ABOUT THE EVENT
The cities we live in are constantly changing. This change occurs on a different timescale to which we live our lives. City of Change, an ongoing event in Melbourne, seeks to actively engage people with the changing nature of the city. Starting at Federation Square, participants follow clues leading them to markers positioned at sites around the city with uncertain futures. These sites might be earmarked for development, in a state of decay, or subject to change. Here participants take a selfie photograph, expressing their opinion of the site through a thumbs up or thumbs down gesture. Through their smartphone, participants have the opportunity to sketch, move and alter the sites, which is uploaded to the digital space. Participants become urban planners, architects and developers of the digital parallel of Melbourne. The information uploaded by participants is processed and rendered virtually, creating a city that is in a constant state of flux – destruction and reconstruction occurring simultaneously as people express their opinion.
CITY OF CHANGE
The virtual model of the city is displayed at the end point of the participant’s journey, providing an aerial perspective in a state of rapid change. Using smartphones, participants can see changes to the virtual city overlaid onto the physical world through augmented reality. As they move through the physical Melbourne, they leave their marks on the virtual counterpart. The journey leads participants to interact with the city in a unique way. Instead of moving through static architecture, the event allows participants to experience the dynamic, changing city, and lets them play with it.