invisible space that allows the computer or television screen to substitute for urban space and urban experience. That our perception of space has become increasingly dependent on the simulated zone – a predigested, encoded digital box of algorithms – is evident in the manner in which the physical form of the city is displayed.6

Furthermore, mainstream cinematic endeavour has often tended to characterise cyberspace through futuristic yet nihilistic depiction. But in reality our perception – indeed our definition – of cyberspace differs greatly from that of fiction. Moreover, many

Computing, in short, is increasingly about the activities and relationships of real life ... the boundary between the real world and the world of computer-mediated services is steadily blurring away.8

of us are completely oblivious to cyberspace; such is the social

Whilst Boyer’s notion of cyberspace as a “substitute for urban space and urban experience” is certainly true, it is also

Gibson’s 1984 portrayal there is blatant ambiguity associated with

symptomatic of the ‘passive, non-interactive’ technology of the

contemporary interpretation. Cyberspace, the Internet, and the

time. Furthermore, the current trend and projected future of Web

Web are distinctly different entities but we often refer, metaphorically, to all three as the same thing:

Until relatively recently the Web and the physical city have remained fundamentally heterogeneous entities. Throughout the Web 1.0 generation of the 1990s, the overwhelming majority of information was distinctly static – a literal

and mobile technology has the potential to imply something

translation from text to that of HTML but on an hyper-linked

radically different. In direct contrast to Boyer, John Frazer

Web. As the breadth and speed of the Internet increased, so in

explains in his 1995 journal article The Architectural Relevance of The Internet, as a global system of inter-connected computers was

turn has the diversity of application as well as the population

Cyberspace:

of its inter-connected users.9

invented in 1974 and relates primarily to infrastructure; confusingly it is often used as a synecdoche in reference to the Cyberspace

on

the

other

hand

pertains

to

The virtual world should not be seen as an alternative to the real world or a substitute, but as an extra dimension which allows us a new freedom in movement in the natural world.7

the

electromagnetic medium of virtual communication, interaction

Relative to urbanism, the layers of web-based or networked information that describe our cities are increasing in quantity and complexity at a phenomenal rate. Akin to Moore's law

and control technology, whereas the Web –conceived at CERN

by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 – was developed as a network of

Frazer’s provocation is certainly more reflective of the existing and potential relationship between physical and virtual. During

4

Sterling, B. Introduction. In: Gibson, W. ed. Burning Chrome. New York: Harper Collins. p. 208 5 Person, L. 1998. Notes Toward a Postcyberpunk Manifesto. Nova Express: Nova Express.

uRBan inFoRmatics

but specific to the city – a straight-forward hybridisation of physical and virtual – the ‘digital city.’

pervasion of contemporary technology. However, beyond

Web.

11

Undoubtedly, the premise of cyberspace and the online virtual

focused on the virtual dimension. However, in the dawn of ubiquitous informatics and our increasingly interactive Web, it is

8

Agre, P. Life After Cyberspace. In: Graham, S. ed. The Cybercities Reader.

New York: Routledge, p. 416 9 Internet usage varies enormously across the world: from approximately 75% in North America to under 7% in Africa. Statistics correct as of September 30, 2009. World Internet Usage and Population Statistics [Online]. Available at: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm [Accessed: Dec 2009]

6

Boyer, M. C. 1996. CyberCities : visual perception in the age of electronic communication. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, p. 242 Frazer, J. H. The cybernetics of architecture: a tribute to the contribution of Gordon Pask. Kybernetes 30(5/6), pp. 641-651

FiguRE 2 : siR tim BERnERs-LEE invEnts thE WEB

7

16

17

18

19

augmEntED REaLity

host of innovative applications.23 Furthermore, AR eyewear such as Microvision’s Mobile Device Eyewear is already under

geographic information overlays, as well as the ability to

The more recent introduction of a magnetometer in smartphone

development which would serve to blur the boundary between

integrate mapping services elsewhere on the Web by powering

concLusion

features including navigable street-based panoramic views and

This chapter introduced the concept of the digital city through

devices such as the iPhone 3GS paves the way for a radical new

physical and digital considerably more.24 Whether such radical

mashups through their respective APIs. Crucially, web-maps

documenting a concise history of modern computing and by

line of interface: Using the device’s camera, it is possible to

innovation has the potential to boost participation in the fields of

have recently made the transition onto the smartphone device

highlighting a selection of key technological achievements. In

overlay information from a geo-referenced database onto a live

architecture, urbanism and planning, remains to be seen but in

video image of the city. The technology is defined as augmented

theory AR will revolutionise our experience of the city.

reality (AR) and unlike virtual reality (VR), which is based solely

with Google’s Maps for Mobile 2.0 released in 2007, enabling a

capability of the 1960s and 70s began to influence science fiction with literary work associated with cyberspace and cyberpunk culture. Cyberspace as a “world within the wires” had been

a REaL-timE WEB

A less obvious achievement of the Web generation – but one

AR technology therefore allows a device to become a location and spatially-aware ‘looking-glass’ to the web-based digital city – no longer reminiscent of Boyer’s “substitute for urban space and urban experience” – and could be used at both urban and architectural scales. The first examples of such technology – Acrossair’s Browser, Layar and the World Browser by Wikitude – are beginning to radically alter our experience of the city with a

Web characterised by passive experience and non-interactivity.

However, the increasing momentum of ICT has begun to

the release of the HTML 2.0 and Javascript 1.0 standards.25

was released in 2009 and not only doubles the speed of its

challenge our traditional interpretation of cyberspace; the age of

Mapquest and MultiMap were the first commercial enterprises

conventional search but also crawls and indexes information in

ubiquitous computing implies more of a shift toward the

dimension of cyberspace. More recently, the increasing layers of information and the frequency of networked devices and sensors

popular web-mapping services Google Maps and Bing Maps by

relevancy amongst the Web. Beyond the standard search, it is

within the city has given rise to the field of urban informatics,

Microsoft (formerly Live Maps) were not released until 2005

significant in terms of WMS as combined with GPS, it represents

along with much greater potential for ‘computing.’

following a string of key software improvements. Coded

massive potential for the emergence of real-time location-specific

almost entirely from AJAX (asynchrous Javascript and XML),

aspects of the digital city.

The second part of the chapter charted the progress of

they have since evolved to incorporate a host of powerful new

contemporary technology starting with Web 2.0 and its associated paradigms. Detailed explanation of the ‘crowd’ and ‘open’ source

23

Acrossair Browser [Online] Available at: http://www.acrossair.com/acrossair_app_augmented_reality_browser_for_iPh one_3GS.htm [Accessed: Dec 2009] Layar Mobile Augmented Reality Browser [Online]. Available at: http://www.layar.eu/ [Accessed: Dec 2009] Wikitude World Browser [Online] Available at: http://www.wikitude.org/ [Accessed: Dec 2009] 24 Wearable Displays: Mobile Device Eyewear [Online] Available at: http://www.microvision.com/wearable_displays/mobile.html [Accessed: Dec 2009] 25 HTML version timeline [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML#Version_history_of_the_standard [Accessed: Dec 2009]

experience, a liberation from the previous ‘strictness’ of the

professionally concerned with cities not identified the kind of problems they had?36

through the use of locative technology.

enhancement of reality as opposed to the virtual, ‘anti-spatial’

even seconds of the initial search. The growth of Web applications like Twitter is boosting an increasing trend for high temporal

physical masterplan, that was revolutionary. Essentially, it had

perception and behaviour within the city, something that is now

real-time, with relevant information appearing within minutes,

search, intelligent journey routing as well as a directory to location based services. However, two of today’s most

26

commonplace to contemporary projects that explore the city

1990s right up until the new millennia, an echo to an emerging The final advancement, and the most recent, is that of the realtime Web. Google’s newest search engine – codenamed Caffeine –

25

given rise to a new science involving the study of human

prevalent in academic and intellectual thought throughout the late

pivotal to the concept of the digital city – is that of the webmapping service (WMS), first introduced in 1996 soon after

to realise the full potential of the technology with address

FiguRE 3 : mvRDv's MARKET HALL in RottERDam thRough aR

summary, it began with discussion of how the growing ICT

whole new dimension of urban application and potential locative interaction.26

thE WEB-map

on interaction within a computer-generated ‘virtual’ world, it is aimed at enhancing one’s perception of the real world.

was given with illustrative examples of the new wave of collaboration such technology permits. It was argued that the increasing prevalence of the smartphone has begun to dramatically influence human interaction and behaviour within the city, as well as providing scope for a new sense of ‘authorship’ – but specific to the digital city. The smartphone is set to blur the boundary 26

Google Maps [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps [Accessed: Dec 2009]

between the physical and virtual further with cutting-edge AR

27

28

Choose what you want to do – or watch someone else doing it. Learn how to handle tools, paint, babies, machinery, or just listen to your favourite tune. Dance, talk or be lifted up to where you can see how other people make things work. Sit out over space with a drink and tune in to what’s happening elsewhere in the city. Try starting a riot or beginning a painting – or just lie back and stare at the sky.38

The ‘organised complexity’ Jacobs refers to stems from the modern science of so-called ‘two-variable’ problems like Newton’s law of motion, F=ma. Jacobs discusses the history of scientific thought and its relation to the ways in which we think about and formulate the urban response. She argues that a range of urban phenomena, if interpreted as organised complexity, could therefore be understood through applied statistical mechanics.

