Sidewalk Shrines
Pittsburgh Digital City Project Jessamyn Miller
Graduate Studio II Spring 2011 School of Design Carnegie Mellon University
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
2
Research Methods
Psychogeographic drifts Sketching Photography Storyboarding Street interviews Prototyping
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
3
Drifts & Atlas
Walking through the neighborhood over and over was the most critical part of my project. I first began walking in January, while snow covered everything, and did my last drift in April, when spring was beginning. I discovered hidden staircases, elaborate birdhouses, lovely but crumbling architecture, and, most surprising, families with children living amongst it all.
Drift dates January 16, 2011 January 30, 2011 February 13, 2011 March 27, 2011
Atlas
One of the early culminations of material and reflections was my South Oakland Atlas. I found writing about the feelings I experienced after walking through my neighborhood very cathartic. I had so many questions, doubts and frustrations about the condition of the neighborhood. It took many months for me to accept South Oakland for what it was, and to begin to think of designs appropriate for that specific place.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
4
Drif
ting
thro
ugh
South
Oak l and
in Pit
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
tsbur
gh, P ennsy
lvania
15213
5
Streets drifted ¾¾ Dawson Street ¾¾ Frazier Street ¾¾ Child Street ¾¾ Bohem Street ¾¾ Boulevard of the Allies ¾¾ Romeo Street ¾¾ Parkview Avenue ¾¾ Swinburne Street My drifts took me to the streets surrounding my house. All are densely populated, residential roads with homes that date from the turn of the 20th century. The neighborhood is a mix of University of Pittsburgh students, young families with children and senior citizens. I walked on Sunday afternoons, when nearly everyone is inside and the streets are quiet. Only glimpses of people emerging from their homes, heading to the car gave us the occasional view of interior activity through the open front door.
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
6
Open space
Dan Marino park is a block-sized field at the end of Frazier and Dawson. Several inches of snow cover the ground, yet fresh footprints were visible. I noticed a wheat-pasted graphic on the edge of the small brick building at the entrance. It was a cartoonish funeral parade of several characters carrying a British phone booth, perhaps mourning a nowgone pay phone. The park is curtained with chainlink fence on nearly all sides. A clear view of the river is possible by standing at the edge of the field. A small playground and tiny amphitheater sit at the edge of the park. Covered in snow, do they slip out of memory during winter? Where do children play during these cold months? As I write this, I hear the squeals of young cousins playing next door. Grandma’s living room is their winter playground.
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
7
Sidewalks
The condition of South Oakland sidewalks varied wildly. Many concrete sidewalks have shifted like tectonic plates, creating a path of tripping hazards. One section of sidewalk is covered in plywood, then in snow and ice, evidence of some unfinished city work. We noticed family business names and phone numbers pressed into the concrete, an advertisement of the laborers who poured them. On one street, the sidewalk is aged slate slabs. Small, circular erosions gracefully show decades of weathering and footfalls.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
8
Home façades
South Oakland could win an award for its architecture crimes. Nearly every home showed some sign of attempted repairs or temporary modification. Porches were closed in with glass block. Wooden siding was covered with fake brick siding, which was covered with vinyl siding. One elegant brick manse had the front door suffocated by plywood, but we noticed a man coming out of the side door. Homes are humble but tall; two and three stories under a sharp roofline. Christmas decorations linger. Valentine’s Day decorations are popping up. Snow shovels and brooms lean against porch walls, ready for the next dusting. The porches themselves are like suburban garages, filled with stored items, battered furniture, tarp-covered grills. Many windows have bright striped metal awnings, a midcentury relic. At the end of Dawson, an antique sink sits in the corner of the lawn.
