A design project submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional) Johannesburg 2008
I, Eduardo Cachucho am a student registered for the course Master of Architecture [Professional] in the year 2008. I hereby declare the following: I am aware that plagiarism [the use of someone else’s work without permission and/or without acknowledging the original sources] is wrong. I confirm that the work submitted for assessment for the above course is my own unaided work except where I have stated explicitly otherwise. I have followed the required conventions in referencing thoughts, ideas, and visual materials of others. For this purpose, I have referred to the Graduate School of Engineering and the Built Environment style guide. I understand that the University of the Witwatersrand may take disciplinary action against me if there is a belief that this is not my unaided work or that I have failed to acknowledge the source of the ideas or words in my in my own work. _____________________ Eduardo Cachucho ______________ Date
Special thanks to: My family, Kirsten Doermann, Lior Chait. Randal Bird, Hilton Judin, Paul Kotze, Leon Krige, Lone Poulsen and Jonathan Nobel. Guy, Jenna, Kevin, Kasia, Catherine and Robyn.
“It is literally impossible for certain of these paths to cross, which is why acquaintances may live in the same city, meeting by appointment as often as they choose, without ever running into one another in the daily round. But this is all the more reason why the crossing of paths, the places where they touch like wires in a circuit, for no better reason than chance, should be taken seriously.” Ivan Vladislavic (2006:12) Situated in Park Station at the crossing of the Gautrain, BRT (Rea Vaya), railways and national / international bus services, Media and the City deals with the crossing of paths. Like touching wires these crossing paths electrify the air with human activity. Hundreds of thousands of passengers move through Park Station each day, it is for most their first experience of Johannesburg city, their first glimpse into its landscape. mediaCITY meets the functional requirements of transportation, while creating a public space that promotes participation, interaction and exploration with the site and its users. It celebrates the places where paths touch like wires in a circuit, using these ‘short-circuits’ to join people and experience, participation and interaction, experience and event. As and introduction to Johannesburg, mediaCITY is not merely an in-between point to the city. It not only acts as a place through which to pass in order to arrive at the city, but pulls the fabric of the city right to the very doorstep of each public transport mode.
Media and People, Media and the City, and Media and Architecture establish a theoretical grounding for the architectural thesis, they conclude with a set of design lessons. The Site explores the site and its surrounds, delving into its historical progression and displaying its current characteristics. Design explores the creative process of a design that slowly developed over a year.
Media and People Media and the City Media and Architecture The Site, a History Design
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69
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Media and People
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How does media change the way people interact?
Media is constantly evolving. In recent times these changes have become more pronounced, occurring at a faster pace. The way media distributes information has changed the way people interact with each other and the spaces around them. These changes are not irreversible. What in one decade might have driven the suburban masses to huddle in front of the T.V. screen at 8pm for prime-time viewing is quickly becoming irrelevant in a media era where technologies are converging into devices that are multi-functional and portable. The power of media companies to tame their users into daily consumption routines is waning. PVRs, cell phones, the internet and iPods now allow the user to choose when and where they want to view their media. The “T.V. room� is no longer king.
Media and interaction over the last two centuries:
Pre 1800s: Information is passed by word of mouth, with books being reserved for the rich. 1800-1900: Information is passed mostly by word of mouth, the printing press is industrialised, allowing information to be spread to the masses through newspapers and books. 1900-1950: With print media maturing, newspapers, books and magazines allow ideas to travel around the world faster than ever before. The telephone makes long distance communication possible in real time. The radio makes instant information distribution possible to the masses. 1950-1980: The television age begins, coinciding with the growth of suburbia in the USA, the living room begins taking over some of the roles reserved for public space (McQuire 2006). Moving images and sound can be shown instantly across a large user base. 1980-2000: The mobile phone allows users to roam freely and still be connected to a telephone network. The personal computer allows people to work faster and more efficiently. The internet with the use of a personal computer allows the instant spread of text, image and sound over any distance as long as the user is physically connected to the network (landline telephone network). 2000-2010: Internet usage explodes, internet speeds increase allowing sound and video to be distributed to any computer connected to the network. Laptops and mobile phones gain access to the internet through wireless technologies.
tThree decades of media
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pMedia consumption in relation to spaces required for their use
In two hundred years interaction has moved from a one-onone conversational mode to far more abstract methods of communication such as instant messaging, sms and online social networking. These methods no longer require the people communicating to be in the same physical space. This ‘virtual’ space knows no physical limits, geographical boundaries or time zones.
“In two hundred years interaction has moved from a one-on-one conversational base to far more abstract methods of communication such as instant messaging, sms and online social networking.” While this virtual space has no physical limits or geographical boundaries, the technologies that people use for communication have meant that certain spaces and hardware are a prerequisite for the communication to take place. At the beginning of the twenty-first century (2000) instant messaging and email was accessible through a computer connected to the internet (which at this point was only available through a physical telephone connection), ensuring that these methods of communication would only occur at home or in the office. Five years later (2005), WiFi and Blackberries eliminate the need for a physical connection to telecommunications infrastructure for email and instant messaging, the only requirement for connection is a signal. Two years later (2007), the introduction of cellular phones like the Nokia N95 and the iPhone introduce many features that were previously only available on personal computers. These phones are connected to wireless cellular networks and also have WiFi and advanced internet browsing software on the devices. Anything that could be done on the internet or on a personal computer (email, instant messaging, social networking, researching, music, movies) has detached itself from a physical connection and therefore from the physical spaces where they were previously bound. If, in less than two hundred years media has succeeded in changing predominantly location based communication to a free-roaming form of communication, how can architecture leverage this power in the media? Can architecture play with the perception of place and communication in an age where they are distant cousins? Could it push the boundaries of communication in relation to a physical location or conversely reverse the relationship and force physical presence to allow communication to take place?
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The following is a case study of what could be possible in an architecture that allows connection and dis-connection at the same time, through using a concept that is thousands of years old, the camera obscura.
A camera obscura
“The first line of the first page of every novel refers to something that has already happened outside the book.” Calvino (1981:153) Calvino postulates that in book form and in the real world, every action refers to something that has already happened in the world. This dictum applies to the city, where images, themes and ideas that have always existed before are configured in new ways that change their meanings. In the camera obscura, these ideas come together in a curious mixture of architecture and the moving image. The camera obscura, if positioned high enough, is able to display a view of the city that a viewer does not often experience: viewing the city from a birds-eye view from within an enclosed space. The camera obscura works on a simple optical principle, that a small pinhole on one side of a dark room will refract an inverted image of the outside world onto the opposite side of that room (Kiang 2001: 5). This principle was known to Aristotle and used by Arabian astronomers to safely observe solar eclipses (Kiang 2001: 5). The architectural manifestation of this object always includes a darkened enclosure (be it a room or tent) and a small opening (aperture) to allow light from outside into the room. In many aspects this object is identical to the composition of a modern camera, as indeed the camera obscura was the precursor to the modern camera (Kiang 2001: 4). In the case of the Grahamstown Camera Obscura, one climbs up a long flight of spiral stairs, at the top in a domed room, a white concave surface lies. This white surface, much like the screen of the cinema waits for an image to be projected onto it, as the lights are dimmed an image on the table becomes visible. Upon it, an image of the outside world is revealed that looks eerily like Google Earth, until one realises that the image is not static. Trees bow in the wind, a taxi stops unloading some passengers. The real world outside, unaware of your gaze, continues its daily existence. This ‘live’ image creates a duplicate of our world, so real that it leaves one touching the surface in disbelief. This is no computer-projected image, it is a refraction of the infinite colour spectrum of light (not the limited 16 million colours of a computer screen). Here, in this darkened room, every action on the screen is truly a reflection of what is happening outside the room. There is no
pA camera obscura (Hammond 1981:29)
editing, post-production or colour correction, this is reality TV in its purest form. A space such as this, devoid of external stimuli, can truly foster change in a city like Johannesburg.
