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Wake Up and Smell the Hummus! _FORWARD For those living and working in the thick of the city sometimes shopping for something to eat or finding those ingredients for a healthy meal can be a challenge. Cue Fast food, pizza and flag Subway - they dont even care to give me student drinks any more. Yes its trendy to market your BLT as fresh and using only local produce and hey - the people selling them might even know where that bacon comes from! Eating healthy and being conscious about the impact your diet can have on the micro and macro environment is definitely a stance becoming more popular and even if that means coughing up a little extra dough at the bakery or local fish market it is satisfying to grab hold of a little bit of extra knowledge about what it is you’re actually consuming. Fortunately for us there are thousands of farmers, markets and local foodies producing a large amount of fresh unprocessed goods - the same stuff that food giants try to convince you (and do - successfuly) to pay more for that so called luxury. Typical of western culture we are routinely exercised (through cold dull isles of category and competition) about the assumptions of something which is working - to be the correct and perhaps the only way for something to be done.  The challenging factor of this situation is the inability for local farmers and producers to extend their products beyond their neighbouring schools and find transporting of goods to the city difficult by their own means.  The integral role which social media plays in this project is the mediation between data, and its ability to move effortlessly - and production of content, with the ability to be resourced and distributed locally. The traditional means of which food supply chains are structured are characteristic of a hierarchical system - one in which each representative reports to a higher authority. Proposed - is one more in line with a flat distribution strategy where you report to everyone involved in the system, and vice versa. The advantages of this approach is consistent with architectural concepts in relation to transparency. Following closely after all technology revolutions are those of communication revolutions as information becomes liberated and able to travel in new ways. As the kitchen (the heart to the home) has escaped the boundaries of allocation, so have gardens, markets and commercial restaurants and are even becoming a part of the experience - to see the preparation, becoming a part of the performance.  “The real work of architecture that adopts and reflects this new mediated world is yet to come. A discussion about “social media and architecture” is still more likely to consider how architects can use facebook or architizer to market their work, rather than how social media changes our experience of it”.  - Andrew Blum  Using the internet - in particular digital communities as a vehicle, a thorough understanding of the systems at play when regarding digital culture and social media becomes viewed less of a clip on to merely promote itself but as an imperative. Transparency is paramount. Sourcing a range of quality of foods in the city can be difficult for numerous reasons, whether it be transport, time, price or even knowledge of places existing. Being a part of a community online connects people through interests both directly and in-directly and can be instantanous when sharing information of times, places and prices, allowing for a transparent strategy of flat distribution when it comes to the products being made available on a local scale. The question proposed seeks to clarify the relationship of digital culture and architecture using events within the city as a vehicle - To develop and apply digital taxonomy to real, tangible and even commercial architectures. How is it possible to generate operacy from the information generation of digital culture? This design aims to suggest architecture which can enrich and challenge peoples experience of spatial environments through an understanding of the systems at work - a participation design.

Wake Up and Smell the Hummus!

_FORWARD

For those living and working in the thick of the city sometimes shopping for something to eat or finding those ingredients for a healthy meal can be a challenge. Cue Fast food, pizza and flag Subway - they dont even care to give me student drinks any more. Yes its trendy to market your BLT as fresh and using only local produce and hey - the people selling them might even know where that bacon comes from!

Eating healthy and being conscious about the impact your diet can have on the micro and macro environment is definitely a stance becoming more popular and even if that means coughing up a little extra dough at the bakery or local fish market it is satisfying to grab hold of a little bit of extra knowledge about what it is you’re actually consuming.

Fortunately for us there are thousands of farmers, markets and local foodies producing a large amount of fresh unprocessed goods - the same stuff that food giants try to convince you (and do - successfuly) to pay more for that so called luxury. Typical of western culture we are routinely exercised (through cold dull isles of category and competition) about the assumptions of something which is working - to be the correct and perhaps the only way for something to be done. 

The challenging factor of this situation is the inability for local farmers and producers to extend their products beyond their neighbouring schools and find transporting of goods to the city difficult by their own means. 

The integral role which social media plays in this project is the mediation between data, and its ability to move effortlessly - and production of content, with the ability to be resourced and distributed locally. The traditional means of which food supply chains are structured are characteristic of a hierarchical system - one in which each representative reports to a higher authority. Proposed - is one more in line with a flat distribution strategy where you report to everyone involved in the system, and vice versa.

The advantages of this approach is consistent with architectural concepts in relation to transparency. Following closely after all technology revolutions are those of communication revolutions as information becomes liberated and able to travel in new ways. As the kitchen (the heart to the home) has escaped the boundaries of allocation, so have gardens, markets and commercial restaurants and are even becoming a part of the experience - to see the preparation, becoming a part of the performance. 