Jacobs refers to cities as “organisms that are replete with unexamined, but obviously intricately interconnected, and surely understandable, relationships.”37 Jacobs’ considerable insight had significant influence on the field FiguRE 7 : aRchigRam's PLUG-IN CITY

of urban planning and the subsequent ‘anti-sprawl’ tactics of the New Urbanism movement which began to emerge during the

non-pLan

1970s in the US. In the same way that the concept of mixed-use and interactive diversity was starting to define the ‘new urban’, it FiguRE 6 : kEvin Lynch's map oF Boston

was also beginning to appear in avant-garde architectural practice through that of Cedric Price, Yona Friedman and Archigram.

oRganisED compLEXity

From the ‘mobile architecture’ of Friedman’s Ville Spatiale (1960) to Price’s Fun Palace (1961) to the megastructure of Archigram’s Instant City (1964), the parallel ‘new urban’ architectural theme, much like UU in response to the modernist ideal of the ‘Machine City,’ was the notion that the public could have greater

Soon after in 1962 was Jane Jacobs’ perspicacious Death and Life of Great American Cities, a critique – rather like that of the

participation and therefore control over their environments. This

Situationists – to urban planning policy of the time. In the final

was also true of Constant Nieuwenhuys’ vision for New Babylon, which was apparent a few years before in 1959. Architecturally,

chapter The Kind of Problem a City Is she questions:

these ‘buildings’ could be highly responsive to visitors’ needs and Why have cities not, long since, been identified, understood and treated as problems of organised complexity? If the people concerned with the life sciences were able to identify their difficult problems as problems of organised complexity, why have people

the diverse range of activities intended to take place, as the marketing material for Price’s Fun Palace suggested:

36

Jacobs, J. 1962. The death and life of great American cities. London: Jonathan Cape, p. 434 37 Jacobs, J. 1962. The death and life of great American cities. London: Jonathan Cape, p. 438

34

Urban Computing and its Discontents he discusses the emergence

Write Urbanism’ (RWU):

Architecture, I. Fun Palace [Online]. Available at: http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/fun-palace-cedric-price.html [Accessed: Dec 2009]

this distinction. Furthermore, they even go so far as to suggest “responsive

building

technologies

that

can

place

people

themselves at the helm of the configuration/design of their own spaces,” again reminiscent of the ‘non-plan of the 1960s.49

concLusion

‘organised complexity’ – on the future role of the architect, in relation to the new age of ubiquitous urban informatics: By studying the complex set of spatial practices people engage with (and through) computing in urban environments, architects would be better positioned to ascertain which aspects of the built environment are truly relevant today, and which need to be completely re-imagined.47

37

Following on from Guy Debord’s exemplification of the ‘dérive’

Fuller and Haque acknowledge the divide between the designer and the user, as well as the potential for technology to diminish

The city’s users are no longer bound to experience passively the territory through which they move but have been empowered to inscribe their subjectivities in the city itself … anchored in place and responded to by those who come after.46

Greenfield also speculates – akin to Jane Jacobs’ theory of

role of architecture and the architect in society. But Price also

36

space – such a system could be more efficient, more imaginative and more conceptually open.48

of such technologies and their combined effect on the urban environment. Published in 2007, he describes a theory of ‘Read-

FiguRE 8 : cEDRic pRicE's FUN PALACE

Price’s pursuit of a flexible, impermanent architecture open to users’ participation arose from a post-modern questioning of the

38

35

The final part of the chapter described a selection of cutting-edge

in his Naked City map was discussion of Kevin Lynch’s The

‘digital’ projects, conceived amongst the advancing age of

Image of the City, a theory deemed particularly relevant with his

ubiquitous informatics. Proboscis’ Urban Tapestries project had a

implied liberation from the previous ‘strictness’ of the physical

similar

masterplan. Lynch’s observation of the fact that the moving

psychogeography of the dérive: Individuals, through the use of an

elements of a city were of equal importance to the stationary

agenda

to

that

of

Unitary

Urbanism

and

the

experimental software platform on the smartphone, were

physical parts – as well as his innovative use of graphic notation –

encouraged to author and record the environment around them

was a revelation, something that is not only common to many

with the aim of encouraging ‘creative cohesion through active

cutting-edge projects that rely upon locative media, but is also

participation within the community.’ However, the experiment

pivotal to our potential understanding of the digital city. Jane

was limited and the results remain unapparent.

Jacobs’ theory of ‘organised complexity’ was similarly important,

This chapter has discussed a broad range of theory, from post-war

not only because of its influence on the ‘new urban’ models of

The WikiCity was a far more technical approach that sought to

to the modern day, spanning architecture and urbanism as well as

mixed-use and interactive diversity still prevalent today, but also

evaluate whether or not the city could perform as “an open-source

their evolution with respect to ICT. Beginning with the work of

as precursor to the field of urban informatics and the ‘computing’

real-time system.” In theory it is a ground-breaking proposition

the Situationist International, it described how disillusionment at

of the “intricately interconnected, and surely understandable,

but in practice the actual data – derived from mobile network

post-war political ideology and urbanisation led to a radical new

relationships” that exist within the city.

triangulation – was somewhat limited. However, links can be

The next part of the chapter discussed the parallels of avant-garde

fluctuations of the city – beyond ordinary geographical constraint

made between this abstract representation of the patterns and

artistic movement that actively sought to “make creativity appear again in the social sphere.” The SI’s theory of Unitary Urbanism

Greenfield’s provocation is similar to Matthew Fuller and Usman

was an attempt to provide “the foundation for a civilization of

architectural practice through the flexible, impermanent ‘non-

– and Kevin Lynch’s The Image of the City, where an observation

Haque’s Urban Versioning System 1.0 (2008) – all three

leisure and play,” in response to consumerist culture which

plan’ projects of Cedric Price, Archigram and Yona Friedman.

of the moving elements of a city is of equal importance to that of

collaborate and publish under the same group – which is based on

resulted in a society devoid of any active participation in the

Similarity could be drawn between the core ideals of the

the static physical parts.

the FLOSS (Free, Libre or Open Source Software) model. They

‘shaping’ of urban surroundings. Keen advocates of technology,

Situationist International and the analogous architectural notion

describe:

the SI also explored the concept of psychogeography, a study of

that the public, through greater participation, could have more

the effect of the geographical environment on an individual’s

influence and therefore control over their environments or

emotions and behaviour, something that clearly influenced

surroundings. Brief discussion charted the early effect of ICT,

provocation of ‘organised complexity’ in suggesting that the study

with acknowledgement that beyond a means to facilitate

of urban environments through computing could allow architects

A system that encourages people themselves to create their own spaces and collaboratively build a social

Christian Nold's Bio Mapping adventure.

46

Greenfield, A. and Shepard, M. 2007. Situated Technologies Pamphlets 1: Urban Computing and its Discontents. The Architectural League of New York. p. 12 47 Greenfield, A. and Shepard, M. 2007. Situated Technologies Pamphlets 1: Urban Computing and its Discontents. The Architectural League of New York. p. 32

48

Fuller, M. and Haque, U. 2008. Situated Technologies Pamphlets 2: Urban Versioning System 1.0. The Architectural League of New York. p. 21 49 Fuller, M. and Haque, U. 2008. Situated Technologies Pamphlets 2: Urban Versioning System 1.0. The Architectural League of New York. p. 13

addition,

he

acknowledges

something

similar

to

Jacobs’

and urban designers to “ascertain which aspects of the built environment are truly relevant today, and which need to be completely re-imagined,” which although fundamentally different

retail sector.

to Price’s notion of a flexible impermanent architecture open to users’ participation, is extremely valid.