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
9
Street surfaces
The new asphalt on the main roads is so high that it almost reaches the top of the curbstone. On Childs Street, the road is paved in un-mortared brick, which click-clack underfoot. At the end of Frazier, nearing the Romeo Street staircase, the road is paved in granite stones. It is very uneven, but keeps you from slipping straight down the hill.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
10
Churches
St. Regis Church sits like a brick shithouse on Parkview Street. Dark windows, no obvious entrance, the church is literally a brick wall that comes right to the edge of the sidewalk. Whatever original church once stood there must have been renovated in the 1960s. Next door is the senior citizen and handicapped housing center, a flat, art deco facade which once housed the St. Regis School. The windows have been half-boarded and painted brown, and an unsightly glass and steel entryway was added to the front door, swallowing up the front lawn with a twist of staircases. Across the street, one house with a Spanish sign and a cross indicates another religious community.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
11
Commerce
There is little in the way of shopping convenience. At the bleeding edge of Boulevard of the Allies and Ward St., a pizza shop, laundromat and auto repair garage sit too close for the cars speeding by to stop. On Dawson, a former storefront has been turned into a terrifying Christian children’s reading room, which is always closed with large metal gates. In the windows sit an old fashioned school desk and books. The view behind it is concealed with curtains. It gives me the creeps. (I’ve imagined little children chained down in the basement. It’s horrible and could really be the opening scene for a thriller).
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
12
Staircases
By far my most intriguing find of South Oakland is the outdoor staircases. Intended for foot commuters to get up and down the hill to Bates Street, I imagine they replaced old dirt paths. A very large staircase at the end of Bohem Street is barred off. On the day we discovered it, almost hidden next to a lonely house at the edge of the hill, animal footprints were visible in the snow. Looking down, we saw one flight of stairs was cracked and had fallen to the ground, rendering them unsafe. The staircase was so long, we could see it criss-crossing the hillside several times before disappearing out of sight. At Frazier Street, a steep staircase descends through a patch of woods. On one side, an antique rusted refrigerator lies on its back. On the other side, a car engine. A few steps are missing, so you must take care to hop over the gaps. Halfway along, the staircase splits off to Romeo Street. There we discovered a small row of houses sitting below the streetline. One had a front porch as colorful and furnished as a living room. Next door the house was vacant and completely covered in graffiti. I noticed a Savannahstyle side porch entrance. Next to that, a vintage model complete with horse-and-carriage appliques was tidy and spare. At the end, a man popped his head out and asked, “Do you like the neighborhood?” After photographing the first house, #3 Romeo Street, three young men emerged and chatted with us, then asked us to join them for pizza. We decided Romeo Street was the best place in the neighborhood to meet men.
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
13
Questions
How could residents of South Oakland improve their lives? Would superficial home remodeling be enough of a morale boost to freshen up the neighborhood? Would homeowners resent someone telling them to change their homes? Could trees be planted along the sidewalks? Could the heavy electric wiring and utility poles be replaced with something that did not mar the skyscape? What could be done to improve the neighborhood for families? Why do students get stuck living in such crappy houses? Should vinyl siding and glass block be banned? Why so much trash?
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
14
Frustrations Is that balcony legal?
Did that house burn down? Why do people use roofing tile on the front of the house? When was the last time that railing was painted? Is this staircase going to fall down? Do these people have fireplaces? Who left that perfectly nice Mercury Marquis in that falling down garage? Why the hell do people spray paint graffiti? Who boards up a window? Why can’t they order the same size window that was there before? Why didn’t the streetsweeper come at the end of fall? I wonder who lives here. Why is there an AC sideways in the window? Is that fruit punch in the snow?
