MicroPublicPlaces

Paperback
6″ x 9″, 58 pages
Color
$19.95

Available as a print-on-demand book from lulu.com. Click here to order.
Available as a free download here.

The Situated Technologies Pamphlets series explores the implications
of ubiquitous computing for architecture and urbanism. How is
our experience of the city and the choices we make in it affected by
mobile communications, pervasive media, ambient informatics, and
other “situated” technologies? How will the ability to design increasingly
responsive environments alter the way architects conceive of
space? What do architects need to know about urban computing, and
what do technologists need to know about cities? Situated Technologies
Pamphlets will be published in nine issues and will be edited by a
rotating list of leading researchers and practitioners from architecture,
art, philosophy of technology, comparative media study, performance
studies, and engineering.

In response to two strong global vectors: the rise of pervasive information
technologies and the privatization of the public sphere, Marc Böhlen
and Hans Frei propose hybrid architectural programs called Micro Public
Places (mpps). mpps combine insights from ambient intelligence, human
computing, architecture, social engineering and urbanism to initiate ways
to re-animate public life in contemporary societies. They offer access to
things that are or should be available to all: air, water, medicine, books,
etc. and combine machine procedures with subjective human intuition
to develop joint forms of observing and knowing that neither system is
capable of on its own.

Series Editors
Omar Khan, Trebor Scholz, Mark Shepard

For more information, go to www.situatedtechnologies.net.

Working in collaboration with Cisco Systems, Kohn Pedersen Fox is currently master-planning two new cities — New Songdo City, South Korea and Meixi Lake, Hunan Province, China — in which all information systems — residential, medical, business — will be linked. Organized around eight “tracks,” the systems will be designed to provide smart and connected solutions for real estate, safety and security, transportation, utilities, government, education, health care, and sports. James von Klemperer, design principal, and Relina Bulchandani, Director, Connected Real Estate Practice, discuss the major challenges of planning for the “ubiquitous city,” or u-city.

BIO
James von Klemperer has been responsible for the design of major commissions throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. His recent and current projects include the U.S. Ambassador’s residence, Nicosia, Cyprus; Plaza 66, Shanghai; ZhongGuanCun West, Beijing; the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, New York City; the Institute for International Economics, Washington D.C.; 640 Fifth Avenue, New York City; and the Mohegan Sun Resort hotel, casino, and arena in northern Connecticut. He received a Bachelor of Art from Harvard University, Master of Architecture from Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University.

Relina Bulchandani is a director in the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group Connected Real Estate Practice. She focuses on real estate solutions, technologies, and systems for the real estate sector, helping companies transform the user experience, streamline design/build processes, and create enivronmental sustainability. Prior to joining Cisco, she was senior vice president of strategic projects at Forest City Enterprises. She holds an MSE in technology managment from the Wharton School and the School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania.

Paperback
6″ x 9″, 45 pages
Color
$19.95

Available as a print-on-demand book from lulu.com.  Click here to order.
Available as a free download here.

The Situated Technologies Pamphlets series, published by the Architectural League, explores the implications of ubiquitous computing for architecture and urbanism. How are our experience of the city and the choices we make in it affected by mobile communications, pervasive media, ambient informatics and other “situated” technologies? How will the ability to design increasingly responsive environments alter the way architects conceive of space? What do architects need to know about urban computing and what do technologists need to know about cities?

In the last five years, the urban computing field has featured an impressive emphasis on the so-called “real-time, database-enabled city” with its synchronized Internet of Things.   In Situated Technologies Pamphlets 5,  Julian Bleecker and Nicholas Nova argue to invert this common perspective and speculate on the existence of an “asynchronous city.” Through a discussion of objects that blog, they forecast situated technologies based on weak signals that show the importance of time on human practices. They imagine the emergence of truly social technologies that through thoughtful provocation can invert and disrupt common perspective.

Situated Technologies Pamphlets will be published in nine issues over three years and will be edited by a rotating list of leading researchers and practitioners from architecture, art, philosophy of technology, comparative media studies, performance studies, and engineering.

Series Editors
Omar Khan, Trebor Scholz, Mark Shepard

For more information, go to www.situatedtechnologies.net.

