1

2

for Grammie and Big Aud

1

Thanks:

To my parents

To Hallie Travis, Ryan Hunter, and Nicholas

Batie, for model assistance and being cool.

To Studio Jackson; Justin Cua, Olivia Calalo,

Nick Funaro, Sarah Brown, Noah Goldsmith,

Trent Fredrickson, Aldo Buitrago, Renee

Jain, Donna Mena, Grace Choy, Kate Hajash,

Evan Collins, Justin Skoda, Karen Shiue,

Linsey Wood, Andrew Wright, Melissa Peter,

and Kathy Kao. Awe fugg yea.

And most of all to Doug Jackson, for

outstanding criticism and advice

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// CONTENTS //

The City

Tribes

Public Space

Collective Creation

Collectively Remixed Architecture

Remixifier

Designing Creation

BLIZZOK

Kinetic System

Supertopo

Flexceiling

Remixify App

Remix NYC

Grand Army Plaza

Site

Form

Program

Landscape

Drawings

Renderings

Models

Image Credits

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// THE CITY //

As a society we have romanticized the city as a place of possibility, cultural exchange,

and creativity; as an incubator for social and cultural innovation. In reality, the city falls

short of our imagination. It has become a place that upholds the status quo, a dead end of

spectacle and material production. Yet our vision is not totally debased. The city, by virtue

of its heterogeneous population, has the potential to live up to our romanticized vision.

By developing a new concept of public space as a place of creative participation, where

emphasis is shifted from passive consumption to active creation, we can empower the

public to create the city as we wish it were.

4

The expanse of Los Angeles implies endless possibility and heterogeneous culture 5

Invisible social boundaries exist between neighborhoods and people6

1Sennett, Richard. The Uses of Disorder. 1st ed. (New York: Knopf, 1970), pg 1572Ibid, 162

Human beings have a inherent desire for comfort and a fear of the unknown1. We feel at

ease with people perceived as similar, and on guard with those perceived as different.

These perceptions were extremely valuable to us in our tribal past, and continue play a

large role in how we interact with other people. They define who we feel comfortable

approaching for directions, what neighborhood we choose to live in, and whether or not

we engage with a person trying to catch our attention on the street. Ultimately, our tribal

instincts lead to a self imposed segregation of the city from a heterogeneous whole into

a number of homogeneous group, a softer, contemporary from of tribalism. As sociologist

Richard Sennett puts its, “diverse city groups are each drawn into themselves, nursing

their anger against the others without forums of expression.”2 This is clearly seen in the

domination of city neighborhoods by a single social or ethnic class, but also extends into to

quality and scope of interactions beyond neighborhood boundaries. This division, and the

lack of “forums of expression,” breaks down communication and understanding between

groups, undermining the city’s ability to function as a social and cultural incubator. The

challenge facing cities today is not the institutionalized segregation of the past, but the

tribalism of the present.

// TRIBES //

7

3 Henri Lefebvre, Le Droit a Ia ville (Paris: Editions Athropos, 1968), pg 115, Translated by Christian Hubert

// PUBLIC SPACE //

In response to the breakdown of the city into homogeneous groups, the purpose of public

space is to bring people together for productive engagement. As far back as 1968, Henri

Lefebvre3 recognized this when he called for “designated places of simultaneity and

encounter, places where exchange does not pass into exchange value, commerce, and

profit.“ Despite this, the condition of most contemporary public space is that of individuated

and passive consumption of existing ideas and experiences rather than the collective

production of new ones. Malls, theaters, museums, theme parks, all are about an individuals’

passive consumption of some type of commodity or experience. Even public parks, which

have no commercial agenda, typically do not offer engagement with other people, rather

they are about the consumption of a leisure experience. For example, the Highline, which

has been highly lauded as a successful, contemporary, and social space, offers little active

engagement. To the extent that it is social, it is more about looking at others, a kind of social

spectacle, rather than engaging with them. In order to design public space that truly brings

people together and fulfills the city’s promise of productive intellectual and ideological

incubation we must turn away from the paradigm of passive consumption, and towards

public space of active collective creation.

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The consumption of public space on the Highline in New York CIty 9

The collectively created art work Clay and the Collective Body 10

4Paula Toppila and Katja Koskela, IHME Contemporary Art Festival 2009 (IHME: Helsinki, 2009), pg 31http://issuu.com/ihmeproductions/docs/ihme_2009_gormley_net

// COLLECTIVE CREATION //

Giving people the tools to be creative empowers and engages them. In 2008 artist Antony

Gormly envisioned a radical experiment in collective creation for the IHME contemporary art

festival in Helsinki, Finland. The exhibition, Clay and the Collective Body, began as an 4m

x 4m x 4m cube of clay housed in a enormous, heated and humidity controlled, tent. Over

the course of nine days, over 1300 members of the general public transformed the block

of clay, filling the tent with sculptures. In their annual publication the IHME summed up the

experience as follows.