“This ‘live’ image creates a duplicate of our world, so real that it leaves one touching the surface in disbelief. This is no computerprojected image, it is a refraction of the infinite colour spectrum of light” Imagine walking into the dark heart of a building and coming face to face with an aerial image of Johannesburg so real that it seems like an illusion. Someone next to you touches a walking man on the concave surface. The projection begins tracking the man, following him down the street, buying a newspaper and hailing a taxi. Another person around the table, touching a button with the letters; SANDTON, changes the viewpoint from the bustling city life of Johannesburg CBD to the semi-deserted streets of the business capital of South Africa, Sandton. This is the experience of a new age camera obscura. The traditional camera obscura creates a projected image of the outside world in a darkened room. The new-age camera obscura uses the power of media to reevaluate social prejudices and make people more aware of their built environment through augmenting the traditional camera obscura with interactive technology. Through the input of modern technology, this camera obscura need not be fixed to one location, but could change its location every few hours. From this ‘god’s eye view’ people from other
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pA new age camera obscura
pDifferentiating hot and cold media types
locations, such as Sandton, could view inhabitants from Hillbrow and visa versa. Such experiences have the possibility of changing perceptions and broadening perspectives, by showcasing peoples lives in a real and unbiased manner. Richard Sennett (1977:29) describes playacting as creating public relations through the acts of manners, conventions and ritual gestures. As the creators of public relations, these acts are quickly submerged under the daily acts of our societies, which are taken-for-granted (McQuire 2006). The camera obscura negates the need for playacting, its anonymous dark space and distance from the viewed image allows the viewer to make opinions that are not clouded by the social rules of playacting. This detached view allows taken-for-granted public attitudes to get pushed back to the foreground of public awareness. In the context of South Africa, still struggling to deal with issues of race and identity, the possibilities for media experiences such as the camera obscura can be greatly beneficial. The media theorist Marshal McLuhan (2002:24) places media into two different categories; hot and cold. A hot medium such as television allows almost no interaction, its content being chosen by a select number of people. A cooler medium such as a radio talk show allows higher interaction as the people calling in can steer the conversation in a certain direction. Cooler mediums allow dealing with the now, allowing people to choose their
“A hot medium such as television allows almost no interaction, its content being chosen by a select number of people. A cooler medium such as a radio talk show allows higher interaction as the people calling in can steer the conversation in a certain direction.� content and make their own opinions from the information that has been presented. The traditional camera obscura is low in participation, much like sitting in a cinema where the image is simply displayed on a screen. The new-age camera obscura creates a media that is closer to the cold media spectrum. It allows for interaction and completion by the audience (McLuhan 2002:25). It is up to the users to decide where the camera goes and what they see. In a free and open society, such as South Africa, cool media are essential to grow our democracy and break down past and current prejudices.
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Connection in South Africa
The inequalities of apartheid have caused South Africans to miss some of the links in the evolutionary chain of media connection. Landline telephone connections were never widely adopted across the country other than in affluent white suburbs and as the apartheid government gave way to a democratic South Africa, cellular communications were quickly becoming affordable to the masses. As a result South Africans bridged the digital divide, foregoing the landline telephone and jumping onto the cellular phone bandwagon. The fate of internet connections took a similar route. Cellular phones quickly began taking on internet functions. The low adoption of telephone landlines and the high cost of an internet connection and the hardware to go with it created a barrier to the internet for the average South African. Advancements in cellular technology and wireless networks meant that (at a much lower initial price) one could connect to the internet anywhere, regardless of physical infrastructure.
“Advancements in cellular technology and wireless networks meant that (at a much lower initial price) one could connect to the internet anywhere, regardless of physical infrastructure. “ Population in millions USA
350
India
GDP per capita US$
Mobile Requests in millions
43,594
1.43
1161
977
0.346
230
1,812
0.201
U.K.
60
45,845
0.196
S.A.
43
5,724
0.159
Indonesia
pMobile phone advertisement impressions by country (Admob 2008)
It is then little surprise that South African ranks fifth in the list of mobile internet advertisement impression in the world (Admob 2008). It is quite a feat if one has to consider our population/GDP ratios in comparison with other countries in this category. Once again many South Africans have managed to skip a phase of media connection, foregoing landline internet connections for the mobile equivalent.
In 2007 a mobile communication craze called MXiT overtook the South African youth. The high prices of SMSs had led the youth, with their meager allowance of airtime, to the holy grail of instant messaging. While popular in Europe and the USA over traditional internet connections, instant messaging had never caught on in South Africa due to a small internet user base. The timely connection of instant messaging on a cellular phone and relatively affordable data over the cellular networks meant that MXiT’s popularity was all but guaranteed. South Africa has in no way been left behind in the digital revolution of media. Most South Africans either own or have access to a cellular phone and an ever-growing percentage are accessing the internet on these devices every day. South Africa and other developing countries are in the unique position of connecting to the world wide web from mobile, wireless, devices unencumbered by telephone and electric cables as well as being free to roam anywhere while still being connected. It is these new users’ views (on how mobile connection can be used outside of the traditional home and office connected sphere) that might arise in new types of public spaces where the real and the virtual intersect in surprising ways.
pInternet Usage in South Africa (www.saarf.co.za 2008)
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Media and People Design Lessons A
A New Public Lounge As the role of the T.V. room begins to fade in the lives of mediaconsumers, they will want to consume their media where ever they like; on-the-go, during a lunch break or while waiting for friends. This a-la-carte method of media consumption also allows users to share their media with friends and family. Thus a new ‘public lounge’ should be able to accommodate the single user as well as a group of users. With the aid of online networking or cellular notification, the public lounge could transcend its physical limits and allow multiple connections to users in remote spaces.
B
Cooler Mediums Giving the public access to mediums that are open to participation, dialogue and completion will greatly enliven public space. This interaction will in turn give the public a sense of ownership over the space and will decrease alienation within the space.
C
Widespread devices Make use of common devices such as cellphones and sms’s, mp3 players and music, radios and radio stations. The use of different types of technology, both old and new, will ensure that users of a space are more likely to find a way to connect to the media of the site.
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Media and the City
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How does media change the city? The modern city over the last century has seen many changes. Media has had its own role in shaping the city and is often blamed for the demise of it’s public space. Recent discourse shows that a change in the way media is created and distributed might in fact be reversing this trend. Media is becoming increasingly mobile, meaning the user is no longer tied to their living room watching television or in their study surfing the internet. Once media is untied from the home, the masses of suburbia will be unshackled from their suburban ‘jails’ free to roam the public sphere, and where will they go? Public space will once again assume the importance it once held. This text will evaluate the changes that cities have undergone due to the rise of media and how new technologies are creating new possibilities for public space in the information age. Public Space in the City In the 1990s cities around the world turned to large-scale screens as a method of invigorating public space (McQuire 2006:para.1). While the invigoration of public space might have been the goal, these screens ended up being nothing more than large advertising billboards that could be changed instantly. Although the luminous glow from these screens might initially attract the public like moths to a flame, content and communication are king. No amount of advertising, no matter how well conceived, could capture an audience for much longer than the industry standard of a 30 second advertisement. Yet such large screens tend to show little else but advertising other than during special events. These large screens are nothing more than oversized televisions. They do not utilise the very public nature of the spaces they have been placed within. The possibility for interaction with the public is ripe for exploration. It is vital for these screens to be connected to multiple information streams; weather, news, traffic updates, public opinions, polls, public transport timetables etc. In the first eight decades of the twenty-first century the primary methods of content and communication distribution were stationary, either located in the home or at the office. Thus, the mass movement of people from cities to the private sphere of the suburban home post WWII had a lasting effect on the balance of public and private life (McQuire 2006:para.6). It is only in the last decade with the changeover to mobile modes of content and communication consumption that a change in the way people view the public / private sphere is beginning to take place. A phenomenon that demonstrates this new attitude is the flash-mob. tLarge-scale public screen, Mary Fitzgerald Square, Newtown
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pFlash-mob, No Pants 2K7, New York, 2007 (www.improveverywhere.com)
qLarge-scale screens should connect themselves to multiple information streams in order to make them viable in the city
Flash-mobs and public space
A flash-mob consists of a group of people that have signed up to be contacted either via email or sms at a specific point in time, directing and instructing them on what to do at a specific location. The spaces chosen for these flash-mobs are most often public in nature.