43

44

45

introduction of the XML-based SVG image format enables the

software packages is poor, limited primarily by the relevant

periods ranging from seconds or minutes, to weeks or years.60

dynamic rendering of map data according to a pre-defined set of

software support of suitable file interchange formats.

graphical style rules. One of the most innovative features of OSM,

Greenfield’s theory of RWU is also remarkably similar to UU. In

production, early use of Web technology was not prevalent in the construction industry; instead innovation was championed by the

46

In doing so the WMS is able to represent the rhythms, patterns and fluctuations of the city, well beyond the static

as opposed to the equivalent ‘closed’ or proprietary offering, is the

‘print’

of

the

conventional

map.

Additionally,

the

ability to customise the render output, meaning that the data can

representation of these phenomena could be abstracted to

be used for a far broader range of schematic representation. This is

further enhance our understanding of the city, akin to

where the concept of the ‘open database’ specific to architecture

Professor Hans Rosling’s acclaimed method of using animated

and urbanism excels; infinite diversity in representation is

spreadsheets to visualise and explain previously inaccessible or

achieved whilst maintaining the benefits of ‘crowd’-sourced data,

meaningless datasets.61 Although currently every feature of the

something that could have significant impact on professional

OSM database is time-stamped – including that of the GPX – the

practice.

API does not currently permit such advanced integration,

One of the leading examples, with a fully functional API is

architecture.62 However, the study of historical maps affords us

presumably because of limitation with the existing server CloudMade’s Map Editor, which includes a simple interface

representation

is

easily

obtained

as

FiguRE 10 : osm mappER: LONDON RAIL NETWORK

timE

evolving OSM database a wealth of new meaning and possibility, far beyond that of the traditional static map. Another example is As well as an

infinite rendering ‘lens,’ it is possible to filter the data by tag (feature, user etc.) prior to rendering. An added feature is the ability to export the rendered information as KML, which adds great value in terms of subsequent 3D geo-spatial representation.

However, the current level of integration with industry standard 57

CloudMade Style Editor [Online]. Available at: http://maps.cloudmade.com/editor [Accessed: Dec 2009] 58 CloudMade [Online] Available at: http://cloudmade.com/ [Accessed: Dec 2009]. CloudMade is a commercially funded enterprise also set up by Steve Coast to develop advanced secondary APIs for the OSM database.

59 ITO. OSM Mapper [Online]. Available at: http://www.itoworld.com/static/osmmapper [Accessed: Dec 2009]

potential for City 2.0 relates to the development of the realtime Web. Lynch demonstrated in his book The Image of the

enables a far greater understanding of the urban milieu.

to

'Read-Write,'

quoting

Microsoft announced in June 2009 that it would be discontinuing its fifteen year old Encarta encyclopaedia series.64 By November, it had vanished. Based on the phenomenal success of the open source encyclopaedia Wikipedia, it had become apparent that the traditional method of researching, authoring and publishing – given the mass-collaboration that current Web technology permits – was more or less defunct.

City that the moving elements of a city were of equal importance to the stationary physical parts. Based on our understanding of

Whilst the current trend of OSM is clear, there is no guarantee

the real-time semantic Web and the practice of the WikiCity

that it will ever triumph over commercial mapping enterprise. The

project, there is considerable potential for the WMS – and therefore the digital city – to incorporate time.

potential depth and scope of OSM is unlimited but the 60

Batty, M. Thinking About Cities as Spatial Events.Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design. pp. 1-2 Rosling, H. Gapminder [Online]. Available at: http://www.gapminder.org/ [Accessed: Dec 2009] The open source database management system of OSM is currently PostgreSQL. Graves, M. Roman Interventions. Architectural Design 49, pp. 3-4

61

Like Lynch, Michael Batty argues for a theory that regards all urban phenomena as “spatial events” ocurring over time

By its very nature an intersection between architecture, urbanism and ICT draws from multiple fields and disciplines. This required

consistency or rather ‘gappiness’ of the data may remain problematic in professional circumstance. Furthermore, users

62

63

chaptER FivE: concLusion

collaborate;

web-map with access to accumulated temporal data would not only tell us about the city at a given point, but would also inform

embedded platform through which ordinary urbanites and can

that Giambattista Nolli’s 1748 map of Rome recorded the “sense of figure and void ... in the public domain,”63 an open-sourced

us how the city was in fact evolving over time – something that

53

professionals

displayed – represents a single moment in time. In the same way

Another key critical framework in the evaluation of the

52

Greenfield.

gRatis vERsus LiBRE

conventional map – regardless of the quantity of information

different

cartographic elements or data ‘classes’ can be hidden at the touch of a button.58 This is certainly innovative as it gives the endlessly

the OSM Mapper, developed by ItoWorld.59

FiguRE 11 : giamBattista noLLi's map oF RomE

improved understanding of a given location, whereas the

enabling the user to customise the visual appearance of the map.57 Schematic

64

Microsoft. Encarta Encyclopedia [Online]. Available at: http://encarta.msn.com/guide_page_FAQ/FAQ.html [Accessed: Dec 2009]

54

significant

advantage

is

the

55

ability

to

achieve

graphical

Price, Friedman, Nieuwenhuys and Archigram and a 'software'

customisation, allowing for an unlimited range of application.

approach of the future where the digital city could intelligently

Data is obtained from the ‘crowd’ source resulting in a more

inform by way of aggregated, linked data. The U-city was used as

progressive

and

collaborative

understanding

of

the

built

a critical framework to highlight the implications of ubiquitous

City 2.0 – like that of any software or hardware specification –

an approach that interspersed broad technical and theoretical

environment. Further potential involves the introduction of

urban informational environments in terms of privacy, autonomy,

could evolve over time according to a concurrent versioning

analysis with critical evaluation.

temporal relevancy, a recent advance of the Web, which could

trust and serendipity and drew on the Sentient City project by the

revolutionise our interpretation of the city beyond purely

Architectural League of New York. In culmination, City 2.0 was

Thus, the dissertation began with a chapter which described

cartographic representation.

proposed as an open standard; an invisible platform to the city of

system. Furthermore, the advent of such a standard would provide the basis for combined and cumulative understanding of the built environment through open data projects like OSM.

relevant technological achievements in an attempt to define an

the future; an 'umbrella' to a series of specifications. Unlike the

Experimental projects like that of Urban Tapestries, WikiCity or

understanding of the emerging digital city. This was immediately

However, limitations currently exist with the consistency of open

U-city it is not an attempt to write an urban 'source code.' Instead

Bio Mapping could be conducted within this open framework

followed by a chapter that examined relevant theoretical

data, particularly the extraction of meaningful data for use in

it aims to define ownership and understanding.

meaning that the data could be semantically linked for future

proposition at both urban and architectural scale. The ultimate

professional practice, which is primarily due to limitations with

reference. Furthermore, the raw data could be referenced again

chapter, which was in response to a range of technical and

existing interchange formats. Although OSM is experiencing

and again to provide original and innovative interpretation of complex urban phenomena.

theoretical provocation was more specific in its aim to evaluate the

exponential growth it may be some time before industry leading

Throughout the Web 2.0 generation we have witnessed a new democratisation of our information society through improved

potential for a 'new architecture and urbanism' although it drew

software packages effectively choose to integrate such technology.

accessibility and online collaboration. Reminiscent of the theory

on further case study as a critical framework for extended

There is also significant competition from the commercial sector

of the Situationists’ aim to ‘make creativity appear again in the

discussion.

Critical evaluation revealed the open source web-based map

which may remain the dominant mode for years to come.

social sphere,’ this technology has the potential to encourage more

However, the donation of worldwide geo-spatial data to open

active participation in the defining of, understanding and eventual

source application is an increasing trend; UK governmental policy

reshaping of our architectural and urban surroundings.

(OSM) to be pivotal in respect of the digital city; it combines the

is beginning to acknowledge growth and value of the information

power of Web 2.0 technology with the potential for innovative

economy: The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills

new understanding of our urban milieu. The ability to edit the

released in June 2009 its 245 page report entitled Digital Britain

OSM database through some of the newest smartphone devices

which outlines in detail plans to provide the infrastructure to

could give rise to a new ‘mass-participatory’ urbanism reminiscent

ensure Britain becomes one of the world leaders in such

of the SI’s theory of UU as well as being a more literal

technology.74

representation of Adam Greenfield’s theory of RWU. It not only promotes the introduction and unification of freely-accessible

The chapter also discussed critical evaluation for a new 'non-plan'

worldwide data but also affords the possibility of a new

architecture, analogising between the 'hardware' approach of

generation of computational analytics, akin to Jane Jacobs’ ‘organised complexity,’ by way of extended database or DataWeb technology such as the LinkedGeoData project. Another

61

74

UK Department for Business, Digital Britain Report [Online] Available at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digitalbritain-finalreportjun09.pdf [Accessed: Dec 2009]

62

63

SPECIFICATION OF INTERNET TRANSMISSION CONTROL P ROGRAM

64

WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND P OPULATION STATISTICS

NUPEDIA [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT:

AVAILABLE AT: http://www.biomapping.net/ [ACCESSED: DEC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nupedia [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

2009]

NOLD, C. 2004. BIO M APPING / E MOTION M APPING [ONLINE].