“There was no anxiety or pressure normally connected with competing because the participants

could continue on one another’s works and freely draw inspiration from them. Ownership was

collective. There was little spoken conversation, but a strong spirit of communality presided in the

space, one of doing together but, at the same time, of individuality. It was possible to work alone

on your own clay piece in the space but through the clay everyone would be in an immediate

connection to the others.”4

Each sculpture was individual, yet by virtue of their consistent medium and the framework

of the exhibition they added up to a whole. It was a truly collective experience that asked

for no concessions from the individual. It is this experience of collective creation—one of

togetherness and individuality—that public space, with the goal of bringing people together

for the production of new ideas and experiences, should aspire to.

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// COLLECTIVELY REMIXED ARCHITECTURE //

Currently, bottom-up modes of content production are challenging the traditional top-down

mode. In the past, media production was consolidated and content was distributed through

channels with minimal public access. Today, high quality consumer electronics enable

everyone to produce media and distribute it through the Internet. Media came first because

its products are virtual, however, with the rise of digital fabrication technology the public are

taking on a larger role in the creation of manufactured goods. In short, the understanding of

who can be a producer is shifting. At the same time, contemporary definitions of creativity

are expanding. In the past few decades, as hip hop and electronic music have become

mainstream, the idea of the remix as a type of genuine creativity has become widely

accepted. Together, these shifts make it possible to imagine communally created public

space as architectural raw material, as canvas that invites the public to create architecture

by remixing the form and program of the space.

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Vendors use the Remixifier’s kinetic systems to create a fresh market.14

Remixifier is a collectively created remixable public space. It is a system of publicly

accessible, kinetic architectural elements, a kind of architectural framework that empowers

public to be creators of architectural content. People are given the ability remix the form

and program of the space, continually playing off spaces created by others. By creating a

collective experience through individual acts of creation Remixifier is able to bring diverse

groups of people together as co-creators of new ideas and experience. In this way it

enables the city to function as a place of cultural and social innovation. Remixifier empowers

the public to create the city as we wish it were.

// REMIXIFIER //

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// DESIGNING CREATION //

The design of the Remixifier inevitably runs up against the conflicting aims that any publicly

remixable system will face. On one hand, it is desirable to make the system complex

enough that it is possible to make significantly differentiated creations; on the other, the

system must be simple enough that the public is able to use it without being dissuaded

by an onerous learning curve or cumbersome interface. The role of the designer is to

negotiate these aims, to create a system that is both complex and accessible, and allows for

anyone to make a significantly differentiated individual creation. BLIZZOK, my entry for the

9th Annual Vellum Furniture Competition, demonstrates strategies for doing just that.

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The jumble of BLIZZOKz waiting to be remixed into furniture 17

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// BLIZZOK //

BLIZZOK is a collection of seven unique and individually useless pieces or BLIZZOKz. Each

piece consists of a flat slab and an arm, as well as a diverse collection of slots, holes and

dimples, all aligning to a 4.5in 3-D grid. BLIZZOKz are constructed of MDF, and are finished

with truck bed liner to ensure maximum tumble-ability. Through inventive combination of the

BLIZZOKz users can create chairs, tables, benches, stools, or sculpture. There is no correct

or final way to put them together. By refraining to dictate final form or use, BLIZZOK leaves

room for individuals to express their creativity.

As a system, BLIZZOK is complex enough to allow people to create furniture that is their

own, yet is intuitive enough to be accessible to a wide and unskilled population. BLIZZOK’s

playful and temporal design works to catalyze creativity. The uniqueness of each BLIZZOK

encourages spontaneous and experimental combination as a means of creating a useful

object. This quality is meaningful when considering the design of an architectural scale

remixable system. While furniture has a captive and purposeful audience, a public space

has a wide variety of people with different and non-aligning purposes. Any design focused

on engaging their creativity will be more successful by engaging this audience’s playfulness.

