Public Space Activation + Digital Communication Jenny Hampton-Kempson MLA Built Environments MA Geography BA Psychology + Art
World data visualization by Christopher Harrison http://www.chrisharrison.net/
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The virtual commons created through digital communication molds behavior and interaction among people and forms the perception of what constitutes a place.
be lie f
red
Shifts in Communication and Behavior Patterns
trust in
r blu
ny w
he re
ip nersh w o w h e ne
2.9 72 5 7 3 2008 2009 .9
gy
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1.
t
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rs ha rin g
2003 20 0
s is acces
tech
pe e
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influ ence d by
to
3 05 2006 2 20 0
days
er
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pe
275
ipod sales
13
25
in millions
35
iphone sales
in millions
street cameras 2007
18 2008
2009
2010
eb
375
8 800 000 000
Technology Businesses
megabytes consumed by household/day
visitors to seatlte every year
56
17 000
housing units by 2024
36.2
1000
visits to the space needle/day
inches average rainfall
35
street cameras added to Seattle streets
Systems
700
minutes spent on facebook each month
A Digital/Physical layering of the Public Common
re ) + fibre
The genius loci of many places, now, potentially becomes shaped by both physical and virtual elements of the palimpsests of place.�
Dead pixel in Google Earth - 82 x 82 CM burned (Mark Graham, by artist Helmut Smits,University 2008-2010of Oxford)
4.3
avg miles biked total trips/month
6 800 000 citywide emmissions projected for 2010
percent of people have a college degree
37
countries partcipated in the Electronic World Cup games
Precedents of Digital Communication in Place 1. Zaragoza Milla Digital MIT School of Architecture and Planning urban pixels: LED imagery on built surfaces memory path: digital recognition of walking patterns
Precedents of Digital Communication in Place 2. Eyestop bus stop MIT SENSEable City Lab (2009) proposed bus stop elements and interactive points
Precedents of Digital Communication in Place 3. Immaterials: Light Painting WiFi YOUurban team: Timo Arnall, Jorn Knusten and Einar Sneve Martinussen (2010) Wifi exposure through the use of a frequency detecting light rod
Opensource Landscape: Translating alleys into information syntax in the urban environment This work explores the role of digital communication/interaction and its potential influence on physical space. I am testing this expression in forgotten urban landscapes that have the potential to be exposed through physical and design upgrades and virtual interaction/ exposure.
tech business alley
Starting with Testing in Seattle’s Alleys Alleys expose people to the city’s physical infrastructure interworkings. By using them as testing labs for new urban ideas, new interactions between people, new business relationships - a new type of cross disciplinary design for the city could take shape.
Physical Infrastructure
Natural Interaction
Wifi Radius
people on cell phones
Evaluating Seattle’s Alley network I attempted to understand the potential that alleys have as testing grounds for connecting pedestrian activity across a finer scale and becoming places of digital interaction through physical installations.
Human Interaction
plant or animal sighting
drains water pipes
car route
pedestrian route
Creating areas are where I felt that playful interventions could be created to connect people to space and space to the digital realm.
ra St
Bat ter y
Len o
Connecting attributes of the alley site to the larger context.
St
Installation/ interactions coded in place creates connection to/from green streets
St Pine
Walking radius to art studios and technology businesses
n Unio
alleys follows transit and bike lines
CODED PROGRAM ACROSS LANDSCAPE
walking distance from public parks and plazas
St
Sene
t ca S
Bat ter y
St
connects to other alleys north and south 3rd
Ave
Bla
nch ard St
Be ll S t
ve 1st A
EXPERIENCES ACROSS LANDSCAPE
Len ora St
Water +Flow Nature +infrastructure
Ste wa rt
St
Vir gin ia
St
Communcation + Installation
e Pin
St
St
Se at tle St e
gree nhou
am
s es
ount the c into t n i otpr on fo carb
pe ap w ill
t? pu
carbon ou daily t e’s
y ste am
nt fro m
ar w ith
hier put t
eyw a
int s
an in
into all
rs on al fo ot pr
le c p eo p
eam
co u
st ea m
to p ut st
pe
gere d
ail y
that uses steam vents from buildings in the alley. The steam also will feed reveal the Seattle Steam CO2 numbers for the downtown area system on the glass panes of the greenhouse.
s ar e trig
th ed
City CO2 1.A greenhouse system
vent
da ily
what is Sea ttl
ca rb on
a
s of dirty water flows into th llon
Pe rs on
al a
nd
all
ey
um br ell
as re lay
inf or
m at ion
s rella umb
d? un
into puget s ing o go
y
rty water h di is uc
eyw a
e
es to ssag s me d n e s
n all
e
m
spill
p um brell ai
Se at tl
How
C SO
pick u
in
200 g
Peop le
in
nd on after a rainfall. sou
ra
Projected Infiltration 1. This installation proposes that the alleyway becomes a place of rain refuge, while also supplying on-site loan umbrellas that project stormwater runoff numbers to people throughout the city giving personal refuge and highlighting a citywide issue
nd on after a rainfall. sou
a
e
s of dirty water flows into th llon
200 g
Tweethouse
s an d or ganiz
ation s
can
1. Using the birdhouse as a “base� that
ill m
un itiy
itter
ev ol v es y? lle
etc.
unt acco
ns ta ll
ed
to
cr ea te
all ey
es w
co m m
appe ning s
tw in a ainta
ei
hous
even ts , h
us es w ill b
The
Bi rd ho
will relay information through a display of real time tweets about what is happening in the surrounding location of the installation. This conversation between the birdhouses and people on the street could then be continued through the web.
po s t
y
habiting the s in a oi
nese
all e
ita t
busi
ha b
Alley
W h
An
Alley party tonight!
Connecting Digital + Physical Public Commons Potential Benefits + GETTING TO KNOW USER TYPES AND HOW THEY INTERACT + COMMUNICATING DATA AND PROVIDING A GAIN IN COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE + SPARKING INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGNER / RESEARCH COLLABORATION + ALLOWING FOR EVALUATION AND TESTING TO CREATE RESPONSIVE DESIGNS