CityMockUp – Co-creating the Urban Space

CityMockUp emphasizes and proposes a solution to the problem of involving citizens in the actual process of furnishing or shaping the urban environment that they inhabit. The project consists of digitally interconnected and tangible building blocks that citizens can use to construct their own desired urban architecture proposals.

Citizen involvement in projects concerning the shaping of the urban environment in the cities of Denmark is close to non-existing. Despite good intention from the civic to invoke closer connections to the civil in order to attempt a kind of co-creation the results are still absent. As a result the shaping of the urban environment is still carried out almost exclusively through a top-down perspective.

The problem we are trying to solve is how to involve citizens in the actual process of furnishing and shaping the urban environment they inhabit. Alongside we wish to prompt dialogue with the civic in order to give rise to a critical dialogue about how perspectives of a better shaping of the urban environment can be constituted through participatory, bottom-up processes.

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CityMockUp is an urban interaction design, and consists of digitally interconnected and tangible wooden modules that citizens can use to construct their own desired urban architecture proposals. The proposed construction requires a wide support to be digitally stored, and a continuous usage by citizens to sustain their digital life/ existence in the urban space. As such Citymockup is a tool for dialogue and a temporary manifestation of citizens needs in the urban space. The urban architecture proposals enter a life cycle of three phases.

1) Build: One or more citizens build a construction, take a picture of it and upload it to a web application where other citizens can see it.

1) Build: One or more citizens build a construction, take a picture of it and upload it to a web application where other citizens can see it.

2) Vote: Citizens in proximity of a construction have the possibility to express their approval/disapproval and comment on it through a web application for a limited period of time. If the construction gets enough approvals its form will be digitally stored, and the LED’s start pulsing.

2) Vote: Citizens in proximity of a construction have the possibility to express their approval/disapproval and comment on it through a web application for a limited period of time. If the construction gets enough approvals its form will be digitally stored, and the LED’s start pulsing.

3) Life: Once a construction is “living”, its pulse will start decreasing slowly. If the construction is used, the pulse will be increased and the construction will keep living. If it is not used the pulse will slowly fade out and the construction will “degenerate” and die, after which the modules can be used in new constructions.

3) Life: Once a construction is “living”, its pulse will start decreasing slowly. If the construction is used, the pulse will be increased and the construction will keep living. If it is not used the pulse will slowly fade out and the construction will “degenerate” and die, after which the modules can be used in new constructions.

CityMockUp has been the end result of a process, carried out as part of the course Urban Computing at Aarhus University in fall 2014 and in collaboration with the municipality and their project Digital Neighborhoods (Digital Bydel). CityMockUp was exhibited at Media Architecture Biennale 2014, Aarhus, Denmark.

CityMockUp_postkort

Final name, concept and pictures – City Mockup

CITY MOCKUP – co-creating the urban space

The Authors are Melisa Jugo, Jonas Frich Pedersen, Daniella Rossi, Tau Sand, Sven Strandbygaard, Marie Louise Juul Søndergaard and Michael Obitsø Vile.

The vision is to facilitate citizen dialogue about the spatial urban environment and allow citizens to furnish the public urban space. The project consists of digitally interconnected and tangible building blocks that citizens can use to construct their own desired urban architecture proposals. These building blocks requires a continuous usage by citizens to sustains it’s digital life and existence.  

Involving citizens in the process affords said citizens a greater comprehension and interest for development of and activities within the urban space.

Wooden modular elements in a predefined geometric shape is made available to groups of citizens, enabling them to construct more complex structures for placement and use within local urban space. If a given construction is not maintained/used/cared for it will become unstable as time passes, in the end disjuncting to the individual elements, which in turn may be used to make new constructions. Establishing groups of citizens and facilitating the constructive process may optionally be done through events – i.e. “How would you like a new bus stop to look” or “Build a shelter for a homeless person”.

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This project is made as part of Urban Computing, Fall 2014, Aarhus University and is under the mentorship of Martin Brynskov, Jonas Fritsch og Lone Koefoed Hansen. It’s funded by Cavi and Aarhus University.

A special thanks to DD-lab for the building facilities, Francesco Degl’Innocenti from Arkitektskolen Aarhus.

Playing with shaps, materials, glue… (divergence and convergence)

(This post it’s about the evolution of the main idea)

The shape, the material…

Materials

The list of materials is endless and so was the discussions

Try to stick them materials together

1280-velcro-rebranding SelfGlued

The prototype(s)

….

First try with flamingo

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First try with wood

WoodenChair 2014-11-12 14.58.512014-11-12 16.00.39

Design Brief, Preliminary research and Inquiry

In the context of the Urban Computing course we have been assigned the task of developing a media architecture project to be presented in November 2014 at the MAB14 in Aarhus. The project has been formulated in the broader context of the Aarhus Municipality’s “Digital Neighbourhood” initiative and has its theoretical foundations in the lectures we followed in the Fall 201.The design has to address some of the recommendations expressed in the report ChangingCommunity by the City 2025 ThinkTank (TænkeTank) (http://www.mbbl.dk/publikationer/faellesskaber-i-forandring-taenketanken-byen-2025).