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
15
Data Leaks
During an afternoon walk through Juliet, Hardie, Ward and smaller tributary streets, I observed how local residents communicated messages about themselves in the public space between their front porch and the sidewalk. Many homeowners taped handwritten signs to their front doors with notes for the mailman or new visitors. Others scribbled or painted directly on the wall. While these messages were mostly pragmatic in nature, others were nonsensical or humorous. February 13, 2011
Front Door Notes
Strange Objects
“Knock hard please”
A homemade mailbox of duct tape and cardboard
“Equipment for sale. Call 412-853-0844”
Colored glass buttons cemented to stoop
“Please remove shoes before entry”
Elaborate birdhouses
Unofficial Signage
Large yellow duck crossing sign No parking “No Sir!” Any time Senor B graffiti
Façade Scribbles “Space Man” “Space” “Love, peace, xzone, Jesus” “ Goon Room”
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
16
Telephone box
Small solar panels
Cable TV satellite dishes
Electricity meter
Sensor Walk
Looking for objects that detect the presence of other phenomena. February 13, 2011
Streets drifted
Thermometer
Mousetraps
Parking lot entrance cardreader
Motion detectors
40
¾¾
Dawson Court
¾¾
Oakland Court
¾¾
Ward Street
¾¾
Hardie Way
¾¾
Juliet Street
¾¾
Cato Street
¾¾
Virgila Place
¾¾
Edith Place
¾¾
Belgreen Place
¾¾
Gorman Way
Sensor thoughts
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
How on earth can we tolerate so many wires and metal bulky devices crowding up our sky? Every home in South Oakland is smothered in wires. Satellite dishes are perched on many rooftops. Mysterious, bland gray boxes clumsily deliver phone service. How many of these people still use a land line? Small solar devices were spotted in use on a front lawn and a parking lot rooftop. When will we tire of telephone poles and get back to having trees?
17
Sketchbook
After photographing extensively on my walks, I would go home and sketch. I began by simply making rough copies of the pictures I took. It invited me to spend time with the images I collected. Later, I began adding imaginary stories about the people who lived in these spaces. I allowed my reactions to the buildings to come out as characters with reasons for caring for their homes the way they did. I called this series, “Pittsburgh, City of.”
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
18
Sketchbook
South Oakland staircase, Frazier to Romeo Street. January 30, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
19
Sketchbook
Broken Staircase on Bohem Street. January 30, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
20
Sketchbook
Front porch at 3 Romeo Street. Three men emerged and asked us to join them for pizza. January 20, 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
21
Sketchbook
Staircase to 2nd Ave, entry barred. January 30, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
22
Sketchbook Dawson Street at dusk February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
23
Sketchbook
Frazier Street Park Entrance February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
24
Sketchbook Dawson Street February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
25
Sketchbook
A wish for dancing ladies. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
26
Sketchbook
Ward Street facing the Cathedral of Learning March 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
27
Pittsburgh, City of Doves
Large doves occupy the blue and white house. One day, they woke up and found they were so small they were able to fit in a teacup. They built a miniature version of their former home in the backyard. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
28
Pittsburgh, City of Mothers and Sons
Why did her son have to buy such a huge gas-guzzler of a car? Sure it was luxurious and she liked the way it felt to sit in the soft leather seats and stretch her toes. But the damn thing took up the whole sidewalk. She cringed self-consciously when the neighbors drove by. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
29
Pittsburgh, City of Waiting Children
“Love, peace, xzone, Jesus,” the girl carefully painted in white-out on the front porch bricks. She waited for her brother to come home and let her inside. Her mother had gone out for the afternoon. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
30
Pittsburgh, City of Homemade Fixtures
I hate it when Donny gets drunk. The night he ripped our mailbox off the wall, I silently vowed to move out at the end of our lease. I taped a box to the house and added our names and “U.S. Mail.” So far, it’s worked. The post man is chill. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
31
Pittsburgh, City of Dirty Shoes
What a kook. Somebody ripped down the last signs, and they just pasted another one right over top. Who’s visiting him anyway? I hate when people make such a big production about “shoes off ” in the house. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
32
Pittsburgh, City of Teenaged Boys
I love it here. I moved down to the basement when I was 17 so I could practice with my band and not disturb Mom. I come and go when I please and I have my own phone. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
33
Pittsburgh, City of Worn-out Shoes
I rented this apartment because of the balcony. I can sit outside after work and have a smoke, and read a book when it’s nice out. I thought it might be nice to have friends over for drinks, but it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe in the spring. One night, I noticed a hole in the bottom of my shoe. It was after a long night at work and my shoes were covered in grease and stank and I thought, “screw it” and I hurled them out into the night against the telephone wires. They stayed there. I love it. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
