Following todays discussion, I felt to add the link of facebook!
CP

the virtual - virtual cities

Cities now are navigated, experienced and comprehended not only by their physical location on maps in order to see their climate, geography, morphology and history but also as non places, virtual sites manufactured from touristic propaganda, homepages, advertising campaigns and other media-propagated assemblies.(H. Rashid)

On the internet, emerging organizations whose focus is not yet specified are growing in parallel to traditional institutions with respect to the following areas of research: cultural and informative portals, virtual galleries, multimedia journals, magazines and newspapers, self-managed user networks capable of mobilizing the attention of the masses and, most of all, of the younger generation versed in the internet. Unlike the cumbersome, traditional structures of display, these fluid organizations offer specific advantages: easy-access to space, economy of space, long-distance, part-time work unfettered by time/place constraints, quick and easy access to the most specialized personnel around the world, speedy installation, no shipping or insurance costs, no actual construction, access to a wider audience - drawn by the internet's interactive, participatory, and ever-surprising persona. However, the design of significant on-line expositions demands time, testing, new synergies of specialists and fields (conception, programming, planning, visualizing, animation, computer graphics, communication), and imply the use of considerable budgets for production, constant management and updating. The average cost of online exhibitions, per visitor, is however without a doubt cheaper, particularly because of the incredible number of users which continues to grow steadily. At the same time, since an entrance ticket is as of yet unthinkable, the only actual funding in the short-term can be provided by advertising and sponsorship. However, in the long run, well-designed and flexible 'containers' will attract works of artists, more or less known, to create a valuable cultural and economic resource. Those collectors who nowadays are willing to pay millions of dollars to acquire works of art could, in the future, be attracted to a different kind of art which we cannot yet picture.

In a few months, access to the web, by cable or satellite, will ensure a download time for images, sounds, and videos equal to that of texts. In the meantime, computer speed, memory and power will continue to increase, while phone rates will continue to decrease due to competition. It will then be possible to take maximum advantage of rendering, animation and immersion softwares such as those currently used in film production, using smaller and smaller files than those used for video. Web art development, net-art, art-of-the-net and their new virtual exposition environments can only become more complex and advanced while at the same time easier to use. If one were to recall the dawn of the desktop and compare it to those of today, the metaphor of a simplified version of the actual desk on the screen - the 'desktop' -has been enriched to become increasingly functional and elegant. It is now the time to think of non-linear developments for interfaces that can guarantee an appropriate complexity and allow for the exhibition of any kind of art.

Several browsers or meta-browsers such as Netomat, Iod, Riot and Hullpointer exist as alternatives to Netscape and Explorer and are trying in different ways to broaden the options of visualizing, reading, and connecting web pages. Browserday, a convention of the cutting-edge minds of the digital world, is one of the major events that puts forward the latest artistic and technological developments. Cube is the first example of a refined technique and immediacy which allows for traditional web-browsing with a conceptually fresh and easy interface; the user moves fluidly amongst five pages (represented as faces of a cube) displayed concurrently. Could all of these examples be thought of as virtual museums of information? Or could the transition towards increasingly smaller technological gadgetry such as palm-pilots, wireless communication systems, gps (global position system) continue their trajectory from portable, to wearable, to perhaps eventually nested within our bodies and minds become the real virtual museums?
The continuing computer science revolution explores worlds we know to exist and perhaps are always on the brink of discovering other worlds. Man, Art and Science can once again become inextricably tied - perhaps we can bring to life another type of 'Renaissance Man'. The characteristics, the abilities, the instruments and most of all, the interests of the new artists will inevitably keep transforming, interminably. So, each time we will find ourselves thinking of places we have never seen, we might even try bending our mind to create art we have never imagined. (virtual museum competition 2001).

Assignment 2:

virtual environment

Teams of two people (the same teams involved with Assignment #1) are asked to browse the web and look for sites as suggested and also of your choice, such as virtual worlds, social communities, city homepages, public chatrooms etc.; Web-sites that allow you to interact, socialize with others, move in 3D, chat, slip into other indentities, see real-time information (video-images of on-site cameras projected on your computer screen) or even join live discussion groups (you could also be present via video conferencing). You might be able to see other people or their avatars and hear their conversations and be present in the virtual space via a projection of yourself onto your screen.