“A flash-mob consists of a group of people that have signed up to be contacted either via email or sms at a specific point in time, directing and instructing them on what to do at a specific location”
For example on February the 16th 2008 hundreds of people congregated on Trafalgar Square in London to freeze, on the spot, for five minutes at exactly 15:30hrs. The event triggered wide coverage across the internet, from personal blogs to YouTube, with views running into the millions. These events trigger people into thinking about public space. Dominic Campbell’s (2008) Technologic blog: “At its most basic level, the Freeze kept up our fine tradition of using our public spaces for what they were intended - grand social gestures, coming together to meet and interact in our cities’ great public spaces.” It is as though a movement back into public space requires a
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pFlash-mob organisational diagram
pVirtual public and private space
collective act from the public. These are mini-revolutions where the groups act en-masse to invade public space. Perhaps each time a public space invasion of this sort takes place, people become more comfortable with the idea of utilising public space. The group that inspired the Trafalgar Squrare freeze, Improv Everywhere (www.iproveverywhere.com), has undertaken more than seventy flash-mob missions involving what they call ‘secret agents’. They are based in New York and create scenes of ‘chaos and joy’ in public spaces. Not only are they activating public spaces with missions like: Synchronized Swimming (Washington Square Park), No Pants 2k7 (New York Subway), Frozen Grand Central (New York) and The Camera Flash Experiment (Brooklyn Bridge) but they are changing the way we think of and experience public space with missions like The MP3 Experiment (UCB Theather). On December 11th 2004, 70 agents congregated at the UCB Theater, New York (Todd 2004:para.1). They had been instructed to download an MP3 track before hand and come prepared with a media player that they could use with earphones during the event. To begin the event a projected animation instructed all the agents to simultaneously press play on their devices (Todd 2004:para.2). What ensued would have been a preposterous event to anyone not listening to the MP3. After a minute of ambient sound a voice instructed the agents to leave their seats and climb onto the stage. Various instructions and songs were played during the 27minute MP3. Thus the theater became a club that could invariably have been placed anywhere within the city without causing any disturbance to its surroundings. What is especially interesting in this case is how the use of media itself can change the meaning of space. How it can change a public space into a private one (a user watching a video on their iPod) or connect multiple users in a space to create a virtual public space (users connected via a conference phone call). This is not merely a view into the future. Many of these technologies are used by people every day.
“[media] can change a public space into a private one (a user watching a video on their iPod) or connect multiple users in a space to create a virtual public space (users connected via a conference phone call)”
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pLabyratoire, Constant, 1962 (Andreotti 1996:94)
pInformation labyrinth, New York (http://maps.google.com/)
Navigating the City As Johannesburg introduces viable public transport modes the new passengers of these systems will be introduced to spaces that they would not have accessed previously. As these users begin to explore these new spaces, new technologies might make the experience more inviting to users that have never experienced the city. The situationist movement developed the concept of the dynamic labyrinth, a city, where ‘homo ludens’ follows random paths leaving traces of his presence everywhere (Andreotti 1996:98). This world in which the creativity of the masses is released is no longer ruled by the utility of work and time, but rather by art and exploration. “Since he [homo ludens] no longer needs to arrive anywhere quickly, nothing stands in the way of intensifying and complicating his use of space, which is for him a playground, a place for adventure and exploration” (Andreotti 1996:98) Freed from the time based world of capitalism (where time is money), urban space moves away from a design based on orientation (for the benefit of efficiency) and to a more haphazard labyrinthine design, where the urbanite stumbles across new paths along the way.
“Freed from the time based world of capitalism (where time is money), urban space moves away from a design based on orientation (for the benefit of efficiency) and to a more haphazard labyrinthine design, where the urbanite stumbles across new paths along the way.”
While the notion of the eradication of capitalism is central to the idea of the dynamic labyrinth, this does not rule out the possibility that forms of the labyrinth could arise through different mediums. What is of architectural interest in this model? a) the ability to embrace randomness into design, b) creating an urban explorer that has exploration as his/her only goal and c) allowing these explorers to leave their mark in or on the spaces they have visited. The ever evolving world of technology is quickly allowing such concepts to arise in our urban environment. Gone are the days of aimlessly walking around the city not knowing where the best places to eat are. GPS and internet connected devices have made searching for the best Chinese food in town as easy as a Google Search.
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pDigital information labyrinth displayed, map and real-time view
These are the very devices that are allowing the theories of the situationists to come to like. Holding one of these new devices gives the user a window onto information in the city like never before. On a digital screen; points of interest, nearby friends, good restaurants, dangerous areas and general information are overlaid either onto map views or relayed as virtual signs hovering over a real-time view of the space. This allows the modern day user much of the freedom ascribed to homo ludens in the ability to explore the city in an unencumbered manner, but is not based on an orientational labyrinth but rather a labyrinth of information.
“points of interest, nearby friends, good restaurants, dangerous areas and general information are overlaid either onto map views or relayed as virtual signs hovering over a realtime view of the space�
One such program, Loopt © (www.loopt.com), is already running on selected phones, it allows users to see where their friends and family are in relation to their own position as well as telling them what those users are doing. Thus if one happened to be in the same location as a close friend one could easily contact them in order to meet. The system also allows users to leave recommendations and reviews of specific spaces, stores and buildings. This means that one would have (at their fingertips), location based suggestions by friends regarding what to do, where to eat and where to shop. Michael Arrington (2008) recently had a sneak preview to what he has called ‘the future of social networking’. For the purpose of this text the program will be called Presence. What he reviewed was a program that would show all users in the area that are running the same social application. Imagine an online social network that is not ‘connected’ to the internet in the traditional sense. Presence has access to your physical position through an inbuilt GPS. It is this physical location that it uses to display the profiles of the users around you. It works in the following manner: Marius is waiting for a friend arriving by bus at Park Station. After receiving a call from his friend telling him the bus is running late, bored, he decides to open Presence on his phone. A few seconds go by as the phone coordinates his location and begins to download the details of other users in his area. Five people come up, Marius recognizes two people he had walked by earlier. He clicks on their icons and hides his presence from them. Marius then notices that one of the users, Thandi84, has the status message: ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, one of Marius’ favorite Bob Dylan songs. He clicks on her image and chooses an option: Message Thandi84. He sends her a message asking her if she also likes Bob Dylan. While waiting for a reply he looks though her public profile. A bubble pops up: ‘Hi Marius, Bob Dylan is the prophet of the 20th Century, I just love his music. I like your profile, want to chat?’. Marius types a quick reply; ‘ Sure, I’d love to,meet at the Rotunda in 5mins.’ He walks off to the Rotunda. Many similar programs such as the one described are about to explode onto devices everywhere. Location based devices might leave behind virtual graffiti, store secret messages, warn of dangerous spaces, alert users to the next bus or train departure. This is an online network that is not purely virtual (existing as binary code on a server far away), it is code that is attached to objects in the physical world. A physical object is itself a hyperlink
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to the internet. A bus for example might have attached to itself several messages, it might log every person that has traveled on it, it could inform users of the exact time of its arrival and departure. The possibilities are endless and especially beneficial in public spaces where: large numbers of people, different modes of public transport, various forms of media and many commercial activities intersect. For a location based virtual network to function effectively, large volumes of people are required. It is only when thousands of people use a specific space that a rich layer of information will be deposited on the site. A suburban street, for example, with the odd stroller-by might accumulate a handful of information, whereas a bus stop would accumulate far more information due to the flow of people moving through it and the time spent in the space. This will naturally allow people to spend time inputting and accessing information.