34
Pittsburgh, City of Tired Grannies Just leave me alone. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
35
Pittsburgh, City of Unfinished Projects
It was a cinnamon apple scented candle. She lit it to cover up the scent of pot because of her uptight roommate. Once the back of the house burned off, the landlord thought he might seal the doors and rent it out next fall. Just nail em shut and slap some vinyl siding, we’re good to go. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
36
Pittsburgh, City of Natural Sidewalks
I may be broken, but I’m softer than concrete. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
37
Pittsburgh, City of Cable
She loved the shopping shows where callers would phone in and talk about the beautiful new rings or shoes they’d purchased from the network. It made her feel good to know she was doing something to treat herself. She deserved it. The prices were so reasonable and almost everything was marked down from the original price, anyway. She’d fix her dinner and diet coke and sink into the soft couch, the phone right next to her thigh. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
38
Pittsburgh, City of Peeling Paint
Even though the paint is cracking and peeling, the wood work is still lovely. February 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
39
Stakeholders
An imaginary map of stakeholder communities based on street level observations of homes, infrastructure and institutions. February 14, 2011 Healing Women Bridge Dreamers Windchime Listeners Green Thumbs Religious Wingnuts Plywood Investors Softball Slackers Trash Spreaders Goons with Rooms Magic Button Pushers The Feisty Handicapped Cloud Forest Women Drunken Students Serious Students Romeos and Juliets Asphalt Lovers Tennis Shoe Throwers
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
40
Ideation
Early concepts were brainstormed in groups during class. I evolved these concepts into ideas based on the same emotions and frustrations I experienced during drifts. I wanted to express something about the public space so that others could see or know how I felt.
Early concepts
sidewalk notes wish spots abandoned car inquiry celebration cues plywood expiration house-rater unused phone line eliminator lonely signals house rehab help/emergency mood lighting disappearing chain link fence mysterious building biography save my parking spot kids at play protective spikes poop blasters trash hater
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
41
Sensitive Streets
Sensitive bricks know when children are playing and barriers emerge to protect children from cars. March 16, 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
42
Show Hate/Show Love
Share with the world how a house makes you feel. Love it? Hate it? Rate your neighbors and leave your opinion for others to read. March 16, 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
43
Who owns this?
Dog poop? Trash? Abandoned car? Who left this mess in my neighborhood? Find ownership on properties and objects fast and complain. March 16, 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
44
House History Time Machine
People come and go. Houses need an ID system with age, architecture blue prints, to conserve the integrity of a building, especially as it is renovated and updated. This “Time machine” for a house can be dialed back to see the original identity and state of a house over time. March 16, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
45
Hear my Voice “City Wish Spots”
Stand on a special place on the sidewalk and share your wishes for a house, a street, a sidewalk, or a neighborhood. Hear other’s wishes about your block. Learn what people wish could happen in their cities. March 16, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
46
Lonely Lights
Are you lonely tonight? Don’t reveal your identity, but contribute your emotion to a public light panel so that others can read the mood on the street. March 16, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
47
Sensitive Street Pedestrian Sensitive Pavement for South Oakland
Sensitive streets is a proposal to change the texture of the street surface. When a child is playing or a person walks on the street, sensors under the brick or pavement will detect a lightweight pressure. This can trigger a texture of pebbles, or small round knobs to rise up from the flat street, creating temporary miniature speed bumps, or cobblestones. Cars who drive over the texture will feel the uneven surface and automatically slow down. Pedestrians and children will have time to move out of the way of oncoming traffic.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
48
What if the street could respond to foot traffic?
A sketch of how a street surface might change texture in response to human footfalls. The purpose of this project is to make streets safer for foot traffic and children, and slow the speed of cars in pedestrian neighborhoods on demand. Unlike the traditional speed bump, the pebbles will disappear when no pedestrians are present.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
49
“Coming Soon” Billboard
The next step was to take some of our concepts and advertise them on an imaginary billboard in our neighborhood. March 28, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
50
Sidewalk Shrines
“Coming Soon” Billboard
I decided to use the available space on the telephone pole to place small lights that someone could walk up to and light. In this early version, I used candle votives as the light source. Later, I decided to use recycled or reclaimed materials, and colored glass wine bottles replaced the votives.
