...Image of The Invisible...

The intensity in times square...

The New System...

Simulation_1

Simulatin_2

MetaMarket... notes 

As we move further into the 21st century and metadata takes the market what does this say to the notion of identity?  currently our identity is 'that which is identical to our selves'.  the things which make up 'US'.  things we own, histories we lived, plans we make,.......  is metadata our new 'identity'?

what is identity?

The Halo of the Strange...

 some ideas toward the possible chapters for the book, obviously a bit sketchy.  these are probably in no way what the actual titles will be...and probably not the content either....

The idea:

—     technology and the age of media: (a discussion of the condition in which we exist, technology and how it is shaping the ways we experience, interprit, and exist in the our environment.)

—   the evolution of the web:   (an insight into the condition of the web from its introduction [web 1.0], and its evolution to 2.0 and whats in store for us) 

the site:

—     times square, a process:  (The condition of times square and the process leading to the mediation of the architectural environment)

—     the void, 1 times:  (a bit about the architecture of the void [whatever that means])

—     times square left behind:  (a discussion of the existing condition of times square in terms of media, technology, interaction, social networking, etc and how it might be outdated)

the project:

—     continuing the process:  (how one can use dynamics to take the existing condition of one times sq. and project it into the future)

—     bringing times square into the future:  (a catalyst for bringing times square into the condition that will exist in a web-3.0 world, and ultimately the future.  forecasting the condition that will exist in the future, and designing for that condition)

—     the program:  (a bit about what will take place)

¿Whats at stake?

The idea:

How will technology, hyperconnectivity, social networking, media…. Change the way we experience the environment and interact with each other?  How can we begin to design for that changed condition?

As technology advances so does the way we interact with it.  One comment from the midterm jury was, what is at stake in the future and what does that mean for times square?  What will technology be like in 20 years and how can we design for that?  Will Times Square be out dated?  Is times Square really so integrated when it comes to technology or is it just a manifestation of web 1.0?  If we are making the transition to web 2.0 (or possibly already deep into it) now, what is web 3.0 and how will that change or shape our interactions with it and others in the future?  Where does times Square fit into the mix?  Sure we think of it as being a show for interactive video and advertisements but in the grand sceme it is all operating in the realm of web 1.0 .  can this project become the catalyst that brings times square into the world of web 3.0.  so here is a bit about on the web versions and what they mean.

Web 3.0  Semantic Web

A simple wikipedia search defines Web 3.0 as a “web of data”.  A web that enables machines to understand the meaning or semantics of the information on the world wide web.  It extends the human readable hyperlinked pages by adding to them pages of metadata which the computer can read.  This is info on the nature of the pages and how they relate to each other.  So what does this mean?

The Evolution of the web:

Web 1.0

The web began as an informational portal, basically a read-only web.  Content was though of in terms of ownership and the game was to be the first to own the content that was hot at the time.  The web was generally thought of as a divided array of usable directories and everyone (everyone ‘using’ the web) would own a their own little slice of it in the form of simple home pages.  This was primarily used for and thought of as a business tool.

Web 2.0

In the notions of web 2.0 we see the move toward a read-write version of the web.  Homepages became blogs and facebook/myspace pages where the information would become content that is continuously updated rather then simple static information.  This new read-write web marks the beginning of the web platforms (seen in things such as google os).The web would be seen then in terms of community rather then corporation or business.   This puts the focus on the power of community to create and validate.  We see this in the move from Britannica onine (web 1.0) to Wikipedia (web 2.0) where collective opinion is valued as much as editorial publication.  This new web community offered a glimpse into a more free form of integration and organization and views toward future integration of new systems.   The dynamic capabilities of this web system is obviously a prime estate for advertising.  

Web 3.0

The read-write web is replaced ultimately with a portable personal web where everything is tailored to each persons specific needs/wants/uses/etc.  The focus on the web as a community becomes a focus on the individual.  Blogs become lifestreams, a total digital collection of all you do and have done starting with a digital certificate of birth.  Instead of shared content, web stuff is thought of as dynamic content that exists on the web and is organized to each person specifically.  The web based platform will ultimately lead to a condition where widgets, apps, etc are the way we navigate.  The simple advertisements become interactive, personalized, pointed, advertainment blurring the lines between advertisement and entertainment.  it all centers around metadata...

