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2013 Mike Sudolsky At the time of publishing, all content created by the author is believed to be either public domain or used appropriately according to the standards of fair use and attribution. Inaccuracies should be directed to the attention of the author and will be corrected in subsequent editions. Printed and bound in the United States. Second Edition, 2013
Table of Contents [02] [12] [32] [64] [80] [110] [152]
Provocation A: Abstract B: Exodus: The Digital Frontier
Perception A: Network Culture B: [Visual] The Balding C: [Touch] Banana Grove E: Case Study: Surrogates
Illusion A: The Avatar: The Plasticity of Self B: [Beauty] InstaVision B: [Identity] Virtual Presence C: Case Study: Life 2.0
Site A: Site Analysis B: 24 Hour: Rebirth
Fusion A: #Hashtag B: Vellum: Aversion Therapy C: Case Study: Gattaca D: ZIP
Process A: Program Analysis B: Scraps C: Physical Working Model: B.E.N. D: Optimistic Network Living
Transpose A: The Tools B: The Phases C: The Game 1
1.provo
"Colour in the real world looks increasingly unreal, drained. Colour in virtual space is luminous, therefore i rresistible. Conceptually, each monitor, each TV screen is a substitute for a window; real life is inside, cyberspace has become the great outdoors" - Rem Koolhaas, Junkspace
cation
1
[2]
abstract "The virtual world has been discovered; the new frontier shimmers on the horizon, plain to see. We need to start talking about what that means. For all of us." - Edward Castronova 3 [1] Rem Koolhaas. Junkspace, In Skyes, Nov 2000 Image credit Erin Fowler. Reality. DeviantArt. Nov 2012. [2] Chris Laney. Digital Frontier, DigitalFrontiersMedia, May 2012 [3] Edward Castronova. Exodus to the Virtual World, Palgrave Macmillian, Nov 2007
Reality is failing. Humanity is, I would simply say, bored. As a species, we have chosen to no longer accept objects in their pure and honest forms. We now desire (and seemingly demand) excessive stimulation. We don't care that our lives are already oversatured with informational stimulation. We don't care that we are ignoring daily observations: ignoring life. For now, we have two lives to live. Humanity has turned to the virtual. We now have two of you, one in the material sence, and another - a virtual self. Your virtual self is one of random data. It is the collection of information every time you shop and enter a discount number, it's your Facebook avatar, it's every Google search you've ever done, it's basically anything you've ever published digitally. It's you, unfiltered - and it's vastly more interesting. To illustrate this disparity, the beginning of this book will examine augmentation in terms of perception in the material realm and illusion in the virtual. I continue by presenting what I find draws one into the virtual: that which is now missing in real life. I also explain what I find to be a possible savior from this exodus: Big Data. The latter part of the book is focused on my architectural thesis: PGD Incorporated. Stemming from uncovered knowledge in regards to the embrace of the virtual self, it is two architectural pieces. The first is a data derived dwelling, believing our online identities can be utilized to create more satisfying real world interactions. The second is a satirical piece, giving those totally immersed in the virtual with the ability to stay there. [Abstract] 5
[1]
E xo d u s
"I see a hurricane coming. It's called practical virtual reality. Already, virtual reality immerses 20 - 30 million people in worlds of perpetual fantasy. Over the next generation or two, hundreds of millions more will join them. The exodus of these people will create a change in social climate that makes global warming look like a tempest in a teacup." - Edward Castronova 2
The Digital Frontier [1] Vital, Jesse. FS Mass Exodus, V1TAL, Dec 2011 [2] Edward Castronova. Exodus to the Virtual World, Palgrave Macmillian, Nov 2007. Print. [3] Bray. Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level. Basel: Birkhauser. 2007. Print.
As in any exodus, people are fleeing. Retreating, these people are leaving everything behind: their loved ones, their homes, and their jobs. Most of these people will never look back. They have migrated to the new frontier: the world of virtual reality. People are plugging into the virtual world in record numbers. It is estimated 50 to 60 million users participated in virtual worlds during 2011 2 and it is said that the number of people finding themselves immersed in these worlds increases by 15 percent every month 3. Where exactly are these people going? As of 2012, the teen hangout world Gaia Online is visited by over 7 million unique logins monthly. The game World of Warcraft (WOW) has over 10 million subscribers, and the social world Second Life has grown from several hundred thousand accounts in 2006 to over 21 million in 2012. While these numbers might not sound alarming at first, I ask you to think about the following: the number of people who log onto WOW exceeds the number of people living in Los Angeles - twice. The number of people who now "live" a Second Life exceeds the size of the entire New York state, and if you were to gather the populations of all virtual world users you would have a country the size of Italy or Spain. About now, you might be asking yourself, "What exactly are these people looking for in these synthetic worlds?" Well, I have asked myself the same and have come to find individuals intent at finding entertainment, community, an economy of "fun" and anonymity. [Issue: Exodus] 7
Exodus: The Digital Frontier ENTERTAINMENT "A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we're good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression."- Jane McGonial 5 Ever since Atari's Pong in 1972, video games have proivided users with an experience based on fun. Games are purchased and played for entertainment. As a result, all activities inside a game are constructed with the goal of making the experience more "fun" than anything else in your environment. Throughout history, we have always embraced any sort of environmental augmentation to make things more "fun". Travelling from still photography, to radio, to film and finally to the TV, video games are simply the latest step in sensory augmentation. These virtual worlds allow us to destress, and disappear from all the troubles one might be facing in the material world.
COMMUNITY "What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured." - Kurt Vonnegut One of the biggest factors drawing one to interact in online worlds is that of loneliness. According to the latest US census, nearly 50 percent of adults are single, with more than a quarter of American "households" translating to an individual living alone (U.S. Census Bureau.) With the decay of the nuclear family, it is no coincidence that Americans are now looking for new places to socialize. Returning from work to an empty home can be a terribly empty place. However, when a world full of new friends and conversations can be reached via a few clicks of a mouse it is no wonder people are flocking to these synthetic worlds.
8 [Issue: Exodus]
[4] Eugenia Loli. Mass Migration, Society. 6 Nov 2012 [5] McGonigal. Jane. Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change The World. New York: Penguin. 2011. Print.
[4]
Exodus: The Digital Frontier AN ECONOMY OF "FUN" "The in game currency, the Linden Dollar, is convertible into US Dollars at any time. The population of Second Life is growing exponentially, as is its economy. A woman from Germany already made one million US Dollars in revenues as a real estate agent in the virtual world." - Florian Schmidt 6 Virtual world users are drawn towards the ability to have "fun" while they are working. Second life has a thriving economy that generates over 1 billion US dollars per quarter. Who wouldn't want to earn money while they play?
ANONYMITY "The element of anonymity within virtual worlds may provide individuals with a safe and private arena to explore their identity. However, anonymity can leave you scratching your head wondering how much, if any, of an individual's virtual identity, is really - real." - Tina Indalecio 7 Identity is an illusion in the virtual world. With your real identity completely masked, you can become whatever you desire. As Edward Castranova (Author of Exodus to the Virtual World) states, "Whatever our deepest shared fantasies may be, we will be able to pursue them in cyberspace together, all day, every day, world without end" (xv). Users have already proven that this new source of freedom can elicit sexual attention. Nearly a third of users on Second Life have manifested their avatars as erotic playboys and girls, and immerse themselves in fetish playgrounds.
What does this means for the material world? "Even if you think you wouldn't plug in, how about other people? Maybe your life is good, But how many people can only fantasize about the life you have?" - Edward Castronova 8 While absorbed in virtual world, all the things the millions of users used to do on the outside, in "reality", will not be happening anymore. When
[6] Schmidt, Florian. "Second Life; Lego on Acid." Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level. Print. [7] Indalecio, Tina. "Exploring Identity in the Virtual World." Curious Media, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. [8] Edward Castronova. Exodus to the Virtual World, Palgrave Macmillian, Nov 2007. Print.
Exodus: The Digital Frontier [9] Meadows, Mark S. I Avatar: the Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. 2008. Print.
the number of virtual world users expands to one hundred million or one billion this lack of real world happenings will big enough that everyone will have to pay attention. You will begin to find that friends and family members have become absorbed in these synthetic worlds. As they disappear from "reality" you might find yourself looking for them virtually just to stay in contact. Tectonic society must adjust to stay alive. It has to change in order to keep us happy in the material realm. Society has a chance at preventing this mass exodus, before its too late and everyone is gone. However, it must start reacting. Now. "A strange migration is occurring, and it deserves to be documented. The migration is headed into a kind of "Wild West," a "new world," one marked by massive automation, promises of wealth, rampant lawlessness, emerging cults, moral lasciviousness, and questions about what impact these things will create in the coming years. The migration verges on a stampede.. The fastest growing city of its kind, the population has doubled, at times, in only months." - Mark Meadows, I, Avatar9
[Issue: Exodus] 11
2. perc
"Everyone looks retarded once you set your mind to it" -David Sedaris
eption
[1]
networkculture "We form our tools and thereafter they form us" - Marshal Mcluen
The Saturation of Dematerialization [1] Supermarkets can overwhelm us with choice. Lyza Danger. The New Fred Meyer on Interstate on Lombard. Flickr. Dec 2004. [2] Kelly, Kevin. How Technology Evolves. Ted: Ideas Worth Spreading. Ted.com Nov. 2006. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.
How many times in your life has the fast-food clerk voiced to you, "Hi! How can I help you?" Only for you to return that deer-in-headlights look? Or walked into a grocery store and just blankly stared at all the items? You're trying to remember why you're even there. Overwhelmed by choice and the vast amount of information we process daily, today's society faces times of complete numbness. We space out to process. We are loosing our minds. What has caused this information overload? I'd point my finger at the massive progression in technology over the past few decades. "Why technology?", you might ask. Well, I'd like to define technology as a concept. What does the word mean? What does it imply? One particular definition that I enjoyed comes from Allen K, Breed, (inventor and pioneer of the airbag). He defines technology as "Anything that was invented after you were born"2. Utilizing a slightly more technical approach, Google defines it as "The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes." However, I agree mostly with Kevin Kelly (executive editor at WIRED magazine) who believes "Technology is the evolution of choice. The choice to have differences, options, opportunities, possibilities and freedoms"2. When looking at it this way, technology is the ability for more choice. It is the choice to transport, to augment. Whatever technology is, society has been trained to embrace it. We readily adapt to (if not brag about) obtaining the latest and greatest. Oh! Is that the new iPhone you've got there? Great! It must be a million times better than that old piece of junk. We are living in a time where technology is not questioned. As I see it, it is this unquestioned embrace that has us on the road to total dematerialization. Due to its constant perception as advancement, developments in technology (choice) will only continue. Look at [Essay: Network Culture] 15
The Saturation Of Dematerialization all augmentation done previously. Starting with the novel, the book gave us the ability to replace stories of spoken word; the ability to read instead of listen. The development of both the telephone and the radio gave society the choice of acoustics. You can now choose what you want to hear. Television and movies allow us to choose what we would like to see and even feel (will it be horror, action, or love today?) The invention of the computer now gives us the option to transport. We can be with our friends in foreign lands, become completely absorbed, and do nearly everything that we used to do with a pen and paper! With a computer we can digitally visit places without ever leaving the house: the grocery store, a live concert, Thailand, almost anywhere! How marvelous! "Computers escaped the realm of accountants and other geeks. Media and all of its culture is visible here. Finally, four great industrial sectors were combined: telecommuting, entertainment, computing, and everything else." - Peter Hirshberg 3 I am wary of our unquestioned affair with technology. There is only so much a human being can handle, and I believe the ramifications of oversaturation are already visible. Accidents while texting and driving led nearly every state in the USA to completely outlaw the use of mobile phones while operating an automobile. People are walking right into water features while on their phones. And status updates are appearing to be more important than the actual act itself. So why then, do we continue to oversaturate? Firstly, I believe we falsely think that each advance will help us better battle oversaturation. Each device initially presents us with a fantastic new way to "simplify our lives. Email, Pagers, Phones. Facebook, Twitter. Instagram. Initially, all of these were ways to help us maintain contact with only those important. Yet for each, the user base explodes and we begin to get bombarded. They then become more of a background piece, a chore. Yet we leave it, throwing it on the pile of old "advances." This pile, this accumulation of "advancement", however, is going to get so big that it will drown us.
