From “Advertising Architecture” to “Media Façade”: Communication through Digital Display Skin

There is a growing trend to design buildings with colourful and dynamic outer skins through the integration of digital media tools, particularly LED systems. Discussing the intersection of media, technology, art, and architecture in recent conferences under the term “media façade”, this field introduces a new form of communication platform, urban space and public perception, which can be viewed through the perspective of Guy Debord’s “The Society of the Spectacle” and Jean Baudrillard’s “sign value” concept. Proceeding from the idea that a façade is a communication tool, the paper compares what Adolf Behne in the early 20th century termed as “advertising architecture” with the current “media façade”. Venturi’s comparison of Gothic cathedrals to billboards of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1970s applies today to the “Media Building” in Paul Virilio’s discussion of the digital age, where the information is active and interactive. This paper considers the façades with attached signs, signboards and billboards as a continuation of advertising architecture, in contrast to the media façade examples with integrated digital media tools that are inbuilt to the design. Three cases are selected for discussing the advantages and disadvantages of media façades, under the following titles: communication, ornamentation, flexibility, ephemerality, sustainability, and location. It is observed that the new relation between digital media and architecture not only initiates a new kind of communication platform, but also indicates the emergence and proliferation of a potential propaganda tool. To this end, the guidance of a social control mechanism for the applications of media façades is suggested

People, public space, digital technology and social practice : an ethnographic approach

Ethnography matters when to provide sustainable and inclusive urban spaces is an issue. Advancing knowledge on the relationship between social practices and public space is therefore crucial. This paper seeks to contribute to widening the debate about this relationship, added now by the phenomenon of penetration of ICT into public spaces. The main goal is to propose a methodological approach to guide the research in the field of urban ethnography. This approach is based, on the one hand, on long experience in ethnographic studies on public spaces, with the goal of identifying the relationship between social practices and the space in the configuration of representations and creation of socio-spatial images, particularly in urban transformation processes. On the other hand, it is based on a detailed analysis of the CyberParks Project objectives. Both allow us to better define the analysis dimensions and to identify their variables. Such framework could be used to guide future ethnographic research to be undertaken in CyberParks and beyond.Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union.peer-reviewe

Studying Youth in the Streets of the Media City : Field Notes on a Relational Perspective

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Difusión y comunicación digital en la ciudad: una aproximación a la implementación de pantallas digitales en la Ciudad de México

Con el cambio del siglo hemos visto una vertiginosa evolución de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación, el caso de las pantallas no ha sido la excepción, en la actualidad, no se les considera un electrodoméstico más y gracias a su capacidad de soportar las inclemencias del tiempo han ganado terreno en el espacio público. En la ciudad de México podemos observar que la publicidad exterior ha obtenido mayores beneficios al utilizarlas como soporte de difusión y comunicación, como consecuencia, gradualmente otros sectores han comenzado a digitalizar su información para difundirla en pantallas electrónicas. La presente investigación analiza la implementación de las pantallas digitales en el espacio público del Distrito Federal para que apoye la imagen de la ciudad y a los ciudadanos no sólo a consumidores

Washington Square Park: Struggles and Debates over Urban Public Space

Public space is often perceived as a space that is open to everyone and is meant for gatherings and interaction; however, there is often a great competition over the use and control of public places in contemporary cities. This master’s thesis uses as an example Washington Square Park, which has become a center of contention due to the interplay of public and private interests. In the center of the current confrontation is New York University’s plan to add 2.4 million gross square feet of new development by 2031 for academic use, faculty and student residential space, athletic facilities and a hotel on two primarily residential “superblocks” near Washington Square Park, which will turn the area into a de facto campus for the school. Nowadays, blending the public and private appears to be a logical result of the model of privatization, which was applied to many public places in different world cities, including New York City. Yet, it raises several questions: what is “public” about public space and who really controls it? The study suggests that public space plays an important role in modern cities; however, making a public place work in the right direction is a complex process that must be approached from different angles. By combining a theoretical background with qualitative research, this thesis aims to provide a better understanding of the underlying issues and draw conclusions about the future of urban public space

Augmented Spaces of Protest: Imaginative Medienpraktiken und Hypermedialität als Ressourcen des zivilgesellschaftlichen Widerstands

Der Beitrag untersucht die Verschränkung von Protest auf der Straße und auf Twitter am Beispiel des Protests gegen die Polizeimaßnahme "Gefahrengebiete" in Hamburg. Er fragt nach dem Zusammenhang von räumlichen und medialen Protestformen.On the example of a policy action in Hamburg, the so called "Gefahrengebiete" (danger areas), the contribution studies how the protest in the streets and on Twitter is intertwined. It carves out the interplay of spatiality and mediality of the protest

Poder, territorio, sonido: algunas consideraciones

Partindo de algumas das preocupações refletidas nos trabalhos de Schafer sobre as paisagens sonoras, propomos nesta contribuição uma leitura do mundo contemporâneo em termos de territórios sonoros. A “afinação do mundo” poderá ser caraterizada pela banalização do uso sonoro na ocupação dos territórios urbanos, públicos ou privados. Se os sons homogeneizados das cidades modernas podem ser contemplados ainda em termos de paisagens, a instrumentalização dos sons na era pós-fordista/pós-moderna remete talvez mais adequadamente ainda para os processos de territorialização que vêm sendo facilitados pelas tecnologias de mediação. No momento em que a ocupação sonora do espaço se torna metáfora banal para uma ocupação integral, as paisagens sonoras vão se reterritorializando via uma ocupação particular: a ocupação sonora do território.A partir de algunas de las preocupaciones reflejadas en la obra de Schafer sobre los paisajes sonoros, esta contribución se propone una interpretación del mundo contemporáneo en términos de territorios sónicos. La “afinación del mundo” se caracteriza por la banalización del uso del sonido en la ocupación de los territorios urbanos, públicos o privados. Si los sonidos de las ciudades modernas homogeneizadas aún pueden ser tratados en términos de paisajes, la manipulación de sonidos en la era pos-fordista/pos-moderna quizás se refiere también más propiamente a los procesos de territorialización que vienen facilitados por las tecnologías de mediación. En el momento en que la ocupación sonora del espacio se convierte en metáfora banal para una ocupación completa, los paisajes sonoros se van reterritorializando mediante una ocupación particular: la ocupación sonora del territorio.Starting with some of the concerns reflected in the works of Schafer on the soundscapes, this contribution proposes an interpretation of the contemporary world in terms of sonic territories. The “tuning of the world” can be characterized by the banal use of sound in the occupation of urban territories, public or private. If the homogenized sounds of modern cities can still be addressed in terms of landscapes, perhaps the manipulation of sounds in the pos-Fordist/pos-modern era refers more properly to the processes of territorialization that are facilitated by the technologies of mediation. At the moment when the sonic occupation of space becomes a banal metaphor for an integral occupation, the soundscapes are re-territorializing via a particular occupation: the sonic occupation of territory

Sensory Urbanism Proceedings 2008

This book contains papers from the January 2008 conference, Sensory Urbanism, held by the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. Papers deal with issues surrounding the sensory perception of urban design and how to design better for all the senses. The book is illustrated throughout, and contains 26 papers from fields including architecture, urban design, environmental psychology, urban design, planning, sound design and more