iLOUNGE [ instant : interim : interactive]

iLOUNGE [ INTERIM : INSTANT : INTERACTIVE ]

A Prototype for the Temporary City

INTRO I n reg ard to arch itecture’ s eph emeral practice,

R iftis - streng th and durability- w as a k ey condition of arch itecture, it may w ell be th at our discipline’ s most enduring moments are its least permanent� ( R ifk ind, 2 0 0 6 ) .

T oday th e notions of temporality and event play an imporiLOUNGE instant/ interim/ interactive provides a social stage to create a temporary community for a minute, an h our, or an evening . Operating as a social catalyst, iLOUNGE is a device for place-making w h ere th e visitors are an active part of its spatial production. T h e proj ect is a co- commission betw een North ern S park and Z ER O1 , and th e proj ect w as installed in M inneapolis, M N in J une 2 0 1 2 during th e North ern S park event and in S an J ose, C A in S eptember 2 0 1 2 during th e Z ER O1 A rt & T ech nolog y B iennial.

The TEMPORARY CITY T h e concept of th e T emporary C ity, as recently publish ed by P . B ish op and L. W illiams ( R outledg e, 2 0 1 2 ) unfolds out of an understanding th at th e city as our social, economical, and ecological environment is rooted in a four dimensional scenography: a dynamic space th at ch ang es on a daily or even h ourly basis even w h en it also consists of more permanent elements.

URBAN STR STRATEGIES ATEGIES ATEGIES

A s such urban space as a cultural artifact seems to be th e materializ ation of its events, w h ich stands oftentimes in contrast to static master plan and technocratic top-down strategies, w h ich are still considered to be th e traditional professional practice of urban planning and urban desig n. I t is a space in a permanent making and th at th erefore can’ t be disconnected from its interim ch aracter or transformation over time. D esig ners, artists, and more recently city planners, are ex ploring temporary tactics political and spatial obj ectives.

T h ese desig n strateg ies and tactics are often deployed on vacant resources in order to use W aiting Land during th eir transitional ph ase ( C h ristiansen, 2 0 0 6 ) but are also applied w ith in ex isting cities’ fabrics and public spaces as activation for th e lack ing local urbanism.

T h e desig n of dynamic interim places th erefore needs desig n implementations th at operate as compositions of multiple time-based infrastructural layers. T h ose layers h ave material and immaterial natures and can consist out of multiple components: temporary hardware such as arch itectural installations and mobile h ave th e potential to g enerate and h ost an unforeseen set of urban software th at functions as top- dow n anch or prog rams or bottom- up user g enerated prog rams.

iLOUNGE DATAScape

iLOUNGE during th e North ern S park event in M inneapolis h osted 1 0 . 0 0 0 visitors in 1 2 h .

D atascape comparing visitors, density and costs of iLoung e, th e Gug g enh eim M useum and th e Louvre.

URBAN NARRATIVE

PROGRAM and ACTIVITY displaying th e intensity of activity in relation to th e inj ected prog rams and events.

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URBAN ACTORS identifying th e demog raph ic activating th e events.

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iLounge-SCAPE Observing h ow iLoung e is being used andh ow th e actors are adapting to th e topog ra ph y in relation to th e prog ram and events.

URBAN STRATEGIES

Site Strategies, Program Narratives, User Agencies, and Urban Scores F ramed th roug h th e understanding of an urban choreography th at ofproj ect operates simultaneously in an urban ( macro- g lobal) scale and h uman ( micro- local) scale. I n contrast to A rch ig ram’ s I nstant C ity in formations, media incorporation, and material strateg ies to allow action: an instant yet clearly articulated infrastructure th at trig g ers th e creation of social netw ork s and relationsh ips to support th e initiation of communities.

T h e precise readability and identity of th is multilayered composition can be even understood as a k ey component of its place- mak ing strateg y. T h e urban score offers a time- based and interw oven synth esis of th e material systems (hardware), prog rammatic occupation (software), org aniz ational structures (orgware), and communication strateg ies (brandware).

T h e modular system consists of a topog raph y desig ned for manifold aggregations. A s such th e ag g reg ations can adj ust to different sites and scales of social communities or spatial ag encies and th en can beh ave lik e a sw arm. C onstructed out of 3 6 elements th e modular system ( h ardw are) is able to create a set of differing urban typolog ies referencing ex isting and new types of public spaces.

T h e plaza consists of a sq uare w ith th e dimensions of 2 4 ’ x 2 4 ’ th at opersame set of modular elements can also ag g reg ate as a playground or a podium both allow ing different prog rammatic occupations of th e space.

A n allocation of th e elements into subunits and smaller clusters furth er offers th e ag g reg ation as parklets occupying empty park ing spots in front of street cafes. I n its smallest ag g reg ation th e system creates th e formations of pods, individual nich e spaces for smaller user g roups or individuals th at can nest into th e ex isting city’ s fabric.

T h is notion of ag encies applied to obj ects, infrastructure, and netw ork become an inter-

nical space. F or desig ners, th e capacity to include action in th e form on multiple scales ex pands th e potential of our practice. T h e q uestion is h ow th e obj ect performs, h ow it plays in space, and h ow th e form itself becomes a spatial ag ent. ( Easterling , 2 0 1 1 )

plaz a

iLounge AGGREGATIONS

playg round

park let

pod

Parklets _AGGREGATION Strategy

M A T ER I A L S trateg y

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Spatial, Material and Construction and Strategies

iLOUNGE is an operative topography intended as a system th at constructs a new territory by strateg ic movements of ex trusions and connections T h e desig n sug g ests a dynamic and adaptive carpet, a topog raph y th at embraces and stimulates ex ch ang e and interaction. iLOUNGE is composed by th e ag g reg ation of truncated pyramids and h oriz ontal connective platforms to synth esiz e a

LIGHT_scape

and lig h t scape to result in a total iLOUNGE- scape g enerated by th e sing le pix els. M aterial ch oices also are informed by th e tactical location of programs.