“For a location based virtual network to function effectively, large volumes of people are required. It is only when thousands of people use a specific space that a rich layer of information will be deposited on the site.�
In this manner public spaces are the immediate benefactors of the human interaction facilitated by these new mobile programs. Significant spaces and landmarks are the obvious choices for meeting places. As this phenomenon increases, the days of empty squares will be a thing of the past. As the public emerges from their private bastions into public space they will begin to demand more places of meeting that are not related to commercial activities as the shopping mall is today. The city of tomorrow will be a place where the real and the virtual overlap. In an evermore connected world, media that is not connected to the web of location based information will soon vanish or be absorbed by new mediums. Similarly public spaces in the city that do not utilise these overlays of information will become all but invisible to people roaming the city.
tPublic space, is set to benefit from new location based virtual networks
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Media and the City Design Lessons A
Interaction
(See ‘Cooler Mediums’ pg:25) Wherever possible mediums should offer different levels of interaction. The simple reformatting of mediums such as the television into a large scale screen should not take place. These mediums should be made relevant to the public spaces in which they are placed.
B
Secret Agents
The power of organised groups of people to enliven public space could be used a transitional process that will give the urbanite access and ownership over public space in the city that has not previously received any sense of ownership. It is therefore essential to utilise agents whose role it is to activate the site with a set of rules that act much like a ‘programme’ in a traditional building.
C
Location Based Virtual Networks
Linking the real and virtual should take place through many different technologies and devices. Networks should be available to a wide demographic so as not to alienate certain users. The information gathered through this network should interface with multiple mediums being used in the space such as: screens (large and small), lights, sound systems, cellular phones, newspapers etc. It is essential that in a public transport interchange that the information gathered from the different modes of transport be combined and analysed in order to create the most efficient routes for the public.
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Media and Architecture
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How does media change architecture?
Architecture has had to adapt and react to the changing landscape of media over the centuries. This process has been a slow and steady one up untill the last century, where media exploded as a result of expanding technology. This text will show how architects of today are tackling this phenomenon as the online world increases the pace of change.
Generic Infrastructures
“Really, once public space yields to public image, surveillance and street lighting can be expected to shift too, from the street to the domestic display terminal” Virilio (1994:64). The world of media is a continuously changing landscape. As soon as a cellular phone develops new features it is replaced by newer better features. In a world with continuously changing technical media landscapes, where does architecture stand? Bert Mulder (1997:18) explains that in a world of continual change, where the built environment needs to adapt to ever changing flows of information, a generic infrastructure is the best possible solution. He calls this system the ‘global remote control’ a system that can be adapted at any time from any place. The word generic might conjure up Orwellian images of megastructures devoid or specificity, but this is not the case. The infrastructure is generic, meaning it always works and is always there (Mulder 1997:19), like roads and money for example. The difference is the amount of creativity that the stability of an adaptable infrastructure allows. Within this generic infrastructure, imagination can run wild, freed from the pressures that are taken upon the infrastructure. It could be argued that new mobile technologies such as high speed cellular networks and wireless internet are already creating some of the generic infrastructure that will be the core of a new architecture that has at its center “ever changing flows of information”. New technology on the horizon such as wireless electricity, pervasive computing, cheaper screen technology and advancements in user interfaces (be they through touch screens or gesture control) give rise to the possibility of an architecture that is always connected, fully interactive and able to update itself with new ‘programmes’ whenever they are available. OMA’s proposal for a multi-media building in Kowloon, Hong Kong, deals with this very issue. Rather than dealing with just the site and program, they conceived the building in three parts; Hardware (physical elements), Software (program or digital elements) and Content (identity of the built or virtual) (OMA 2004). In this way rooms in the building become freed of the tCurrent infrastructures; roads, electricity, wireless connectivity
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pMulti-media Building, Hong Kong, Kowloon (OMA 2004)
restrictions of traditional programme. Rooms are instead defined by the services they need to provide. Many services being purely software based could simply be ‘downloaded’ to the room as required (OMA 2004). Architects have the challenge of having to anticipate how a building will need to adapt in the future. It is important for buildings to actively take on this architectural challenge. Without doing so, the architecture would limit the development of a project (OMA 2004). While trying to predict future trends has until now been the major mode of dealing with this problem in architecture, the rapidly changing media-sphere will not be as accommodating in the future. OMA actively tackled this problem in the Seattle Library, where they dealt with this problem by allowing for flexibility within the building through compartmentalisation. They have compartmentalised the public space from the bookshelves. They have done this because more and more books are published yearly, meaning that in traditional terms the public space would slowly be encroached upon by more and more bookshelves (Verb 2004:6). Instead they allowed ample space for bookshelves and their future expansion, while leaving the public space to remain public for as long as the building exists. Similarly while space can initially be set out for new-media (large screens, internet portals and computers), this space can easily be nudged out over time by other older medias that require physical space for their existence. It is the tangible nature of old media and its physical existence, that allows it to take up space
physically. Its mere existence is proof of the space it requires. Whereas new-media is a mostly virtual object existing on hard drives and networks, its physical size is relatively small compared to the range of information it can access. It is therefore difficult for new-media to compete with old-media. One must always bare in mind that although new-media might not need much physical space for its own existence, the users interacting with that media require space to access it in a comfortable and practical manner. An example that illustrates the concept of a generic infrastructure more clearly can be seen from Apple Inc’s iPhone. The iPhone was designed with a single physical button- the rest of the user interface is accessed by a touch screen. This move was highly criticised by the media and cell phone enthusiasts, who claimed that the loss of a physical keyboard would make the iPhone unattractive to most users. However Apple’s long-term goal, was more important than the short-term need for physical feedback. The trump card that Apple held was the ability to instantly update the software of the phone to enable multiple input types. It is with this capability that the iPhone recently (July 2008) updated its software to enable multiple language inputs. No physical keyboard design would have allowed such a radical change, the cost would have been astronomical and the implementation would be all but impossible. It is this kind of infrastructure that Bret Mulder is attempting to promote. The ‘global remote control’ for architecture should allow the architect the same capabilities that Apple put into its dynamic, updatable phones. With the click of a button, the architect of the future could implement a ‘redesign’ to a building, changing its interface and programme. All that is necessary is a generic infrastructure. Like the iPhone, the built environment of tomorrow should see itself as a backbone to the architectures that will run within it.
“With the click of a button, the architect of the future could implement a ‘redesign’ to a building, changing its interface and programme.”
Thus rather than stifling the creativity of the architect, in actuality it allows the architect to quickly try different ideas and concepts in real life, a ‘beta’ building if you will, that gets updated and refined as it is used. Thus more like a programmer, the architect will design and redesign while being able to see the results in the real world, allowing the architect to de-bug an architecture, finding where its users are most and least comfortable and allowing him to further modify the interface.
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pH2O expo Pavillion, The Netherlands, NOX, 1997 (Spuybroek 2004:19)
pThe evolution of the H2O expo form (Spuybroek 2004:19)
pTopological vagueness (after Spuybroek 2004:38)
Precedents
The following two projects showcase two different attitudes to media and architecture. The first, the H2O expo by NOX, shows how media can be used literally to transform space and user experience. The second, Park Vilette by Bernard Tschumi, deals with how media can be used abstractly to transform space and user experience.
H2O expo
On the horizon a giant silver slug lies nestled between sanddunes and concrete embankments. Its exterior stillness belies its lively interior. Inside water splashes, gushes, sprinkles, drips and pours from every surface. A blue, pulsing, spinal cord of light reacts to movements within, creating a seemingly living organism reacting to the visitors that flood through its body each day. The H2O expo is a building of physical and interactive experiences for its users. Lars Spuybroek (2004:18) describes it as the first fully topological building where roof, walls and floor curve at every point. The building acts like a water tunnel, where visitors must act like water in order to pass through the building. The interactive experience within the building allows interaction from a single user, small groups or large crowds. It consists of a series of sensors and systems that are interlinked.