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
51
Recasting Telephone Poles and Pavement as Sacred Space
Could those gigantic wooden telephone poles that pushed out trees and cluttered the sky be put to good use? I pulled ideas from my Lonely Lights and City Wish Spots concepts and explored the idea of a Sidewalk Shrine. I was inspired by personal, sacred spaces that I saw in churches or outdoor shrines. I wanted to bring that same idea to something public, secular, shared and anonymous.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
52
Time
Evening, nighttime
The shrine could be experienced from evening to dawn, when LEDs are illuminated and become visible in the dark. The intimacy and quiet of the nighttime street would be a fertile environment for responsive interaction or visualization using light.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
53
Space
Sidewalk Telephone Poles I would like to install a small sidewalk shrine on a telephone pole on Dawson Street in the South Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The sidewalk is significant because it where pedestrians pass and experience the neighborhood on foot. It is also the place where, once a week, the residents set out their trash and recycling for collection in small bags. As a result, loose bits blow around and litter the sidewalk and nearby lawns and shrubs. The result is a strong aversion to trash in the neighborhood as reflected in informal sidewalk interviews conducted with students and residents.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
54
Embodiment Glass bottles + Arduino+LED
This work is inspired by coin-donation candle votives found in old cathedrals. A person lights a single candle in honor of their wish or prayer. My shrine would use an LED as the light source and be contained within a glass bottle for protection from the elements. Attached to a telephone pole at eye-height, a passerby could illuminate a light or view the lights switched on by others. (An alternative possibility is to command the lights as a visualization from a data source.) I would like to use a solar panel as the power source, which could be mounted higher up on the telephone pole. Instead of using candle votives, I would like to re-use glass bottles with a wire fed through the back.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
55
Identity
Sidewalk pedestrian
The shrine could have an owner, or it could be open to interaction with passersby. Most of the foot traffic on Dawson Street is residents and students, so I believe there would be enough neighborly respect for this not to get vandalized or stolen. I would like the shrine lights to be responsive to the person standing in front of them, so it would require their actual presence to illuminate. Otherwise, the lights could be activated by some sort of data stream that is related to the area.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
56
Mood Board
When I stopped people on the street and asked them what they’d like to change most about their neighborhood, they often mentioned problems with trash. Once a week, trash is set out on the sidewalk for pickup, which often leaves a lot of loose litter flying about. When I saw the religious shrines in the neighborhood, I noticed they were neat and well tended. I was curious if shrines were installed along the sidewalk, if that would create ownership and might result in care taking and reverence for these special wishing spots.
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
57
Mood Board Local religious shrines Private spaces Front yard statuettes Handwritten notes Handmade decoration Cement sidewalks Telephone poles
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
58
Interviews
We talked to about six people in South Oakland one afternoon in March. We asked them what they thought about South Oakland now, and what they would like to see in the neighborhood. March 31, 2011
South Oakland now “Close to museums and facilities.”
“Congested. Houses too close together. Busy streets.” “Everything’s awesome. Same as it’s always been.” “Tons of potholes and trash.” “Dirty, noisy.” “Old Italian neighborhood. A landlord’s paradise.”
What it could be
“Landlords and tenants maintaining their properties.” “More trash cans.” “A casino.” “Clean up and repave the streets.” “Pick up trash.” “A beautification project.”