[3] Hirshberg, Peter. On TV and the Web, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Ted.com Sept. 2008. Web 26 Nov 2012.
The Saturation of Dematerialization Secondly, we are obsessed with our "projected identity." While breast augmentation, artificial limbs and prosthetic hearts are tools of a material realm, we utilize technology to shape our virtual selves. The status updates of the trivial (like "Going to the gym!") and obsession with "selfies" (photos of yourself having fun and looking good) drive many to the point of obsession. It is the public's fascination with projected identity that will lead us to not only oversaturate, but also full on acceptance of the dematerialized self. As I see it, the driving force behind both of these is the issue of dematerialization in terms of social interaction. My views on this stem from Canadian philosopher Marshal Mcluen who says: Involuntarily we are getting rid of individualism. We are in the process of making a Tribe. Where just as books, and their private point of view are being replaced by new media. So the concepts, which underlay our actions, our social life, are changing; we are no longer so concerned with self-definition with finding our own individual way. We are more concerned with what the group knows, the feelings that it has. Acting with it not apart from it. 3 Thinking of it this way, it is quite strange that most people want to voluntarily give up information about themselves. Perhaps this is because, as Mcluen says, it gives us purpose. The creation of profiles, sharing of photos, status updates and tweets: they've become the blessed. For online it is sacred and can never die. It's ready for the entire world to see. It is better than anything temporary in the material world. Oh technology. You give us choices. And now, we have more choices than ever before. Yet like an addict, we beg for more. We are begging to lose our minds.
[Essay: Network Culture] 17
[4]
[5]
[4] Facade architecture looks cool but ignores user. BIG Architects. Aerial 01. BIG.DK. June 2007 [5] This bridge in Denmark provides society with the perfect spot to see and be seen. Bastien Vaucher. Distortion 2011 #Dronning Louises Bro. Flickr. June 2011
Architecture for a Network Culture The saturation of social dematerialization will affect architecture in two ways: image and privacy. Changes to both aspects are already visible.
Image
Media, both social and traditional, has put us in an age where the perception of spatial occupation is seemingly more important than actually being there. This idea (the importance of image) can be seen by the increasing importance of both facade architecture and desire to "be seen." Facade architecture (buildings that look cool but have limited depth) are becoming incredibly more common. Developers have seen how powerful an architectural image can be: The Guggenheim in Bilbao made a city out of nothing. The world is so moved by image that design can literally stop at the facade. For example, B.I.G's 8 House in Copenhagen has been "praised" for innovation, yet creates apartments with such awkward and unusable angles that many units cannot be sold. Frank Gehry's Sata Center for MIT looks awesome from the exterior, but was so horribly constructed and has so many leaks that MIT has sued Gehry for negligence. I would argue that while image will be an important part of a buildings design, it should not be the driving force behind its inception. In this age of social dematerialization, the image of being will give us importance, and can be more important than the act of being itself. As a result, there will be a new importance in spaces designed to "see and be seen." We will desire highly visible circulation, windows where you can be observed just as much as you observe, and spaces of high density. Architecturally, this can already be seen with the embrace of catwalks, glass houses and blending of public and private space.
[Essay: Network Culture] 19
[6]
[7]
Architecture for a Network Culture [6] Millman, Danny. "Trudeslund - SitePlan." Cohousing.org, Apr. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. [7] Specks. "Trudeslund" Specsandthecity.com, Aug. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. [8] Millman, Danny. "Where It All Began: Cohousing in Denmark." Cohousing.org, Apr. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.
Privacy
Societies' desire to be fully connected with those around each other will coincide with a decrease in the need for total privacy. Already exposing ourselves openly in the digital realm, the acceptance of limited privacy is already visible within architecture. Cohousing communities within Denmark have been massively successful. An example of this is Trudeslund, a development just outside Copenhagen. Intent at creating a strong communal identity, occupants sacrifice previously private spaces in favor of communal ones. Spaces to relax, store, play, dine, cook and shower are now communal. Residents claim that cohousing is "the missing link between utopia and the dated one family house." 8
[Essay: Network Culture] 21
[1]
VISION "It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision." - Hellen Keller
The Balding [1] Synthetic hair cast in resin.
This experiment, named 'The Balding' is an investigation into the perception of vision. It is an experiment that asks, "What does it mean to see?" Repeated twice, I captured hair. Captured and frozen behind resin, my prisoners look identical - but they are not. Composed of hair from an old mullet wig, one represents the synthetic. It is our worlds attempt to replicate the natural. The other (containing hair from my most recent trip to the barbershop) is real. It is pure, untainted from technology. To the untold eye, neither can be told apart. You see hair, but have the inability to visually distinguish. Akin to the future of digital augmentation, 'The Balding' presents us with a scenario where it is nearly impossible to separate the material world from the synthetic. You can see, but what really are you looking at? I foresee a time where society blindly accepts augmented sight. Where everyone walks around with something akin to Google Glass and fails to think of what is really in their vision. The ability to fool humanity visually through the synthetic will present architecture with an incredible opportunity. Windows will no longer demand a physical view, they can simply present themselves in a way where we perceive a view. Walls are no longer permanent obstructions; for now all spatial limitation is perceived. Because of visual perception, we can all be fooled.
[Experiment: Vision] 23
Touch "The dancer has his ear in his toes." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Banana Grove [1] Juhani Pallasmaa The Eyes Of The Skin, Wiley Academy, Nov 2005
We've been fooled. Overwhelmed by the constant influx of perspective representation we now like to perceive the sense of sight as being the most powerful of our senses. Yet through reading The Eyes of The Skin by Juhani Pallasmaa, I have come to understand that this is not so. In his book, Pallasmaa states, "[The skin] is the oldest and the most sensitive of our organs, our first medium of communication, and our most efficient protector." 1 In coming to understand the power of touch in relation to perception, I identified it as a tool for confirmation. Perception allows us to be visually fooled. As a result, we like to utilize our most intimate and powerful sense to protect us - touch. Providing us with background of all experiences prior, we utilize touch to confirm and better analyze all that we are confused by visually. Like a well done fake fruit, we don't know what's real until we touch it. Banana Grove is an investigation to confirm the importance of touch in relation to the perception of synthetic. Hanging 50 synthetic bananas and 50 real ones, I observed as my schoolmates conveyed to me the nature of touch. Visually, the real bananas and plastic bananas were indistinguishable from each other. The artificial were colored with pastels to have bruises and the real were coated with Vaseline to look waxy. Advertised as "free", my classmates would first analyze with their eyes. Then, going for the kill they would touch one. Touching the faux, they would recognize their mistake and reach for another. When greeted with the real, they would feel its weight. Yet at the same time, they would then feel the Vaseline and become disgusted.
24 [Experiment: Touch]
I came to find that we must understand the perception of touch if we wish to portray the synthetic as real. The futuristic augmentation to the sense of touch in tandem with the visual will be one of titanic proportions.
[1]
[1]
[2]
Surrogates "Look at yourselves. Unplug from your chairs, get up and look in the mirror. What you see is how God made you. We're not meant to experience the world through a machine." - Ving Rhames as "The Prophet". Surrogates 1 [1] Surrogates presents a world were humanity percieves the world through cyborgs. Surrogates. Dir. Johnathan Mostow. Perf. Bruce Willis. Touchstone Pictures, 2009. Film. [2] Kathy is able to reach for coffee, with only the power of her mind. Estes, Adam. "The Incredible Rise of Mind-Controlled Limbs." The Atlantic Wire, 12 May 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.
I'll be the first one to say it: this was not the best of films. Receiving a whopping 39 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, Surrogates by Johnatan Mostow fails to deliver. Yet while failing in many aspects, I have chosen to discuss it because of its thought-provoking premise. Surrogates places us in the not too distant future. It opens by catching us up to speed; reminding us what advances led to present day. The first advance is that of monkey capable of moving a synthetic arm with only its thoughts. The monkey, seeing food, is able to move a robotic hand with only brainpower and feed itself. Two years later, this technology is then applied to humans, giving the physically disabled the ability to operate fully synthetic limbs. Then absorbed by the military, it evolves to fully synthetic bodies. Advanced nations now send out human controlled robots (called Humanoids or Surrogates) where users plug in and immerse themselves into a second body. There they are protected from harm's way and cannot die. As this technology becomes more common, however, Surrogates become mainstream. Citizens of the world are able to utilize them so they can leave their homes without risk of disease or injury. They can also have the perfect look without trips to the gym or plastic surgery. After the full on embrace of these surrogates, we are brought back to present day. VSI (the leading manufacturer of surrogates) advertises their product as "Life. Only Better." In this instance, we are presented a society where 98 percent of the world uses surrogates on a daily basis. We are observing a world where humans no longer roam the earth. This futuristic cyborg world is coming. Already, scientists at Brown University have developed technology to analyze, and interpret brain signals for robotic movement. In a recent breakthrough, a paralyzed individual named Kathy was capable of reaching for a cup of coffee and feeding herself with nothing more than brainpower. 2 While amazing, I readily foresee this technology progressing just as prophesied in Surrogates. The age of the pure born human might be coming to an end. [Case Study] 31
3. illu
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one" -albert einstein
sion
The Avatar "How drastically can a person change and still remain, in the eyes of either themselves or their peers, the same person?" - Bailenson, Digital Plasticity 1
The Plasticity of Self [1] Bailenson, Jeremy N., and Andrew C. Beall. Digital Plasticity. N.p.: Stanford University, 2006. Print. [2] My Second Life avatar and I.
For a solid year of my life I was a farmer. One of the devout, I'd wake every morning to harvest my crops, collect my coins, and plant new specimen. I had light skin, blue overalls, and literally "the perfect" hair (it never moved!). I dominated a foreign land known as Farmville. Yet in reality, in the world where "we are who we are" - I've never planted a single crop in my life. Who are you? Or rather, what exactly does it mean to be you? I feel like this question will come to have huge implications when it comes to societies' embrace of the avatar. Wait, what? What is this "avatar"? Well, this varies. For James Cameron, they are blue skinned life forms living on Pandora. Hindus and Sikhs define them as the physical incarnations of a supreme being. Yet it is the technological definition of an avatar that I mean to question. Computer programmers gave birth to the avatar to "personalize" our online identities. Be it a 2D thumbnail or a 3D model, avatars are customizable abstractions of our online self. While avatars are incredibly varied in implementation, I have chosen to focus on those within the virtual world of Second Life. These avatars exemplify many of the possibilities, and challenges, that I feel society will soon be forced to face. What exactly does one do with an avatar? Why does one want an avatar? The answer to both is as varied as actual avatar customization. In all cases, however, avatars are used to immerse you into some kind of virtual world. Some use these avatars to find themselves. Because of avatar anonymity, users can travel time and hide their age, or act upon their deepest of secrets. You can finally live without fear of being judged.