FUR_scape

FOAM_scape

SOLID_scape

iLOUNGE_scape

TECTONIC Strategy PLEXI-GLASS

FOAM

SURFACE

FUR

FOAM

BASE COVER

BASE FRAME

CONE

FUR

BASE COVER

BASE FRAME

The modules offer a versatile surface that supports the occupation of the human body in different ways: lounging, standing, resting, socializing, playing, observing, and being observed.

Material systems are choreographed in conjunction with inhabitation and use.

CONE BASE

PLATFORMS

MODULE

They suggest three levels of tactile interaction from a gradient of hard ( plywood ) semi-soft ( fur ) and soft ( foam) surfaces.

ACTIVATION Program: Topography+Human-scape

DISCOURSE

interACTORS

Program by iLOUNGE topography human-scape.

RECREATION

REST

ENTERTAIN

OBSERVE

REPOSE

RECREATION DIALOG

LOUNGE

PERCHING

ENTERTAINED EXPLORE

WATCH

THINK

PICNIC

North ern S park Event, M inneapolis, J une 2 0 1 2

ANALOG and DIGITALLY Mediated Narratives A nalog and dig itally mediated narratives th at trig g er interaction and are embedded in th e spatial construct provide a new contex t for social and ph ysical ex ch ang e; th ey create a new set of potential for th e social and sensorial relations, as w ell as space atmosph eres. iLoung e is a public furniture, but more so w e consider it as living , behavioral matter. V isitors are invited to th ink and w onder about th e permanent ch ang es of social space; th ey are not passive spectators but become active actors of the spatial production.

SCREEN

LIGHTS

PLEXI-GLASS

FOAM

FOAM

FUR CAMERA

ANALOG Narratives Q uestions in th e form of T ex t are located at different visual points and embedded into th e surfaces. Q uestions such as “What do you see”, “What do you do” , “Who is your neighbor” stimulate th e visitors to look around, become aw are of space, interact w ith th e people in th e immediate surrounding s and stimulate th eir senses.

T h e analog tagging strateg ies locate intentionally q uestions to instig ate in a sh ort time th e temporary community to participate in th e traditional rituals of urban space: encounter, g ath ering , recog nition and distinction. A s addition, a series of pictog rams sug g est possible inh abitation of th e surfaces: seating , leaning , standing , j umping and so forth . T h e g raph ic layer of tex t and icons collaborate in th e continuous writing and re-writing of the social space.

DIGITALLY Mediated Narratives a. Embedded_Micro-scale Live feed video cameras are creating a media echo of the spatial production. C ameras and screens are embedded in th e truncated pyramids creating a netw ork of inputs ( cameras) and outputs ( screens) . T h e cameras capture in real time th e social temporary space and send th e information to a screen located adj acent to th e immediate prox imity.

T h e nature of th e space ch ang es not only because of th e tactile contact betw een individuals, but also because of th e overall g ame of “ seeing “ and “ being seen” trig g ered by th e camera- screen relations.

b. Dis-located_Macro-scale A n infrared camera is placed outside iLoung e to capture in real- time th e space in its entirety. T h e media footag es feed into a beamer station th at proj ects th e producV isitors, aw are of being part of th e live recording , become actors participating in a process of being literally “on stage�, by th e larg e macro- scale proj ection th at ech os th e urban space

Northern Spark Event Minneapolis,MN June 2012

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ZERO1 Biennal San Jose,CA September 2012

iLOUNGE operates as a mobile public loung e and stag e h osting three media art events [ QRSpace, iSAY, and FastMAP] . T h e loung e as an endog enous public prog ram for th e everyday occupation is hybridized with media events th ematiz ing and documenting th e appropriation of th e space by users.

QRspace is a reponsive virtual environment th at allow s visitors from th e iLOUNGE to apply material surfaces to th e topog raph y of th e public space via Q R code applications and activations

FastMap ex tract usable cartog raph ic information from th e city.

iSAY g enerates an event by eng ag ing th e iLOUNGE in multiple scales of ex ch ang e: g lobal, local, and h yper- local.

CREDITS: Project Lead: Marcella Del Signore (X-Topia, Principal ; Professor of Architecture at Tulane University, New Orleans, USA) Mona El Khafif ( CCA URBANLab Director, Professor of Architecture at California College of ther Arts, San Francisco,CA) Fabrication Team: Matthew DeCotiis, Amir Afifi, Kevin Taylor, Cesar Lopez, Zachary Moore, Jian Leong, Pia Jacqlyn, Mona El Khafif, Marcella Del Signore.

Media Team and Communication: David Gastaneta, Mark Campos, Cesar Lopez, Anesta Iwan, Mona El Khafif, Marcella Del Signore.

Design Research Team: Christopher Cox, Noah Conlay, Matthew DeCotiis, Jill Godfrey, Daniel Kautz, Michael Keller, Will Rosenthal, David Merlin, Mona El Khafif, Marcella Del Signore.

Artists in Residence ZERO1: David Gastaneta, Pia Jacqlyn, Cesar Lopez, Anesta Iwan, Kevin Taylor, Mona El Khafif, Marcella Del Signore.

Visiting Media Artists: Mark Campos, David Gastaneta,Cesar Lopez, Anesta Iwan.

With additional support from: Tulane School of Architecture Dean's Funds for Excellence, Matarozzi & Pelsinger, and Regione Umbria. www.flickr.com/photos/iloungeproject www.iloungeproject.com