Physical
H2O’s form begins with an elliptical tube. Its relation to a water tunnel cannot be doubted. This tube is then scaled according to programme, much like a snake swallowing an egg; the egg’s shape remains visible after it has been swallowed. Thus like a snake the building accommodates its programme by stretching and shrinking its body where required. The ellipses are then twisted according to influences on the site: wind-direction, sand dunes and flows of visitors (Spuybroek 2004:18). Finally the ground level is inserted and deformed. The points between all the ellipses are then connected creating a continuous surface from beginning to end. What results is an undulation from one end of the site to the other. Inside, no differentiation has been made between floor, wall or ceiling, they are all covered in the same material. This unimateriality allows a user to attempt to scale any surface, as no surface is given priority as a ‘walking’ surface. Thus a user could (like water would if gushing through the space) attempt to run as far up a ‘wall’ as possible, the only restriction being gravity.
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pH2O expo systems and sensors
Spuybroek (2004:38) has coined this geometrical continuity as ‘topological vagueness’. Topological vagueness allows the user a larger scope of movement without feeling like they might be acting inappropriately in the space. “an elderly man stood in front of the larger bumps, paused a moment and suddenly ran up the slope. This slope was meant for projection, not walking” (Spuybroek 2004:38). Thus the physical experience for the user becomes exactly that, an experience with the from of the architecture; walking, scaling, lying, running and climbing. This not only intensifies sensation in the body (Spuybroek 2004:38), but also allows a larger potential for movement across the building.
Media
The H2O expo utilises three interactive systems throughout the building: Projections Projections of wire-frames on H2O’s topological surfaces that simulate real-time water effects when sensors are activated. Light A spine of light hangs from above. Waves of light pulse through the spine and are affected by all the sensors in the building. They cause the light spine to pulse faster or slower, change direction, create new pulses or to pause the light. Sound Sound samples played through a network of speakers are deformed, bent or stretched by the network of sensors. The network of sensors that activate / deform the three systems above have been cleverly designed to allow anyone from a single visitor to a crowd to affect the systems differently. Touch sensors are used by individuals, pulling sensors are attached to ropes that can be pulled by groups of people and light sensors are activated by people walking through the space. The sensors have been connected to the systems in such a way that any activated sensor (touch, pull or light) acts both locally on the projections and ‘globally’ through the building via the light spine and sound system. This interactive system could also be updated or modified in many ways. The effects created by activated systems could be reversed, changed or increase in magnitude or the systems themselves could have their animations, lights or sounds changed. Creating a completely new user experience by changing the software aspects of the sensors and system.
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The H2O expo building offers valuable lessons in creating an architecture that is engaging to the user physically and interactively. The use of a surface with topological vagueness allows the end user the final decision on how they would like to utilise a space while still offering a suggestion of use through the form itself. The interactive elements creatively utilise the inputs from individuals, groups and crowds thus allowing every user of the space to play a part in what the space becomes. This wide range of choice for the user creates a building / creature that has different ebbs and flows throughout the day, with no point in its life being the same as another.
pVisitors move through the building like water molecules, never creating the same pattern twice (Spuybroek 2004:35) tThe H20 expo experience (Spuybroek 2004:34)
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Parc la Villette
Like jungle gyms scattered through a playground, red folies invade the site of Parc la Villette. Their playful forms peek through boughs of trees and beckon across water canals. Like the English telephone booths the ten meter cubed red follies colonize the park giving it an endearing image. Parc la Villette was part of a series of ‘Grand Projects’ undertaken by the French government in the early 1980’s. The projects included the Opera Bastille, the Louvre Pyramid and the Arch at La Defense. Bernard Tschumi, the winner of an international competition for the project, chose for his design an abstract mediation as his starting point (Tschumi 1987:IV). The implementation of the project was marred by governmental changes and budgetary crises. Tschumi’s design took such circumstances into account. Rather than creating a new composition; complimenting the park’s surroundings or critically analyzing the site, he decided to use an abstract system to mediate between the site and the programme (Tschumi 1987:IV). This abstract system allowed him to substitute / interchange programmes. It also allowed for changing budgets.
Point Grid
It was the point grid that emerged as the abstract mediation that Tschumi envisioned for the site. The point grid was incomplete, infinite and lacked centre or hierarchy (Tschumi 1987:VI). It could therefore shrink, grow or take over new territories without lessening its impact. The competition brief had required the architect to create a master plan that would accommodate various architectural and landscape designs from different designers. The point grid suited this purpose perfectly as it did not impose upon the park the image of one author, the masterarchitect. Its serial repetition and anonymity gave it a form familiar to the 20th century - the mass-produced object(Tschumi 1987:VI). Tschumi accommodated the parks programme across the whole site, in cubic red folies, rather than concentrating the programme into a few architectural forms. What he achieved by doing this was to give the park an identity that spanned its entire 125-acre site.
tParc la Villette with its charactaristic red folies and covered gallery walkway, Paris
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The traditional translation of ‘folie’ means madness or insanity (Tschumi 1987:5). Tschumi aptly named the points on his grid folies. They were points where programmes were juxtaposed in unprecedented ways. What he was creating was sheer architectural madness and playfulness. Folie Examples: (Tshumi 1987:27) Folie N5, Childrens Folie: administration, water games, slide, tarzan-bar, drawing workshop Folie N7, Folie of Spectacles: First aid clinic, water wheel, Folie L5, Cinema Folie: Cinema-restaurant, piano-bar, video theater, observatory, shops, running track, radio studio
Points, Lines, Surfaces
Three autonomous systems were utilized in Parc la Villette: Points A 120 meter grid point system is superimposed over the site. The required programme is then fragmented and distributed to each point. The point would then become the embodiment of the programme through a folie. The folies too were of a standard size, a 10x10x10 meter cube of neutral space that would be adapted to specific programmes.
pProgramatic composition (after Tschumi 1987:4)
Lines The lines represented pedestrian movement across the site. Specifically two covered perpendicular galleries spanning NorthSouth (linking the metro station of Porte de la Vilette to Porte de Pantin) and an East-West (linking Paris to its suburbs); a meandering path connecting various parts of the park in a cinematic promenade and alleys of trees that link important areas within the park. Surfaces The park’s surfaces respond to various programmatic needs such as pavements for walking, grass for recreation and hard surfaces for sports and exercise (Tschumi 1987:6).
tParc la Villette urban plan showing three organisational systems (after Tschumi 1987:3)
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When each autonomous system is superimposed upon the other, the result is a design that rejects the traditional sense of composition (Tschumi 1987:VI). It is a form that does not privilege any organising element over another, again like the mass-produced feel of the folies, the montage effect of the three systems in unison underplays the role of the architect as the master-designer of the space. The result is a design that seems to have evolved organically over time rather than having been imposed on the park as a ‘grand gesture’. The cinematic promenade is a prime example of this approach to the design of Parc la Villette. This seemingly random curvilinear path weaves through the park leaving in its wake individual gardens of different themes. The path was created along the analogy of a filmstrip, the pedestrian path being the continuous sound track to the experience and each garden as a montage of different sequences (Tschumi 1987:12). Each garden is laid out by a different designer and Tschumi, like a film director, simply oversees the sequences of the montage. A visitor to Parc la Villette might never realise that the three systems created for the park’s design had in fact originated from the one design. It would seem as if, through a process of evolution, the systems had happened to cross one another and connect at certain points. Indeed the design of Parc La Villette allows for exactly that. It has no beginning and no end. Each system of points, lines and surfaces could expand and take on new functions without clashing with the current form of Parc la Villette. It is just as likely for a visitor to the park to imagine that a new path had been created since their last visit, or that they might not have noticed it until that day, as Tchumi himself remarks: “It [the cinematic promenade] suggests secret maps and impossible fictions” (Tschumi 1987:12).
pCinematic Promenade with themed gardens (after Tschumi 1987:8) tA folie clamping onto an existing building
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Media and Architecture Design Lessons A
Generic Infrastructure
Like roads, water or electricity supply, it is important to create an infrastructure that allows a site’s future growth. This infrastructure should take on as many functions as possible to allow the architectural layer that is superimposed onto it to work more effectively, thus giving the architect a greater degree of freedom with regards to design.