34 [Essay: The Avatar]
[2]
[3]
The Avatar: The Plasticity of Self [3] Avatar Body Modification [4] Second Life. Computer software. Secondlife.com. Vers. 3.4.1. Linden Research, Inc, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. [5] Segovia, Kathryn Y. Virtual Imposters. Stanford University. 2012. Print.
"Ironically, avatars offer a return to pre-industrial, pre-automated societies; to small groups of families and friends that once existed only in villages" - Mark Meadows 6 Another reason for avatar utilization is total transformation. In terms of both appearance and behavior, users can alter themselves a lot more than in the material world. For in the material world, changes in appearance are limited to haircuts, makeup, dieting, or plastic surgery. But this is not so in the virtual. For those committed to "cosplay" (real life performance art in which participants wear costumes to represent a character), an avatar is the perfect way to sculpt themselves. Behavior changes might be that of language (word choice/accent/ pitch), or gestures. In the digital world there are no limits. You create your own illusion; you can change your voice, your sex, and your body composition. You design everything - and you can do it in less than a minute. All right, so people are using avatars. So what? Well first off, there is the danger of virtual imposters. While you might portray yourself accurately, there is nothing to say that the sexy pinup girl over there is just like that in real life. She might actually be an obese old perv. While not generally accepted in virtual worlds, identity manipulation is hardly ever suspected. This can have both virtual and real world consequences. An example of this comes from a tragic case of cyber bullying. Through a computer terminal in Missouri, Lori Drew committed one of the most famous online identity cases when she customized an avatar as a teenage boy on MySpace. Using her avatar, she tormented a teen on MySpace until the they committed suicide. 5 The sad reality is, however, that this really cannot be prevented. Real world injury to the driver will become common, because as Mark Meadows (the author of I, Avatar and investigator of Second Life) states, "It's easy to forget that we are attached" (122). As terrifying as identity manipulation might be, it is the driving force behind avatar inception.
[Essay: The Avatar] 37
The Avatar: The Plasticity of Self "Ultimately, the frequency of physical violence to avatar drivers as a result of in-world events will be proportional to our psychological nearness to our avatars." - Mark Meadows 6
[6] Meadows, Mark S. I Avatar: the Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. 2008. Print.
We are entering a time of transformed social interaction. Through avatars and their virtual worlds, users can break the rules of "normal" physical interaction. You no longer have to share the same "reality." An example of this is eye contact. With an avatar, a behavior program can be made where you maintain eye contact with every single person in your audience - at the same time. Each person in an audience would perceive direct attention, their own reality, when in fact there are multiple "realities" occurring at the same time. Additionally, you can change your appearance for social advantage. Facial blending can occur, where your avatar's face is blended with those preconceived of importance, like celebrities or politicians. You can become a digital chameleon, where you automatically mimic nonverbal behavior of your audience. Both of these can be used to give users additional credibility when it comes to certain subject matters.
[7] The avatar as cyborg.
As I see it, the real issues manifest with the futuristic avatar. While still a ways in the future, futuristic avatars might escape that of the virtual to walk our material world. Akin to cyborgs, the futuristic avatar might replace a human altogether. I can easily foresee a time where the beauty that is birth in our material world, is replaced by a superior and "technological" invention. Perhaps there will be a time where our identity, both virtually and materially is designed. We can replace ourselves with real life abstractions of self - real life avatars.
38 [Essay: The Avatar]
Tariere. Kate_Moss. Tariere.blogspot.com. Dec 4 2012.
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[8] Anoymity in restrooms Kaylee, Kochansci . Stalls. Flickr. 21 Sep 2009. [9] Anonymous display space Xaxor 3Geeky Street Art. Xaxor. 10 July 2012. [10] Transformation from ] individual into group at 5 Pointz. In Brooklyn, New York NYC Legal Graffiti Walls. Art Of Graffiti. Aug 2011.
The Avatar: The Plasticity of Self "[Already] Over twenty million people spend more than 9 hours per day as their avatar."- Mark Meadows 6 What will be the architects' role be when avatars walk the earth? I don't know. Perhaps it is the provision of strange environments that users already look for in the virtual world. Maybe it's the creation of pods to house the abandoned human: the useless host. Or maybe, optimistically, it's refuge design: the creation of spaces that are so beautifully designed and tailored for humanity that it would render avatar usage obsolete. Whatever it is, architecture will be distinctive because of avatars. I foresee an age seen by Canadian philosopher Marshall McLunhan, who says, "We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." Perhaps, in this context, just as we have molded the avatar, the avatar will mold us.
Architecture as Avatar While currently embraced by only a minority, avatars present us with some innate desires of society that architecture can speak to. Since interest in the avatar has largely been centered on anonymity, transformation and customization I viewed it crucial to investigate how architecture currently addresses each.
Anonymity
Currently, architecture provides us with a few places of anonymity within social space. Bathrooms and dressing rooms are obvious locations where our actions can go uncovered. They can be even places of confession as seen with the writing on the walls. Room partitions like the shoji screen allow for visual but not acoustic anonymity. Billboards allow artists to anonymously share and portray ideas. Dark sex clubs allow patrons to cruise - their actions unassociated with their real identity.
Transformation
Architecture can transform us from instances of singularity to group. There are instances where objects are no longer reflective of the individual, but a whole. Examples of this are displays of Graffiti like 5 Pointz and garbage dumps. 5 Pointz is a free place for expression. Architecture also transforms in purpose. Many coffee shops and restaurants transform nightly into bars. What other typologies will allow for transformation in our near future? [Essay: The Avatar] 41
Architecture as Avatar Customization
The most abundant example in relation to architecture as avatar is customization. With the end to a period dominated by suburbia, we find ourselves with a newfound desire to customize our identity architecturally. The Borneo Houses in Amsterdam represent a brilliant row house community where each unit was allowed to develop independently. The Morrocan Riad presents us with an interesting situation. Completely unidentifiable from their exteriors (each is accessed by just a wooden door along a labyrinth of alleyways), each opens up to portray vastly different interiors. Each varies in how they portray their lavish gardens, pools of water, communal tearooms and bedrooms. The futuristic short film Augcity by Keitchi Matsura presents us with a time where users can customize the world around them directly. Users can adjust the textures on buildings and walk around with a personal wallpaper portrayed around them. The importance of individuality and customization is highlighted by the development of Les Quartiers Modernes Fruges by Le Corbusier. Originally developed as a singular common module for "the modern worker", Le Corbusiers design lacked so much individuality that the community decided to act, and "for the following forty to 50 years the residents basically ruled over the architecture, altering, changing, cutting, building, demolishing etc. until the project basically became unrecognizable." 11
[11] Perry, Luke. "Quartiers Modernes Fruges." The Incremental House, 18 July 2008. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. [12] Each lot size is identical, but each design is vastly different. [13] Customized environmental wallpaper. Matsuda, Keiichii. Augmented City 3D. Vimeo. 10 Aug 2010. [14] The entrance to Morrocan Riads are mostly almost indistinguishable. [15] Interiors of Morrocan Riad's create their own identity [16] Variation of the facade in Les Quariers Modernes Perry, Luke. "Quartiers Modernes Fruges." The Incremental House, 18 July 2008. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. [17] The left is Corbusier's design. The right are all the changes by residents. IBID.
42 [Essay: The Avatar]
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beauty "All little girls should be told they are pretty, even if they aren't." - Maryln Monroe
InstaVision [1] InstaVision [Ruby] [2] The glasses portray the illusion of hyper saturated beauty. [3] InstaVision [Turf]
Beauty is an illusion, and now with modern technology, we can make one think things look way more beautiful than they actually are. Launched in 2010, the cell phone app Instagram now lets everyone delude. Applying filters, users can easily make the ugly look absolutely brilliant. While seemingly harmless, I see a revolution. I see an age where the material world (and all that is in it) is totally ugly. The ability to synthetically enhance is nothing new. Breast Augmentation, Photoshop, and iPods: all aim to improve the existing. I can see a time, however, where vision augmentation is something that is permanently demanded. For this demand I created the beta version of 'Instavision': the ability to apply Instagram filters all day - everyday. A pessimistic piece, I can easily see this technology developing to a point where filters are adjusted and applied real-time. The material world is enhanced to a point of such beauty, that without augmentation it looks absolutely disgusting. That being said, this visual illusion of beauty is one that architecture is about to become totally dominated by. As a result, the purpose of this experiment is to portray a possible opportunity - uniqueness and beauty by focusing not on vision, but touch. In a world where everything "looks" beautiful, it will be those that actually "feel" beautiful which we embrace.
[Experiment - Beauty] 47
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Identity "We know what we are, but not what we may be" - William Shakespeare
Virtual Presence [1] Ghosting portraying the illusion of presence. [2] The Exodus 400 Soul Tracker. [3] Soul detection and virtual identity recognition. Subjects with a vitual identity are signaled with green boxes.
There are already two of you. There is you in the material sense but now, because of technology, we have the illusion that is our virtual self. Your virtual self is one of random data. It's the collection of information every time we shop and enter phone numbers to collect a discount. It's the collection of every tweet, photo, Google search and preference. It's you, unfiltered and vastly more interesting. I made two attempts to portray our virtual presence. The first is a computer program that shows your digital ghost - your tracks. Using a webcam, the program stores your movement across the screen. As you move, it faintly shows its knowledge of the old virtual you. The second attempt is one I nicknamed 'Exodus 400: The Soul Tracker'. Again using a webcam, it tracks your movement. Yet this time, it knows who you are. 'Exodus 400: The Soul Tracker' is my desire to show the power of your virtual identity. Utilizing facial recognition, the installation is able to identify any user that walks in its line of vision. Then, storing your face and starting a data set, the program is able to create another virtual you. This data set now knows how long you've been in its vision, and how many times you've gone and come back into its vision. Very soon, our virtual identities are going to make an appearance in our material world. Architecturally, we can learn and work with your aesthetic preferences, your repulsions and your desires. With your virtual identity, buildings will soon have the ability to totally understand their occupants. They will know you - exposed. [Experiment - Identity] 51
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"People inevitably ask the question how can the virtual be real, but I think, in the years to come the question will become why not?" - Philip Rosedale, Inventor of Second Life [1] Amie Goodie and Blunty Berblinger on a date. [2] Asri Falcone selling her products. [3] Aaya Aabye is going to school. [4] Life 2.0. Dir. Jason SpingarnKoff. Andrew Lauren Productions, 2010.