Project Presentation: Breakout!
Laura Forlano, Sean Savage, Antonina Simeti, Dana Spiegel, and Anthony Townsend
Introduction by Mark Shepard
Recorded: September 25, 2009
Running time: 48:00

Presented as part of the public program series organized in conjunction with the Architectural League’s fall 2009 exhibition Toward the Sentient City.

Laura Forlano, Dana Spiegel, Antonina Simeti, and Anthony Townsend discuss the inspirations, design, and initial experiences behind “Breakout!,” their experiment of mobile work organized for the League’s exhibition Toward the Sentient City. “Breakout!” is a festival of work in the city that explores the dynamic possibilities of a single question: what if the entire city were your office?

BIOS
Laura Forlano received her Ph.D. in Communications from Columbia University, where she explored the intersection between organizations and technology and the role of place in communication, collaboration and innovation. She is an Adjunct Faculty member in Design and Management at Parsons and in the Graduate Programs in International Affairs and Media Studies at The New School.

Sean Savage has ten years of experience in user research and experience design, with a focus on digital design for physical spaces. He co-founded PariSoMa, a co-working space in San Francisco. He also invented and served as CEO of PlaceSite, a location-based digital service that enhances offline social interaction in cafes and other work spaces.

Antonina Simeti is a consultant at DEGW, where she explores her interest in applying urban economic and planning principles to corporate workplace and learning environments. She has a special interest in knowledge industries, and specifically spaces in which innovation happens. She has experience in urban planning, public policy research, and environmental review.

Dana Spiegel is a Software and Product Development Consultant and the President of sociableDESIGN, a company that helps start-ups create and refine their online software and services. He is also Executive Director of NYCwireless, a non-profit that creates free, public Wi-Fi hotspots in New York City.

Anthony Townsend is Research Director in the Technology Horizons Program of the Institute for the Future, an independent research group based in Silicon Valley. He has authored over 20 journal articles and book chapters on the role of telecommunications in urban development and design.

Project Presentation: Natural Fuse
Usman Haque
Introduction by Mark Shepard
Recorded: September 18, 2009
Running time: 1:02:07

Presented as part of the public program series organized in conjunction with the Architectural League’s fall 2009 exhibition Toward the Sentient City.

For many of us these days, “home” is an idea constructed from several places–we live in social environments and neighborhoods composed of networked fragments that bridge huge geographical distances. Usman Haque talks about such architectural issues with specific reference to “Natural Fuse,” his project for the League’s exhibition Toward the Sentient City.  “Natural Fuse” is a city-wide network of electronically-assisted plants that act both as energy providers and and as a shared “carbon sink” resource.  The project encourages collective cooperation in regulating energy consumption through a network of “circuit breakers” distributed throughout the city.

BIO
Usman Haque has created responsive environments, interactive installations, digital interface devices and massparticipation performances. His skills include the design of both physical spaces and the software and systems that bring them to life. As well as directing the work of Haque Design + Research he was until 2005 a teacher in the Interactive Architecture Workshop at the Bartlett School of Architecture, London.

Curated by Mark Shepard and organized by the Architectural League
September 17–November 7, 2009
The Urban Center
457 Madison Avenue

Exhibition Design: Thumb Projects

Exhibition website

Toward the Sentient City is made possible with support from the J. Clawson Mills Fund of the Architectural League and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Additional support has been provided by the University at Buffalo.

A major exhibition of five newly commissioned projects and installations by teams of architects, artists and technologists that imagine alternative trajectories for how various mobile, embedded, networked, and distributed forms of communication systems might inform the architecture of urban space and/or influence our behavior within it.

Toward the Sentient City is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Responsive Architecture/Performing Instruments

Paperback
6″x9″, 45 pages
Color
$15.00

Available as a print-on-demand book from lulu.com. Click here to order.
Click here to download a free PDF.

The Situated Technologies Pamphlets series, published by the Architectural League, explores the implications of ubiquitous computing for architecture and urbanism. How are our experience of the city and the choices we make in it affected by mobile communications, pervasive media, ambient informatics and other “situated” technologies? How will the ability to design increasingly responsive environments alter the way architects conceive of space? What do architects need to know about urban computing and what do technologists need to know about cities?

A new generation of architecture that responds to building occupants and environmental factors has embraced distributed technical systems as a means and end for developing more mutually enriching relationships between people, the space they inhabit, and the environment. This pamphlet discusses key qualities of “responsive” architecture as a performing instrument that is both mutable and contestable.