B
Topological Vagueness
Creating a topological surface that suggests movement flows rather than specifying it through walls or restrictions allows the user to imagine new ways of using the space. This approach is especially useful in public spaces. It is here where the designer must allow for multiple uses of the site. In this way the designer can emphasize certain uses without discouraging other natural usage patterns that already exist on the site.
C Single, Group, Crowd
Interactivity should not be reduced to a single person playing with a device. This not only alienates groups, but also crowds of people who might also be using the space. Creating an interactive system that engages the single user, groups and crowds ensures that the interactive system will aid in the meeting of different people, merging of groups into crowds and allowing single users to split from a group/crowd without feeling left out of the interactive experience.
D
Point Grid
The use of a point grid across a site gives the architect an abstract tool with which he or she can engage with the site. It allows for flexibility within a project, enabling downsizing or growth and budgetary decreases or increases (without jeopardizing the project). The point grid system creates a design approach that is extremely robust, much like a network of computers, when one computer is taken ‘offline’ the other computers in the network take on the functions of the defunct computer.
E
Autonomous Systems
Creating a set of autonomous systems across a site ensures that if one system happens to fail, each system would continue to work autonomously.
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The Site, a History Park Station and the Rotunda 1950 - Present
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Park Station over 60yrs
On the 2nd of October 1997 at the opening of yet another redevelopment of Park Station, Nelson Mandela had the following to say: “The great city of Johannesburg deserves a central station of which it can be proud, one that reflects its contribution to our country and our region as a transport hub which workers, rural people, business people, tourists and other converge from all directions.� (Mandela 1997). Park Station is yet to achieve the lofty goal of becoming a transport hub that is representative of our country, but is closer to achieving it than it was a decade ago. New confidence in the Johannesburg CBD and Bramfontein, public transport initiatives such as the Gautrain and the Rea Vaya rapid-bus system, means that by 2010 a large increase of commuters will be passing through Park Station. For this thesis, the physical point of intersection between these transport systems; Railway, high-speed railway and bus is extremely important. The northwestern entrance to Park Station is at the intersection of these three systems, yet its current configuration makes it a highly impractical position for the intersection of such varying modes of transport. Of particular interest is the transport landmark, the Rotunda, which is currently abandoned. This circular building once a landmark for bus transport in Gauteng has lost its original function, as a roundabout for bus departures, through the building of walls on the site. Many years of additions onto the Park Station property has meant that over time its organisational structure has all but vanished under masonry walls, concrete slabs and columns. In order to understand the underlying problems with the site it is necessary to understand its development and multiple redevelopments over time.
tPark Station, Johannesburg, 1952 (Museum Africa 2008)
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1950s – Park Station
In the 1950’s trains transported more people than any other transport mode in Johannesburg. It was at this time when Park Station vastly expanded its station (Beavon 2004:162). As the national flagship for railways, Park Station added ten additional platforms (16 in total), which were covered by a 8.1ha reinforced concrete deck (Beavon 2004:162). This concrete deck housed a 175m by 45m booking hall, a bus terminus for long-distance busses and public parking (Beavon 2004:162). On its western edge, flying over the concrete deck, is the Rissik Street Bridge connecting the CBD to Braamfontein. This one way bridge only allowed traffic movement in a northerly direction. At this point Park Station had three clear entrances. The De Villiers Street entrance (A, see illustration on next page) allowed access to users from the CDB adjacent to the entrance of the old Park Station entrance. The Wolmarans Street entrance (B) allowed Braamfontein commuters direct access the Park Station through a mezzanine level in its booking hall. Lastly an eastern entrance (C) situated at the centre of the booking hall gave access to users being dropped off at the station or parking their cars. As Keith Beavon remarks (2004:163), what was notable in this development was the lack of commercial space allocated to the project. While Park Station was almost the size of the central retail zone of the CBD it contained only 0.07% of its retail space relative to the CBD, clearly the rail administrators had missed their chance to take advantage of the large number of commuters flooding through the station on a daily basis.
“Park Station was almost the size of the central retail zone of the CBD it contained only 0.07% of its retail space relative to the CBD”
tConstruction of the Park Station booking hall, Johannesburg, 1953 (Museum Africa 2008)
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pPark Station Model, Johannesburg 1952 (Museum Africa 2008) A- De Villiers Street Entrance B-Wolmarans Street Entrance C- Eastern Entrance
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1960s - The Rotunda
Across Park Station, past the Rissik Street Bridge, stands the Rotunda. True to its name it is a purely spherical building with a copper domed roof. This in-town airways terminal for the S.A.A. (South African Airways), allowed air travelers to check in for their flights and then be transported to the international airport 25kms away for departure (Beavon 2004:163). The physical shape of the Rotunda fitted its function perfectly, the building itself was a roundabout for the busses that would transport the air travelers. The main entrance (A, see illustration on next page) to the east was the main entrance to the terminal. This entrance also acted as a drop-off zone for cars and busses. Inside, the deceptively large volume (created by the domed roof) invited air-travelers to a spacious and airy open interior space surrounded by an administrative band to the south. Once checked in for the flight, the traveler would then leave through the bus exit (B). Here they would board a bus that would take them directly to the international airport. What was essential to the Rotundas functioning as a terminal was the flow of cars, busses and people. These three systems ran concurrently yet separately in order to ensure efficiency and safety. The main entrance (A) allowed covered entry into the terminal, while the terminal itself acted as the waiting space for the travelers before they boarded their bus. The road system for the terminal worked only in one direction. Busses would bypass the drop-off zone with a second lane and drive anti-clockwise around the rotunda to reach the exit point (B) and then proceed to leave the terminal. Private cars on the other hand could merely drop off the traveler at the main entrance or drive into the parking area directly in front of the entrance. At this point Park Station and the Rotunda could be accessed directly from the Rissik Street Bridge from an off-ramp close to De Villiers Street. Thus one would not need to travel all the way along Rissik Street Bridge, only to turn back on Wolmaraans street in order to reach the Rotunda.
tThe Rotunda, Johannesburg, 1963 (Museum Africa 2008)
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pThe Rotunda, Johannesburg, 1965 (Museum Africa 2008) A- Main Entrance
pThe Rotunda, Johannesburg, 1963 (Museum Africa 2008) B- Bus Exit
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Park Station and Rotunda- 1990s
In 1997 the completion of a R63 million upgrade to Park Station took place. At this point another level of parking was added to the concerte deck, this parking was now at the same level as the Rissik Street Bridge and covered the lower parking lot. From this new parking lot, one could enter Park Station at the mezzanine level and then descend into the booking hall. The mezzanine level had been expanded to include more retail space. At this point the Rotunda had long since been discontinued as a satellite terminal for the international airport. Its main function now was as a bus terminal, functioning in much the same way it did for airport travelers, with the administrative band acting as the location for travel agents and bus ticket sellers.
Rotunda 2000s
When the amount of bus travel going through the Rotunda reached unbearable levels, the bus terminal was moved into the booking hall of Park Station. The lower parking area was then turned into a bus depot. This area was cordoned off to the public by palisade fencing. While this depot took up most of the lower parking area, there were still parking bays available to the public. The Rotunda was never designed to be a dedicated bus terminal and thus became unpractical for high volumes of users. With the ticket sales and departures now situated within Park Station, the Rotunda was mothballed by Intersite (The Park Station Administrators). At this time several changes took place around the Rotunda that rendered its design and position highly problematic for anyone wanting to use it for other purposes. It has as a result remained unchanged to this present day. The Rissik Street off-ramp immediately past De Villers Street that led to the lower level parking, now the Bus terminal, was closed to the public and busses alike. This meant that the only access to Park Station from Rissik Street was from the newer second level of parking and that in order to reach the Rotunda by car or bus from the CBD, one would need to travel all the way along the Rissik Street Bridge and then turn onto Wolmarans Street. The roundabout surrounding the Rotunda was walled off on both the eastern and western sides to make way for a secured parking lot for the Metrorail administrative building (previously the S.A.A. administrative building). The entrance and exit of the Rotunda now stand in the private parking lot of the Metrorail building. The Rotunda was then further blocked off from Park Station by the tPark Station, Johannesburg, 2008
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‘filling in’ of the space under the Rissik Street Bridge by a training space for Metrorail employees. Park Station and the Rotunda today The Rotunda’s connection to Park Station has eroded over time due to both cumulative changes to its surrounding environment and changes in public transportation. While the history of the Rotunda should be acknowledged, this should not override practical concerns on the site. This thesis will keep the iconic image of the Rotunda as an underlying concern throughout the design of the project while trying to tackle the urban problems that have accumulated over the years. The lower parking level of Park Station today is dark and gloomy even on the brightest of days. Its palisade fence, cordoning off the bus depot, collects drifting litter and tattered taxies wait on the curbs slowing down traffic movement. It is here at the Northern entrance, that the intersection of pedestrians, busses, private cars and taxis is at its worst. The closure of the Wolmarans Street entrance to Park Station due to Gautrain construction has only highlighted this problem.
