Stadtbilding > Stadt= City, Bild = Image
Experiment
Complete strangers build a city in three weeks without resorting
to hierarchical authority, building codes, or zoning regulations.
Apparatus
An urban situation was constructed using one thousand three
hundred and eighty six paper pixels, thirty two fluorescent
tubes, two computers and one scanner. 'Stadt', the physical
city, resided in two 'pixel walls' of paper and light. 'Bild',
the planned city, evolved in two four hundred and fifty megabyte
photoshop files.
Procedure
Visitors were asked to build the city by:
- bringing 'bilding' material - scanning and storing pictures
or objects for later use.
- OR by assembling the virtual city - constructing 'Bild'
using the stored images.
- OR by building the physical city - hanging the freshly
plotted pixels in 'Stadt'.
Observations
Visitors acted independently according to their own personal
criteria. The resulting city was a diverse and complex reflection
of multiple viewpoints.
The activity engaged visitors so thoroughly that they independently
organised social events surrounding the construction.
Conclusion
After three weeks the city was subdivided and sold by auction
to the highest bidder.
© Matthew Griffin + Britta Jürgens 1998
Stadtbilding was realised in URBAN issue in September 1998 |