“The real work of architecture that adopts and reflects this new mediated world is yet to come. A discussion about “social media and architecture” is still more likely to consider how architects can use facebook or architizer to market their work, rather than how social media changes our experience of it”. 

- Andrew Blum 

Using the internet - in particular digital communities as a vehicle, a thorough understanding of the systems at play when regarding digital culture and social media becomes viewed less of a clip on to merely promote itself but as an imperative. Transparency is paramount.

Sourcing a range of quality of foods in the city can be difficult for numerous reasons, whether it be transport, time, price or even knowledge of places existing. Being a part of a community online connects people through interests both directly and in-directly and can be instantanous when sharing information of times, places and prices, allowing for a transparent strategy of flat distribution when it comes to the products being made available on a local scale.

The question proposed seeks to clarify the relationship of digital culture and architecture using events within the city as a vehicle - To develop and apply digital taxonomy to real, tangible and even commercial architectures.

How is it possible to generate operacy from the information generation of digital culture?

This design aims to suggest architecture which can enrich and challenge peoples experience of spatial environments through an understanding of the systems at work - a participation design.

1 year ago 

Is it possible to use digital communities - in particular the information and data generated to help participation and understanding of events within cities?

An impression of using otherwise forgotten spaces (in this case a carpark at night) as a dynamic location for a temporary need (influenced from digital communities) in this moment of time and local space. In this example the car park can be used for sharing resources and produce among others.

With the years to come the city may begin to see spaces intended for vehicles become intergrated and soon converted for local production and distribution of foods.The city will adapt to the needs of the local communities as plans for more pedestrian and autonomous transport begin to appear. Places once dedicated to transport can be used for hosting events appropriate for the local communities.   

1 year ago 

Examples of studies such as bitly information reveals the dynamics of sharing content through social mediums like facebook, twitter, youtube and tumblr. Information of location is already publicised and during certain hours, days and seasons this information being shared exposes itself to a range of demographics and communities both physical and digital.

To harness these potentials, events in the city can be designed to occur either immediately or at times and locations according to those communities generating such informations.

The implications see those occupying the spaces in relation to the immediate, physical environment (in a context which is temporary) but also the digital communities influencing the context - a sense of place generated from something which cannot be touched but can be seen, heard and can be experienced.


The Hunger

Using food as a vehicle to explain the generation of operacy from digital communities we can see the methodology underpinning the concept - which could theoretically be applied to any context of event within the city. 

The nature of digital communities are more dynamic and fast paced when compared to the physical. The key factor differentiating the two is the speed at which information can be shared, a characteristic of digital culture.

The city becomes an open invitation to exercise the potentials of data collaboration where-by the excess of information being shared by those occupying the city will result in a natural emergence of temporary spaces being adapted to the local and immediate needs of digital culture.

1 year ago 

Data as Material.

Data / Events / Online Communities / Architecture / City

A collection of thoughts and writing from Wednesday 9th May

The impact of digital media in relationship to the experience of physical space has transformed entirely over the past decade. It is no longer one way, and not even necessarily for marketing and advertising but is becoming two-way and even participatory. 

Technology revolutions induce information revolutions which changes the way people view and experience the world. In the same way that the introduction of trains allowed for information to travel in a brand new way the introduction of the internet has opened a vast range of possibilities too. Thankfully twitter and facebook are not only just useful for showing everyone what you had for lunch.

Media and data is to be treated as a material, in the same sense that concrete and glass exist and should be treated accordingly in design process. Although not physical it is just as an important factor in experienceing space in the same way that heat and light can. It is contextual. 

This is a very important stance to take architectually when thinking of materials - as the design process to be applied to architecture is not only passive but even neglective of social media. Design process is still yet to completely acknowledge this. Much remians playful and experimental. Characteristics are still dislocated from time and space.

Social media and architecture.

“The real work of architecture that adopts and reflects this new mediated world is yet to come. A discussion about “social media and architecture” is still more likely to consider how architects can use facebook or architizer to market their work, rather than how social media changes our experience of it”. 

- Andrew Blum

This could be potentially due to practice being generational and an “old persons game” where students from the digital generation are still emerging and yet to flourish in the architectural world of design. Hunger for operacy is a project essentially attempting to engage in those invisible networks surrounding us, and make them a driving force in design instead of a clip on feature to help market itself. The worlds of the physical and the digital spaces we inhibit are viewed as one in the same.