The idea of metadata is not new, especially in the computer science field, and even in the stock trading where metadata is understood as information about stock data.  when properly understood and interpreted, stock market metadata, also simply referred to as stock metadata, “can help you picture what is happening with a particular company’s stock.  So if there is a trading trend developing, one of the tools used to spot that trend as it moves along the stock marked is market metadata.”  Example…. If you want to buy shares in a company, you might want to have an idea of what 15-minute period of the trading day do shares of that company statistically trade at their lowest points.  This information (and other stuff such as relationships with other trades and companies) is a stocks metadata.  It its this information that makes up a sort of stock 'identity'.  This metadata is currently sold with trading services such as ameritrade, etrade, and others.  The question is if in the future will there be a market for Metadata.  A place where Metadata might be sold, bought, and traded like stock?  Might this new Metadata Market be a way Times Square can enter the world of web 3.0?

More infor on stock metadata:

http://www.peaceforhaiti.com/tag/metadata

¿Midterm? Responses and Questions

What is the purpose "program" of the spaces?  This is an important question.  the juries offering was that in looking at near future scenarios, one might identify a condition that can be assumed to exist in that scenario and design for that.

¿Midterm?

Bringing the void out into the plaza

Sketch of what kind of spatial condition might occur

System Deployed....

As a continuation of the process that led to the current condition of one times sq. a dynamic system was set up using the lines and striations from the existing art deco facade and the signs that cover it.  disturbances occurred in the simulation between the lines of the art deco facade and the lines of the advertisements.  it was in these disturbances that i created space.

One Times Square

One times square.

When it comes to media and the urban condition, Times Square has, at least in the past few decades, held a bit of a prominent place.  Its no surprise that when looking for a site for some sort of intervention dealing with technology, media, and interaction, that times square would surface as a possible choice.  The surprise came when I learned that the building at 1 Times Square stands empty and serves the sole purpose as a sort of structure for advertisements.  The relationship between the internal void of the building against the urban density of the city along with that of the architecture of the building versus the image of the façade is very rich.  But before we get into Subject-object relationships and notions of appearance over existence, we must take a look into the historical processes that manifested in the particular condition at 1 times. 

In 1904 the original 1 times square building was completed as the head quarters for the New York Times, a news and media power house in the day and currently.  It was the second tallest building in Manhattan and was constructed in the classical beaux-arts style giving the, at the time decidedly conservative news organization, the image or permanence and prominence it wanted.  Upon the opening of the building the plaza outside took on a name change and would from then on be known as Times Square.  The Times opened their offices in the building on Jan 1^st of 1904 and began the year with the first New Years Eve celebration and the first dropping of the ball, a celebration that continues to this day as a major media event around the world.  All of these were calculated events by the New York Times to show its image as the future of news.  Within 10 years the New York times had received its first wireless transmission from a naval battle and within the next ten had put up the first ‘news ticker’ on the building at 1 times sq.  This ticker is the sign that scrolls the news around the building bringing headlines to the people in Times Square in ‘real time’.

In the 1960’s the building was handed over to the Allied Chemical Co. and would under go several changes.  The Buildings deemed out-of-style beaux-arts façade was taken down and replaced with an art deco one.  This would mark a shift in image from the state apparatus and its ties with classicism, to the corporate apparatus and its foothold in modernism.  This new façade however would also seem to break with the image of the building as being that which is relatively solid and conservatively punctured and offer a new image.  This new image being one, which is a bit, more open.  The art deco façade would introduce large vertical expanses of glass openings allowing one to begin to see from Times Square into the building’s interior spaces. 

Today the image we see is very different.  The openings of the art deco façade sit in shadow behind a new façade of advertisements offering a show of how the media industry has dominated and ultimately valued the image over the architecture.  Its still a corporate model in that the images over take the architecture simply because façade space for advertisements is worth more than the interior space of the building, but something is different.  Now we have the Void.  

The Shift... The Question....

Over the last decades we have seen significant progression in technology.  This proliferation and progression has led to a shift from the mechanical paradigm, to the electronic paradigm and ultimately a change in the way we perceive the world around us.  Technologies such as the cell phone, particularly the iphone, Google Earth, online social networks, and app based platforms are just a few among many that challenge the way we have been, and shape the way we will, experience the environment and interact with each other. This technology and its consequential advance towards hyper-connectivity changes our socio-cultural structure and thus our perception of the world.  As technology advances a question arises.  What is this ‘new world’ and how can architects begin to design for it?