Remko Siemerink - 1009257 - Study Plan (v. 2.0) - 10-12-2007
Name: Remko Siemerink
Student number: 1009257
Architecture or Urbanism: Architecture
Address: Zwart Janstraat 97a, 3035 AN, Rotterdam.
Email: r.siemerink@student.tudelft.nl
Phone: +31641860563
Study Plan
1a Working title of the project.
Archtctr 2.0
1b One line description of the nature of the project.
A personal ephemeral dynamic architecture for navigation of the virtual being seamlessly connected with the physical.
1c ‘Disciplines’ involved in the project.
Spatial design, Game design, Telecommunication, New media, Cinematography, Information design, Interface design, Parametric design, Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, Psychology and Architecture.
1d Short description of the aims, questions and results of the thesis project.
Everything is connected; people, information, buildings, locations, etc. An immense network exists; consisting out of stuff in both the 'virtual world' (the internet) and the physical world. The network is build up out of millions of personal (smaller) networks from different individuals. I'm using the spatial 'language' of architecture to visualize and to navigate this network. An architecture is created in real-time to let you explore your network of friends, information, people; almost everything ...
The idea for this project emerged observing current day developments around us. Especially the so called Web 2.0 phenomenon was an important influence. It seems that the web and the way in which we use it is ever more similar to our physical world. But it’s not just web-based trends that reveal the narrowing gap between the physical and the virtual. It can be seen everywhere around us; in (mobile) (communication) devices, in board- and computer-games, in fashion, toys, in (dance) clubs and other entertainment-related buildings, so even in architecture in general!
These developments reveal a paradoxical tendency; on the one side we see that telecommunication and networking is bringing us closer together promotes a ‘smaller’ and more ‘uniform world’ (globalism, global culture), whereas at the same time we see that it facilitates the emergence of new small groups / communities / subcultures, each with their own values, opinions, styles and rules.
The research of the possibilities within this field has just started. This project brings another approach coming from the discipline of architecture. In this project some of the properties of Web 2.0 and (related) contemporary social and technological developments will be investigated to be adopted in real social life. One should think of, for example, a virtual three-dimensional world seamlessly mixed with the real, physical world. An entirely voluntary, experimental fun- and creativity-based service is just one of the possibilities to start with, but more serious and largely adopted applications are also imaginable, which could ultimately result in an open platform or protocol (like HTTP, GSM and GPS), in which secured, closed services and communities can exist.
1e Goals, in terms of practical social, cultural or economic benefit.
Partly the nature of the project is experimental; the main question is: Can a spatial (architectural) 'interface ' help us making sense of the ever growing complexity of people and information around us? And if it can; how do we design these spaces and this interface? The challenge lies in both the technical as in the 'psychological'; how do we 'help' people navigating, browsing, structuring, searching the network around us?
2a+b Brief description of the major phases of the project and the theoretical or technical instruments to be used or developed at each stage.
In Hyperbody MSc semester 3 the following initial phases of the thesis project have been passed trough:
MSc3.I. Initial research and design and literature and media studies.
MSc3.II. Definition of the project (theme, questions, goals); with this study plan as a result.
MSc3.III. Diverge; collecting and developing possible ideas, designs, inventions, products, etc.
The project will be continued and completed in Hyperbody MSc semester 4, with the following phases:
MSc4.I. Re-initialization: Refreshing, reviewing and completing the MSc 3 phases, shown above.
MSc4.II. Converging; Structuring and evaluation of the above and choosing successful or promising ideas.
MSc4.III. Deeper and continued research and literature study, resulting in more specific and reformulated aims. Everything reported on a website / weblog (http://archtctr2.0.viernulvier.nl), also resulting in a printable PDF-report.
MSc4.IV. Development of selected designs / scenario’s and if possible, suitable prototypes.
MSc4.V. Development and production of a suitable presentation format.
MSc4.VI. Final presentation.
2c Current literature & media list (to be revised and selected from).