Operacy is therefore paramount for architecture and potentials of digital communities in which they can be exercised.

Any city is a place of events, diversity, colour and at a mix of scales. There is noise and confusion, overwhelming experiences and disorientation but there is also focus and inspiration helping to make sense of it all. A call for understanding, 2-way participatory design is essential.

In regards to restaurants and even preparation of food at home in kitchens, lounges and families have become much more open and transparent, creating a performance and better understanding of the entire event of eating than compared to 15 - 20 years ago when the internet was first used. This is not a direct result of the internet but general transparency in architecture and privacy issues have always been around are not particular to cultures of the digital generation.

Transparency and secrecy is suggestive of online information being so available and privacy has become basically non existant. architectural transparency is only going to become more frequent, especially in digital culture. This concept is a shift towards a better understanding of those systems at work within the city and by better understanding design we are more likely to empathise and participate, key to inspiring operacy.

S. Kwan-Parsons

1 year ago 

What if: projects

http://www.what-if.info/Vacant_Lot_allotment_programme.html

These guys have been mapping vacant and neglected spaces that surround inner city housing estates in London.The team has drawn attention to these areas and has been investigating strategies for how these unloved spaces can be appropriated to accommodate the needs of the local population.

“The first Vacant Lot allotment on a housing estate in Hoxton was realised as a temporary intervention featuring bulk bags as growing containers and has since through considerable media attention inspired many similar low budget communal projects. Since June 2007, this formerly inaccessible piece of land continues to be used as an allotment by the local community. Residents are carefully tending a spectacular array of vegetables, salads, fruit and flowers and in addition insects and birds have moved in and thrive in this new natural habitat. VACANT LOT has become a place for meeting neighbours, BBQs’, sitting in the sun, playing and gardening.”

1 year ago 

The Sheffield Food Network

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Sheffield-Food-Network/920747

This was a project in the UK that updated the old food maps and tried to digitise them by having a live updating map through google to show where local sustainable produce could be sourced. 

some great imagery and also kept a blog: http://10liveproject2008.blogspot.co.nz/

1 year ago 

Charlie Todd: The Shared experience

can also be viewed here on TED

http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html

The first 4 minutes of this video is of interest by creating a shared experience. While it does focus on absurdity it is closely tied to participation design. This concept is what has potential to bring people together in communities but the focus will be on digital cultures of course and how this can influence architecture.

1 year ago 

Virtual Water

Visualisation of the product which helps to understand the relationship within these systems at work. This particular example is for smart phones already which is not far off from being socially integrated within communities.

http://virtualwater.eu/

1 year ago 

viewing the source of the meal becomes the menu and an influential factor for how you view and order food.

example at the top shows farms in the united states and could be easily translated at a smaller urban scale for the city with a range of mappings.

1 year ago 

Po Thinking

When an idea is boiled down to the bare bones we usually find that there is an underpinning action or quality helping to define that idea. If we use de bono’s idea of a restaurant - the underpinning characteristic which is understood is that food is served at restaurants. 

By removing this action we are then left with a situation in which we all think a restaurant can no longer exist, how can a restaurant exist if they do not serve food? Po thinking suggests thinking to design a way around this common misconception so that we are still able to have a restaurant. How? We look for alternatives under the given circumstance so that we can still define the idea but with new rules.

Perhaps the restaurant requires you to bring the food to the event. The circumstance we use to help define the idea can be in relation to what ever it is you are trying to explore or achieve.

How does this tie in with digital communities? All we need to do is think of a circumstance which permits it. What would be a beneficial approach to using online communities to help enhance the experience of the event? This question is critical to the thesis and further exploration of the topic will be done through design. Thoughts of the event before, during and after and also characteristics of the physical and digital event are to be analysed to give a more thorough understanding for what circumstances are needed to identify and strengthen the relationship between digital communities and the physical event.

1 year ago 

Mapping the relationship between physical relationships in a community vs. digital relationships. Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’ discusses connectors (people in a community) and the power of context - interesting concepts for understanding the unseen dynamics of a community which are apparent through this exercise.  *some of the connecting lines representing the relationship of physical and digital identity becoming stronger than others are no coincidence. - architecture like social media may well become viral under certain contexts.

Mapping the relationship between physical relationships in a community vs. digital relationships.

Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’ discusses connectors (people in a community) and the power of context - interesting concepts for understanding the unseen dynamics of a community which are apparent through this exercise. 

*some of the connecting lines representing the relationship of physical and digital identity becoming stronger than others are no coincidence. - architecture like social media may well become viral under certain contexts.

