Monday, December 14, 2015 1:00 pm
-
1:00 pm
EST (GMT -05:00)
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Spacebook: Networked
Public
Places
in
the
Personalized
Metropolis
Abstract:
Today’s
society
is
more connected
than
ever;
we
have
constant
access
to
information,
to
communication, and
to
various
forms
of
social
media.
Ubiquitous
mobile
computing
has significantly
changed
the
public
realm
in
a
way
that cannot
be
ignored. Socializing
no
longer
relies
on
face-to-face
interaction,
and
instead,
vast quantities
of
people’s
social
lives
unfold
online
via
virtual
platforms
such
as Facebook,
WeChat,
or
Instagram.
These
virtual
spaces
have
joined parks,
plazas, and
streets
as
spaces
of
public
communication
and
interaction.
However,
these spaces
create
new
questions
of
privatization
and
segregation,
and
may
erode
the public
sphere
as
much
as
they
extend
it.
Online
discourse
can be
controlled
and customized,
allowing
citizens
to
voluntarily
segregate
themselves
with
people to
whom
they
are
similar.
This
thesis
suggests
that
physical
public
space
needs to
function
as
spaces
that
bring
people
of
difference together:
a
role
that
is crucial
to
the
health
of
our
multicultural
metropolises. Spacebook: Networked
Public
Places
in
the
Personalized
Metropolis embraces information
technologies
as
public
resources,
and
suggests
a
set
of
urban public
space
interventions
that
use
interactive
and
sentient
technologies
to locate
the
network
in
physical
spaces.
As
an
attempt
to
counteract
the segregation
and
privatization
of
the
public
sphere,
these
new
spaces
encourage greater user
participation
and
agency
in
public
space.
In this research, two components of the public sphere were examined: virtual networks and physical public spaces. Physical public spaces were discovered as having been privatized through a number of policies of ownership and regulation. Virtual social networks were examined at two scales. The first explores these networks at the scale of the individual; in an attempt to understand the spatial implications of social networks, the second part explores the networks at the scale of the metropolis. This research proposes that we have produced a new condition, where the city is augmented and expanded by the individual’s networks, forming a personalized metropolis.
Spacebook proposes a set of public spaces, called Networked Public Places, which localize the global networks, and turn them into an interactive collective experience. NPPs are a set of interfaces operating at the border between online and physical public spaces. NPPs do not completely transform the public realm, but instead offer provocations for a way that architecture and information technologies can come together to benefit the public sphere. By embracing information as a public resource and asking what should (and can) be shared, Spacebook suggests a beginning of a more participatory and open public realm.
In this research, two components of the public sphere were examined: virtual networks and physical public spaces. Physical public spaces were discovered as having been privatized through a number of policies of ownership and regulation. Virtual social networks were examined at two scales. The first explores these networks at the scale of the individual; in an attempt to understand the spatial implications of social networks, the second part explores the networks at the scale of the metropolis. This research proposes that we have produced a new condition, where the city is augmented and expanded by the individual’s networks, forming a personalized metropolis.
Spacebook proposes a set of public spaces, called Networked Public Places, which localize the global networks, and turn them into an interactive collective experience. NPPs are a set of interfaces operating at the border between online and physical public spaces. NPPs do not completely transform the public realm, but instead offer provocations for a way that architecture and information technologies can come together to benefit the public sphere. By embracing information as a public resource and asking what should (and can) be shared, Spacebook suggests a beginning of a more participatory and open public realm.
The
examining
committee
is
as
follows:
Co-Supervisors:
Mona El Khafif, University of Waterloo
Maya Przybylski,
University
of Waterloo
Committee Member:
Ila
Berman,
University
of
Waterloo
External Reader:
Jordan Geiger, University of Buffalo
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Monday
December
14,
2015
1:00PM
BRIDGE
Centre
for
Architecture
+
Design
- 37
Main
St,
Cambridge
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.