PAEK, J. Y. AND JIMISON, D. TOO SMART CITY [ONLINE].

AVAILABLE AT: http://www.sentientcity.net/exhibit/?p=59

THE NEXT GENERATION OF ONLINE ENCYCLOPEDIAS [ONLINE].

O2 APOLOGISES FOR I P HONE NETWORK FAILURE [ONLINE].

[ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

AVAILABLE AT:

CLOUDMADE [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT: http://cloudmade.com/

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/11/21/net.gen.e

[ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

[ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc675 [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

AVAILABLE AT: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6904792/The-

RATTI, C. ET AL. WIKICITY : REAL-TIME LOCATION-SENSITIVE

head-of-mobile-phone-operator-O2-has-apologised-to-

TOOLS FOR THE CITY

customers-who-were-unable-to-make-calls-after-the-groups-

http://senseable.mit.edu/wikicity/pdfs/wikicity-at-

network-was-swamped-by-people-using-smartphones.html

Digital%20Cities-5.pdf [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

[ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

ncyclopedias.idg/index.html [ACCESSED: DEC 2009] 2009B. TOWARD THE SENTIENT CITY [ONLINE]. NEW YORK:

[ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT: UK DEPARTMENT FOR B USINESS , DIGITAL BRITAIN REPORT

SITUATED TECHNOLOGIES . AVAILABLE AT: [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

[ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT: http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digitalbritain-

[ACCESSED: DEC 2009] ROSLING, H. GAPMINDER [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT: OPENSTREETMAP MAP FEATURES [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT:

UNATTRIBUTED. 1959. UNITARY URBANISM AT THE END OF THE

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

finalreport-jun09.pdf [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

http://www.gapminder.org/ [ACCESSED: DEC 2009] REST/LINKED DATA SERVICES [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT:

1950S [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT:

http://linkedgeodata.org/OnlineAccess [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

http://www.notbored.org/UU.html [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

OPENSTREETMAP STATISTICS [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Statistics [ACCESSED: DEC

SANGER, L. [N UPEDIA-L] LET 'S MAKE A WIKI [ONLINE].

URBAN TAPESTRIES [ONLINE]. A VAILABLE AT:

2009]

AVAILABLE AT: [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

http://urbantapestries.net/ [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS TO GO ONLINE [O NLINE]. AVAILABLE AT :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8366190.stm

[ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

SENSE NETWORKS [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT:

WEARABLE DISPLAYS: MOBILE DEVICE E YEWEAR [ONLINE].

http://www.sensenetworks.com/technology.php [ACCESSED: DEC

AVAILABLE AT:

2009]

http://www.microvision.com/wearable_displays/mobile.html [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

OS OPENSPACE API [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT:

SHEPARD, M. S ENTIENT CITY SURVIVAL KIT [ONLINE].

http://openspace.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/openspace/index.html

AVAILABLE AT: http://survival.sentientcity.net/ [ACCESSED: DEC

WIKIPEDIA MULTILINGUAL COORDINATION [ONLINE].

[ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

2009]

AVAILABLE AT: [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

OSM MAPPER [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT:

SOUTH KOREA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, KOREA TO [O NLINE]. AVAILABLE AT:

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EXPORT NEW CITY DESIGN

2009]

http://www.kdi.re.kr/kdi_eng/highlights/govern_view.jsp?no=19

WIKITUDE WORLD B ROWSER [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE AT: http://www.wikitude.org/ [A CCESSED: DEC 2009]

50& [ACCESSED: DEC 2009]

70

#22

71

72

73

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/dissertation/

pRimER: DEFining thE DigitaL city #23

http://www.purselipsquarejaw.org/digital_city.jpg

INTRODUCTION

ABOVE: This image from an unknown source provided some initial inspiration for the primer project. The provocation being that the digital, the virtual is used to describe or annotate our physical world.

Additionally, one of the key conclusions from the dissertation was the fact that the virtual is no longer a substitute of real experience; instead it should be seen as an enhancement of reality that can always be ‘switched off.’

#24

ABOVE: Initital experimentation visualising the digital city showing Westminster and Parliament Square in London. Powered by Google Earth, the animation uses Keyhole Markup Language (.KML) and a bitmap overlay to abstract the conventional sattelite view.

Interactive crowd-sourced content from key Web 2.0 sources is geo-referenced and can be easily navigated/consumed. However, such an interface remains a distinctly virtual entity, hence the desire to investigate augmented reality.

The principle aim of the primer was to explore and attempt to visualise - through film - the concept of the digital city.

Part of the difficulty with such a concept is the inability to suitably explain and visualise it.

The film should therefore attempt to illustrate some of the key paradigms, intended as an effective introduction to the design thesis.

The secondary aim is to depict and define the relationship between the physical and the virtual and hint at a meeting of the two by way of augmented reality.

The location for the film will be Cardiff as it is most accessible in terms of being able to spend time ‘on location.’

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/09/abstract-earth/

#25

PILOT ONE : OSM-GPS

ABOVE: The animation was also rendered in Google Earth but this time sources additional data, in this case all raw GPS traces for Cardiff from the OpenStreetMap database. This is an interesting discovery in its own right as it uses the digital to portray an aspect of the city that lies beyond traditional cartographic representation.

The beginning of the primer project involved conducting several pilot experiments, three of which are recorded here. The whole approach to making film was a new one so it was important to begin experimenting as soon as possible so as to discover what was achievable and what was not in the time available.

The aim of this first pilot experiment was to discover how to best visualise custom city-wide datasets. This animation, like the Abstract Earth film, was powered using Google Earth. and relies on a conversion between the standard .OSM format to .GPX and finally .KML. The frequency of tracking is relatively low compared to other major cities but it would be interesting, not only to witness the aggregation and pattern of concentration over time, but also whether or not the resulting point ‘cloud’ data could be used to define any spatial geometry that would improve our understanding of how people move within the city.

#26

ABOVE: Sequence of stills from the animation showing overall GPS accumulation as well as individual journeys around the city highlighted with coloured trails. There is also a blur between the abstracted white backdrop and the textured 3D city model with aerial photo overlay.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/11/osm-gps/

#27

PILOTTWO : 3D MOTIONTRACKING

#28

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/11/motion-tracking/

PILOTTHREE : Memorial Memory

LEFT: The second pilot was a pre-cursor to an attempt at 3D augmentation and involved using an application called Boujou to motiontrack conventional film footage. The software works by tracking individual pixels within a scene over the course of a number of frames. It then uses this relationship to calculate the path of the camera (as a 3D vector), which can then be used to construct or merge with additional rendered content from a modelling application. It is used commonly in the film industry to implement special effects. However, it is this same principal that I intend to use to imply an experience of the city enhanced by way of augmented reality. ABOVE: Another test sequence this time overlaying, rather than augmenting. The clip shows Pathe newsreel footage of a WWI memorial service circa 1932. The aim is to explore the notion of a digital sense of place – an enhancement of reality – where previously inaccessible or unknown audio/visual artefacts could be experienced in real-time to provoke new meaning.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/11/memorial-memory/

#29

centreplan 70

Conceived back in the late sixties, Centreplan 70 was the name of a master-plan to redevelop Cardiff’s city centre. Thankfully it was never realised, due in part to the 1970s property recession. This film is an edit on the original, which was made in promotion of the scheme. Unfortunately, the sound has been lost but one could imagine a suitably optimistic voice-over speculating on future benefit. Instead, I have used this re-work to symbolise and enhance, in retrospect, the potential short-comings of such a vision. It seeks to portray the Architect/Developer as the egotistical overlord, the antithesis of which is the crux of my primer project and subsequent thesis.

I have also introduced a soundtrack: String Quartet No. 3 (Mishima) by Philip Glass.