What would you do if you had a Second Life? Another body (another being) totally unassociated with your current life. This body, its lifestyle, and objectives are whatever you dream them to be. This life is available to you via an avatar in the virtual world of Second Life. Developed by Linden Lab, Second Life (SL) is an online virtual world where users interact to explore, meet, socialize, participate and create. This world is alluring and captivating - yet so consuming that users are beginning to neglect their first lives. Life 2.0 is a documentary about the manifestation and consequences of having a Second Life. Created and directed by Jason Spingarn-Koff, Life 2.0 follows a group of people whose lives are transformed by the virtual world of Second Life. As I attempt to capture the main essence of the documentary, I will portray four particular individuals who have "found" themselves on Second Life. Their stories, as told in Life 2.0, can be summarized by the following questions: Who is their new Identity? Why does their avatar exist? And what does their avatar do? In this way I may present not only the reasons of why one might flee to a virtual world... But what happens when you get there. "That's why it's called the web. Like an insect, you get stuck in it." - Anonymous as Amie Goodie4
Second Life [Asri Falcone] _ Real Life [Designer] Asri Falcone is a product designer in Second Life. She is a majestic, tall, and beautiful African American woman that exudes class and sophistication. According to her creator, "She [Asri] is a mirror image. I don't role-play Asri. Asri is not an altar ego. Asri is... me!" Whether or not this is true, I'll leave for you to decide. Asri exists because of a vice. Her operator explains in the documentary that she was drawn to the game because of her infatuation with video games. Initially [Case Study] 55
Life 2.0 just participating in online games every day after work she realized she could support herself by selling virtual products to the users of Second Life. She closed her graphic design firm and immersed herself 100 percent into Second Life. She is thrilled exclaiming, "I get paid to play video games. All day. How cool is that?!" Asri Falcone is an entrepreneur. In SL, anything you can think of you can build. As a result, her first life utilizes Asri to promote and sell her products. Just like the owner of a business in the real world, Asri must invest time to sell her products so she may make a living for her first life. Her first life admits in the movie to spending anywhere from 15 to 20 hours online every single day. Asri produces custom furnished homes of extreme luxury, disclosing "You can have the world of your dreams within Second Life without the real life price." She reports to have made over 100,000 US dollars by trading in and exchanging her in world currency (known as Linden Dollars). Other users have also profited from the bustling Second Life economy. In 2005, there was 22 million dollars worth of sales, 2007 had 300 million dollars exchanged, and 2011 had over one billion dollars transferred due to the thriving Second Life economy.
Second Life [Blunty Berblinger & Amie Goodie] Real Life [Sign Manufacturer & Housewife] Blunty and Amie exist in Second Life as avatars very similar in appearance to their real life image. They are simply replicas with super human abilities - like flight. In Life 2.0, it is revealed that all avatars are able to "fly" when permitted by the zone in which they are interacting. This is made clear when Amie and Blunty visit "Utopia Island" and Amie exclaims, "Let me fly up and check it out. Wait, I can't fly up what the hell!? How can u not let me fly?! I got to walk... I got to fucking walk?! ... Yeah this was supposed to be Utopia and it sucks now." These two avatars manifested from the need to escape loneliness. Tired of failing in the real world both looked to Second Life in awe of its community. It's incredibly simple to make friends in SL. Unlike the real world, users are expected to say hi and socialize when passing. Amie describes her intentions by saying, "My life looked pretty good. 2 or 3 vacations a year, the house and kid. The dog. The husband. But I was certainly unfulfilled looking for something more." 56 [Case Study]
[5] Blunty and Amie interacting in real life. They had to meet in hotel rooms during the beginning of their relationship. [6] Asri Falcone's operator doing business [7] Aaya Aabye's creator confessing to the camera.
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Life 2.0 Through SL, Amie and Blunty meet and fall in love. Both married for over 10+ years to other individuals, they realize that they are no longer interested in their real world relationships. Blunty explains, "I use the term emotional adultery. The real world might be all about sex, but what is really important is the emotional attachment to someone." For a period of two years these two interact via their second lives. They go on dates, talk about their days and even have virtual sex. While seemingly absurd, Amie claims, "Everything is very real. It is not because I don't have a grasp on reality. I do... It's really kind of bizarre, but the memories are just as real as the real ones." They become so absorbed by this virtual romance that they decide to bring it into real life. They meet one weekend and are ecstatic - both are who they say they are. Further romantic getaways lead both to divorce their real life partners. Things look promising, so Blunty plans a month long stay with Amie. This is the point, however, where the relationship fails. Initially protected by the mask of the avatar, and short three day long real life stints, both realize that they are incompatible and can not stand each other in the material world. Life 2.0 makes it obvious that Blunty is not really who he says he is. In real life he is short tempered and really quite rude towards Amie. Their relationship ends with Amie revealing, "He [Blunty] is fake, and unreal. I'm hurt... and he is living scott free... I want to get across that I am a victim. And that doesn't mean I'm stupid. I believed that he was really the person that he presented. But that was a silly notion on my part. Because ... he is not real."
Second Life [Aaya Aabye] _ Real Life [Web Developer] Aaya is the most extreme case presented in Life 2.0. Her creator best captures this best when he says, "My avatar is a 11 year old girl. I began making her, but suddenly she took on a life of her own." Aaya exists for personal exploration, as her creator constantly explains. When his fiance finds out what he is doing he claims to be "looking for something." His case, however, is also one of extreme addiction. He begins to reject his material life: his friends his family, and his job. He exclaims, "One night I kept going until the sun came up. Sleeping was only done out of necessity... I think of myself as an observer. She tells me what to do and I do it. Whenever I'm on second life she feels alive. I feel real." Aaya's operator explains in the beginning of the documentary that he is "looking for something unknown
Life 2.0 within himself." His avatar doesn't engage in any sort of perverted acts, and is simply an exploration tool. He soon realizes that he has become addicted, however, and is rejecting and loosing contact with the real world. Out of desperation he tries to kill off his avatar - which he eventually does (but only modding himself to become a virtual terrorist in a failed attempt to get permanently banned from the system). When he does finally destroy his avatar, he reveals to the camera that he was sexually molested as a child. He tells us that his whole life he was trying to cover it up, but realized, with Aaya, that the innocence of his childhood was directly affected. He realized that he was simply trying to use Aaya to live the childhood he never had (Why he chose to use a girl instead of boy avatar is still beyond me). He goes on to state: I call second life the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me. It's the worse thing because of the people I let down when I was pursuing this journey. But it's the best thing because it made me completely rethink and rediscover who I am. Every thing about who I am and my past makes more sense now. And everything I want for the future makes more sense. 4
Interpretation People are utilizing avatars to fulfill needs that can't be met in the material world: fun jobs, communities and places for self-expression. Reality is no longer good enough, and just like Aaya, Blunty, Amie and Asri, others will flee to these virtual worlds. While most of these users are fleeing for a wide variety of reasons there exists one common thread: Community. Every individual in the documentary conveyed how lonely real life can be, and how Second Life provides him or her with a way for social interaction. A societal problem has become apparent. Yet I believe architecture can (and must) address it. Designers of the material world have the new task of encouraging real life socialization. For if they do nothing there will be no one in the real life to design for. If let uncheck, we might all loose our first lives.
[Case Study] 59
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The Architecture of Home [8] Exterior of Tietgen Kollegiet Sten Lange. "Tietgen". Tietgen.dk. Feb 2012 [9] Interior ground floor common space. Sten Lange. "Tietgen". Tietgen.dk. Feb 2012 [10] Common kitchen Sten Lange. "Tietgen". Tietgen.dk. Feb 2012 [11] Individual dwelling Sten Lange. "Tietgen". Tietgen.dk. Feb 2012 [12] Typical floor plan. Dwellings on the exterior, common space on the interior Sten Lange. "Tietgen". Tietgen.dk. Feb 2012 [13] Common dinners Sten Lange. "Tietgen". Tietgen.dk. Feb 2012
Life 2.0 presents us with the reality that family structure has changed. Architecturally, home should no longer be fixed on that of the nuclear family and the suburban dream. Multiple bedrooms, just as many bathrooms, and personal facilities are a thing of the past. In today's age, people are yearning for a new type of home. This type of home is bent on the creation of community and family outside of the bloodline. It appears under titles such as communes (groups where everything including income is shared) and cohousing (groups where income is not shared by facilities are). In all these communities, the shared space is not forced upon, but preferred. Individuals work together to cook, dine, clean, care for children, garden, and govern. Cohousing communities return society to our roots - bring us back to form "the tribe."
Precedent: Tietgen Kollegiet Architecturally the spatial arrangement of the dwelling varies. Some communities limit dwellings to function akin to just a bedroom. Others, however, allow for personal bathrooms and even small kitchenettes. Tietgen Kollegiet lies somewhere in the middle. Designed by Lundgaard and Tranberg in 2006, Tietgen Kollegiet is a student form of cohousing that focuses on community. The ground floor has common facilities for the entire community: a cafe, study rooms, meeting rooms laundry, and a bar. The other floors house the dwellings, 12 in each segment (known as blocks) with 5 blocks on each floor. Each dwelling is limited to enough space for a bed, desk, clothes storage and a small bathroom/shower. This is done to get students out of their rooms and interact amongst the blocks shared facilities: living/dining spaces, a garden and a kitchen. Users of the building are incredibly happy - no one wants to leave. Residents reveal that the architect's main interest in focusing on the need for creating strong communities has succeeded. The spatial arrangement of spaces works to a point where each block begins to interact and feel like a family. In my opinion, Tietgen Kollegiet portrays the true power of architecture for it begins to have a direct relation on how people live their lives. It works with the new demands of society as portrayed in Life 2.0. Gone are the days where the architecture of home is limited to that of the bloodline. [Case Study] 61
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4. site
"What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" -Henry David Thoreau
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Interpreting 757 South Spring Street [1] Aerial image of 757 South Spring Street and immediate surrounding context. [2] Lee, Don. "U.S. Population in Cities Growing Faster than in Suburbs." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://articles.latimes. com/2012/jun/28/nation/la-nacensus-cities-20120628>. [3] Wyatt, Kristen. "Cities Grow More than Suburbs, First Time in 100 Years." TODAY. com. Associated Press, 28 June 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://today.msnbc.msn. com/id/47992439/ns/todaymoney/t/cities-grow-moresuburbs-first-time-years/>.
Downtown Los Angeles is in the midst of an urban renaissance. For the first time since the advent of the automobile, cities have experienced growth at a greater rate than suburbs. Comparing this to the past decade (where suburbs expanded at triple the rate of cities) reveals the significance of the aforementioned2. The driving force of this renaissance comes from 18 to 29 year olds. "They make up roughly 1 in 6 Americans, and some sociologists are calling them "generation rent." Planners and developers are betting on young Americans continued interest in urban living, sensing that some longer-term changes such as decreased reliance on cars may be afoot"3. In Downtown Los Angeles, the movement is clearly visible. My neighborhood of focus is that around Spring Street, between the blocks of 6th and 9th. Here, developers have converted numerous buildings into beautiful lofts creating a brilliant community. This in turn has resulted in the need for amenities on Spring Street. To this developers have also responded: hip bars, convenience stores, galleries, and eateries have all come into play over the past few years. The massively successful Downtown LA Art Walk has most of its galleries along Spring Street, and so many restaurants are opening in the adjacent vicinity that critics are calling Spring Street LA's new "culinary hot spot." Directly surrounding my site lies a Mac N Cheese diner, a furniture boutique, a rundown garment factory, and a new development consisting of lofts and restaurants. However, what drew me most to 757 Spring Street was the potential to interact with this burgeoning community. With the majority of surrounding residents in the area being 20 somethings, I feel like this site provides me with the biggest potential to change our world. It will help with the renaissance of not just Downtown L.A, but American culture at large. [Site History & Analysis] 67
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context [1] Future streetcar is to be installed for Downtown L.A. John Dziobko. MCL 1957. GodFatherRails.com June 2011
[2] Parking stalls are to be converted to Parklets Kylie Reynolds. Parklets. DLANC. Aug 2012
[3] + [4] Terroni and other gastropubs make up a culinary hotspot
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Teroni. Terroni-dd, Tastingtable.com Aug 2012. The Parish. Logo. TheParishLA, Aug 2012.
[5] Upscale markets are moving in for residents
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OmNomOrganics. Coming Soon. Omnomorganics.com, Nov 2012.