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
59
Versions
This project has several possibilities for expansion on the original idea. Options include using the pushbutton as a digital input for a networked system. Lighted bottles could be visualized as dots on a map, stars in the sky, or a wish-count that could appear in a text stream. “A wish was made in South Oakland at 6:15 p.m., Tuesday, May 3, 2011.” April 4, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
60
Story
A person walking down the street is often thinking, daydreaming or mentally observing their surroundings. This person may have an unvoiced wish or latent need that they would like to express privately. The passerby walks down the sidewalk and notices the lit shrine mounted on a telephone pole. They see the bottle votives lit up and decide to light one themselves. The person drops a coin in the wooden box and pushes the button, and one bottle lights up. The unspoken wish or thought is honored and the person continues on their way. The bottle remains lit for a period of time, accompanied by the other wishes. April 18, 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
61
System
The sidewalk shrine system requires three aspects:
1. A passerby
2. A wooden telephone pole
3. The lighted shrine
The passerby interacts with the shrine by dropping a coin in the box and pushing a button as they make a wish. The setting takes advantage of an unused part of infrastructure, the lower half of a telephone pole. The system requires a power source, which could be wired, battery or solar powered. The shrine votives could be any type of glass cup or bottle. In this project, I’ve used old wine bottles. A wooden box below houses the Arduino board, the collected coins and the pushbutton. April 20, 2011
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
62
Prototype Materials
Used glass wine bottles Secondhand wooden shelf Wooden cigar box Black and red stranded wire 330 Ohm resistors White LED lights Button switch Arduino Duemilanove Breadboard 9V battery
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
63
Prototype Arduino
The setup of the Arduino relied on the connection between the board, the pushbutton, five LED lights and the power flow. The Processing code created six states for the light settings, and switched between states at the press of the button. The sequence begins with all lights off, then turns on a light for every button press until all lights are on. Thanks to Scott Sykora, Wes Johnson, Brett Leber and Nick Durrant for assisting me with the code.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
64
Prototype
Wiring + Soldering
I have a knack for getting anything I try wrong the first time. So the tradition continues with the prototype wiring. After gleefully soldering all of my LEDs to their wires and resistors, I discovered the lights did not work as desired. I had to cut all the lights and re-wire them, with the resistor between the LED and the positive wire. Thank you, YouTube. Thanks to Corinna Sherman for assisting me with the wiring diagram and troubleshooting.
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
65
Prototype Glass
I rescued several blue and green glass wine bottles from the recycling bin for the project. A local glass artist and teacher, Ashley MacFarland from the Pittsburgh Glass Center sandblasted and drilled holes in the bottles for me in her studio. Afterwards, I coated the bottles with a gloss finish and they were ready to wire. April 23, 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
66
Prototype Street Test
I mounted a wooden shelf to a telephone pole on Dawson Street, added the lit bottles and a wooden box for the button and coin donation. In this storyboard, I illustrate the pedestrian approaching the shrine, dropping a coin in the box, pushing the button for a light, and moving on. May 3, 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
67
Prototype
Studio Exhibition
At the final class show I presented my prototype against a painted backdrop. The image was a combination of a few of my favorite photos from my drifts, sketched onto paper and painted in acrylic. I decided to keep it simple. No fancy infographics, no details charts explaining how it worked. I placed some coins on the box and let people walk up and try the shrine. May 4, 2011
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
68
Responses
Several people asked me who would be responsible for putting up and maintaining the shrine. One idea is that the coinbox would serve as a small revenue stream for the shrine keeper. In that scenario, someone in the neighborhood could build and take care of the shrine. Overall, most people seemed to understand how to work the shrine within seconds. Many people simply walked up and pushed the button, then continued to push it until all the lights were lit!
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
69
Team
Story Scouts
Two ladies helped me tremendously through this semester project, Kinnari and Julia. We named ourselves the Story Scouts, as all of our ideas had to do with the creation of narratives in unconventional spaces. Kinnari’s project brought recorded stories to coffee sleeves and Julia’s project introduced strangers at bars and enticed them to Etch-a-Sketch together.
Kinnari Thakker
Julia Pellicciaro
Jessamyn Miller
Jessamyn Miller Pittsburgh Digital City Project Sidewalk Shrines
70
Instructors
Gill Wildman and Nick Durrant from Plot London taught the graduate studio course this semester. The course emphasized reading the city, playfulness, literature, cinema, psychogeography, drifting, and experimentation. Below is a sample of the course materials that had the most influence on my project.
Guest speakers
Eve Picker Rachel Abrams Timon Botez Chris Paccioni John Thackara
Films
Metropolis Blade Runner Wings of Desire
Readings
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch Massive Change by Bruce Mau How to be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith
Jessamyn Miller  Pittsburgh Digital City Project  Sidewalk Shrines
71