In the following we are going to present the formal guidelines, requirements and general concepts the project has to revolve around.

Conceptual requirements, form and central ideas

The concept and documentation must be presented in the form of a video , available online at the opening , which is 1-2 minutes long, provides demo of rationale , instead , use, and technology. We also must maintain a blog related to the project that reflects the process and reflections that are part of it.

In addition to the above-mentioned we have to reflect upon different layers of the project. We need to be reflected in the process and production , not necessarily explicit but in a way so the stage is set for further analysis and discussion in the subsequent written work.

The production must be experienced as part of MAB14 , in whole or in part by Godsbanen , and be ready to experience by Thursday . November 20, 2014 at . 18th. It must include more than one interface, including ( 1 ) a focus on the physical / material design and interaction (eg, an object, a sculpture, a piece of furniture or a ( part of ) a building) and ( 2 ) a current mobile interface (eg a smartphone app or web interface ), as participants / experience may use using a wifi hotspot so that it can be used by people who do not have access to mobile internet ( eg foreigners). ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) should be regarded as the outcome of the work , respectively . wirelessness and physical computing. The two must be related. The project must also be based on one of the five boroughs but the final coupling is optional.  And it must be based on one of the four recommendations , but may include more.

The production has to be perceived as part of the other MAB productions ( for an audience where not everyone understands Danish ), but also as an independent production / experience for the citizens of Aarhus , especially in the town, which is inspired by

Boiled down, we need to promote interaction within and between neighbourhoods by taking advantage of the unused potential of the urban space and using temporary experiments and architecture in order to explore the possibilities in urban space development

Upon receiving our design brief we started dissecting the different components that our brief consisted of. The result was the following list of 10 research topics:

  • Recommendation 5
  • Recommendation 6
  • Recommendation 7
  • Recommendation 8
  • Neighborhood research of Harlev
  • Neighborhood research of Tilst
  • Neighborhood research of Aabyhøj
  • Neighborhood research of Frederiksbjerg
  • Neighborhood research of Øgaderne
  • Technology based exemplars

Preliminary research and Inquiry

The recommendations included in our brief were adapted from the analysis ‘Byen 2025’ (~The City 2025), and mostly stem from social science and urban planning research. We investigated sources, and additional academic literature concerning especially Danish cities.

Furthermore we wanted to adapt two different approaches to the research and inquiry into the different neighborhood due to the fact that we were so very aware of the consequences a certain perspectives on an area. The solution we chose was a separation of the inquriry into what we in lack of better terms coined ‘The JJ method’ obviously referring to adapting a Jane Jacobs perspective and biking/walking around the neighborhood. The other was referred to as Desk research (although one might joke about calling it the Robert Moses method) and included looking on maps, statistical data, newspapers, articles etc.

Lastly we looked into what has previously been done within the technical constraints that our brief provided, asking the quite trivial question “what has been done within the urban environment with both wifi, digital objects and personal mobile touch devices? Why did they do it? And what did they learn?” thus leading to an even bigger catalogue of exemplar projects.

roadmap projektskitse UC version 2

MAB24H – Kaleidoscape by denkbau

For the MAB24H challenge we formed a group of 3 graduate students currently attending the Urban Computing course at Aarhus University.

After a brief ideation process – with only 24 hours total we had to somewhat rein our selves – we came up with a vision to manifest random personal data from “the cloud” within urban space.

Further working on the concept through brainstorming and concept sketching we arrived at a final core design consisting of a robot like gadget moving through urban space – in part autonomously and in part through interaction by people in its immediate vicinity.

At intervals it determines its location through GPS, looks up names of persons and businesses registered nearby online and then thrawls through web services and news feeds for data corresponding to those entities. Then the gathered data is presented via print and sound to the sorroundings.

With the concept defined we managed to squeeze in both experience prototyping and an actual physical prototype within the 24 hour frame.

The concept is intentionally provocative and raises questions about privacy vs. public access to personal – maybe even intimate – data.

Further details…

MAB24H – BloodBeat by Luogocomue

Blood donation is a critical element in insuring a functional healthcare system. According to the blood donors organization in Denmark 25.000 new donors are needed every year. Our vision is to enhance the awareness of this critical issue and through BloodBeatspark interest among people and hereby facilitate the recruitment of new blood donors for Aarhus Blood Bank.

Concept sketch Bloodbank

The general concept of our project is to augment the Aarhus Blood Bank building which is placed in a rather remote location outside of town (at Skejby Hospital) and make it a vital and playful presence in the central square Lille Torv.

We facilitate this by using data from the Blood Bank (in particular the amount of blood donations and the amount of blood that flows out of the Bank to the Hospital system) in order to animate a “water play” at Lille Torv. So basicly, we get the Aarhus Blood Band input and then illustrate the output in Lille Torv in the center of Aarhus.