#30

ABOVE: image sequence showing a selection of stills from the film.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/11/centreplan-70/

#31

Chronogram

ABOVE: The film chronogram for the primer exhibition which breaks the sequence down into a series of stills with accompanying text description. This was the first edit; a second edit followed which was a reduction in length enabling a more detailed resolution of the different scenes. OVERLEAF: A double page spread showing every fifth frame of the second edit, thus pictorialising the different scenes and edit structure. The following pages provide a brief description of each scene.

#32

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/11/digital-city/

#33

#34

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/12/city-2-0/

#35

selected stills

The first sequence depicts a mapping party of Milton Keynes where the progress of individuals is recorded over time, courtesy of Ollie O’Brien.

The second sequence is an animation showing the evolution of the OpenStreetMap dataset during 2008 where each black flash is a change or amendment by a user.

#36

This is the same sequence although this time showing the progression over north Europe. The larger flashes tend to represent the instances where commercially acquired data is donated in chunks.

This sequence depicts Google’s new 3D city model of Cardiff although I have attempted to accentuate its authenticity by simulating a tilt-shift effect with the camera lens.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/12/city-2-0/

#37

At this point in the film there is a seamless fade between the conventional city model and an abstracted ‘digital city’ model with a range if additional information overlaid.

#38

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/12/city-2-0/

#39

This next sequence includes augmented content in space with different snippets describing the punctuality of the train, the number of passengers within each vehicle or the cumulative frequency of pedestrians on a section of pavement.

This scene uses time-lapse to capture the pattern of pedestrians in time and space. Certain movements and points of interaction are also tracked.

#40

After another aerial route sequence, this scene simulates a transition between virtual and real. An animation is extracted from Google Earth before real footage is geo-referenced and augmented within the original sequence. The camera then pans into the augmented clip which then continues as normal.

The resulting scene then pans to the top of Capital Tower where there is an animated augmentation of an extract from the Centreplan 70 edit. The chosen scene was the point at which the architect/developer are shown squatting over a model of their vision for the future, which involves considerable demolition of Cardiff’s historic core.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/12/city-2-0/

#41

This scene shows an extract from a film acquired from the British Pathe news archive. The clip, which is motion tracked into the real, contemporary scene shows a student parade from 1932 turning the exact same corner between St Mary Street and Duke Street.

#42

httP://insoc.co.uk/TREE

httP://insoc.co.uk/TREE

#43

concLUsIon The primer film has presented a considerable challenge, not only in terms of its technical accomplishment and the amount I have had to learn but also in terms of being able to effectively represent - through what is an unfamiliar medium - a monumental concept. Frustratingly, I seem to have spent a large amount of time learning as opposed to creating. This is an important consideration when it comes to negotiating the subsequent design thesis.

My main criticism would be the overall level of enhancement as when I began this exercise I envisaged a far more ‘immersive’ physical/virtual viewing experience. Having said that, I do now have a clear stance on the experience of the digital city, which is one of careful control and perhaps even ‘curation,’ something that is likely to inform my argument for the thesis.

I have decided to park the film in its current state as I feel it would be better to add information and review further as the thesis develops.

#44

DEsign thEsis

#45

caRDiFF

The choice of location for the thesis project was a straightforward one. The most import factor is a matter of familiarity.

Having now spent almost five years in Cardiff during which time I have witnessed considerable change - it was an obvious choice.

#46

51°29′07″n 3°11′12″W

sovEREign statE united kingdom constituEnt countRy Wales histoRic county glamorgan govERnmEnt cardiff council Rodney Berman Welsh assembly carwyn jones aREa city 2.6 sq mi (6.652 km2) urban 54.1 sq mi (140 km2) popuLation city 324,800 Density 11,375.2/sq mi (4,392/km2) urban 327,706* 841,500 (Larger urban Zone) Ethnicity White 91.57% mixed 1.99% asian 3.96% Black 1.28% chinese/other 1.20% Domain http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ #47

site rationale I spent most of yesterday strolling through the arcades (the following pages provide illustration) in search of inspiration to potentially inform a site. A bit of further research led me to The Arcades Project, a recent series of studies and events led by local artist Jennie Savage.

Inspired by Walter Benjamin’s Das PassagenWerk [The Arcades Project], her accompanying book Depending On Time (October 2009) documents “through transcribed conversations with small businesses, shoppers, local historians, architects, town planners and developers” the period of change surrounding the colossal new development at St. Davids II, and in turn “the trajectory of consumer culture from the city’s Victorian and Edwardian arcades through to the monolithic mall”.

Experientially, I have always enjoyed Cardiff’s arcades and having spent most of the morning reading the book I certainly have a renewed appreciation. The following is an excerpt from the text: “In Royal Arcade there is a door marked ‘David Morgan Works Dept.’. Through this door is Pigeon alley which connects with St. Mary Street. Above the arcades semiderelict rooms and corridors reveal the traces of the David Morgan Department store. Below the arcades is a subterranean city of interlinked basements and corridors.

Stepping off the street, the ordered logic of the city seems like a facade for the public. The scale of the city shifts, becoming a maze of corridors, doorways and oddly shaped rooms which do not mirror the known world.”

My thread of inspiration from all this comes not only from the unique spatial experience – the history and delight of the Victorian arcade – but also the potential for exploring and documenting the shift in architecture derived from other factors such as ideology and economics, and the connotation with St. David’s II. The inital idea is therefore to treat the Morgan and Royal Arcade as a miniature ‘city’; a concentrated environment that can be meticulously researched, monitored and analysed in both the physical and digital sense. The study would also encompass history, providing an understanding of the evolution of various aspects over time. Spatially, the Morgan and Royal Arcade complex is easily defined; it has a total of six ‘gates’ – entry and exit points to the surrounding world. Programmatically, the micro-city will explore a series of relationships between the existing and proposed fields: a hybridisation of physical/virtual space and event, all intelligently curated from the hypothesised, ‘hyperlocal’, situationaware city.

#48

01

02

ABOVE: Photo showing the two entrances of the now forgotten Pigeon Alley. OPPOSITE: Aerial photograph showing the Morgan, Royal and Wyndham Arcades, all of which lie perpendicular to St. Mary Street and were constructed in the second half of the 19th Century. All three are Grade II Listed. Each photograph is referenced on page 53.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/12/the-arcades-project/

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#49

#50

03

The architectural expression could exist in a range of constructed forms from the permanent to the ephemeral, even augmented.

Analogous to Jenny Savage’s notion of un’known’ space I aim to play on the idea of a hidden, ‘embedded’ architecture – beyond the relationship between the physical and virtual – that may only be apparent to the city at certain points.

Whilst the study area would be finite, that is not to say that it is only aware of activity within. It would be important to analyse fluctuations caused by other major city events (e.g. match day) and the effect they would have on the micro condition.

04

The ‘layers’ of the potential analysis/ interactions are numerous: It is important to begin with a detailed survey to gain understanding of the existing physical space which could include many layers both apparent and hidden. It would be interesting to develop an inside-out model of the ‘warren’, highlighting the relationship between public and the private ‘hidden’ space as well as the spaces that lurk outside – above and around, beyond the lines of sight.

05

An further understanding would involve the accumulation of relevant historical information, of which Depending On Time is an excellent source.

A pseudo-study could include the pattern and frequency of movement through the space along with the historic programme and ’shift’, given the recent birth of St. Davids II. Hour-day-week fluctuations could also inform the physical/virtual program.

Finally, a brief study of the ‘macro’ condition to highlight any broader event fluctuation.

I am currently reading Feints by Peter Eisenman.

I particularly admire his layered compositions and understanding of the diagram, which is another source of inspiration for this project.

06 ABOVE: Series of photos showing the arcade interiors the locations of which are referenced overleaf. OPPOSITE: The roof and upper storey of Morgan Arcade.

httP://insoc.co.uk/009/12/the-arcades-project/

#51

site background

Further investigation has led to a firm choice of site. Situated just off Morgan Arcade, Bakers Row is a small cobbled street that provides a route out of the arcades towards Wharton Street but also delivery access for some of the large commerical units that front the Hayes.

#52

06

03

04

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01

I managed to get this plan from the site manager at OscarClarke containing all of the unit names for the adjacent commercial units. Unfortunately it seems there is no detailed survey of the complex and building structure as modern works have only been concerned with interior fit-out.

02

#53

sIte AnALysIs

This is a photo montage of Baker’s Row looking south, part of a series of individual studies to record the character of the surrounding area. The chosen site is the corrugated shed to the right which is currently a store and workshop. It is perhaps an unusual choice for a site given it sits adjacent delivery bays on what is quite a gritty side street. However, I feel it offers huge potential as it is located right in the heart of the city and is immediately tucked away.