[6] Green bicycle lanes flow along Spring Street Eric Richardson. SpringBikeLanes, Blogdowntown. Feb 2011.
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Eric Richardson. CoffeeBar, Blogdowntown. Feb 2011.
[8] Converted lofts are apleanty around the neighbourhood Shaun Brown. Image 1. AirBnB. Sept 2011.
[9] Spring St. Bar provides an evening hangout Spring St LA. Slide 3. Springstla.com, Sept 2011
[10] Art Walk L.A. brings in outsiders to Spring St. Galleries Rodrigo Santos. Artwalk Logo. Dtlaartwalk.com. Oct 2010.
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24 hour
757 SOUTH SPRING STREET, DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
Intrinsic Energetic Relations [1] Puchased from Vinh Xuong LLC Happy Buddha's cleansed 757 South Spring Street.
We are surrounded by energy. That light bulb over there: energy. The hands by which are holding open this page: energy. Even trivial objects, like the mattresses on which we sleep, have energy. This is because everything is made from atoms. And as we were taught in elementary school: Atoms are the building blocks of life. However, unlike most of my other elementary school classmates, I knew this before the lesson plan. From a very early age, my mother has exposed my brother and I to the importance of energy. Positive energy would somehow magically provide our family with good fortune, result in good test scores, and leave us with extra money we could use to buy trips to travel with. Yet, in order for this energy to manifest my brother and I had to obey a few rules that most would think of as odd. Ever since learning what and how to use a toilet, my brother and I were told the importance of shutting the toilet seat. Arranging our rooms, we were to always have the heads of our beds pointing North. And Mom's little energetic trinkets (random hanging crystals, and small circular mirrors) found around the house, should never ever be touched. When asking my mother the method to her madness, she would explain to us the principles of energetic relations. Intrinsically, all objects have direct relations to those around them. Conscious of it, or not, you are directly affected by all that is in your vicinity. People, plants, computers, cell phones, pet ferrets, everything near you affects your energy in someway. If near an open toilet seat, your energy levels can be sucked away. If you are surrounded by lots of people, or animals, your energy levels will innately be affected. While these examples might be obvious, I have found that people fail to realize the importance of understanding and embracing Earth's natural energy. [24 Hour] 71
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Intrinsic Energetic Relations [2] Pippawilson. Twisted Juniper in Cathedral Rock, Sedona. Flickr, August 2011. [3] CrystalStar716. Energy Vortex. Flickr, September 2010.
Every site has intrinsic energy. For better or worse, all sites are affected by what is above, below and around. So yes, your site is affected if built above an ancient Indian burial ground. However, these factors are not necessarily directly related to something mankind has done. Grounds can be negatively affected if built above lead or oil (or any material for that matter), which blocks us from receiving the waves of positive energy we receive from our Earth's Core. Powerful examples portraying the intrinsic energy of site can be found in Sedona, Arizona. Along with the beautiful and serene nature of its rocky landscape are rare spiritual manifestations known as Energetic Vortexes. Vortexes that we would all recognize, however, would be those of wind or water (Hurricanes and Tornadoes). Yet, an actual Energy Vortex is invisible. In order to find an Energy Vortex, they must be felt. Energy Vortexes are said to produce some of the most remarkable positive energy on the planet. "Where are they?" you might ask. Well, according to spiritual guru's, they can be anywhere. They are generally simple, subtle energy sources that come from the surface of the Earth. However, in Sedona, the effects of its four Energy Vortexes are compounded and are clearly visible. Juniper trees located around the sites of each vortex have twisted, deformed bodies. They are responding to the Energy Vortexes, and are twisting and turning during growth to reflect the form of the nearby Vortex. Sedona's Vortexes aren't the only manifestations of site energy. On a smaller scale, businesses have observed "lucky desks," where production at the said desk has little to do with the individual, and more with the amount of positive energy transferred to the individual because of its location. The lack of site energy can result in houses that consistently go up for sale (my mother is actually a real estate agent and finds it is no coincidence the house down the block, at the end of a T intersection, goes on sale almost every year). Every site has pockets of positive and negative energy. [24 Hour] 73
Analyzing 757 South Spring Street With the importance of intrinsic energy being aforementioned, I decided to analyze the energy levels of 757 South Spring Street. I asked my personal Spiritual Healer to accompany me in this task. According to her we could cleanse the site through the empowerment of little spiritual objects like miniature Buddha statues. With that, I went to Chinatown in Downtown Los Angeles and bought five. On the site, the miniature Buddha statues were blessed. Through this, my Spiritual Healer had transferred positive energy to the statues and now they, in turn, can radiate positive energy on the site overnight. Stealthily, we placed Buddha statues in each corner and at the entrance of 757 South Spring Street. Returning the next day, we came to find that we were not stealthy enough. Three of the five little Buddha statues had been stolen. We decided to continue with the experiment anyway, acknowledging that energy levels on the site could still be read. I asked my Spiritual Healer to rate the energy felt at a node on a scale from one to ten (One being little energy and 10 being an abundance). I positioned the nodes on a grid and recorded her responses in hopes of identifying the positive and negative areas of my site.
[24 Hour] 74
[4] Buddha #1. Placed in the South West corner of the site. Adjacent to "Taco House". [5] Buddha #2. Placed in the North corner. Cleansed energy entering from the alley. [6] Buddha #3. Positioned at "Prestige Parking" sign.
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Visualizing 757 South Spring Street [7] My Energy Healer identifying intrinsic energy at site nodes. [8] Buddha #4 was positioned next to a parking curb near the entrance. He was not taken. [9] Buddha #5. Placed in the North East corner of the site this Buddha was also not taken. [10] The graphical blur of each node in relation to others. [11] An overlay of the clearest halftone mapping over 757 Spring Street.
My site has no Vortex. Unlike Sedona, the spiritually enlightened will not be flocking to 757 Spring Street to observe an abundance of spiritual energy. However, after gathering all of the nodes, I came to realize that my site does have a moderate amount of intrinsic energy. I found a good amount of nodes to expel minimal amounts of energy, I observed that there are two diagonal streaks through my site of which nodes reported 4's and 5's. I was able to graphically portray this by creating my grid on a gradient. Each node relates to those around it. By smoothly flowing from node to node, I was able to identify the areas of positive energy at my site and represented this by having darker areas around higher numbers. Then (because the positive is often associated with white and not black), I inverted my images and applied a halftone effect to make the data more visible. With this data in hand, I can proceed with a rebirth of the site, and distribute my programmatic elements appropriately.
[24 Hour] 77
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"we form our tools and thereafter they form us" -marshal mcluen
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#hashtag "Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of 'facts'â&#x20AC;? they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information. Then they'll feel theyâ&#x20AC;?re thinking. " -Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 1
Big Data [1] Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1967. Print. [2] Big Data visualization of all user edits to the Wikipedia wiki page. "Big Data" Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 25 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.
#Do #ya #know #what #diz (#) #means?!? Well you should. Societies infatuation with the hashtag (# (a tool to summarize your post)) is about to change our world. Almost to the point of addiction, society is now bent on gathering. Gathering all that we are seeing, feeling, and thinking, and posting it online. Epitomized by the hashtag, lies the behemoth that is Big Data. It's there: right on the horizon, plain for us to see. It is the apex of the information age, and for better or worse Big Data will directly affect every facet of society. So I've told you of its powers, but what is this titan? Appropriately, I'll quote my best friend, Wikipedia, who has this to say:
In information technology, Big Data is a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools.. Big Data is high-volume, high-velocity, and/or highvariety information assets that require new forms of processing to enable enhanced decision making, insight discovery and process optimization. 2
82 [Essay: Big Data]
However, as I see it, Big Data is the ability to take everything that is published digitally, and analyze it. This is data created by both machines/sensors, traditional data (like customer information) and social media data. Amongst scientists (and I guess now Wikipedia), the important aspects of Big Data are the following: Volume, Velocity and Variety. Volume being the incredible amount of information just one source can provide. Velocity is how incredibly fast these products are able to project their data, and Variety meaning the wide range of sources that help us in publishing data. In this piece, I will begin by providing examples of these three aspects. I will then continue by illustrating examples of Big Data's massive potential, tell you what challenges it is currently facing, and conclude with what this means for architecture.
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Big Data Volume "If we were to take all that [data stored between 1986 -2007] and store it in books, we could cover the entire area of the U.S. or China in 13 layers of books." - Dr Martin Hilbert of the University of Southern California. Think of how much an average Internet user publishes information daily. The amount of pokes, likes and wall posts seen everyday on the social media giant Facebook totals over 500 terabytes of data every day. 3 This is over 2.5 billion status updates and comments, 2.7 billion likes, and 300 million photos uploaded every single day. Yet Facebook isn't the only producer of data on the Internet. Every day the world experiences over 400 million tweets, 5 million Instagram photos, and the U.S. alone sends out over 6 billion text messages. Together, Internet users publish more than three exabytes of data every single day. "[The] Marketing research firm IDC estimates that 1,200 exabytes of data will be generated this year alone." 4 What is exabyte? An Exabyte is one billion (1 000 000 000) Gigabytes. While not too terrifying at first, this would mean that the world would have to produce one million, forty eight thousand, and five hundred terabyte hard drives every year just to store a years worth of data! However, this is just from social and traditional sources of data. This number would be much more exaggerated if we were to include the amount of data from machines or sensors. For instance, a single jet engine can generate 10 terabytes of data in just 30 minutes.5
Velocity "We came across the word 'twitter', and it was just perfect. The definition was 'a short burst of inconsequential information,' and 'chirps from birds'. And that's exactly what the product was." - Jack Dorsey, Founder of Twitter When it comes to velocity, social media network streams epitomize what this means for big data. Already, the massive potential in catching and utilizing these streams real time can be seen. For example, Twitter can save lives because of its speed compared to traditional technology. A USGS Seis84 [Essay: Big Data]
[3] Kern, Eliza. "Facebook Is Collecting Your Data: 500 Terrabytes a Day." Gigaom. 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Nov 2012. [4] Gentille, Brian. "Top 5 Myths About Big Data." Mashable. 19 June 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. [5] Oracle. "Oracle Information Architecture: An Architects Guide to Big Data." Oracle. Aug, 2012. WEb. 24 Nov, 2012.
Big Data [6] Hurst, Timothy. "USGS Develops Twitter Based Earthquake Detection System." Ecopolitology. 10 Jan, 2012. Web. 24 Nov, 2012.
mologist Paul Earle has said, "For felt earthquakes in populated regions, Twitter reports often precede the USGS's publicly-released, scientifically-verified earthquake alerts". 6
Variety Data comes in all shapes and sizes. There are literally countless ways in which data can be both gathered and produced. Producers include web logs, sensor networks, social networks/data, documents, call history, biological, scientific, medical records, ect. All of these will require different means of data storage.
Possibilities "The onslaught of social media into our daily lives has totally changed the fabric of customer motorization. Everyone is now declaring continuously a self-documenting diary of their lives: What they like and dislike, where they are, and their immediate needs. It is rich customer data for the taking... and every marketing director covets it like a low hanging fruit" -James Kobielus , Big Data Evangelist for IBM With Big Data, we are entering the real age of information. This is an age where all of the digital information we have produced can be analyzed. Its significance is obvious when it comes to marketing. The ability to look up customer interests and preferences real time can provide everyday businesses with personalized advertisements. Similar to how Facebook already personally addresses users through ads online, businesses in the urban fabric might be able to address each user personally by working with their virtual identity. In other realms, like medicine, scientists foresee an era where outbreaks can be easily monitored and prevented. Additionally, Politicians foresee a time where data can be utilized to see the real time thoughts and opinions of voters.