Critical
Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another
by
Philip Ball , Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 16, 2006)
The
Wisdom of Crowds
by
James Surowiecki , Anchor; Reprint edition (August 16, 2005)
Six
Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age
by
Duncan J. Watts , W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition
(February 2004)
Linked:
How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means
by
Albert-Laszlo Barabasi , Plume; Reissue edition (April 29, 2003)
Emergence:
The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
by
Steven Johnson , Scribner; Reprint edition (August 27, 2002)
Sync:
The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order
by
Steven Strogatz , Hyperion; 1st edition (March 5, 2003)
Smart
Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
by
Howard Rheingold , Basic Books; Reprint edition (October 14, 2003)
Game
Zone: Playgrounds between Virtual Scenarios and Reality
by
Albetro Iacovoni, Birkhäuser – Publishers for
Architecture, 2004.
Game
Set And Match II
by
Kas Oosterhuis, Lukas Feireiss (Educational
Studies Pr, September 30, 2006)
Rules
of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
by
Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman , The MIT Press (October 1, 2003)
The
Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology
by
Katie Salen (Editor), Eric Zimmerman (Editor) , The MIT Press
(December 1, 2005)
Out
of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the
Economic World
by
Kevin Kelly , Perseus Books Group; Reprint edition (May 1995)
The
Technium
by
Kevin Kelly, Unpublished yet, work in progress at:
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/
A
New Kind of Science
by
Stephen Wolfram , Wolfram Media (May 14, 2002)
Being
Digital
by
Nicholas Negroponte , Vintage (January 3, 1996)
The
Language of New Media
by
Lev Manovich , The MIT Press; Reprint edition (March 7, 2002)
A
Short History of Nearly Everything
by
Bill Bryson , Broadway; Reprint edition (September 14, 2004)
Constant's
New Babylon
by
Mark Wigley , Uitgeverij 010 Publishers,Netherlands (June 15, 1999)
City
of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn
by
William J. Mitchell, The MIT Press; New Ed edition (August 1, 1996)
Wired
Magazine
(Issue
14.09, September 2006; Issue 13.10,
October
2005; Issue 10.09, September 2002;
Issue 9.05, May 2001; Issue
8.05, May 2000; Issue 12.04, April 2004, …)
TIME Magazine (Dec. 25, 2006 issue)
Google Earth – http://earth.google.com
Wikipedia articles – http://www.wikipedia.com/
Tron (Steven Lisberger, 1982)
Brainstorm (Douglas Trumbull, 1983)
Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)
Johnny Mnemonic (Robert Longo, 1995)
Cube (Vincenzo Natali, 1997), Cube 2; Hypercube (Andrzej Sekula, 2004), Cube Zero (Ernie Barbarash, 2004).
ExistenZ (David Cronenberg, 1999)
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror VI (Matt Groening, October 29th, 1995)
Secondlife – http://www.secondlife.com/
The Sims – http://thesims.ea.com/
World of Warcraft – http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/
Unreal Tournament - http://www.callofduty.com/
Nintendo WII - http://wii.com/
etc. etc. etc.– http://del.icio.us/re404/archtctr2.0
3 Criteria to be judged upon.
Level of innovation. Are the developed ideas and products really “new” and original? Could they be successful in the “real world”? Are existing technologies and phenomena well investigated and combined in something new, so that the result is more than the sum of its parts?
Quality of research. However this project is quite experimental and exploratory, it has an important scientific aspect to it. Is the information gathered and processed scientifically, and evaluated well, to take wise (design) decisions?
Quality of the design developed. How do the products / scenarios designed as case studies appeal to you? Are they too “theoretical” to ever become used in (everyday) practice, or do they make a reasonable chance in the unpredictable “market” of these days?
Quality of the presentation (media) and programming / scripting. Is the presentation (material) convincing and / or appealing. Do the presentation styles / forms match the presented content?
4 Design and research products.
Website / Weblog for textual report, log-keeping and presentation. (http://archtctr2.0.viernulvier.nl/)
2d (digital) hand drawings.
Maya, SketchUp and Virtools for 3d sketches and scripting interactive demo's.
Final verbal presentation in iWeb; using the interactive an immersive technologies available in the iWeb and Virtools, Google Earth and / or SecondLife.
5 Time-plan.
|
15-1-2007 |
Start of project. |
|
9-2-2007 |
Sign contracts |
|
9-11-2007 |
P3 |
|
13-12-2007 |
P4 Go/No-go |
|
??-1-2007 |
P5 Public Final presentation |