1 year ago  View high resolution

imagery source from Auckland Transport Blog (halfway down page) 

@ http://transportblog.co.nz/tag/density/

These images are mapping density within Auckland city (defining the urban boundaries) and show patterns of intensity. The 2006 census also predicted density for the next few years until 2021 but the mapping is interesting none the less. 

For the site along side westhaven and next to silo park the current motorway and transport overpass act as a boundary for free sprawl about the area. However since the silo park redevelopments and plans for the western reclamation it is fair to predict that this is an area which will also increase in density in the years to come.

1 year ago 

Mapping from ‘Open Paths’ https://openpaths.cc/ I have been using the Open Paths app for my phone over the last 6 weeks or so and have been able to map the data as it collects data from where I have been moving throughout the city. It collects data points every few hours or so - or every time a significant move is made. It is not always completely accurate with its readings (sometimes I walk on water apparently) and it shows the direct path from point a to point b as opposed to the real route taken within the city (understandable due to regulated collection of data) however it is very interesting to see the ‘hot spots’ and common paths taken about my activities within the city.  The website allows you to map your data and use filters such as day/night, weekday/weekend and display a spectrum of colours indicating recent activity. You can replay your paths in the order you have navigated your way about the city and the more i use this app the more interesting it becomes.  It is not hard to imagine a group of people using this app for educational purposes.

Mapping from ‘Open Paths’ https://openpaths.cc/

I have been using the Open Paths app for my phone over the last 6 weeks or so and have been able to map the data as it collects data from where I have been moving throughout the city.

It collects data points every few hours or so - or every time a significant move is made. It is not always completely accurate with its readings (sometimes I walk on water apparently) and it shows the direct path from point a to point b as opposed to the real route taken within the city (understandable due to regulated collection of data) however it is very interesting to see the ‘hot spots’ and common paths taken about my activities within the city. 

The website allows you to map your data and use filters such as day/night, weekday/weekend and display a spectrum of colours indicating recent activity. You can replay your paths in the order you have navigated your way about the city and the more i use this app the more interesting it becomes. 

It is not hard to imagine a group of people using this app for educational purposes.

1 year ago  View high resolution

Audi Urban Future Initiative This initiative looks towards the future with the aim of establishing a dialogue on the synergy of mobility, architecture and urban development.J. Mayer H. Architects explore a potential situation in the near-future where cars are all a part of an intelligent system that independantly navigate themselves about the city and what spatial implications this might have. There are thoughts about solar energy, wind energy and wave energy being supplied and globalised according to their best geographical implementations and how this may be used to generate the power required to drive the system. The implications of this design would possibly self organise traffic into swarms of ‘fish like’ flow. Parking would no longer be needed as cars are not owned personally but shared. With consideration to infrastructures there is a need for reprogramming and the threshold of the sidewalk and pedestrian areas to be re-thought. Pairing up local markets with the most visionary research institutions worldwide, it will provide an academic foundation for future mobility scenarios and, together with the other components, ultimately create a rich ecosystem of global knowledge on mobility.

Audi Urban Future Initiative

This initiative looks towards the future with the aim of establishing a dialogue on the synergy of mobility, architecture and urban development.J. Mayer H. Architects explore a potential situation in the near-future where cars are all a part of an intelligent system that independantly navigate themselves about the city and what spatial implications this might have. There are thoughts about solar energy, wind energy and wave energy being supplied and globalised according to their best geographical implementations and how this may be used to generate the power required to drive the system. The implications of this design would possibly self organise traffic into swarms of ‘fish like’ flow. Parking would no longer be needed as cars are not owned personally but shared. With consideration to infrastructures there is a need for reprogramming and the threshold of the sidewalk and pedestrian areas to be re-thought.

Pairing up local markets with the most visionary research institutions worldwide, it will provide an academic foundation for future mobility scenarios and, together with the other components, ultimately create a rich ecosystem of global knowledge on mobility.

1 year ago  View high resolution

A Call for Design Thinking - Tim Brown

Tim Brown (CEO of innovation and design at IDEO) claims that the design profession is preoccupied at a small scale sense of what is nifty, clever and fashionable objects. He calls for a shift in thinking to help and realise the potential of local, collaborative, participatory design thinking. This would be much more effective in design at a larger scale of needs for example, having access to clean water has a much bigger role to play than just the design and marketing of bottled fresh water.

The discusison focuses on ideas based on human centered actual needs, rather than aesthetic needs, and stresses the importance for the design community and larger communities to realise this.