Situated Technologies Pamphlets will be published in nine issues over three years and will be edited by a rotating list of leading researchers and practitioners from architecture, art, philosophy of technology, comparative media studies, performance studies, and engineering.

Series Editors
Omar Khan, Trebor Scholz, Mark Shepard

For more information, go to www.situatedtechnologies.net.

Situated Advocacy
A special double issue featuring the essays
•Community Wireless Networks as Situated Advocacy, by Laura Forlano and Dharma Dailey
•Suspicious Images, Latent Interfaces, by Benjamin Bratton and Natalie Jeremijenko

Paperback
6″x9″, 100 pages
Color
$24.50
Available as a print-on-demand book from lulu.com.

The Situated Technologies Pamphlets series, published by the Architectural League, explores the implications of ubiquitous computing for architecture and urbanism. How are our experience of the city and the choices we make in it affected by mobile communications, pervasive media, ambient informatics and other “situated” technologies? How will the ability to design increasingly responsive environments alter the way architects conceive of space? What do architects need to know about urban computing and what do technologists need to know about cities?

The third volume in the series considers the topic of advocacy. Advocacy is the act of arguing on behalf of a particular cause, idea or person, and addresses issues including self-advocacy, environmental protection, the rights of women, youth and minorities, social justice, the re-structured digital divide and political reform.

Situated Technologies Pamphlets 3: Situated Advocacy asks how situated technologies have been—or might be—mobilized toward changing and/or influencing social or political policies, practices, and beliefs. What new forms of advocacy are enabled by contemporary location-based or context-aware media and information systems? How might they lend tactical support to the process of managing information flows and disseminating strategic knowledge that influences individual behavior or opinion, corporate conduct or public policy and law?

Situated Technologies Pamphlets will be published in nine issues over three years and will be edited by a rotating list of leading researchers and practitioners from architecture, art, philosophy of technology, comparative media studies, performance studies, and engineering.

Series Editors
Omar Khan, Trebor Scholz, Mark Shepard

For more information, go to www.situatedtechnologies.net.

Urban Versioning System 1.0

Paperback
$15.00
6″ x 9″, 62 pages
Color illustrations by David Cuesta
ISBN 978-0-9800-9941-6

Available as a print-on-demand publication from lulu.com.

The Situated Technologies Pamphlets series, published by the Architectural League, explores the implications of ubiquitous computing for architecture and urbanism. How are our experience of the city and the choices we make in it affected by mobile communications, pervasive media, ambient informatics and other “situated” technologies? How will the ability to design increasingly responsive environments alter the way architects conceive of space? What do architects need to know about urban computing and what do technologists need to know about cities?

The second volume in the series asks the question: what lessons can architecture learn from software development, and more specifically, from the Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) movement? Written in the form of a quasi-license, Urban Versioning System 1.0 posits seven constraints that, if followed, will contribute to an open source urbanism that radically challenges the conventional ways in which cities are constructed.

Situated Technologies Pamphlets will be published in nine issues over three years and will be edited by a rotating list of leading researchers and practitioners from architecture, art, philosophy of technology, comparative media studies, performance studies, and engineering.

Series Editors
Omar Khan, Trebor Scholz, Mark Shepard

For more information, go to www.situatedtechnologies.net.

Urban Computing and Its Discontents
Adam Greenfield and Mark Shepard
Paperback
6″x9″, 48 pages
Color
$15.00

Available as a print-on-demand publication from lulu.com.
To download a pdf, click here.

In December 2007 the League launched a nine-part publication series to be published over three years, exploring the implications of ubiquitous computing for architecture. Born out of the three-day symposium “Architecture and Situated Technologies,” presented by the League, the Center for Virtual Architecture, and the Institute for Distributed Creativity in October 2006, the series considers how our experience of the city and the choices we make in it are being affected by mobile communications, pervasive media, ambient informatics and other “situated” technologies. How will the possibility of designing increasingly responsive environments alter the way architects conceive of space? What do architects need to know about urban computing and what do technologists need to know about cities?

The first pamphlet in the series, written by Adam Greenfield and Mark Shepard, is framed as an overview of the key issues, historical precedents, and contemporary approaches surrounding the design of situated technologies and inhabiting cities populated by them.

Series Editors
Omar Khan, Trebor Scholz, Mark Shepard

For more information, go to www.situatedtechnologies.net.