The water installation symbolizes the activity of the Bank and stands as a prop that attracts attention by inviting to playful interaction. Near the water installation we want to place a tall stand with a blood bag that can be squeezed in order to turn the color of the water in the installation to red. This interaction will be possible only as long as there is blood in the bag. Blood will be filled up in the bag when somebody that already is a blood donor passes by, thereby providing an indication of the amount of blood donors that circulate in town. The tracking of existing blood donors will be done by automatically registering the MAC address of their mobile phones when they are at the Blood Bank. The MAC address will then be identified by the system when the person passes by the installation in Lille Torv.

People who are not blood donors can also interact with the bag by scanning a QR code that directs them to a homepage where they can book an appointment to the Blood Bank in order to become donors. Every time an appointment is made new blood comes in the bag.

Our design process consisted of several theoretical discussions, brainstorm sessions, methods and doodles/drawings/sketching. We used academic theories as an active and vital part of framing the problem. During the brainstorm sessions we used the “HowMigthWe?” questions (HMW), this ended up being a creative problem-solving tool that can be applied to almost any ambitious and achievable challenge. To supplement this method we also use User Experience Goals (UEG), to emphasize the qualities/standards of the concepts which was generated from the HMW session.

For a more in-depth look into our design process please feel free to visit our blog: http://luogocomunemab24h14.tumblr.com/

And be sure to watch our concept video:

 

Link

“Stjernebakken” (English: The Star Hill) is an interactive urban game for cyclists biking uphill including at least four checkpoints, which give the cyclist visual and auditive feedback on how fast she has covered the distance, and how well she did compared to the average time. The cyclist interacts with the game by biking through clearly marked checkpoints, which works as sensors tracking the individual cyclists.

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Our first design task at Urban Computing was a two-weeks design project with the aim of testing the design team, our qualities, roles and collaboration.

The design brief included a few constraints;

  1. use or contribute with open data to/from Open Data Aarhus
  2. use a physical location within 400 metres from Stjernepladsen, Aarhus N
  3. specify a target group, that does not coincide with the design team
  4. include a sensor or actuator in the design
  5. make it possible for people to contribute with inputs and data

After several qualitative field studies and interview we chose to focus on the cyclists biking uphill towards Stjernepladsen, giving us a design domain of 200 metres of cycle lane with a slope of approx. 10%.

Skærmbillede 2014-10-16 kl. 10.34.42

Vision
The design hypothesis is that it is annoying and boring for the cyclist to bike uphill, and therefore our aim is to make the experience of this stretch more positive and surprising by stimulating the cyclist’s senses. Using game elements we aim to move the focus from the annoying hill towards the cyclist’s body performance, hereby making the experience more fun and challenging.

Concept
“Stjernebakken” (English: The Star Hill) is an interactive urban game for cyclists biking uphill including at least four checkpoints, which give the cyclist visual and auditive feedback on how fast she has covered the distance, and how well she did compared to the average time. The cyclist interacts with the game by biking through clearly marked checkpoints, which works as sensors tracking the individual cyclists. The first checkpoint is simply a sign preparing the cyclist for the game. The second checkpoint is the actual starting point of which the time starts running; this is marked by an auditive feedback – the sound of an 8bit “beep”. The third checkpoint shows the cyclist’s performance so far by turning on one, two, or three lightning stars, and playing an 8bit sound. One star means that the cyclist is more than 20% slower than the average, two stars means that the cyclist is doing pretty well keeping up with the average, and three stars means that the cyclist is more than 20% faster than the average cyclist; a real star rider. At the fourth and last checkpoint, the cyclist’s overall performance is presented with a numbers of stars, the overall time, and the average time of the day.

At this point, the cyclist has reached Stjernepladsen, and already covered 200 metres of the annoying hill – without even noticing it;)

Skærmbillede 2014-10-16 kl. 10.28.35

Technology

The tracking system at the three checkpoints is developed as self-assembled pressure sensors, which is connected to the computer through Arduino. The input is filtered in Processing, and wireless connected to the two other checkpoints through a server. The output is processed as sound through speakers and through Arduino to super LED’s.

The visual and auditory content is kept in game aesthetics using neon colours, bright wood, 8bit sounds, and game symbols such as stars, arrows, and chess squares.

Perspective
“Stjernebakken” is not a site-specific urban interaction design. The design is developed having Denmark’s special biking culture, and Aarhus’ annoying hills in mind, but the concept can basically be implemented on every annoying hill in the world. We wish to support a growing biking culture in smart cities, and this is a step on the way.

“Stjernebakken” is a playful urban interaction design. The design is meant as a playful experience, rather than as a competitive, effective tool. We wish to support urban play in the ludic city, and see it as a bearing human element in the smart cities.

Check out our concept video and feel free to share insights and critique.