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Big Data [7] Big Data Visualizaiton via Infographic Chad Hagen. Nonsensical Infogrampic No 1, Flickr, 21 Apr 2009 [8] Simonite, Tom. "Facebook Starts Sharing What It Knows About You." MIT Technology Review. 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2012.
Challenges As I see it, there are three main hurdles the world must overcome before the manifestation of Big Data. The first is that of privacy. For example, "While I'd guess most users expect what they do on Facebook to shape the ads they see on that site, it seems likely that most do not expect that information to be used by companies other than Facebook".8 While more than willing to share information with their friends, users of social media networks are very likely to be cautious of how their information is to be broadcasted plain for anyone to see. Gathering data is difficult because of not only the sheer size of it, but also the different representations of how it is to be stored (the interpretation and storing of a Facebook status will be much different than that of traffic sensory information). Finally, another difficulty will be that of visualization. Say we have all these sources of big data mapped and recorded; this is just the start of the problem. Scientists will then have to figure out ways to not only interpret the varied data, but portray it in a way that a human or machine can decipher and understand. A graphical example of this can be seen with info graphics. While just beginning to tackle the problem of portrayal, these graphics are a way to effectively communicate the result one is finding in a diverse set of data.
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#bigspace [8] Alvar Aalto's personalized door handle for Maison Louis Carre Maison Louis Carree. Photo 81, weareprivate.net, Feb 2005
"If space-junk is the human debris that litters the universe, junk-space is the residue mankind leaves on the planet." - Rem Koolhaas, Junkspace Rem Koolhaas's definition of "junkspace" has provoked me. Yet Rem's definition of space is limited to the ramifications of objects interacting in a physical material world, After reading Rem's Junkspace, I began to wonder about our world interacting in tandem with the digital. The result is bigspace: a realm where the physical can be transformed by the knowledge of all things digital. The utilization of big data gives bigspace complete knowledge of the individual through their virtual identity. This knowledge can translate in to a type of personalized architecture. Examples of this personalized architecture can already bee seen by the intimate details architects have designed, albeit limited to a small scale. Knowledge of his client's hand helped Alvar Aalto develop personalized door handles in the residence Maison Louis Carre. Furniture dimensions can be adjusted to perfectly match an individual. Adjustable lighting might be able to correspond to users current interactions to set the mood (perhaps the tweet "Got a hot date tonight!!!" can translate into mood lighting 3 hours later). Perhaps spaces will be able to utilize knowledge of their occupants physical attributes to set spatial arrangements so everyone experiences space in relation to themselves: window, wall and ceiling position in in relation to height. Bigspace is an age where all details can become incredibly personal. Another aspect of architecture that might be subject to bigspace is that of conveyed emotion. Emotional architecture can be better tuned with big data. Beautiful emotional spaces have always been designed to stimulate: Peter Zumthor's Serpentine Gallery utilizes the emotion of anticipation within the transitional space to prepare you for its courtyard, his museum "The Kolumba at Cologne" utilizes light to portray relaxation and respect, and Libeskind's Holocaust Museum in Berlin exudes [Essay: Big Data] 89
#bigspace fear, intimacy and despair. Light, form, color, movement, texture and smell all work collectively to exude emotion. Yet emotions are contrived when the concern of an individual is met by a stimulus. As aforementioned, architecture is fully capable of stimulating. However, without looking at big data, it is completely unaware as to the concerns of the users. Bigspace will create buildings that completely understand and are at tune with their occupants. It knows your interests, desires, fears, aspirations and thoughts. It is an age where the material world is able to finally work in parallel with the digital. However, it is also an age where the digital knows all. It's a world where your exact location is known at all times (even without you "checking in" on Facebook). It's a world where technology knows you better than you do yourself.
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[9] Peter Zumthors Serpentine Gallery portrays anticipation Walter Herfst Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. Homebuildlife.com Feb 2012 [10] Daniel Libeskind's Hollocaust Museum at Berlin portraying despair. Katrin Kalden Libeskind Jewish Museum Berlin. katrinkalden.net 21 Jan 2012 [11] Peter Zumthors Kolumba Art Museum Helene Binet Kolumba. helenebinet.com 2011
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vellum
"Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.â&#x20AC;?" -Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 1
Aversion Therapy [1] Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1967. Print. [2] Aversion Therapy at sunset in San Luis Obispo, CA.
My piece for Cal Poly's yearly furniture competition, known as Vellum, is Aversion Therapy. Consisting of two pieces, it is an attempt to provide therapy to those addicted to oversaturation. Scientifically, aversion therapy is the thought that you can cure a patient of some sort of behavior by simultaneously exposing them to stimulus and discomfort. Working with this thought, my piece provides you with two pieces: the chair in which you sit to engage, and the mask in which you commit. The mask is meant as a tool for you to augment. Using Arduino technology, the mask is capable of taking in vision from a camera covering your left eye, and transposing it onto a screen visible by your right eye. Then, out of the mask's mouth falls a Wii Nuncuck controller. With this you control a crosshair on the screen. When "shooting" the Nunchuck the area around the crosshair becomes saturated with white pixels. You're capable of making digital graffiti. In addition to the graffiti on the screen are several additional pieces of information: the number of milliseconds the mask has been on, a system check to see if things have been unplugged, and a bar showing how much graffiti 'charge' you have. When used too excessively, you will run out of charge. At this point, I inject the discomfort into the system. For ten seconds error messages flood and fly across the screen. As the screen is your only way to see the world, these error messages oversaturate your vision to a point of blindness. At this point, you are experiencing Aversion Therapy.
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Gattaca
"I not only think that we will tamper with Mother Nature, I think Mother wants us to." - Willard Gaylin (American Bioethicist)
[1] Gattaca.Dir. Andrew Niccol. By Andrew Niccol. 1997 [2] Scientists artificially implanting sperm into an egg. Henry Brah. Human Egg Preimplantation. Wellspace 9 Apr 2009 [3] Sanhavi, Sarshak M. "When Parents Choose Genetic Defects." New York Times. 5 Dec. 2006. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.
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Imagine an age where our children's traits are not random, but designed. Directed by Andrew Niccol, the film Gattaca places us in a future where preimplantation genetic diagnosis (P.G.D.) is a reality. In genetics, P.G.D. is the ability to select all human traits of an embryo prior to implantation; it is the ability to choose your child's height, eyesight, skin color, hereditary diseases, IQ and more. The film is genius. It raises and abundance of thought provoking questions in regards to the ethical concerns over reproductive technologies, Yet it is the full on embrace of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis that I'd like to focus on. If this technology existed, would you use it for your child? I mean, why not? It is still our child, simply your child to its maximum potential. It is a modern day Eugenics (the social philosophy advocating improved human hereditary traits through increased reproduction of those with desired traits). Already, P.G.D. allows couples to screen embryos and ensure that they have a child free of genetic defects. 3 Centers are popping up all over the country. How much longer will it be before we can design everything and the world of Gattaca is our reality? Will a new typology of architecture develop (neonatal birthing facilities) where one would go to have such a child?
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zip
Studio 400 Bookshow Installation. Berg Gallery, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Bookshow [1] Books hanging at ZIP Brandon Sampson. ZIP, Suckerpunchdaily, 21 Feb 2013 [2] Conceptual fabric + initial formwork [3] Conceptual fabric [4] Conceptual fabric without formwork [5] Installing Zip Brandon Sampson. ZIP, Suckerpunchdaily, 21 Feb 2013 [6] Students reading at ZIP [7] The entrance to ZIP
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As a member of Studio 400, you are to collaborate in the creation of a bookshow installation. This year, two hundred and fifty thousand zip ties gave birth to ZIP. It is designed as a haptic reading room, in which students are able to exhibit their thesis books. It marks the transition from personal research into the design phase of each students thesis project. Our first objective was to obtain an understanding of the material. Diving right into the project, I realized that tying the zip ties together required us to use two different zip ties (4" and 8"). Initially, I thought that wrapping the fabric to create form would require some sort of sub structure (figure 2). Quickly, however, I realized that the density of zip ties was so great that they didn't need any sort of sub structure and that they could stand by themselves (figure 4). As a studio, we then proceeded to create sheets of zip tie fabric (figure 3). Our work culminated with the unification of fabric sheets. Columns, arms and vortices were then intuitively assembled to create the reading room that is ZIP.
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6. PRO
"GET WEIRD ON IT " - KAREN LANGE
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home 2.0 "We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection." -The Dalai Lama
Network Living
[1] Network Living starts with a set of residents. Big Data then assosiates them with their virtual identity based on interests. Then, every month, the mechanism for change occurs and restructures residents' pods to place residents on floors by similar interests to encourage interaction. [2] Reeder, James. "Hacking Home: Coliving." Sharable. net. Oct 2012. Web. Nov 20, 2012. [Square Feet] Private RoomPod: 80 SF SemiPrivate Bathrooms: 200 SF Showers: 200 SF Living Area: 200 SF Kitchen/Dining: 300 SF Meditation: 200 SF Discharge: 100 SF Mech: 200 SF Public Bar + Coffee: 300 SF ChargePort: 200 SF
An optimistic piece, Home 2.0 is a manifestation of a network living commune. It is the belief that we can utilize the powers of big data, our new virtual identities, and innate longing for community, for good. It is a new way to create a home away from home. Today's America is greatly affected by the decay of the nuclear family. We no longer live at home until marriage. We no longer return home from work everyday to be greeted by family. According to the US Census, "almost 50 percent of adults in the United States are single, and more than a quarter of "households" are just an individual living alone." [As a result] an increasing amount of social interaction happens online, rather than face-to-face".2 I find that this new type of housing typology would be akin to that of a college dorm, mashed with a data center and your standard residential apartment. I believe that environments like these are going to be what the next generation of young adults seemingly demands. Finishing college, most young adults will relocate, moving to wherever they find a job. There, however, they might not have a stable social network in the material world. Lonely, one can easily become absorbed in the virtual, looking for any sort of social interaction. I believe, however, that we can tackle this problem by providing this demographic with network living. Network living can facilitate in social interaction. The building would utilize Big Data to determine the common interests of its residents. Then (perhaps seasonally) the building can kinetically arrange every resident's abodes on floors based on common interests. It is on these floors where residents will find new friends, form new families, and loose the need for any sort of virtual life. Network living presents us with a way to prevent the exodus of humanity. [Program Analysis] 113
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pgd inc. "A baby is God 's opinion that the world should go on." -Carl Sandburg
Neonatal Plant [1] Two users (Human, Avatars or Cyborgs) meet and want a child. They then choose the characteristics of their child. This is then sent in a package to the mechanism for child birth.