This short exercise should make you aware of the possibilities with current technology to interact within virtual sites and through virtual sites (web-pages) with actual sites, in case you are not yet a frequent user…I guess that’s a rare case!
Operate with the idea in mind, that you are later asked to develop in depth a concept for a potential link/s between your actual project and a possible parallel web project. You will further build your project for virtual space first (it might be built in second life) and then decide how and what might be transformed to the actual site. (The infobox is from 1995!) Here are some suggestions on how to analyse the websites. Add other parameters according to your convenience. This is the first step to develop a strategy for your virtual site concept.

1. Analyse the information structure of the site; how is information displayed and accessible? Texts, icons, transformation options etc.
2. diagram the spatial characteristics of the site; are there different possible ways of circulation through the web-site which you can describe and draw? Can you move freely in three dimensions? Can you access information in three dimensions?
3. analyse any links to actual sites, locations; (videocam, projector option, etc.)
4. describe the effectiveness of the interactivity of the site; what are the options for visitors in actual space to meet others in virtual space?
5. Which of the technological aspects are useful for your infobox, and how and where could these be implemented?

Emphasis is on the making of diagrams as an instrument to understand and mediate collected information effectively between us and to the potential users, and as a strategy to translate selected critical data later into the proposed project/s. You should focus on clarity and organization of visual and written information!

You find some links here on the right. Besides second life, my space etc.., there are some recent architectural realizations, mostly for large public projects, such as the Seattle library by Koolhaas, the Guggenheim virtual sites, and the New York Stock exchange by Asymptote, or institutional developments such as ETH world. Typically there is specific software involved such as Blaxxun, Virtools etc.., which implements the interfaces and the technological background.

Format:

The collected information is to be printed (format: A3, 11x17”) for pinup
And to be made available for the class on the webserver.

registration

First thing tuesday morning, 28 Aug 2007 is to sign in with Jess Schwintz and Jimmy Duenes and tell them which studio you are in.
My email does still not work.
Thanks
Christian

the actual - the infobox

The Infobox was opened in October 1995 on Potsdamer Platz and soon became a favorite of the public.
Architects: Schneider+ Schumacher

Classic reading on Berlin’s history: Hegemann W. “Das steinerne Berlin”, Kiepenhauer, Berlin 1930; (my transl. “City of Stone”).

In groups of two you elaborate the following 2 case studies; you will collect data-information, through the web or library. All necessary information is to be textually & visually displayed.

A) INFOBOX

1. Infobox site: the Potsdamer Platz and its recent history; urban aspects; siting of the Infobox; access to the Infobox;

2. Infobox program: spatial distribution of program (axonometric diagram); plans (scale 1:200, 1/16”); infrastructure, circulation (axonometric diagram);

3. Infobox structure: the main structural skeleton; materials used; footings; construction technique; manufacturing technique; (scale 1:200, 1/16”);

4. Infobox skin: cladding materials; façade layers, structural section of skin (axonometric diagram); construction details; elevations (scale 1:200, 1/16”);

B) MOBILE CONTAINER

5. construction site and info building/ demountable mobile containers: typology and examples; You should focus on general dimensions of the typically small building, on floor height (analyze the structure-skeleton with a diagram), on depth and width, and how it is manufactured and transported to the site; analysis of material, function and form; collect industry brochures; (scale 1:100, 1/8”)

online info help:see other links right

The collected information is to be printed (format: A3, 11x17”) for pinup, and to be made available for the class on the webserver.

Materials: Each student is supposed to have an appropriate scale in metrics!

Studio requirement

Studio CD

All the files of research and design are to be organized in a folder hierarchy on the CD.

Create a main folder that you will call yourname_Public2Info, with subfolders ResearchDesign and bookmarks; Research has subfolder TheActual, and TheVirtual; TheActual then will have the folder of your research topic, f.i. Infobox site; subfolders at your choice; Design on the other hand has subfolder Arch, which has as subfolder the title of the architect you choose from a list, f.i. Tschumi; Here you will add other folders at your choice (2d-design; 3d; images; etc.); and

Bookmarks

During your research you will also visit a lot of webpages. You are asked to collect all the bookmarks in the appropriate folders in Microsoft Explorer or firefox. Similar to the above strategy of organization, these need to be copied into the folder on the CD-ROM.

Bibliography

Compile and continuously update a written bibliography of the books that you will consult in the library. Include a list in the CD-ROM.