“Too many designers have mis-directed their talents to design things we don’t need, to be sold to us using money we don’t yet have, only so we can impress our friends who don’t really care.” - Victor Papenek.

1 year ago 

Wake Up and Smell the Hummus! _FORWARD For those living and working in the thick of the city sometimes shopping for something to eat or finding those ingredients for a healthy meal can be a challenge. Cue Fast food, pizza and flag Subway - they dont even care to give me student drinks any more. Yes its trendy to market your BLT as fresh and using only local produce and hey - the people selling them might even know where that bacon comes from! Eating healthy and being conscious about the impact your diet can have on the micro and macro environment is definitely a stance becoming more popular and even if that means coughing up a little extra dough at the bakery or local fish market it is satisfying to grab hold of a little bit of extra knowledge about what it is you’re actually consuming. Fortunately for us there are thousands of farmers, markets and local foodies producing a large amount of fresh unprocessed goods - the same stuff that food giants try to convince you (and do - successfuly) to pay more for that so called luxury. Typical of western culture we are routinely exercised (through cold dull isles of category and competition) about the assumptions of something which is working - to be the correct and perhaps the only way for something to be done.  The challenging factor of this situation is the inability for local farmers and producers to extend their products beyond their neighbouring schools and find transporting of goods to the city difficult by their own means.  The integral role which social media plays in this project is the mediation between data, and its ability to move effortlessly - and production of content, with the ability to be resourced and distributed locally. The traditional means of which food supply chains are structured are characteristic of a hierarchical system - one in which each representative reports to a higher authority. Proposed - is one more in line with a flat distribution strategy where you report to everyone involved in the system, and vice versa. The advantages of this approach is consistent with architectural concepts in relation to transparency. Following closely after all technology revolutions are those of communication revolutions as information becomes liberated and able to travel in new ways. As the kitchen (the heart to the home) has escaped the boundaries of allocation, so have gardens, markets and commercial restaurants and are even becoming a part of the experience - to see the preparation, becoming a part of the performance.  “The real work of architecture that adopts and reflects this new mediated world is yet to come. A discussion about “social media and architecture” is still more likely to consider how architects can use facebook or architizer to market their work, rather than how social media changes our experience of it”.  - Andrew Blum  Using the internet - in particular digital communities as a vehicle, a thorough understanding of the systems at play when regarding digital culture and social media becomes viewed less of a clip on to merely promote itself but as an imperative. Transparency is paramount. Sourcing a range of quality of foods in the city can be difficult for numerous reasons, whether it be transport, time, price or even knowledge of places existing. Being a part of a community online connects people through interests both directly and in-directly and can be instantanous when sharing information of times, places and prices, allowing for a transparent strategy of flat distribution when it comes to the products being made available on a local scale. The question proposed seeks to clarify the relationship of digital culture and architecture using events within the city as a vehicle - To develop and apply digital taxonomy to real, tangible and even commercial architectures. How is it possible to generate operacy from the information generation of digital culture? This design aims to suggest architecture which can enrich and challenge peoples experience of spatial environments through an understanding of the systems at work - a participation design.

Wake Up and Smell the Hummus!

_FORWARD

For those living and working in the thick of the city sometimes shopping for something to eat or finding those ingredients for a healthy meal can be a challenge. Cue Fast food, pizza and flag Subway - they dont even care to give me student drinks any more. Yes its trendy to market your BLT as fresh and using only local produce and hey - the people selling them might even know where that bacon comes from!

Eating healthy and being conscious about the impact your diet can have on the micro and macro environment is definitely a stance becoming more popular and even if that means coughing up a little extra dough at the bakery or local fish market it is satisfying to grab hold of a little bit of extra knowledge about what it is you’re actually consuming.

Fortunately for us there are thousands of farmers, markets and local foodies producing a large amount of fresh unprocessed goods - the same stuff that food giants try to convince you (and do - successfuly) to pay more for that so called luxury. Typical of western culture we are routinely exercised (through cold dull isles of category and competition) about the assumptions of something which is working - to be the correct and perhaps the only way for something to be done. 

The challenging factor of this situation is the inability for local farmers and producers to extend their products beyond their neighbouring schools and find transporting of goods to the city difficult by their own means. 

The integral role which social media plays in this project is the mediation between data, and its ability to move effortlessly - and production of content, with the ability to be resourced and distributed locally. The traditional means of which food supply chains are structured are characteristic of a hierarchical system - one in which each representative reports to a higher authority. Proposed - is one more in line with a flat distribution strategy where you report to everyone involved in the system, and vice versa.