[Square Feet] PGD SurgerySuites 100 SF Conference 100 SF Avatar File Reception: 10 Sf Cyborg Love Suite 150 SF Common Waiting 200 SF ChargePort 100 SF Plant Loading Dock 200 SF Mechanism 500 SF Warehouse 300 SF Incubation 500 SF
A completely satirical piece, the neonatal plant is a futuristic birthing facility for a society of plasticity. If the world continues embracing technology without question, I foresee this in our near future. In a future full of avatars, cyborgs and perfection, we will want designer babies. The neonatal plant simply gives us the opportunity to do that. You can still conceive the old way, but this plant is capable of providing society with only the best you have to offer. In designing children, I can see several birthing options that this factory will accommodate. The first will be for the ancient, those who desire Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis. A couple will merely utilize technology to determine the best genes that either has to offer. The second will be for the avatars, or users of virtual worlds. Just as they have designed themselves, they can digitally work together to design what they want their child to look like and send it to the factory via Bluetooth (or some other data transfer program of their choosing). The third will be for the cyborgs, the real life avatars. Since cyborgs have the obvious problem of reproduction, this facility offers them the ability to do so. Like a love hotel, the facility invites a couple in to indulge. However, when renting a room, their characteristics will be mapped. The factory will then compute a child for them, to be delivered at the end of their stay. The world of childbirth is about to get a lot more complicated.
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SCRAPS
FORMING A DATA DERIVED DWELLING MANUFACTURING IDENTITY
Pod Concept Models [1] 3 Pod concept models [2] The interior of the 5' x 8' x 13' pod
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Over my undergraduate career I have come to understand that I think best by exploring my projects in models. As a result, I first started my project in model form. Initial pod studies led me to discover that I want my pod's to be compact. The first pod I made was based on proportions and was 8' square by 13'... Realizing that these dimensions was too spacious led me to make another model that is 5' x 8' x 13'. This model exhibits the uncomfortable nature that I was looking for... However, it looked really strange from the exterior. I then created a third model, in which a 5' void is banked by two 1.5' spaces... I began to think of these spaces as perhaps being a catalogue of sorts.
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Site Model I then proceeded to model my site in Downtown Los Angeles. I did my site model at a scale of 1" = 50'. I tried to do something different with the site model, and draped it to approximate the building heights. Since I wasn't concerned with the actual architecture of adjacent buildings I was using this model to describe how I was thinking of the buildings as an urban landscape full of hills and valleys, and that my building would be just another piece occupying this said landscape.
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Factory Concept Models I knew that I wanted a factory. I also knew that I wanted it to be a labyrinth of sorts and subterranean. I had no idea, however, what program would occupy the space. As a result, I looked to intuitively create little concept models that might give me ideas as to what programmatic spaces to look for.
[3] Site model Scrap
I took my buddy's laser cut sheet scrap and proceeded to just cut out intuitive shapes. These shapes I then stuck together to create three different micro models.
[6] Concept model at 1:50'
I then blew one of them up in scale to 1'" = 50'. In this model I could more clearly articulate the spaces that I wished to create. I then scanned it to get the correct proportions and moved digitally
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[4] Cut up site model scrap [5] Micro models
[7] Scan of the concept model
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Section Finding the Program
Section Show [1] Progromatic collage as presented in the 5th year section show.
My objective of this collage was to understand the spatial arrangement for the programmatic spaces in my building. I realized that I had not two, but six separate "zones" within my building. Each zone is intended to be slightly more scientific and futuristic than the previous.
ZONE 0
The ground floor of the network commune. It is visited by any individual. Public space.
ZONE 1
The dwelling. The pods and the social spaces revolve around the idea that we can utilize knowledge of our virtual identities to create more captivating space. Also includes the pod manipulation/ catalog bay and the "front" for PGD Inc.
ZONE 2
This zone is the first requiring high security clearance. Scientists residing in this zone have no knowledge of further zones. In this zone, access stems directly to laboratories intent at discovering how to manipulate donated DNA for live human birth
ZONE 3
These scientists know that PGD Inc. is extracting the DNA from individuals without their knowledge. Here, they are sorting DNA and placing it into a library.
ZONE 4
A zone of only machines, humans are born in test tubes.
ZONE 5
Slightly more disturbing, it is revealed that the plant is running off the energy from incinerated corpses.
ZONE 6
Here humans are plugged in directly at birth and only live virtually 130 [Section]
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2D DRawing Abandoning the traditional
Some Ugly Drawings [1] Dwelling Axon [2] Typical floor plan [3] Building NS section... Showing adjacent building. [4] Section through social space
I then forced myself to throw my section into Rhino for a week... I created a floor plan and some sections.... It helped me to get a better idea as to the scale of my project, and the number of spaces.... But I didn't really think I was getting much out of these drawings so I didn't spend much time with them. Hence they are quite hideous. The first image is an axon of the building. The second image shows my idea for pods on the south side, circulation on the flanking sides and the positioning of social spaces on the north side. The third image shows the height of the building. I originally thought I wanted the social floor plates to be different than the pods. I abandoned this idea. The last image is identifies the social spaces... There are shared kitchens on the left, social spaces along the center spine, bathrooms on the right and a bar/theater on the bottom floor.
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BEN A Benign Engine for Noticing [1] Ben as of our final review [2] Returning to studio after a night salvage run [3] To get to and from the shop more efficiently, I put the pieces in a shopping cart [4] Me and my shopping cart [5] Mechanisms... Or a Richard Meyer Building? [6] Diagram of BEN
A Working Model Realizing my architectural preference for form finding through physical models led me to create BEN (my Benign Engine for Noticing). Coming in at 6'4", BEN was used to create initial ideas for the spaces and mechanisms needed in a digital model. BEN is made from found objects: Pharmaceutical drug dispensers, Refrigerator coils, ADA handrails, Computer cases a Scantron machine, a muffler and two Inkjet Printers. With BEN, I realized that I would have many spaces might be dominated by the actual mechanisms within. As a result, the architecture of the spaces isn't just the built form, but the objects within. I attempted to find pieces that could be the actual machines for PGD Inc and spray painted them white to signify their significance within in the space.
FOUND OBJECTS
- Steel Cage (Dwelling Structure) - Wheels - Pharmaceutical Drug Dispensers - Refrigerator Coils - ADA Handrails - Scantron Machine - Two (2) Printers - Computer fans - Old Telephone Switch Boards - Radiator - Muffler
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757 spRING "If space-junk is the human debris that litter the universe, junk-space is the residue mankind leaves on the planet." - Rem Koolhaas, 2
Network Living [1] Diagram of Network Living [2] Rem Koolhaas. Junkspace, In Skyes, Nov 2000
My visionary dwelling is Home 2.0; it is a high-rise network living commune in Downtown Los Angeles. It is the belief that we can utilize the powers of big data, our virtual identities, and innate desires for good. Its main goal is to attract individuals who are currently attempting to socialize digitally, and provide them with an environment conducive for real life interaction. In the following sections I look at why Virtual World users have left the material world and adjust architectural elements and spaces accordingly, in an attempt to provide inhabitants with an e scape from boredom in the real world.
COMMUNITY [sorting]
Home 2.0 initially places new residents according to how they have presented themselves via their virtual identity. With Big Data, our virtual identities are not just our Facebook profiles, but also every Google search we do, everything we have ever purchased digitally, basically anything that we have done that is connected and published to the Internet. It's you, unfiltered. As a result, Home 2.0 can create discrete social groups on each floor, with the thought that we express ourselves so thoroughly online that friendships and relationships can be accurately predicted. Perhaps there are floors that are either full of hipsters, guys and girls that love basketball, sexual deviants, potheads, etc. By utilizing Big Data individuals innate desires and interests can be uncovered. Similarities (or provocative differences) can run deep. Individuals will find that the others who surround them work with their agenda. Perhaps a floor full of intense studiers finds that their entire floor is ready to distress on Fridays. There can be random things like a floor full of individuals that love astrology. Whatever the floors end up being, I believe social interaction would be ensured and that they would work incredibly. [757 Spring Street] 145
Network Living IMAGE + ANONYMITY [billboard] Under the mask of the entire building, Home 2.0 allows users to project whatever they want to Downtown Los Angeles. Utilizing media screens for each individual pod, Home 2.0 brings our intense obsession with social projection to a new level. In the diagram below I portray how one user might want to show off his or her new puppy, while another user might want to show off themselves and their gun collection. Either way, individuals obsessed with tweeting or updating others with every detail of their lives will love this feature. The building also asks a mask, shielding anyone from really knowing that what you are projecting is directly related to you. The ability to be anonymous allows individuals to display what they really want to.
PRIVACY [shared spaces] The individual rooms in this building are not intended to have bathrooms. All they are really supposed to be used for are places to sleep. The rest of your daily activities are supposed to be spent outside of your pod so that you might interact with the other residents. There are group kitchens, bathrooms and showers on each floor. Each floor is tied together by circulation inside the perimeter of the building, however circulation dominates the interior of the space. Going every which way, stairs link the circulation strips adjacent to the pods with various social spaces above or below the current floor. These social spaces are intended to be somewhat related to the individuals living on the connected floors. For instance, the basketball courts are supposed to be one floor below, and directly connected to the athletes. The ballroom, party hall and game room are all directly linked to the floor full of socialites. The smokers garden is linked to both a floor for potheads and a floor of smokers. A beer distillery and instrument room are linked to a floor full of hipsters and a floor full of musicians.
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[2] In this building you get a 9' x 9' screen on which you can project anything you want to Downtown Los Angeles [3] Pictograms showing you my thoughts for the social spaces in the building
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Network Living CUSTOMIZATION [pod]
I began to think of the pods as little cells for refuge. I decided to make the space feel a bit cramped in order for you to be architecturally encouraged to spend your time in the social spaces. At 10 ft. x 8 ft. x 8 ft., there would be little one could do with the space. I decided, however, to introduce the digital need for customization into the pod. On one side of the pod 3' x 10' of space with 3 slits is designed to hold 3 walls. These walls are intended to come from a predesigned catalog, and all work together. Some, like a bed might take up the entire 10 feet of wall. However, other pieces of the catalog might represent walls like a TV unit, or fish tank that can be pushed aside to reveal the walls behind it. The pod is designed to be "plugged-in" by a massive crane that towers the entire building, I can see the walls being changed on a whim. Perhaps there is one area of the site that is specifically a customization bay, where one might go to change out walls. The catalog pod allows the user to create a space however the resident desires. In this way the resident is given a lot more control over their environment, and will feel a lot more at ease living in such a small space.
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[4] In your pod you can choose three walls that belong to a "catalog" [5] These walls fit and can roll on three slits within the pod [6] As a result you have a customized interior space
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Network Living FUN [stairs]
Similar in premise to J,K. Rowling's Harry Potter stairs, the stairs in Home 2.0's atrium are intended to be a labyrinth. Static/ADA accessible stairs are located at the far end of the building. This is done to encourage users to wind through the labyrinth to reach their destination space. It is my thought that along the way they will fin instances of socialization that they would have otherwise have missed. While I don't think that these stairs will move like we see in the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I can see these stairs being apart of some sort of module, so that they can be reconfigured and adjusted to connect different spaces over time. This would ensure that individuals would keep interested in trying to problem solve around the labyrinth.
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[7] Circulation is meant to be a bit maze like. It is my hope that it will encourage you to interact with others you might not have talked to before.
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THE TOOLS
Understanding the tools in the Unreal Development Kit
The Unreal Development Kit [1] UDK Logo Epic Games. UDK_Logo. EpicGames.com, 2012.
At some point after Vellum, I discovered the Unreal Development Kit (UDK) and I was mesmerized. For with this program, individuals can create and animate their dreams in real time, just like a video game - for free. Watching the virtual worlds people were creating and then posting on Youtube had me realize I had the potential to come full circle and create my own world, With UDK I could really illustrate what I have discussed in previous chapters - I had to investigate. The following sections cover the various "tools" that are included with the Unreal Development Kit.