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// KINETIC SYSTEM //

Remixifier’s kinetic system is the combination of Flexceilng and Supertopo. Flexceilng is a

transformable suspended ceiling made of 16ft x16ft spandex panels. The corner point of

each panel can be moved up or down within a maximum displacement of 16ft The spandex

is stretched around a frame of expandable PVC extrusions that allow for both straight or

curved edges. By manipulation of the panel corners and edges users are able to create an

incredible variety of different forms. Supertopo is a kinetic floor system composed of 2ft x

2ft x 15ft blocks. Each block is attached to a hydraulic actuator and may be lifted 12ft from

rest position. By using multiple blocks, users are able to create complex and varied forms.

Both systems are manipulated using a mobile app running on a variety of GPS enabled

mobile devices. By virtue of their simple binary motion, and their accessibility via mobile

app, supertopo and flexceilng are simple enough that the public can easily create with

them, and by spreading these two systems over a large area their variety and complexity

enables their remixing by the public to be a series of truly unique creations. Together they

create a holistic system that can operate as a collectively created public space

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Kinetic elements are augmented with projectors, lighting, and audio equipment to enrich activity and

broaden possible use

Wireless control over kinetic elements broadens public access and eliminates the need for

authoritative control

Supertopo floor can be formed into pixelated surfaces as well as enclosing walls. Flexceiling can

be translated into vaulted and flowing forms

Floor and ceiling are broken up into kinetic blocks and panels

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activated Supertopo blocks Supertopo system at rest

Supertopo is made of three composite parts. First is the individual Supertopo blocks.

They are constructed from a steel frame and covered with a monolithic fiberglass shell.

In addition they are finished with electroluminescent paint (and a hard protective top

coat) that illuminates when users select a block (or blocks) for manipulation and allows for

additional visual effects. Individual blocks are hosted within a grid of rollers that keep the

blocks properly spaced, and moving up and down in a smooth fashion. Finally, each block is

mounted to a four stage telescoping linear actuator that is able to rapidly move each block

up to a 12ft displacement.

// SUPERTOPO //

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Supertopo blocks roller grid hydraulic actuators

Flexceilng consists of three parts. A structural grid of tube steel that is mounted within a

larger superstructure. Telescoping linear actuators are attached the tube steel grid. Finally,

the spandex panels are mounted to the actuators at their corner points. Each corner can be

individually manipulated to a maximum displacement of 16ft.

// FLEXCEILING //

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activated Flexceilng panel

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concrete waffle superstructurecomposite system at rest

Flexceilng steel frame and actuators Flexceilng panels

Most of the Flexceilng’s functionality is packed into the corner of each panel. A cast

aluminum end piece is bolted to the end of each actuator. Two electric motors, nested with

the end piece, manipulate the curvature of the panel edges by controlling the angle of

incidence between the corner and the edges it connects to. The corner piece also hosts

a LED point light, and spools of electroluminescent wire that are used to indicate when a

user has selected the panel for manipulation and provide additional visual effect. A cast

aluminum connector piece bridges between the expanding PVC panel edges and the end

piece. Finally, the spandex fabric is sleeved around the edge piece and secured at each

corner.

// FLEXCEILING CORNER //

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composite corner system

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spandexPVC edge spline

aluminum connector

actuator

LED point light

electroluminescent wire

electric motor

aluminum end piece

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Using GPS in combination with image recognition and accelerometer data the Remixifier

app enables manipulation of Supertopo blocks and Flexceiling panels through an

augmented reality interface. Manipulation is easy and intuitive. Users begin by defining a

control radius, and then highlight and change form with a flick of a finger. Kinetic elements

respond in real time. Beyond the basic functionality of pushing and pulling on blocks and

panel points, the app contains sophisticated creation tools that simplify the making of

complex and large scale forms, as well allow users to augment their creations with lighting

effects or temporary lock the kinetics within their control radius.

// REMIXIFY APP //

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The Remixify app’s interface makes the manipulation of Supertopo and Flexceilng easy

and intuitive. The graphics of the app clearly distinguish the users control radius and what

geometry has been highlighted for manipulation. Depending on weather Flexceilng or

Supertopo is selected, the appropriate creation assist tools automatically load in the bottom

bar of the app.

// REMIXIFY INTERFACE //

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begin by defining control radius

select supertopo or flexceiling for manipulation

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use color picker to illuminate supertopo blocks

use the lock tool to freeze geometry within your control radius for up to 30 minutes

drag geometry up or down

or choose a displacement value

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manipulate flexceiling by corner point

platform assist tool

manipulate flexceiling by edge

step assist tool

manipulate flexceiling by panel

interpolate Flexceilng between points

interpolate Supertopo between edges

wall assist tool

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manipulating flexceiling by panel to create a ceiling

using the step tool to create a series of stepped supertopo blocks

// REMIX NYC //

New York City is incredibly diverse and extremely vivacious; a true metropolis. Still, it

remains palpably segregated. Within its neighborhoods it is apparent who is an insider or an

outsider. More often than not, these distinctions are drawn along racial and economic lines,

and extend beyond the neighborhoods into public life in the common areas of the city. It is

this condition, diversity of population, but homogeneity of social groups, that could benefit

from a collectively created public space, from a Remixifier. Within this condition the role of

the Remixifier is not to break down existing social groups, but rather to soften their edges—

to allow more overlap, understanding, between them.