The advantages of this approach is consistent with architectural concepts in relation to transparency. Following closely after all technology revolutions are those of communication revolutions as information becomes liberated and able to travel in new ways. As the kitchen (the heart to the home) has escaped the boundaries of allocation, so have gardens, markets and commercial restaurants and are even becoming a part of the experience - to see the preparation, becoming a part of the performance. 

“The real work of architecture that adopts and reflects this new mediated world is yet to come. A discussion about “social media and architecture” is still more likely to consider how architects can use facebook or architizer to market their work, rather than how social media changes our experience of it”. 

- Andrew Blum 

Using the internet - in particular digital communities as a vehicle, a thorough understanding of the systems at play when regarding digital culture and social media becomes viewed less of a clip on to merely promote itself but as an imperative. Transparency is paramount.

Sourcing a range of quality of foods in the city can be difficult for numerous reasons, whether it be transport, time, price or even knowledge of places existing. Being a part of a community online connects people through interests both directly and in-directly and can be instantanous when sharing information of times, places and prices, allowing for a transparent strategy of flat distribution when it comes to the products being made available on a local scale.

The question proposed seeks to clarify the relationship of digital culture and architecture using events within the city as a vehicle - To develop and apply digital taxonomy to real, tangible and even commercial architectures.

How is it possible to generate operacy from the information generation of digital culture?

This design aims to suggest architecture which can enrich and challenge peoples experience of spatial environments through an understanding of the systems at work - a participation design.

Is it possible to use digital communities - in particular the information and data generated to help participation and understanding of events within cities?

An impression of using otherwise forgotten spaces (in this case a carpark at night) as a dynamic location for a temporary need (influenced from digital communities) in this moment of time and local space. In this example the car park can be used for sharing resources and produce among others.

With the years to come the city may begin to see spaces intended for vehicles become intergrated and soon converted for local production and distribution of foods.The city will adapt to the needs of the local communities as plans for more pedestrian and autonomous transport begin to appear. Places once dedicated to transport can be used for hosting events appropriate for the local communities.   

Examples of studies such as bitly information reveals the dynamics of sharing content through social mediums like facebook, twitter, youtube and tumblr. Information of location is already publicised and during certain hours, days and seasons this information being shared exposes itself to a range of demographics and communities both physical and digital.

To harness these potentials, events in the city can be designed to occur either immediately or at times and locations according to those communities generating such informations.

The implications see those occupying the spaces in relation to the immediate, physical environment (in a context which is temporary) but also the digital communities influencing the context - a sense of place generated from something which cannot be touched but can be seen, heard and can be experienced.


The Hunger

Using food as a vehicle to explain the generation of operacy from digital communities we can see the methodology underpinning the concept - which could theoretically be applied to any context of event within the city. 

The nature of digital communities are more dynamic and fast paced when compared to the physical. The key factor differentiating the two is the speed at which information can be shared, a characteristic of digital culture.

The city becomes an open invitation to exercise the potentials of data collaboration where-by the excess of information being shared by those occupying the city will result in a natural emergence of temporary spaces being adapted to the local and immediate needs of digital culture.

Data as Material.

Data / Events / Online Communities / Architecture / City

A collection of thoughts and writing from Wednesday 9th May

The impact of digital media in relationship to the experience of physical space has transformed entirely over the past decade. It is no longer one way, and not even necessarily for marketing and advertising but is becoming two-way and even participatory. 

Technology revolutions induce information revolutions which changes the way people view and experience the world. In the same way that the introduction of trains allowed for information to travel in a brand new way the introduction of the internet has opened a vast range of possibilities too. Thankfully twitter and facebook are not only just useful for showing everyone what you had for lunch.

Media and data is to be treated as a material, in the same sense that concrete and glass exist and should be treated accordingly in design process. Although not physical it is just as an important factor in experienceing space in the same way that heat and light can. It is contextual. 

This is a very important stance to take architectually when thinking of materials - as the design process to be applied to architecture is not only passive but even neglective of social media. Design process is still yet to completely acknowledge this. Much remians playful and experimental. Characteristics are still dislocated from time and space.

Social media and architecture.

“The real work of architecture that adopts and reflects this new mediated world is yet to come. A discussion about “social media and architecture” is still more likely to consider how architects can use facebook or architizer to market their work, rather than how social media changes our experience of it”. 

- Andrew Blum

This could be potentially due to practice being generational and an “old persons game” where students from the digital generation are still emerging and yet to flourish in the architectural world of design. Hunger for operacy is a project essentially attempting to engage in those invisible networks surrounding us, and make them a driving force in design instead of a clip on feature to help market itself. The worlds of the physical and the digital spaces we inhibit are viewed as one in the same.

