Celine Lui_Thesis

PIXEL, VOXEL, GLITCHED SURVEILLANCE AS AN CONNECTING MECHANISM

CELINE LUI INT 402 03 THESIS STUDIO PRATT INSTITUTE 2020

Surveillance has always been associated with crime and violence. Its virtues are overwhelmed by these negatives. Here, surveillance is approached as a medium for connecting people through observation, not as a means of control. The stereotypical meaning of surveillance is challenged through the proposal of a hybrid program: an observation tower and bar for blind dating. Connection through the act of spying is promoted. Three categories of users are proposed: the surveilled, the surveiller, and the external observer.

The site is chosen next to Times Square, 119 West 45th Street, surrounded by news and television headquarters, and heavily surveilled to monitor crime and vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The site is surrounded by a pixel per inch envelope comprised of billboards, closed-circuit cameras and cellphones. The project investigates how surveillance can be used as a mechanism of connection by exploring the distortion within a glitch. A space of networked pixels, voxels and glitches is proposed.

SCALE OF PERCEPTION - SITE FOCUSING ON THE SUBJECT OF SURVEILLANCE, THE CHOSEN SITE SHOULD BE HEAVYILY SURVEILED. TIMES SQUARE IS SELECTED FOR IT IS MONITORED CONSTANTLY FOR BEING A TOURISTS CONCENTRATED LOCATION. 119 W 45TH ST / NEW YORK / NY 10036

OTHER THAN BEING HEAVILY SURVEILLED, TIMES SQUARE IS ALSO A PLACE SURROUNDED BY DIGITAL PIXELATION. FROM BILLBOARDS, CLOSE-CIRCUT CAMERAS TO CELL PHONE CAMERAS, EACH HAS THEIR OWN PRESENTED RESOLUTION.

BILLBOARDS

CLOSED-CIRCUT CAMERAS

CELL PHONES

23 MEGAPIXELS

6.3 MEGAPIXELS

463 PPI

119 W 45TH ST. / NEWYORK / NY 10036 WITH NEWS AND PUBLISHING HEADQUATERS AS SURROUNDING, THE SITE IS ENACTED WITH SURVEILLANCE ELEMENT. IF THE PRESNT OF THEM REPRESENTS THE TRADITIONAL DEFINITION OF SURVEILLANCE, THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EXPLORE THE ALTERNATIVE OF IT.

A

ABC NEWS

B

NEW YORK POST

C

FOX NEWS

D

AMERICAN PUBLISHING

E

TIMES SQUARE

B

A

D

C E

SCALE OF PERCEPTION - PPI

BY DOCUMENTING THE SITE’S SURROUNDING, THE PROJECT PICKED UP ON THE ELEMENT OF PIXELATION, INSPIRED BY THE GLITCH (0:15- 0:20) THAT WAS PRESENT ON THE BILLBOARD.

0:03 - 0:08 GLITCH 0:00-0:14 / 0:15-0:40 / 0:41-1:00 STREET - BODY MOVEMENT - FACIAL EXPRESSION PPI - PIXEL PER INCH BILLBOARD - CAMERA - CELLPHONE

PIXEL BOUNDARIES BASED ON FOOTAGES(PUBLIC/PRIVATE/SLOW/FAST)

IT FEELS GOOD BUT WEIRD TO BE THIS EXPOSED...

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT AT HIDING AREA (SURVEILLED) (PUBLIC)

I WISH I WERE CROSS-EYED SO I CAN SEE YOU TWICE.

VOICE RECORDER (PUBLIC)

I WONDER WHICH ROLE SHOULD I PICK...

I HOPE I DOESN’T SOUND BORING...

WELL, COULD YOU HERE ME?

TRANSITION WITH PROGRAM (SLOW)

TRANSITION WITH PROGRAM (FAST)

STEET VIEW / 0:01 - 0:14 (PUBLIC) (SLOW)

GLITCHES ON BILLBOARD SCREEN / 0:15 - 0:20

INTRODUCING PIXELATED ELEMENT / 0:21 - 0:40

ZOOMING INTO BODY MOVEMENT / 0:15-0:40 (PUBLIC TO PRIVATE) (SLOW TO FAST GLITCHING)

GLITCHES RESEMBLE WITH BILLBOARD SCREEN

ZOOMING INTO FACIAL EXPRESSION / 0:41 - 0:53 (PRIVATE) (FAST GLITCHING)