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The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, and the current auto-centric design of the plaza36

// GRAND ARMY PLAZA //

Grand Army Plaza, the formal entrance to Prospect Park originally designed by Frederick

Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, should be a lively public space. It is centrally located,

surrounded by a number of public institutions, and accessible via subway. However, its

current auto-centric state, which landed it in the Project for Public Space’s hall of shame,

undermines this potential. It is ripe for redevelopment. Its potential, as well as the diverse

yet insular neighborhoods that surround it, make it an ideal candidate for transformation into

a remixable public space.

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The plaza is centrally in Brooklyn, between three distinct neighborhoods

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POP: 103,196

ETHNICITY:Black/African american: 74%Hispanic: 11.7%White: 9.9%Asain: 1.9%Other: 2.5%

HOUSEHOLD:In Family Household: 76%In Non-Family Household: 22.1%

HOUSING:Rental Housing: 86.4%Owner Housing: 13.6%

AGE:No 5 year Age Group Greather than 10% of Population

POP: 19,849

ETHNICIY:White: 47.2%Black/african american: 30.1%Hispanic: 11.5%Asian: 6.6%Other: 4.6%

POP: 67,649

ETHNICITY:White: 67.3%Hispanic: 16.6%Black/african american: 6.4%Asain: 6%Other: 3.7%

HOUSEHOLD:In Family Household: 64%In Non-Family Household: 34.6%

HOUSING:Rental Housing: 64.1%Owner Housing: 35.9%

AGE:30-34: 13.7%25-29: 13.1%35-39: 10.8%

HOUSING:Rental Housing: 68.8%Owner Housing: 31.2%

AGE:30-34: 15.2%25-29: 13.5%35-39: 11.4%

HOUSEHOLD:In Family Household: 61.5%In Non-Family Household: 37.1%

Demographic data from the 2010 National Census

Walking times from the adjacent neighborhoods to the plaza

Popular descriptions of the neighborhoods from Nabewise.com

Nearby cultural institutions

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// SITE //

Grand Army Plaza is located between three distinct neighborhoods. To the southwest

is Park Slope: gentrified, liberal, typically considered to be a nice, family friendly

neighborhood. North of the plaza is Prospect Heights: a neighborhood in transition,

increasingly populated by young people moving into the city, as well as families of

Caribbean immigrants. Finally to the east is Crown Heights: considered to be one of

Brooklyn’s more dangerous neighborhoods, it is heavily populated by less wealthy African

Americans, mostly from Caribbean immigrant families.

The plaza is within 15 minutes walking distance from these neighborhoods, and is

accessible to the greater city via subway. Additionally, it is surrounded by a number of

significant cultural institutions. The Brooklyn Central Library, Prospect Park, and the Saturday

Green Market are plaza adjacent, while the Brooklyn Museum, The Brooklyn Botanic

Garden, and then new Barclays Center are all within walking distance.

Aerial of the plaza’s current state

// FORM //

The goal of the formal and programmatic development of the Remixifier is to create a

superstructure for housing the its kinetic systems, while amplifying the social potentials of

Grand Army Plaza. The form is orthogonal in plan in order to host the gridded Supertopo

and Flexceiling systems. Its central location within the site, and its integration into the

landscape—enabling the free flow of people across the site—intensifies the amount of

social energy by adding pedestrian and bike traffic into the mix. Furthermore, integration

into the site subverts the objectness of the superstructure, keeping it from visually

dominating the existing triumphal arch, and instead allowing individuals to focus their

attention on the remixable systems inside, the people using them, and the experiences they

are creating.

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landscape is pulled upwards

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roof emerges out of the landscape

rectangular plaza sits underneath

// PROGRAM //

Supertopo covers the entire open floor space. Leasable space encloses two corners

of the superstructure rectangle, creating a desirable amount of intimacy in the space.