Operacy is therefore paramount for architecture and potentials of digital communities in which they can be exercised.

Any city is a place of events, diversity, colour and at a mix of scales. There is noise and confusion, overwhelming experiences and disorientation but there is also focus and inspiration helping to make sense of it all. A call for understanding, 2-way participatory design is essential.

In regards to restaurants and even preparation of food at home in kitchens, lounges and families have become much more open and transparent, creating a performance and better understanding of the entire event of eating than compared to 15 - 20 years ago when the internet was first used. This is not a direct result of the internet but general transparency in architecture and privacy issues have always been around are not particular to cultures of the digital generation.

Transparency and secrecy is suggestive of online information being so available and privacy has become basically non existant. architectural transparency is only going to become more frequent, especially in digital culture. This concept is a shift towards a better understanding of those systems at work within the city and by better understanding design we are more likely to empathise and participate, key to inspiring operacy.

S. Kwan-Parsons

What if: projects

http://www.what-if.info/Vacant_Lot_allotment_programme.html

These guys have been mapping vacant and neglected spaces that surround inner city housing estates in London.The team has drawn attention to these areas and has been investigating strategies for how these unloved spaces can be appropriated to accommodate the needs of the local population.

“The first Vacant Lot allotment on a housing estate in Hoxton was realised as a temporary intervention featuring bulk bags as growing containers and has since through considerable media attention inspired many similar low budget communal projects. Since June 2007, this formerly inaccessible piece of land continues to be used as an allotment by the local community. Residents are carefully tending a spectacular array of vegetables, salads, fruit and flowers and in addition insects and birds have moved in and thrive in this new natural habitat. VACANT LOT has become a place for meeting neighbours, BBQs’, sitting in the sun, playing and gardening.”

The Sheffield Food Network

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Sheffield-Food-Network/920747

This was a project in the UK that updated the old food maps and tried to digitise them by having a live updating map through google to show where local sustainable produce could be sourced. 

some great imagery and also kept a blog: http://10liveproject2008.blogspot.co.nz/

Charlie Todd: The Shared experience

can also be viewed here on TED

http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html

The first 4 minutes of this video is of interest by creating a shared experience. While it does focus on absurdity it is closely tied to participation design. This concept is what has potential to bring people together in communities but the focus will be on digital cultures of course and how this can influence architecture.

Virtual Water

Visualisation of the product which helps to understand the relationship within these systems at work. This particular example is for smart phones already which is not far off from being socially integrated within communities.

http://virtualwater.eu/

viewing the source of the meal becomes the menu and an influential factor for how you view and order food.

example at the top shows farms in the united states and could be easily translated at a smaller urban scale for the city with a range of mappings.

Po Thinking

When an idea is boiled down to the bare bones we usually find that there is an underpinning action or quality helping to define that idea. If we use de bono’s idea of a restaurant - the underpinning characteristic which is understood is that food is served at restaurants. 

By removing this action we are then left with a situation in which we all think a restaurant can no longer exist, how can a restaurant exist if they do not serve food? Po thinking suggests thinking to design a way around this common misconception so that we are still able to have a restaurant. How? We look for alternatives under the given circumstance so that we can still define the idea but with new rules.

Perhaps the restaurant requires you to bring the food to the event. The circumstance we use to help define the idea can be in relation to what ever it is you are trying to explore or achieve.

How does this tie in with digital communities? All we need to do is think of a circumstance which permits it. What would be a beneficial approach to using online communities to help enhance the experience of the event? This question is critical to the thesis and further exploration of the topic will be done through design. Thoughts of the event before, during and after and also characteristics of the physical and digital event are to be analysed to give a more thorough understanding for what circumstances are needed to identify and strengthen the relationship between digital communities and the physical event.

Mapping the relationship between physical relationships in a community vs. digital relationships. Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’ discusses connectors (people in a community) and the power of context - interesting concepts for understanding the unseen dynamics of a community which are apparent through this exercise.  *some of the connecting lines representing the relationship of physical and digital identity becoming stronger than others are no coincidence. - architecture like social media may well become viral under certain contexts.

Mapping the relationship between physical relationships in a community vs. digital relationships.

Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’ discusses connectors (people in a community) and the power of context - interesting concepts for understanding the unseen dynamics of a community which are apparent through this exercise. 