#54

The unusual thing about this particular location is the fact that the adjacent buildings to the south and east are all commercial stores that serve the arcade complex. At two storeys, any proposed development would enjoy considerable views over the city, without causing issues with overlooking or rights to light.

http://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/BakERs-RoW/

#55

This photo montage shows the existing street elevation facing West. The actual site is just out of shot to the left but is not shown as there is little to take from the existing. The buildings further up the street include the old City Glass Works factory, set within a three storey building, the exact period of which is unknown. The street is also one of the last remaining cobbled streets in Cardiff.

#56

http://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/ELEvation-timE-LapsE/

#57

design preconception I will be spending the next few weeks mainly focusing on the dissertation so I thought it a useful point to summarise my thoughts thus far.

Perhaps as a response to the underlying ’shift’ the city centre is undergoing with the new St. David’s II development: A remote monitoring station is set up. A series of temporary structures listen to and record the rhythm and fluctuations of the city.

The existing physical fabric is surveyed and dissected.

Patterns are analysed, digital feeds aggregated.

Emotions recorded, history understood.

After a time, the initial accumulation is complete.

The programmatic response is released, the architectural intervention begins.

The monitoring continues: temporal relevancy is mantained, new events learned: major city events are anticipated.

The mechanism responds to market trend. New events are aggregated, unexpected possibilities are introduced according to broader supply and demand.

As the shift intensifies and the economic condition substantiates, the programme in turn responds.

#58

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/12/an-update/

#59

TRACING URBANITY: REM KOOLHAAS #60

This is something of an interlude but it has informed my thinking between urban and architectural scales: I recently stumbled on a short film featuring Rem Koolhaas and a mystery gentleman discussing the boundaries of architecture and urbanism. I think the narrative is wonderfully eloquent: it draws nicely upon the idea of urbanism as being ‘fundamentally generous’ whilst architecture remains ‘fundamentally egotistical’, something I tried to elaborate on in my edit of Centreplan 70.

Koolhaas also discusses the ‘imagining of a number of episodes within a building or within a city and the establishment of relationships between them or the separation of relationships’ and being able ‘to read existing situations … and then find within them the arguments for connecting new architectures to them’. Both threads provide an excellent starting point for my investigation: whether or not these relationships and the resulting arguments can be derived from the open-source, digital city. The following is a transcript: I think we are interested in the city, we love the city, but we don’t want to start from scratch.

Urbanism is about creating potential; Architecture is about exploiting potential.

And what is fascinating for me now that we are involved both in architecture and urbanism is to discover that they really are totally different things; that architecture tries to define, tries to limit, tries to exclude other possibilities. If you do an architecture you are forced not only to say what this specific thing is but by saying what it is you also exclude everything it cannot be and I think that is interesting about urbanism, urbanism is just creating potential, saying this should happen, but maybe this should happen and this can also happen here so you simply make a (kind of) very compact or intense version of things that are possible, enable something and then the architect comes and takes something away from that potential you have accumulated and makes his own exclusive statement. (and so) Therefore I think that urbanism is fundamentally generous and that architecture is fundamentally egotistical in a sense.

What a script writer does is to invent a sequence or series of events and episodes and what a good script writer does is to imagine a suspenseful sequence which makes more of his material than you would otherwise think. And I think that in that sense I don’t see architecture or urbanism as fundamentally an issue of design but also the imagining of a number of episodes within a building or within a city and the establishment of relationships between them or the separation of relationships between them because connections are very important but breaks are also very important, ruptures. (and so) For me the two are actually amazingly close in terms of the inner-workings of the profession.

What we are witnessing now is that there is a (kind of) much more dispersed sense of the city and that maybe the greatest city at this moment can be a city where there is a (kind of) maximum comfort and where people in a way are liberated from an overly strong and domineering identity.

We are challenging (the situation) cities in a way maybe more strongly by being able to work with the situation as it exists. I think that that is in a way our strongest force; to read existing situations … and then find within them the arguments for connecting new architectures to them. And so this ability to read the existing situation is, I would say, a new thing in my generation but also something that is particular with our office.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/11/tracing-urbanity-rem-koolhaas/

#61

urban analysis

ABOVE: Aerial rendered view of the 3D city model which will form the basis of my urban analysis. The white fenced area towards the centre shows the extent of the image on the opposite page.

The thesis is as much about the city as it is about the building or immediate site context. This therefore requires consideration of the context at an urban as well as the architectural scale. It is my intention to layer all obtained data into the same ‘semantic’ model so that it can be experienced in spatial terms from the architecture of the proposed building but also throughout the experience of the city.

#62

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/01/pre-analysis/

ABOVE: I have been busy modelling the existing roofscape above the Morgan and Royal Arcades. It will be important to establish the existing complexity of form at all layers - roofscape, basement, floor level etc. in order to gain a true understanding of the ‘hidden’ volume and spatial hierarchy in and around the site.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2009/12/roofscape-survey/

#63

#64

ABOVE: Location plan from the OS MasterMap series illustrating Cardiff’s geographic situation.

ABOVE: Word map derived from the city’s street names. It resembles an axial map but with the addition of location descriptors.

#65

ABOVE: Outline figure ground plan of Cardiff taken to the relevant electoral and parish boundaries.

OPPOSITE: City axonometric containing the different layers of analysis.

#66

#67

the fresh the fresh requirements of requirements of the Infobahn age the Infobahn suddenly kickage in. suddenly buildings kick and in. parts buildings and parts of buildings must now of must be buildings related not onlynow to be related notand only to their natural their and urbannatural contexts, urban contexts, but also to their but also to their cyberspace cyberspace settings. Increasingly, settings. they mustIncreasingly, function as they must function –as network interfaces network interfaces – loading docks for bits. loading docks for bits.

Mitchell, W. J. 1995. City of bits : space, place, and the infobahn. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, p. 104

#68

Mitchell, W. J. 1995. City of bits : space, place, and the infobahn. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, p. 104

IP cIty

ABOVE: Provocation to suggest that all buildings could one day have formal Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Whilst limitations exist with the existing IPv4 format, with the new IPv6 this remains a distinct possibility.

#69

THE semantic city

In addition to the conventional urban analysis there are a number of key paradigms of the digital city that need to be explained effectively.

Further to my dissertation which proposed a new text-based markup language for the built environment, this will be an attempt to capture the essence of the semantic city in a single image. I have tiled together a set of photographs to form a high resolution aerial view of the city, which will become considerably enhanced with additional content.

Currently the snippets are mundane; additionally I intend to capture experiential, ephemeral events. The site is shown highlighted in red.

#70

#71

MAPPInG cIty 2.0

This is very much a work in progress: A cloud diagram to map the extent of City 2.0’s constituent parts. The backdrop is an extract from The Century is Over, an Evolutionary Tree of Twentieth-Century Architecture – published by Charles Jencks in 2000, which of course I have begun to extend.

#72

http://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/mapping-city-2/

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This is a feed pipe diagram which describes the method for accumulating the dataset from a range of twenty existing Web resources.

The current design fetches, regularises and truncates before filtering and sorting. The output is based on a 365 day time period but could theoretically be adjusted to describe seconds.

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This is an attempt to give the digital city a temporal dimension by hypothesising that all spatial events (past, present, and future) can be recorded via the real-time Web.

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Another key component of the thesis is the notion that all urban phenomena can be regarded as spatial events occuring from between seconds and minutes to weeks and years.

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Theoretically, this would power the City Dynamics visualisation overleaf. Obvious inputs at this stage would probably be infrastructural like CardiffBus, National Rail, Mobile Telephony (O2/Vodafone etc.), the Millenium Stadium and Pachube but could also include ’soft’ feeds like Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and LastFM or MySpace for additional, more ephemeral event description.

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http://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/city-FEED-aRchitEctuRE/

#73

city DYNAMICS

#74

To complement the city event ‘feed’ architecture on the previous page I am preparing a hypothetical dataset of all major city fluctuations over a single year. This image provides graphical output as a timeline with line displacement and moving average overlay.

As an example, the largest spikes show the activity within the millenium stadium whilst the second largest mean displacement is that of the new St. David’s II shopping centre, which is beginning to have a marked effect on that of St. David’s I. If we are able to record all spatiotemporal events in this way then it may not only improve our understanding of the natural rhythms of the city, it may also be possible to intelligently re=program events around the city with others learned from a subcultural ‘sampling.’

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/city-dynamics-2/

#75

#76

This is an abstracted map of the digital city that is designed to accompany the graphical output on the previous page.

