Abstract

The harnessing and utilization of big data within the scales of architecture and the urban environment is finding itself more and more relevant with recent advances in parametric methods of data extraction within the design of the built environment (Hess, T. and Sauda, E. 2014, Chiu, M. and Peng, C. 2005, Webb, A. 2014, Beirao, J and Arrobas, P. 2013). With vast amounts of continuously updated environmental and user-driven/crowd-sourced data at our fingertips, designers are gaining the ability to create installations, buildings and other spatial forms that are not only extremely user-specific, but also retain the ability to adapt to ever-changing internal and external conditions in real-time. How though can designers decipher which data is relevant, and when taking on a physical/interactive manifestation the types of affects it will have within its surrounding urban context? Currently, these data driven projects remain limited as a result of surrounding rigid infrastructures, their dated design/fabrication methodologies, high cost of implementation as well as the use of inefficient materials that do not allow for a high level of immediate visual and physical adaptability/interactivity. Created within this limited/fixed framework, such projects quickly find themselves underutilized, only to fall into obsolescence or removal.  Through the utilization of big data, interactive systems, robotic installations and innovative fabrication methodologies, the authors argue for a new smart-city based “kiosk” typology which not only redefines a given public space through information and interaction, but rather recenters the city as a whole around a publicly-accessible and globally interconnected network that allow users to experience and redefine the city’s context in unique, personal and innovative ways.

This paper also highlights the effects of interconnected/interactive urban artifacts on both the user and the surrounding urban conditions through an exploration in object and systems-level thinking within metacognition. Through this lens, the paper will highlight a critical position on data-driven installations raised through the research, design and implementation of a network of interactive/interconnected “kiosks” proposed to be deployed within the dense urban fabric of Chicago. Building upon analyses, case studies and critiques, the paper advances the interpretation of smart cities artifacts through the design of an autonomous interactive kiosk network along Chicago’s contemporary Lakefront.  This project inserts a new dynamic layer of information and interaction that previously didn’t exist within the city by revealing inconspicuous urban and ecological information as well as by fostering social exchange and interactivity through the breaking down of the kiosk into fun and flexible urban furniture. In addition, the authors highlight metacognitive and historiographical foundations to problematize common over-simplifications of current interactive projects, while revealing key cultural and ecological elements to the users situated within the broader issues of urban placemaking.

This paper explores the creation of adaptable/intelligent architectural networks and forms through the implementation of intelligent interfaces, innovative materials and methodologies for urban, intelligent network creation and interaction.  Rather then attempting to make previous design typologies “smarter”, this paper investigates design intelligence as a process, which goes beyond the creation of, so called “smart” artifacts that only react to users, and reevaluates the entire process of such scales of design.  The intelligence within the urban context must become more deeply integrated into all aspects of design conception ranging from:  How information is disseminated both digitally and physically, how users interact with, and physically alter the project, how the project dissipates into its landscape creating new urban artifacts, through the design process and fabrication, and finally the artifact’s ability to physically adapt, and “learn” from interactions with its surrounding environment over time.  By rethinking the role of a typical urban “kiosk”, the authors will in turn question the shifting facility of contemporary urban space, and how designers can better integrate adaptability directly into both the processes of design and in the finished artifact itself.  Utilizing robotic/on-site manufacturing, smart/adaptable-skin materials and intelligent embedded robotic systems, the authors argue for an urban network “kiosk” system that learns and therefore adapts to both its inhabitants and surroundings thus more effectively occupying territory in an ever changing environment on social, economic, technological and cultural levels.

Through a series of explorations in urban kiosk prototypes, this paper investigates the potential of interactive objects combined with integrated robotics to create a new typology of adaptable, rapidly constructed, high quality, low-cost and intelligent urban kiosks. These explorations push a series of four design strategies: 1) The re-evaluation of current spatial needs within the prototypical city. 2) The development of a formal design solution allowing for maximum adaptability and interactivity. 3) The embedding of intelligent robotics within the facade, creating a skin with the ability to adapt to ever changing internal and external conditions. 4) The evaluation and testing of temporary, onsite robotics for rapid fabrication and customization. Through this research, the authors highlight critical factors concerning the feasibility, design and implementation of adaptable, interactive, and networked kiosks as key public amenities that may potentially redefine how physical artifacts are regarded within smart cities.

Expanding on current research and analysis on the “Robotic Urbanism Project” in Chicago, this research moves current design studies into full scale working prototypes that pave the way for a new typology of “Smart” urban interventions. This paper questions often over-simplified formal practices and rather focuses on how form can be generated and responsively modified within the built environment, to absorb and distribute changing information within the current urban environment. Through rigorous small scale and full-scale prototypes, this paper will attempt to invalidate both typical cost, complexity and hardware obsolesce problems typically associated with interactive urban installations.