3D BUZZ TUTORIALS Opening the Unreal Development Kit left me terrified. Each button opened more buttons - screens to screens. I had no idea how I was expecting myself to create a working video game with no knowledge of the program, and little knowledge of support programs like 3ds Max and Maya in just 8 weeks. However, stumbling around, I discovered that UDK commissioned a company called 3D Buzz to create and freely distribute a tutorial series of nearly 200 videos to teach an individual how to use UDK. Available via their Youtube channel, I must have watched hundreds of hours worth of tutorials during the first few weeks of the quarter. The tutorials, albeit lengthy, teach you everything about the program, and proved to be the most valuable asset in the Unreal Development Kit
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The Unreal Development Kit STATIC MESHES While UDK is fully capable of importing custom meshes from a program like 3dsMax or Maya it has an incredible library of pre-built, textured, and light mapped meshes. Similar to specifying a mullion in Revit, or a material in V-Ray, these meshes form a kit of parts. Together, they make a whole. In the image to the top right you see all of the in built assets from just one of UDK's included libraries. The image in the middle shows my first "prefab". A prefab is basically the positioning, scaling, and rotating of multiple static meshes to form and appear as a totally different object. Highlighted in the image, you can see how one static mesh has been scaled up and now appears as multiple pipes supplying the prefab.
CUSTOM ASSETS The image on the bottom right is a window containing the details of the selected static mesh (asset). This asset was modeled and textured in an external program. The texturing of the object can be manipulated by linking the asset to a different material, but its form can not be manipulated. In the image you can also see the UV Map. Simply modeling and importing assets is relatively simple. However, in order to use the asset, you have to unwrap the mesh and create corresponding texture and light maps. In my experience, this process is exponentially longer than the already lengthy process of modeling the mesh. As a result, I decided early on to only create my own custom assets when I absolutely had to.
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[2] UDK comes with hundreds of static meshes to arrange and use at your disposal. These objects are what predominately make up the spaces in PGD Incorporated. [3] A collection of static meshes forming a prefab. [4] The detailing window of a static mesh.
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The Unreal Development Kit [5] UDK's pre made "Metal" material lets you transform any static mesh into a crazy moving object. [6] Textures made in Photoshop are combined to form a material. In this instance we take a specular map, a diffuse map, a normal map, and a goo color to make the material. [7] The material shown in image 6 is applied to its associated static mesh.
UNREAL MATERIAL EDITOR The Unreal Development Kit comes with a decent amount of materials. In the Material Editor, one takes a multitude of textures, and combines them to form a beautiful material (or what some call a shader). The image to the top left shows one of the more complicated materials - displacing metal. It utilizes a feature called "world position offset" to displace the faces of a static mesh. These faces will move in real time, starting at their normal position within a static mesh, extending to some unrecognizable position, and then returning to repeat the process all over again. If interested in seeing what this material looks like in game, look for it in Zone 3 (The DNA Library). The other images shows how even simple materials, like those directly applied to a specific static mesh can become complex. In this instance, the material editor was utilized to make the static mesh look like its holding some sort of moving liquid.
SPEED TREE Included with UDK is a program called Speed Tree. I won't go into too much detail with it, because I didn't really use it. It basically allows you to create your own trees to populate a landscape. With it you are given a whole bunch of parameters that help to randomly create a tree's roots, trunk, branches and leaves.
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The Unreal Development Kit PATHING Built to be a video game, UDK provides the tools needed to give Artificial Intelligence for in game enemies (bots). Pathing allows your bots to know where to move within your level. Positioning apple markers around your level provides a crazy maze of lines that an in game bot can use to navigate and find you.
KISMET Kismet is a visual scripting system. What is a scripting system? It's basically code used to make objects move, triggers to initiate things like doors opening or voice announcements. In this user friendly environment, one doesn't have to understand the complexities of C++ or Java. Instead you are able to visually connect assets to triggers, and have them do something to aid in the progression of the game.
MATINEE Activated from a trigger within Kismet, you can utilize Unreal Matinee. This tool enables you to have total control in animating an environment. Using Keyframing, you can make materials change, adjust lighting, move/rotate objects, and manipulate an in-game camera.
FRONTEND This tool is used at the end of production. It allows you to package up your game and distribute it as a .exe file for PC's, a playable Xbox 360 game, or even mobile devices.
UNREAL COMMUNITY The Unreal Community is why I ultimately chose to work in UDK. Thousands of users belong to a forum where anyone can receive answers to questions, get critiques, or even reach out for a job. 160 [The Tools]
[8] Enemy movement is predetermined by creating a network between apple markers. [9] Linking together Kismet actions and static meshes. [10] The conrtols of Matinee are similar to that of a video editing software.
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THE Phases
Discovering a Workflow
Workflow [1] DNA Library Concept Art Memory Lambda. Vidom. DeviantArt.com, 2012.
After spending a week watching tutorials on Youtube, I decided it was time to start developing my levels. Understanding the power of the engine, I committed myself to the idea that I could use all of Spring Quarter for the sole production of a video game. I realized, however, that I needed to develop a sequence of phases from which a level would develop. I discovered a great workflow through the free video's published by World of Level Design. With the publishers tips, I divided zones into a six phase process.
PHASE 1 - CONCEPT ART In this phase, one finds spatial inspiration. I was saved by BEN, from which I had a rough idea what my spaces would look like. However, I found that game developers take ideas from several pieces of concept art to put together a space. So for each zone, I gathered a multitude of images that provoked my interest, and better illustrated what the Zone inside BEN might look like. The image to the left is concept art I found for the DNA Library.
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Workflow PHASE 2 - BSP BLOCK OUT During this phase, I was focused on blocking out the level with primitive objects known as Binary Space Partitions (BSP's). They are basically just extruded squares and rectangles which you boolean together. I built the zones according to the proportions I gathered from BEN. In UDK, you can apply a texture with a scale figure on it to give a more visual idea as to the feel of rooms. I would then play test the map and discover which spaces felt awkward and needed adjustment. Spatial manipulation occurs fast and effortlessly within this phase so it is best to manipulate the scale of a level at this time.
PHASE 3 - TEXTURING / DECALS / LIGHTING After a room is blocked out, you begin to specify materials for the generic walls. In order to create varied textures, you position objects called decals which overlay whatever they touch with grime, or some sort of variation. Then, just before you start adding in static meshes, you adjust the lighting of the level. This is done because lighting can take hours to compute once a level is populated with assets. However, at this time, lighting can be built and adjusted within minutes.
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[2] Zone 2, - DNA Screening Atrium as found in BEN [3] BSP block out of Zone 2 [4] Applying textures to the Zone 2 and adjusting the lighting
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Workflow [5] Meshes added to the atrium in Zone 2. [6] The editor screen after sounds and sprites are added to the level. [7] Post Processing the space allows you to fine tune the colors within the space. In this instance I was able to brighten up the entire room.
PHASE 4 - MESHES In order to efficiently add detail to a level, we add static meshes (assets). These objects are more efficient than BSP's because the game engine knows when they are not within the camera's view, and will not render them. Meshes will begin to make the world feel more real, and even begin to replace the BSP's used for walls and floors.
PHASE 5 - SOUNDS/ DETAILS / KISMET At this point, your space is mostly completed. However, the placement of sounds, details and triggers makes the space come alive. Going around the level, you add sounds to give a better illusion as to what the space would feel like. Details are added like smoke, fire and dripping oil. You then proceed to animate objects like doors and TV Screens.
PHASE 6 - POST PROCESSING / CINEMATICS In the final phase we fine tune the appearance of our level. A post process volume allows us to create a moody fog, desaturate a space, or adjust the color scheme all together. After this is done, one uses Unreal Matinee to create cut scenes that show off the space.
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THE GAME Downtown Los Angeles in 2084
PGD Incorporated [1] A wire frame rendering of the Network Living Dwelling [2] Interior of a typical pod at 757 Spring. Here an individual is connected to the virtual world.
We are now in Downtown Los Angeles. The year is 2084. Painfully, you've been thrown awake. It is difficult for you to open your eyes. Everything is washed out and blurry.
[3] The hallway and stair atrium at 757 Spring.
In this architectural video game, a player is enticed through various means to simply continue onward. The goal isn't to destroy enemies but to discover the various Zones and sinister nature of PGD Incorporated.
[4] Exterior perspective in wire frame.
Zone 0 - The Dwelling
[5] Exterior perspective as seen in the physical working model. [6] Exterior perspective as seen in the game. [7] The lobby of PGD Incorporated.
Awakening to a blinding light and cinematics, a player first finds themselves in one of the pods on the Nerdious Maximus floor at 757 Spring. Leaving your pod, you realize that the building has been abandoned. Everyone has left for the virtual world.
Zone 1 - The Facade Walking into the lobby of PGD Incorporated, one enters Zone 1 - The Facade. Here clients are given three ways to interact and produce a neonatal infant. The first is via the surgery suites, where a human can be implanted with a designed embryo. The second is the neonatal terminals, from which an infant is delivered and can be picked up on a conveyor belt 5 minutes later. The last means for neonatal production occurs in the virtual suites, where individuals design their children to occupy and be permanently connected to the virtual world.
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PGD Incorporated Zone 2 - DNA Inception + Manipulation In this level, one discovers the covert methods by which PGD Incorporated is using to gather DNA. Players also come to understand a discreet operation that PGD Inc plans to do with its infants.
Zone 3 - DNA Library Pressing the "initialize" button at DNA Inception Master Command awakens the Zone 3. It activates the powerhouse, and relays it to the DNA Library. However, activating the Zone shoots off an expired DNA pod for the DNA Library to sort. A player is told that the machine has an error, and the Zone must be manually deactivated at the DNA Powerhouse for maintenance.
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[8] Inspiration for the DNA Inception Master Command Brain came from a mechanism inside a Scantron machine. The DNA Library came from a radiator. [9] PGD Inc began manipulating neonatal infants into Model 400 for world domination. [10] DNA Inception Master Command [11] DNA Library + Powerhouse
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PGD Incorporated [12] The physical model of Zone 4 [13] The Ingredient Labyrinth and Disposal Operations as seen in BEN [14] A wire frame of the Service Tunnel to the Chamber of the Virtual Self [15] The Neonatal Incubation Yard [16] Disposal Operations with ingredient bays and arms in the background. [17] Overpowering light seduces a player as they attempt to enter the chamber of the virtual self.
Zone 4 - Neonatal Casting + Incubation In this level, the DNA Powerhouse and Library cantilevers majestically overhead. Built like a cave, it is here where Neonatal Casting and Incubation operations take place. Here the DNA library delivers DNA Pods on demand to the Neonatal Caster. Generic infant sacs are then injected with defining characteristics and then left to develop in the incubation yard. The Ingredient Pumping Station is also in this level, pumping up ingredients from below.
Zone 5 - Raw Ingredient Labyrinth In this zone, the raw materials for human creation are delivered to massive bays via the maintenance terminal. Here, robotic arms gather materials from these said bays on demand. Defunct humans are also disposed of here, with their remains pouring down to the Incinerator for power delivery.
Zone 6 - Chamber of the Virtual Self The service tunnel is a symbolic representation, using water to represent the purity of the human spirit being surrendered to that of the machine. With pavers that rise only as someone approaches, a player is asked to slow down, and given countless times to re-think their decision to continue onward. Overpowered by the majestic light in the distance, the screen becomes flooded by white light when a player attempts to enter the Chamber of the Virtual Self and the game restarts - placing one exactly where they started.
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#thank you :]
MIKE SUDOLSKY M: 714.743.9123 W: mikesudolsky.com E: mike.sudolsky@gmail.com