If I am able to convert the dataset into a suitable 3D animated visualisation I could then potentially augment this over the digital city network map for an interactive exhibit.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/city-dynamics-2/

#77

programme The programme has evolved significantly since the beginning of the thesis. In the early stages it was more focused on the immediate environment of the surrounding arcade complex. However, the meaningfullness of such a narrow investigation was called into question. Subsequently, the programme has expanded to become something of an embodiment of the digital city; an intricate group of functions that capture the essence and key paradigms of the thesis argument thus far, whilst in turn providing a building programme that demonstrates significant value to the city and people of Cardiff. The programme can be divided into four component parts:

URBAN MONITORING STATION This is the smallest part of the programme but is technically the most important as it acts as the nerve centre for the research, interpretation and subsequent curation of the digtal city. There will be a small group of staff working full-time with conventional office and conference facilities with access to powerful computing resources and datacentre technology. There may be instances where individuals need to work within the city to monitor field sensors or other such devices. Aditionally, staff members will be on hand to provide tours and technical explanation and/or tuition/consultancy to private and commercial clients and/or government agencies.

BUILDING DESIGN CENTRE Due to the focus and expertise of the monitoring station there is a distinct opportunity to utilise such a core programme to support a wider range of uses specific to architecture and urbanism.

Therefore, other activities and events specific to planning and construction are introduced, something that the city of Cardiff in fact lacks today. A Building Design Centre is also proposed which comprises of access to auditoria for lectures as well as gallery and exhibition space for other events and conventions.

physical/virtual city EXPERIENCE The third and most interesting element of the programme, which is the principal public element, is a revolutionary new experience of the city. A play on the relationship between physical and virtual, this element of the programme will be the key driver to the overall architectural expression as it will direct specific views and relationships with the city as well as the relevant space and materiality. Programatically, it will be interwoven with the two elements above. The overall aim is to arouse public interest in the digital city but also provide a means to explore, learn and ultimately participate. A key aspect of the digital city (a synthesis of the built environment and the Web) is of democratisation; one of the thesis’ core arguments revolves around the notion that the democratisation of the Web and therefore digital city (along with associated paradigms) will begin to challenge traditional ‘ownership.’ An interactive exhibit is therefore an attempt to promote not only a new level of understanding specific to the city but also a new era of mass-participatory urbanism.

The experience of the building will include specific exhibits but will also act as precusor to a new city=wide experience that utlises augmented reality to blend the physical and virtual.

OPEN EVENT FRAMEWORK The fourth and final element of the programme involves a pioneering new concept that aims to challenge the traditional notion of ‘flexibility’ within architecture and re-invent it for the information age. A series of ‘event’ spaces - each with their own architectural merit rather than being overtly ‘reconfigurable’ - the individual charateristics of which will be described digitally, are added to the Open Event Initiative, a new database of networked spaces within the city. Created by anyone and everyone, they may encompass indoor or outdoor space, large or small, public or private, used or vacant units in a bid to kick-start a new era in urban cross-programming. Unlike the adaptable space-frame architectures of Cedric Price, Archigram and Yona Friedman, the individual spaces will be celebrated for their individual beauty and bespoke characteristics. This initiative will also be in tune with the city feed architecture and dynamics hypothesises, where the ability to selectively programme an event, with regard to all urban phenomena of the overall city within space and time, is possible.

#78

EVENT

PUBLIC WCS: MALE 192.168.2.255

WCS: FEMALE 192.168.2.255

LASER PROJECTOR 192.168.2.255

DATA CENTRE 192.168.2.255

COMMS CENTRE 192.168.2.255

WCS & SHOWER 192.168.2.255

SECURITY 192.168.2.255

CAFETERIA & COMMON ROOM 192.168.2.255

LIBRARY

AMENITY

STATIC

192.168.2.255

RECEPTION & INFORMATION 192.168.2.255

CONFERENCE ROOM 192.168.2.255

CLOAKROOM 192.168.2.255

LOADING BAY 192.168.2.255

COUNCIL CHAMBER 192.168.2.255

WCS 192.168.2.255

PLANT 192.168.2.255

JACOBS GALLERY 192.168.2.255

OFFICES 192.168.2.255

CAFETERIA & BAR

SERVICE

192.168.2.255

VEHICLE BAY 192.168.2.255

MEDIA LAB 192.168.2.255

TURING GALLERY 192.168.2.255

FLEXIBLE

STORE ROOMS & ANCILLIARY 192.168.2.255

PRINCIPAL AUDITORIUM 192.168.2.255

CYCLE BAY 192.168.2.255

BERNERS-LEE GALLERY 192.168.2.255

VIEWING DECK 192.168.2.255

IUP

MUSIC VENUE

PRIVATE

192.168.2.255

ABOVE: Diagram of initial analysis to differentiate between programmatic elements and outline requirements.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/programme/

#79

AREAS

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ABOVE: An updated programme diagram that abstracts relative areas prior to working in 3D.

#80

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/programme/

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Exhibition Exhibition Exhibition Exhibition amenity service amenity service iup iup

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244.143.157 113.113.115 231.218.173 86.67.25 162.220.231 248.144.31 204.178.213 209.210.212

public public public public private private private private public private

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75% 75% 75% 75% 75% 29% 29% 29% 29% 35%

280.19 280.19 280.19 280.19 280.19 106.74 106.74 106.74 106.74 130.75

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248.144.31 254.242.0 222.212.163 194.183.177 254.219.187 251.217.231 192.227.220 0.168.143 70.87.97 86.156.190 186.163.171 72.170.67 86.162.214 223.14.79 161.224.233

private public private public private public public private public private public private public public private

75 75 80 90 100 125 125 140 150 175 200 200 200 250 250

25% 25% 20% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

93.40 93.40 74.72 0.00 8.23 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

26 27 28 29 30

201.152.197 248.144.31 0.175.240 165.25.132 42.183.115

public public public public public

Wcs: male Wcs: Female Wcs: male Wcs: Female Laser projector Data centre comms centre Wcs & shower security cafeteria & common Room Library Reception & information conference Room cloakroom Loading Bay council chamber Wcs plant jacobs gallery offices cafeteria & Bar vehicle Bay media Lab turing gallery store Rooms & ancilliary principal auditorium cycle Bay Berners-Lee gallery viewing Deck music venue

300 300 350 400 575

0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

totaLs

4540

capacity

-

-

-

300 -

250 -

aDjacEnciEs 30 30 30 30 30 40 40 40 40 70 75 75 80 90 100 125 125 140 150 175 200 200 200 250 250

300 500

300 300 350 400 575

1350

4540

0

1 1 2 2

0 5 5 5 0 9 9

ABOVE: The outline schedule of accomodation.

#81

panoramic study

ABOVE: An additional piece of site analysis, the lower image is a 360 degree panoramic photo from Baker’s Row taken from the city model approximately 35 metres above ground. I have re-projected the photograph using different techniques (shown above), which I intend to use to map the various views one would experience throughout the building.

#82

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/panoramic-study/

#83

THESIS GEOFEED

This is an example of using Keyhole Markup Language (KML) to visualise project specific information via the Web, thus enabling a virtual spatial dimension to the thesis. It is my aim to link all elements of the project in this way from process 3D massing to infrastructural analysis of the city network. I have introduced a feed from Flickr (the image server in this case) but also geometries synchronised with a separate Web server; both will accrue information over time. The site is highlighted in magenta.

The relevant code is shown below: <p><script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://code.google.com/apis/kml/embed/ embedkmlgadget.xml&amp;up_kml_url=http%3A%2F%2Finsoc.co.uk%2Fuploads%2Fkml%2FThesis. kmz&amp;up_view_mode=earth&amp;up_earth_2d_fallback=0&amp;up_earth_fly_from_ space=1&amp;up_earth_show_nav_controls=0&amp;up_earth_show_buildings=1&amp;up_earth_ show_terrain=1&amp;up_earth_show_roads=0&amp;up_earth_show_borders=0&amp;up_earth_ sphere=earth&amp;up_maps_zoom_out=0&amp;up_maps_default_type=mce-map&amp;synd=open&amp;w=5 00&amp;h=300&amp;border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&amp;output=js"></script></p>

#84

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/01/thesis-geofeed/

The image above depicts Dennis Crompton’s Computer City (1964) which provides inspiration towards my impending physical modelling. Beyond a more conventional representation of the surrounding urban milieu (block massing etc.) I intend to model certain aspects of the ‘virtual’ but physically. In addition I would like to explore the possibility of augmenting other layers of information (traffic patterns, pedestrian densities or building IP tags) within this model using a locator and software such as ARTag.