“The lower parking level of Park Station today is dark and gloomy even on the brightest of days. Its palisade fence, cordoning off the bus depot, collects drifting litter and tattered taxies wait on the curbs slowing down traffic movement.” When Park Station expanded its parking to a second level, repurposing the lower level as a bus depot, the central entrance to Park Station on the lower floor vanished. What took its place was a mere service entrance towards the northwest, directly below the Braamfontein entrance. This service entrance was never meant to see the volumes of users it sees today.
tThe Rotunda, Johannesburg, 2008
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Site Exploration
85
Site Walk-through
a 87
Site Walk-through
b
c 89
Site Walk-through
d
e 91
Site Walk-through
f
g 93
pThe Site is well linked by various modes of public transport
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pA growing number of buildings are being converted or reoccupied within the area, thus the residential population of the area is due to expand greatly by 2010.
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pCompared to the density of the CBD and Braamfontein, the site is well situated for the creating of public space (both hard and soft)
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pThe intersection of: Gautrain, BRT (Rea Vaya) and Park Station (with rail and bus).
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pThe clashing of pedestrians, cars and buses at Park Station
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pKey problems within the Norther Park Station entrance.
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Design
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mediaCITY is the design result of the theoretical underpinnings of this thesis. mediaCITY is a project structured around three major elements. Firstly a set of systems are used. A grid, surfaces and links connect and span various parts of the site. All systems work autonomously and are able to function even if another system is not. These multiple systems make for a multi-faceted design that ensures that no overriding design theme controls the entire site. Secondly are the design lessons accumulated from each of the three theory chapters: Media and People, Media and the City, Media and Architecture. These lessons are used to imbue the design with media concepts and theories, thus enriching the site with elements that draw the user into an experience of the site. Lastly the 2007 Johannesburg Inner City Regeneration Charter is used as a barometer, against which all interventions on the site are measured. The interventions are in line with what the city has planned for its future growth. By combining these three elements it is hoped that a unique, multi-faceted approach to the site has been achieved that uses various parameters to ensure its own viability in the present and future.
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pEarly model of the site indicating transport mode stations and links between them in blue
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Systems
The systems in this thesis function autonomously and in unison. This allows a system to function even if another system fails, and for the substitution, adaptation or addition of other systems in the future. When these systems are overlaid they create a rich experiential tapestry for the user. Many different experiences take place depending on how the user decides to explore the space. Their trajectory through the space could include one or several of the systems, depending on what they are doing on a certain day. mediaCITY makes use of four systems: Public Transport, Links, Surfaces and a Grid. These systems when joined together create a dynamic space that is transport interchange, pedestrian street, park, resting space and market all at once. Grid Imposed upon the site is a grid of steel columns that act as an identifying structure for the site. These columns contain electrical points, wi-fi, bluetooth and lighting, thus blanketing the site with a mesh of connectivity and light. Links A series of pedestrian links connect the public transport nodes with each other as well as with its local context. Surfaces Surfaces allow various functions; hard and soft surfaces enable markets, physical activity, rest and recreation. Transport Nodes This is the only system to already exist on the site. The public transport system consists of: Park Station- railway and busses Gautrain- high-speed railway BRT- rapid bus transport These three points form a triangle within which the project is situated.
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Design Lessons
Summary of design lessons extracted from each theory essay. Please refer to the conclusion of each chapter for a more detailed explanation of each lesson.
A New Public Lounge
Interaction
Widespread Devices
Cooler Mediums
Secret Agents
Location Based Virtual Networks
Generic Infrastructure
Autonomous Systems
Point Grid
Topological Vagueness
Single, Group, Crowd
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Inner City Regeneration Charter
In June 2007 Johannesburg City released the Inner City Regeneration Charter. It highlights critical issues to be dealt with in the city. The following is a summary of the issues that are relevant to this thesis.
Surveillance Technology Upgrading of the Johannesburg CCTV network, with priority given to public spaces such as parks, squares and transport termini.
Parks, Playgrounds and other Public Spaces Johannesburg’s rapidly increasing population requires quality public open space, yet there is a sever luck of such spaces. The city envisions that no person should need to walk more that 300m to find either a hard or soft public space. New parks should comply with ecological best practice (storm water attenuation, run off water management) and should enable the installation of public art pieces.
Walkable Streets / Public Environment Upgrade Streets should be made safe and walkable. Opportunities for streets to be pedestrianised should be investigated. Public environment upgrades: New paving, planting of trees, street trading management, public amenities, street furniture, pedestrian friendly lighting, refuse bins. BRT stops to be integrated with the walkable street network.
Iconic Public Spaces Create new geographical anchor-points within the city through iconic public spaces that create a spatial picture of an interesting, attractive and live able inner city.
Public Events and Public Arts Public open space should not become static, it should be enlivened by public cultural events and dynamic forms of public art.
Street Trading Street traders must be able to make a living from trading but must not do so at the expense of commuters or pedestrians. The public environment around trading areas should remain clean, safe and well organized. Limits on the amount of street traders will be created and enforced. Linear markets, mini-shops and micro retail will be developed to broaden the avenues for traders climbing up the economic ladder.
Access to Broadband Telecommunications In order to supply cost effective communication, the building of a city-wide broadband network will be undertaken.
Park Station Precinct The Park Station Precinct does not function optimally as an integrated intermodal facility. It lacks facilities for the storage of goods from cross-boarder traders. Future developments will be designed to facilitate the physically challenged.
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At a Glance
121
123
125
127
129
131
Light-Grid
133
Light-Grid
Like driving past the high grasses of a veld, mediaCITY’s LightGrid extends just high enough to be seen from the Rissik Street bridge. Its regular 15m rhythm extends across the whole site giving it a single identity, as a field of red-light-columns. The grid distance is dictated by the wave distribution of WiFi and Bluetooth® wireless technologies. This ensures the site is blanketed in both technologies. This gives users with mobile phones and computers free access to the internet, making free calls within the space and sending free sms’s and mms’s to digital screens throughout the site. It also allows the broadcast of a micro radio station within the site. The columns give evenly distributed lighting to the site. They can be equipped with surveillance equipment that through the wireless network can link to the Park Station or Johannesburg City CCTV network.
Lessons: Generic Infrastructure, Point Grid, Widespread Devices
Systems: Grid
City Charter: Surveillance Technology, Broadband Access, Public Environment Upgrade, Iconic Public Spaces
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pThe optimal size of the grid is calculated from the average of the minimum and maximum transmission distances of WiFi and Bluetooth
pThe Grid remains at one height from the highest to the lowest point of the site. This visually links the low and high points of the site, giving the whole site one overriding identity.
tLight Column: multiple lights, WiFi, Bluetooth, processor and possible surveillance camera
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139
Film-Flow-Link
pConnection of film frames, connection of sections, triangulation
Film-Flow-Link
The film-flow-link (FFL) forms part of the system of links that connect the three public transport nodes. Its form is generated from a datascape that includes passanger flows, barrier sizes and direct paths to public transport nodes. Much like a piece of film generated from multiple frames, the form of the FFL comes about through applying the datascape to multiple sections throughout the site. Thus the form itself could be created by a page of X-Y-Z coordinates. This form, while directing the majority of its passengers to their desired locations still allows users to ‘embark’ or ‘disembark’ at any time. The surface barrier is always wheelchair friendly wherever cross movement might occur.