Additionally, the presence of coffee shops, restaurants, bars and retail in the building

draws more people, increasing the amount of social capital. Two separate subway stations

that currently border Grand Army Plaza are consolidated into a new multi-line station

that opens up under the corner of the superstructure. An open community studio bar

is hung above the supertopo plaza introducing a place for people to make provoking

installations within the greater remixifier space. An administration block is located within

the space—providing assistance, loaning out smartphones to those without their own, and

performing maintenance on the kinetic systems. Finally, Flexceilng is suspended from the

superstructure in three patches, filling the space around the studio bar and the admin block.

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supertopo blocks fill the space leasable space and the subway station create boundaries

flexceilng spans between program blocksstudio bar and admin block hang from the superstructure

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// LANDSCAPE //

The landscape is designed to focus the movement of individuals across the site into the

Remixifier, and furthermore to provide an alternative landscape experience that draws

even more people to the site. The first goal is achieved by creating large paths that catch

the dominant vectors of motion across the site—from Park Slope and Prospect Park, from

Flatbush Ave, and from Prospect Heights—and funnels them into remixifier. The second is

achieved by creating a contemporary landscape that provides an experience vastly different

to most city parks, especially compared to the picturesque landscape of Prospect Park.

Concrete pathways meander across the site, overlapping and casually suggesting direction.

Around the paths squares of hollow concrete paver blocks blend hardscape with softscape.

Dispersed across the site, large concrete protrusions function as skylights that puncture

the roof of the superstructure, and as tree planters when over solid ground. Programmatic

hotspots—basketball courts, handball courts, an amphitheater, and a playground—are

placed within this field. This unfamiliar, and anti-hierarchical landscape, laid on top the

topography of the roof, asks people to explore, and encourages their imagination.

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before and after redevelopment

Aerial view showing the unfamiliar anti-hierarchical landscape46

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//48

DRAWINGS

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// CROSS SECTION //

Cross section showing the subway, Superstructure and landscape integration, Supertopo and Flexceilng, and the admin block50

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// LONGITUDINAL SECTION //

Longitudinal section showing, the relationship with the arch, Supertopo and Flexceilng, and the community studios52

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Shows the activated Supertopo floor, the bridge to the subway platforms, the administration

help desk, and the leasable space.

// LEVEL 1 PLAN //

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Shows the activated Flexceiling, the community studio bar, and the administration meeting

room connecting to the roof landscape,

// LEVEL 3 PLAN //

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//58

RENDERINGS

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Remixifier set up for a public lecture 61

Connection to the subway system mainlines Remixifier in to the whole cIty62

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remixing of Supertopo blocks and Flexceilng for performance, seating, and just for fun 65

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The northwest entrance to Remixifer from Flatbush Ave 67

Vendors use the remixifiers kinetic systems to create a fresh market.68

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//70

MODELS

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The intention of the 1:200 scale model is to show the overall form of the building, expose

some of the subterranean elements of the project, and to approximate both Flexceiling

and Supertopo so that while their full technical detail is not shown, the mood that they

would create is apparent. Due to the organic design of the form, and the chaotic nature

of the kinetic systems this ended up being quite a challenge. The waffle structure, studio

bar, and administration block are made from lasercut acrylic. The roof is made of fiberglass

formed over a CNC milled MDF mold. The surrounding site is made from two CNC milled

parts, one of which is milled on both sides in order to create the curving ceiling forms of

the retail spaces and the subway station. Supertopo is approximated with a etched acrylic

sheet and individual pieces of 1/8in acrylic square extrusion that act as activated supertopo

blocks. Flexceiling is approximated by petg plastic vacuum formed over CNC milled molds.

Together these elements capture a single moment in the life of the Remixifier. To breakdown

this temporal limitation color changing LEDs are embedded beneath the supertopo acrylic

sheet. Though the form remains static, they hint at the dynamic quality of the building.

// REMIXIFIER MODEL //

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The 1:20 Supertopo model (each square is 1in x 1in) freezes one moment in the continual

remixing of a section of Supertopo blocks. It shows how different users creations are

blended together, how new forms arise out of previous ones, how people play off of, and

extend the creations of others. The model highlights people using Supertopo blocks for a

number of programmatic ends; creating an private room, stepped seating for addressing a

group of people, an elevated platform for performance, as a bench, and just for fun.

// SUPERTOPO MODEL

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// IMAGE CREDITS

pg 4 alphaproject, http://www.flickr.com/photos/alphaproject/1345620202

pg 9 instant vantage, http://www.flickr.com/photos/instantvantage

pg 10 IHME productions, http://www.ihmeproductions.fi/en.php?k=16428

pg 34-35 ill padrino, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ill-padrino/6917653336

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