#85

Philips pavilion . Le corbusier

I have begun to explore the elements of my programme that are to integrate with certain layers of the digital city as the spatial experience of my building will be defined not only by the physical architectural language but also through the use of virtual sensory ephemera. Two venerable precedents in this respect are of course the Blur Building (2002) by Diller and Scofidio and the Philips Pavilion (1958) by Le Corbusier.

The Philips pavilion – conceived for the 1958 Expo – was designed primarily by Iannis Xenakis, a Greek architect and experimental composer. The image below is a graph of Xenakis’ Metastaseis: opening glissandi which clearly references the Philips Pavilion. The audio sample beneath that is an extract.

#86

The Philips Pavilion presented a collage liturgy for twentieth-century humankind, dependent on electricity instead of daylight and on virtual perspectives in place of terrestrial views. [source: Marc Treib, Space Calculated in Seconds, Princeton, 1996, p. 3] I would like to explore an architecture that enables, in part, a similar experience although it would instead draw upon ‘artefacts’ – both contemporary and historical – of the digital city.

I investigated a similar idea with my Memorial Memory sequence, which was also turned into an implied augmentation for the closing seconds of my Primer film.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/philips-pavilion/

#87

blur building . Diller & scofidio

#88

Over forty years after the Philips Pavilion, Diller and Scofidio’s Blur Building was a unique sensory experience but it also featured technologically advanced ’brain coats’ – wearable raincoats with wireless communication devices that would inform an indication of either positive or negative affinity between different visitors, through colour change and sound, depending on an individual’s response to a predefined set of questions, i.e. Prince or Puccini.

I would therefore like to push this theme further by proposing that the interaction and ‘affinity’ could instead occur seamlessly via the Web, which isn’t so far-fetched considering the advent of Web 2.0 in 2004. Information specific to a given user could be pushed and exhibited interactively from a range of user content-creation sources.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/blur-building/

#89

ABOVE: Sketch axo. Since the last crit I have been steadily working towards a number of significant pieces notably my city feed architecture and historical timeline the results of which I hope to present soon. I am also working on the programme which seems to have gone forwards and backwards over the last week or so. The above drawing is an attempt at trying to figure out how the basic spatial arrangement could work with my massing strategy and is something most people responded to in the last session.

#90

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/initial-massing/

ABOVE: Another extract from the sketchbook. This next week will be spent planning my building. I seem to be developing a good mental image but will be interested to see how it pans out when I begin formally arranging the programme and schedule of accomodation.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/sketch-section/

#91

ABOVE: Photo showing the initial massing model with existing roofscape at 200 scale. At the moment it is nothing more than a shell with a few basic moves to determine how the building might begin to sit within its context.

#92

ABOVE: Another shot to give an improved sense of scale. The intention in terms of projected massing and height is clear; this is a building that is piercing the mean two-storey roofline of its adjacent context. Interestingly, due to its location and the way the neighbouring streets are carved through tall urban blocks it is practically invisible to the skyline of the surrounding area.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/site-model/

#93

PILOT FOUR : augmented reality

#94

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/augmenting-pilot/

CITY MODEL

ABOVE: A photo of my incomplete city model which I had laser-etched last week. The next stage is to cut the buildings although I plan to hold off until I have a better idea of how I would like it to finally look as I intend to represent virtual aspects of the city through AR. LEFT: The first test at augmenting 3D geometry into my physical 200 scale site context model. There are obvious limitations in this instance where adjacent buildings obstruct the tracker. The real test will be to achieve this on a city scale using my laser model as a base. This way I am able to represent my city event feed dataset and some of the other spatial analyses interactively. For the actual scheme it could be useful to illustrate more abstract elements such as the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s circulation or programme schematics.

I believe you can also animate geometries which may be useful to visualise any adaptable or reconfigurable architectural elements.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/city-model/

#95

tectonIc stRAteGy 02

03 05 04

01

07 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

PANELITE HONEYCOMB COMPOSITE PANEL GLOSS WHITE TILE BY ARIOSTEA MATT EARTH TILE BY NBK KERAMIK CHOCOLATE TILE BY NBK KERAMIK FORMWORK PLY BY WISA PETERSEN TEGL D71 BRICK OKAGEL TRANSLUCENT GLAZED UNIT BY OKALUX FINNISH BIRCH-FACED PLY BY JAMES LATHAM BIANCO FIBREC CLADDING PANEL BY RIEDER HAND-CAST GLASS-REINFORCED CONCRETE PANEL WEATHERED SWEET CHESTNUT RAINSCREEN BOARD

06

09

10

11

#96

08

Materiality Precedents

ABOVE: (clockwise from left) Shingled roof at Kolodnoye, former Soviet Trans-Carpathia, unbuilt Cultural history Museum, Ronne, Bornholm, Denmark by Sergison Bates, Brick House by Caruso St John, Saint Markâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church

by Sigurd Lewerentz.

LEFT: I have been collecting a number of material samples in line with my design preconceptions and material precedent studies.

#97

design development

ABOVE: This is probably a bit of a red-herring but I have been thinking about this computational approach to schematic design and came up with the above. I have tried to define some boundaries in order to preserve the humane artistic response by suggesting that this process could occur at some point between outline and detailed design rather than be a direct driver. This could be the link between the urban and architectural scales of my thesis as some of the defining parameters could be derived from my city feed architecture.

#98

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/02/algorithmic-programming/

ABOVE: This is an initial attempt at translating the programme into 3D based on the areas and adjacencies outlined within the schedule of accommodation.

#99

These are abstract compositional studies of the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s form and materiality. There is still a long way to go, particularly with the eastern elevation (right) which is looking a little awkward.

#100

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/initial-elevations/ #101

ABOVE: Extract from the digital model showing design development. I have also been exploring this through physical modelling. The building is turning into something of a puzzle with interlocking volumes of varying height, scale and orientation. The circulation (or limitation of) is now beginning to define the sequence of spaces in response to the specific views of the city.

OPPOSITE and OVERLEAF: A few process photos of my evolving massing model which I am modelling at 200 scale. I have been using it to test ideas from the 3D computer model before repeating the cycle again, hopefully achieving more detailed resolution in the process.

#102 httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/massing-update/

httP://insoc.co.uk/TREE #103

#104 httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/massing-model/

TOP: An early shot of the street facade showing the cobbled street leading into the ground floor reception area. The two stairs in the distance lead the visitor up to the auditorium and second storey rooftop platform where the formal programme and viewing galleries begin. The upturned panel that resembles a canopy (repeated along the length) hints at a â&#x20AC;&#x2122;shop-frontâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that can be reconfigured to manipulate the boundary with the street. Openness is key: depending on the event, the public would be encouraged to wander in. This would obviously need to incorporate some glazed elements which is something I am currently brainstorming.

BOTTOM: A quick test (hence the poor quality) to check the ambient lighting above the entrance foyer. It is looking a little bleak as the model is nothing more than a fair-faced concrete structural shell. However it gives me a better idea in terms of internal finishes. The wall to the right is solid (it spans the foyer as a fin) which makes this front balcony rather gloomy although there may be an opportunity to introduce some translucency.

In the distance and off to the left is the principal auditorium with a bar to the front and WCs around to the left; the ascending stair leads to the rooftop level, which is the inaugral view of the city.

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/model-construction/ #105

I have begun my detailed 3D model â&#x20AC;&#x201C; these images show some of the progress to date. The design is by no means finalised; working at this detail is in fact beginning to pose more and more questionsâ&#x20AC;Ś This is an aerial shot taken just above the tower looking down onto the beginnings of the first storey with auditorium etc. There are three levels beneath â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is difficult to understand but I will post a section shortly.

#106

httP://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/model-construction/ #107

ABOVE: Basic site sections showing the broader city context and relative scale.

#108

http://insoc.co.uk/2010/03/sitE-sEctions/ #109

#110

ABOVE: Perspective section showing further model development.

LEFT: Initial site plan showing proposal amongst existing roofscape.

http://insoc.co.uk/2010/04/upDatE/ #111

ABOVE and OPPOSITE: Additional concept sections showing design development.

#112

http://insoc.co.uk/2010/04/upDatE/ #113

Early perspective showing top-lit council chamber. The public are able to circulate within the storey above.

Perspective showing route up to public galleries. The building opens out so that the visitor ascends within the existing roofscape.

#114

Example of public circulation with panoramic view across the city as well as into event space gallery from the high level.

Perspective showing second floor auditorium geared towards informal lectures and educational visits.

http://insoc.co.uk/2010/04/upDatE/ #115

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