Lessons: Topological Vagueness, Location Based Virtual Networks
Systems: Link
City Charter: Walkable Streets, Iconic Public Spaces
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pBefore, the traffic system at Park Station
Traffic Movement The Northern Park Station entrance of today is a dangerous place for pedestrians. For mediaCITY to become a wellused public transport interchange the pedestrian must be at the center of its design. The previous clashing of pedestrian, bus and car traffic has been resolved by making the entrance to Park Station a pedestrian-only street. Busses and cars have been redirected using entries and exits to Park Station and the Rotunda that had been closed over years. pAfter, the new traffic system
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147
Creating the Film-Flow-Link form
pPublic Transport Flows at the north entrance of Park Station
pPassenger flow through the space
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pSurface width adapted to people flow
pBarrier sizing adapted to on and off points
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pBarrier form, calculated from the passenger flow, surface width and barrier height
p3D view of the transport surface
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Media Park
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Media Park
The media park is a connector between Braamfontein and the mediaCITY surface. It creates a physical sweeping connection between the spaces through a winding ramp. This ramp, part of the link system, intertwines itself with various park surfaces. Running through its centre is a weaving curvilinear path that connects each space with a ‘virtual’ pool where a user looking into one pool will see another user looking up at them from a different pool in the space. It is in the park space that the grid of columns is most clear. Here one can see that they all end at the same height and form an unrelenting grid across the site. The sweeping ramp hugs each column as it descends into the ‘canyon’ of the mediaCITY surface.
Lessons: Topological Vagueness, Interaction, Single | Group | Crowd
Systems: Link, Surface, Grid
City Charter: Parks, Public Arts
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pSection AA, Media Park
pMedia-pool interaction, warps space and position. Cameras in the surface send the video to other parts of the strip, allowing people to interact with each other from different levels of the park.
pMedia-surface interface tPlan, Media Park
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Market
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Market
The Market creates a space for business to flourish. Placed on either side of the film-form-link it is guaranteed to benefit from a large amount of users passing but it every day. The Market is situated under the Rissik Street bridge where informal traders currently reside. The shelter from the bridge means that the Market can function during any weather, be it rainy or a hot sunny day. The Market system consists of moveable ‘carts’ that are kept in storage rooms, on either side of the Market, at night. The carts are made up of modular parts: the cart itself, 3 detachable lids and 6 buckets. The ‘buckets’ can support the detachable lids to increase the selling space or can be flipped to keep goods in them (it can also be used as a seat). The different components can be arranged in many different ways, giving the trader a choice in how they display their goods. The components, of injection-moulded plastic, come in a variety of coulours that when laid out by all the traders give the market a vibrant, friendly and playful feel.
Systems: Surface
City Charter: Street Trading, Walkable Streets
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tpThe current manifestation of an informal market scattered around the Northern Park Station entrance. Note the innovative use of plastic bread and cool drink crates, buckets and cardboard boxes
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Storage position with lids clicked into place (like Lego pieces) and ‘buckets’ inside the cart
Components can be combined into various different configurations
Handle extended, cart can be wheeled to desired position
Components disassemble into individual parts
pPossible layout for one trader using a standard cart: cart, 3 lids and 6 buckets
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Screens
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Screens
Two large triangular forms create physical wedges between the film-form-link at strategic points where the route to transport modes diverge. On these triangular forms are screens that face the direction of each mode of transport. The screens show information related to that mode of transport: time of the next departure, two departures after that and the destination of each departure. The screens also connect to the wider network of the lightgrid. Sms’s, mms’s, photos and music played on the network are shared and displayed on the screens. Undesired content is filtered through by the community using the network (a successful method currently used online). Other information from the surroundings is also displayed on the screens, such as dates of events in the space, time, temperature, danger spots and live footage from surveillance cameras. At all times information displayed on the screen can be chosen by the community using the network.
Lessons: Lessons: Virtual Networks, Interaction, Cooler Mediums, Widespread Devices, Secret Agents
Systems: Links, Grid
City Charter: Public Events / Arts, Public Environment Upgrade, Iconic Public Spaces
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Waiting Space
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Waiting Space
The current waiting spaces inside Park Station are over-crowded, have little ventilation and are lit with unsightly flood-lights. There is also a problem of people having to keep their luggage with them because of lack of storage space. The Waiting Space in an outside waiting area (covered by the Park Station public parking level). In this space users wait for busses and trains outside in the fresh air while still being sheltered from the elements. Rows of seating follow the forms of the film-flow-link and the building to the South, they are cut by crisscrossing paths that lead to and from the film-flow-link. Flanking the rows is a building that separates the restricted bus departures and arrivals area from the mediaCITY public space. The building houses public bathrooms, a large safety deposit box area (for the storage of luggage), convenience stores, a salon and a storage facility for the Market. The users of the Waiting Space are kept informed by one of the Screens, it keeps them informed of the train and bus schedules.
Lessons: Interaction, Secret Agents
Systems: Links, Grid
City Charter: Public Events, Public Environment Upgrade, Public Spaces, Park Station
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Secret Agent
mediaCITY employs various secret agents to create impromptu events throughout the week. They keep the public space within mediaCITY alive. They foster interaction, participation and exploration. No one knows how many secret agents work for mediaCITY, they seem to pop-up from the ether and disappear back into it after an event. It is said that they never appear in the same spot twice. John is a secret agent, he keeps a close eye on all the public information running through the Light-Grid throughout the day. He uses this information to create events that deal with current events and issues within the site. With a roving stage, lights, sound and camera he can start an event anywhere. Secret agents have limited control over the public Screens and can use them so show images, films or live video from anywhere in the site.
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The Rotunda
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The Rotunda
The Rotundas has been sliced open, leaving only its base form as a template for a swooping ramp that takes users from the film-flowlink up to the BRT station on the Rissik Street bridge level. This spiral creates an open sheltered space within it. This space can be used for events or recreation. The spiral’s solid form consists of a series of stores ranging in scale and a set of public toilets. Through my theoretical research it became clear that giving the public access to a New Public Lounge would be essential to satisfy the theoretical goal, but many issues quickly arose. Simply placing the Lounges in the public space brought up issues about safety, noise and vandalism. While I wanted the Lounges to be as public as possible, having them lock up or be brutishly designed to take large amounts of wear and tear would only add to the negative image of the Rotunda. Thus the form of the Ferris wheel emerged. Not only would the wheel give the site and iconic structure, it would incorporate the Lounges in a way that seems open and friendly to the public, but still requires a level of access that ensures that the Lounges will not be vandalised or misused.
Lessons: New Public Lounge
Systems: Links, Surface, Grid
City Charter: Public Events, Iconic Public Space, Public Spaces
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Type A: Internet ‘Cafe’ This internet cafe is always on the move. A user embarks onto the Ferris wheel and uses the internet facilities. The Ferris wheel completes a rotation every 15 minutes. Internet usage is billed for every Ferris wheel rotation, were a user can disembark and pay for their usage.
Type B: Viewing Booth This viewing both gives the user of mediaCITY a chance to view the immediate site, Johannesburg City and Braamfontein from a birds-eye view. This part of the Ferris wheel is free to the public. Detached from the hustle and bustle of Johannesburg, the user can retreat into the calm confines of the viewing booth contemplating over the past day.
Type C: New Public Lounge The New Public Lounge is like your home away from home. The space is rented for a desired amount of time. Inside is an array of media attachments that allows one to play movies, music, computer and console games.
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Process
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pDrawing
pComics
pVideos
pModels
pDocument mock-ups
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To view the Media and the City video go to: http://www.blip.tv/file/1437776 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKf1pVqIK-4 or http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7bj6c
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Š 2008 | Eduardo Cachucho | WITS University www.efrcdesign.com