FISH EYE SURVEILLING / 0:51 - 1:00

POLICE:CHEWING

INTRODUCTION OF FISHEYE

TOURISTS:SMILING

VOXEL

GLITCH

FISH EYE / DISTORTION / PLANS

LCD SCREEN / GLITCH / SECTIONS

COMPACTED Z: GLITCH

SECONDARY PRIMARY

X : PROGRAM

COMPACTED ON THE BACK

Y: USERS FOCAL IN THE FRONT

BARREL DISTORTION MAGNIFICATION DECREASES WITH DISTANCE MIDDLE AREA : FOCAL WORST AT WIDE-ANGLE AT THE END OF RANGE

AS Z-AXIS IS INTRODUCED, IT IS PRESENTED FROM THE TWO OBSERVATIONAL BOOTHS (VISUAL + ACOUSTIC).

EXTRUDING FROM 2ND TO THE 4TH FLOOR, THEY TRANSFORMED THE PROGRAM FROM PIXEL TO VOXEL.

SURVEILLED CIRCULATION

SURVEILLER CIRCULATION

PROGRAMS(HYBRID): OBSERVATIONAL TOWER + BAR(EXPERIMENTAL DATING) DN

UP

UP

UP

UP

DN

UP

UP

DN

UP

UPUP

UP

1ST FLOOR

2ND FLOOR

DN

CUMULATIVE CIRCULATION

EXTERNAL OBSERVER CIRCULATION

DN

UP

3RD FLOOR

4TH FLOOR

SECTIONS

B

SURVEILLA

A

ANCE / VISUAL

SURVEILLANCE / ACOUSTIC

ENTRANCE

1ST FLOOR BAR HIDING AREA FOR THE SURVEILLED

POUR CONCRETE FLOORING ACOUSTIC TREATED CEILING PANELS LIGHTING AREA WOODEN TREAD

PDS 4-ADU LIGHTING

RECEPTION

TAPPING LINES CONNECTED TO THE SURVEILLANCE ACOUSTIC AREA AND ACOUSTIC BOOTH (2ND TO 4TH FLOOR)

HIDING AREA SURVEILED

A

UP

UP

DN

45TH STREET

B

UP

1ST FLOOR

UP

DN

UP

DN

UP

DN

UP

UPUP

2ND FLOOR

3RD FLOO

OR

STAIRWAY TOWARD ACOUSTIC SURVEILLANCE (SURVEILED)

RECEPTION

UP

DN

UP

4TH FLOOR

RESTROOM& STORAGE & JANITOR CLOSET

BAR - PAIRED GROUP DN

DN

UP

UP

OCCUPANTS MUST SIGN UP ONLINE BEFORE ENTERING THEIR INFORMATION WILLAPPEAR ON WALL FOR PUBLIC INTEREST

BAR (PAIRED UP)

A

DN

45TH STREET

B

UP

2ND FLOOR

UP

UP

UP

DN

UP

1ST FLOOR

3RD FLOOR

OBSERVATION (VISUAL) BOOTH

OBSERVATION (HEARING) BOOTH

SURVEILLANCE (ACOUSTIC) SURVEILLER

DN

UP

P

R

STORAGE & LOUNGE

DN

UP

4TH FLOOR

SURVEILLANCE BOOTHS (SURVEILLER / VISUAL)

DN

DN

UP

UP

3RD FLOOR

GYPSUM BOARD PARTITION

F.O. WALL BASE CONTINUOUS DOUBLE STUDS AT JAMB (TYP.) JAMB ANCHOR AS REQ.

SURVEILLANCE BOOTH + EXTERNAL OBSERVER SURVEILLANCE AREA (BOTTOM HALF)

SURVEILLANCE (ACOUSTIC) SURVEILLER ONLY DN

DN

UP

UP

A

45TH STREET

B

3RD FLOOR

UP

UP

UP

DN

UP

1ST FLOOR

2ND FLOOR

R

OBSERVATION (VISUAL) BOOTH

OBSERVATION (HEARING) BOOTH

OBSERVATION (ACOUSTIC) SURVEILER

DN

DN

UP

UP

4TH FLOOR

SURVEILLANCE AREA EXTERNAL OBSERVER

4TH FLOOR

EXTERNAL OBSERVER

A

45TH STREET

B

4TH FLOOR

UP

UP

UP

DN

UP

1ST FLOOR

2ND FLOO

OR

OBSERVATION (VISUAL) BOOTH

OBSERVATION (HEARING) BOOTH

OBSERVATION (ACOUSTIC) SURVEILER

DN

DN

UP

DN

UP

UP

3RD FLOOR