*some of the connecting lines representing the relationship of physical and digital identity becoming stronger than others are no coincidence. - architecture like social media may well become viral under certain contexts.

imagery source from Auckland Transport Blog (halfway down page) 

@ http://transportblog.co.nz/tag/density/

These images are mapping density within Auckland city (defining the urban boundaries) and show patterns of intensity. The 2006 census also predicted density for the next few years until 2021 but the mapping is interesting none the less. 

For the site along side westhaven and next to silo park the current motorway and transport overpass act as a boundary for free sprawl about the area. However since the silo park redevelopments and plans for the western reclamation it is fair to predict that this is an area which will also increase in density in the years to come.

Mapping from ‘Open Paths’ https://openpaths.cc/ I have been using the Open Paths app for my phone over the last 6 weeks or so and have been able to map the data as it collects data from where I have been moving throughout the city. It collects data points every few hours or so - or every time a significant move is made. It is not always completely accurate with its readings (sometimes I walk on water apparently) and it shows the direct path from point a to point b as opposed to the real route taken within the city (understandable due to regulated collection of data) however it is very interesting to see the ‘hot spots’ and common paths taken about my activities within the city.  The website allows you to map your data and use filters such as day/night, weekday/weekend and display a spectrum of colours indicating recent activity. You can replay your paths in the order you have navigated your way about the city and the more i use this app the more interesting it becomes.  It is not hard to imagine a group of people using this app for educational purposes.

Mapping from ‘Open Paths’ https://openpaths.cc/

I have been using the Open Paths app for my phone over the last 6 weeks or so and have been able to map the data as it collects data from where I have been moving throughout the city.

It collects data points every few hours or so - or every time a significant move is made. It is not always completely accurate with its readings (sometimes I walk on water apparently) and it shows the direct path from point a to point b as opposed to the real route taken within the city (understandable due to regulated collection of data) however it is very interesting to see the ‘hot spots’ and common paths taken about my activities within the city. 

The website allows you to map your data and use filters such as day/night, weekday/weekend and display a spectrum of colours indicating recent activity. You can replay your paths in the order you have navigated your way about the city and the more i use this app the more interesting it becomes. 

It is not hard to imagine a group of people using this app for educational purposes.

Audi Urban Future Initiative This initiative looks towards the future with the aim of establishing a dialogue on the synergy of mobility, architecture and urban development.J. Mayer H. Architects explore a potential situation in the near-future where cars are all a part of an intelligent system that independantly navigate themselves about the city and what spatial implications this might have. There are thoughts about solar energy, wind energy and wave energy being supplied and globalised according to their best geographical implementations and how this may be used to generate the power required to drive the system. The implications of this design would possibly self organise traffic into swarms of ‘fish like’ flow. Parking would no longer be needed as cars are not owned personally but shared. With consideration to infrastructures there is a need for reprogramming and the threshold of the sidewalk and pedestrian areas to be re-thought. Pairing up local markets with the most visionary research institutions worldwide, it will provide an academic foundation for future mobility scenarios and, together with the other components, ultimately create a rich ecosystem of global knowledge on mobility.

Audi Urban Future Initiative

This initiative looks towards the future with the aim of establishing a dialogue on the synergy of mobility, architecture and urban development.J. Mayer H. Architects explore a potential situation in the near-future where cars are all a part of an intelligent system that independantly navigate themselves about the city and what spatial implications this might have. There are thoughts about solar energy, wind energy and wave energy being supplied and globalised according to their best geographical implementations and how this may be used to generate the power required to drive the system. The implications of this design would possibly self organise traffic into swarms of ‘fish like’ flow. Parking would no longer be needed as cars are not owned personally but shared. With consideration to infrastructures there is a need for reprogramming and the threshold of the sidewalk and pedestrian areas to be re-thought.

Pairing up local markets with the most visionary research institutions worldwide, it will provide an academic foundation for future mobility scenarios and, together with the other components, ultimately create a rich ecosystem of global knowledge on mobility.

A Call for Design Thinking - Tim Brown

Tim Brown (CEO of innovation and design at IDEO) claims that the design profession is preoccupied at a small scale sense of what is nifty, clever and fashionable objects. He calls for a shift in thinking to help and realise the potential of local, collaborative, participatory design thinking. This would be much more effective in design at a larger scale of needs for example, having access to clean water has a much bigger role to play than just the design and marketing of bottled fresh water.

The discusison focuses on ideas based on human centered actual needs, rather than aesthetic needs, and stresses the importance for the design community and larger communities to realise this.

“Too many designers have mis-directed their talents to design things we don’t need, to be sold to us using money we don’t yet have, only so we can impress our friends who don’t really care.” - Victor Papenek.

Data as Material.
Virtual Water
Po Thinking

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