MEASUREMENT CONVERSIONS:

Sq meter in sq feet > multiply with 10.76

Sq feet to sq meters > multiply with 0.09290

cu meter in cubic feet > multiply with 35.31

Cubic feet in cu meter> multiply with 0.02832

Kilometer in meter > multiply with 1000

Meter in centimeters > multiply with 100.

STUDIO PHASES

THE RESEARCH / ANALYSIS

1. The studio work will proceed from an analysis (quantitative/ qualitative) of the Schneider&Schumacher - “Infobox” built for the Potsdamer Platz.
2. Students will in a second step examine typical mobile buildings, used as info/ construction site offices or similar, in their various configurations as they are marketed in different countries, in order to determine the construction standardization, types and their requirements.

Both is intended to provide an idea and understand the maximum scope and dimension of the “actual part” of the semester project.

3. An analysis of parallel worlds of different scales from second life to typical city homepages, city portals, and marketing sites of cities like Berlin, Dubai or also websites of general contractors, representing local public information and offering virtual tours to visitors will provide an experience to foster the “virtual part” of the semester project.

All studio research will be collected and made available to all the class.

THE PROJECT DESIGN PHASE

Design Process:

Based on generated research data of the structure, programmatic distribution, efficiency etc., accumulated during the research phase the students will start to assemble their own proposal, which will develop from physical 3D-pattern models.
Students are required to make 3D-parties as successive models of a generative design process.
Importance is laid onto the recording of each successive step, the parameter changes that lead to differentiation between the models.

The studio will refer to:

a. Patterns, development rules (see booklist)

b. industrial product design, product manufacturing strategies and assembly (references)

c. selected examples of architecture (links)

d. materials

e. structure

f. signage

Users:
The project will address the Typology of users, such as Berlin’s residents (visitors, shoppers, future residents), international travelers, people involved in the construction site, train commuters etc.

Program:
The proposal will cover a range of programmatic spaces/ units to be determined.

Site:
Student teams will insert their proposal into the Lehrter Bahnhof plaza, a large open space with view over the river Spree and to the Reichstag.

Public@INFO seeks to create a center, the Infobox, for mediating the changes of the development at Lehrter Bahnhof during the upcoming construction period and involve citizens and visitors early on to participate in what will evolve into one of Berlin’s major infrastructure and city center points in the future. The intention to create there a 21^st century city quarter, which would be the first 4G (fourth generation) wireless virtual community in Germany, including train-station, hotel, offices, residential and retail spaces etc. needs to be considered.

BERLIN>DUBAI

The Infobox at Potsdamerplatz built by architects Schneider & Schumacher in 1995, was a temporary and successful precedent with the goal to keep not only residents, but also international visitors “up to date” on one of the biggest building projects in city history. Since the studio project is intended as an architectural commodity ready to flexibly fit different environments, we will look into several sites, such as Berlin and Dubai, and confront the effect onto the design and production. The infobox is not thought of as a modernist kit-of-parts, but more like a contemporary branded product design and a result of industrial mass-customization. Students will develop a building that is fabricated with latest technologies to perform in different situations and which is able to respond to dynamic client needs and flexible program conditions. Student teams will conceive building prototypes, to be manufactured out of prefabricated components similar to the car-aircraft industry in order to establish ways for modularization, re-combination and formal variation through changes in size and shape. Students will get interested into material behavior and combined structural effects and how they link to design techniques and innovation with fabrication.

The site’s importance within a constantly evolving urban fabric and its dynamic relationship to other nodes within the city should be made transparent with a “platform”. The project platform/s will be present in both “real” worlds, a temporary structure in actual space and an info-forum in virtual space.
The actual space (physical building) and the virtual space (web-site), both will allow for information, meeting and exchange, marketing, sales, construction supervision, presentations and contemplation. Each of the programmatic “rooms” are represented in both worlds and equipped for interaction.
The task is to create a temporary building as an interactive environment that merges the two worlds such that it allows the visitor to experience a fluid transition from one world to the other. On the other hand, a visitor to the web-site will find an organizational principle similar to the physical building. The structure/ interface allows anyone to “browse” or navigate through the building and access the “rooms” to participate on-line.

Public@INFO MEDIATION

Public@INFO is the Design Studio that will explore the potential of current technology to mediate information effectively between design and construction and engage public space with temporary structures in both actual space and virtual space