urban mapping

7/29/2019 Urban Mapping

1/19

Urban Mapping - stories in and about urban space early sketches

I the city is a collective and continuouslychanging oeuvre as described by WaltherBenjamin, how can we acknowledge theinvisible or overseen dreams, needs andinterests that ow through the city? Howdo we include these in the discussion andproduction o this oeuvre?

Supertanker has used mapping as a parto an Urban Dramaturgy - a process thatproduces and discusses public space in a

concrete and playul way and we will tryto suggest some new methods that makemapping more urban.We are suggesting to take the maps to thestreets and produce a concrete, visual andlocalized 1 : 1 map through presence andinterventions in public space. Te map willbe a local and ephemeral vision o the cityas a collective and as a constantly changing

oeuvre.

It will try to articulate the dreams, needsand interests o an everyday urbanity andmake it a ertile ground or the emergenceo hybrids in the shape o new, originaland contextualised ideas, initiatives andcultures.

At the base o the cli itsel, where it touches the shore, caves have been hewn [...] As porous as this stone is the architecture. Building and action interpenetrate in thecourtyards, arcades, and stairways. In everything they preserve the scope to become a theatre o new, unoreseen constellations. Te stamp o defnitive is avoided. Nosituation appears intended orever, no fgure asserts its thus and not otherwise. Tis is how architecture, the most binding part o the communal rhythm, comes intobeing here [...] Walther Benjamin

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2/19

Encounter Arena Dialogues Production

Te rst simple meetings andtesting/mapping o publicspace. Curated writings onthe ground, school children

map their avourite spots.Small spatial interventions.

Start building up a commonlanguage and space - setting up alocal base. Interviews with locals.Curating walks and producing

a more collaborative map. Set-ting a local agenda.

aking the local agenda to amore universal level - a viewrom outside that inspire andchallenge local ideas. Media

partnership. Walks where nonlocals take part.

Empowering locals to develop newhybrids in the shape o new, originaland contextualised ideas, initiativesand cultures. When the base moves

on the network is still being nur-tured and involved in the roadshow.

Urban Mapping can be seen as a part o an Urban Dramaturgy - A roadshow through the city to map the stories in and about urban space. Teroadshow can be just one or many stops but in general each stop itsel will run through a process that is a short version o an Urban Dramaturgy.


3/19

Te main ocus or Urban Map-ping is the civic society to articulatean everyday urbanity that makes itpossible to go rom vague spaces o

the overseen dreams, interests andneeds that ow through the city to aporosity that can include these owsinto the the collective and constantlychanging oevre that is the city (po-rosity).

o do this it suggests to delegatepower rom the traditional powerul:the political and economic powers

to the civic society and to empowerthis by collaborating with media andknowledge powers. In the ollowing itwill be described more in detail howthis collaboration can be.

Te value created by doing this is astrenghening o the civic society - tolet the ideas and dreams (the vaguespaces) become new networks and

initiatives and creating a culture andan architecture (porosity) that ismuch better at including and open-ing up or the new networks andinitiatives.

Tis again will benet the wholesociety as such including the politicaland economic orces.

Political power is oen delegated out in par-ticipartory processes in ways that either are tooabstract or people to eel included in or theycan also happen at a late moment where many

decisions are already taken. o delegate politicalpower is to be early, concrete and open with areal chance to have inuence.

Economic power can be delegated in ways wherethe local and social (urban) responsibilities olandowners or businesses become much clearerand thus more attractive to participate in. Alsostrengthening o the civic society can spawn newbusinesses and initiatives in general that also

makes the local busines benet.

Media power can be part o making the dialoguemore nuanced and bring in new perspectives inthat dialogue. See more on the media collabora-tion later.

Knowledge power is in this case ound onuniversities etc. where it can be used to discussmethods and make a proces more precise and

make shure that the collected local data can beused in research. During the proces studentscan be involved and their ideas can eed intothe dialogue. Universities can also be involvedin presenting new perspectives (combined withthe media) Aer the proces the dierent kindso data and experiences collected can be usedin evaluating the proces and producing newknowledge.

Organisation and ows o power and value


4/19

Encounters - urbo drive and Writings on the ground....

urbo Drive reers to the drive o the Situationists that devel-oped methods to let the city tell them where to go and theywould use a number o techniques to avoid the human con-

sciousness to take over and start controlling the dri throughthe city. In this case one can blindold people (no trafc hope-ully), use sound to guide people or invent games that take par-ticipants to places they otherwise wouldnt have gone. Te map-ping part should be very simple and ast using stickers signallingeither a positive reaction or a room or improvement reaction.Tese stickers will later be geotagged.

Writings on the ground will ask people to write their thoughts anddreams relating to a particular spot. Te idea is that just like dreamsthe act that you write them down makes you remember your dreams

even better. In this case it might inspire other passers by to contributewith their own dreams or comments. Te writings are done on paperbanners that themselves signals the movements o the dreams, needsand interests that ow through the city. Te writings could ollow theshort orm o the SMS or witter and use the # hashtags. Te bannersalso have a sticker as an ancoring point that puts them into a positiveor constructive category. Stickers are geotagged and one will pre-sume that they last longer in public space than the paper banners.


5/19

Small and big points o density

Te banners with stories in and about urban space will gradually create apattern indicating the places that most people have an opinion about - withhigh density o meaning or people. In order to make these spots even more

visible and to spatialize the dreams, needs and interests, that ows throughthe city, little tent-like structures are build. Te structures uses the directionsand intersections o the banners on the ground and start raising a structurerom that - build o simple materials like 2 x 4 s and dierent types o can-

vas supplemented with ound objects. Keywords and short texts are writtenon the surace o these tentstructures. Most likely the neighbourhood kidswill join the building activity and this gives a good opportunity to involvethem in the discussion about their thoughts o the neighbourhood. Tesethoughts are also written on the ground.

Tree mobile toolboxes makesthe mapping mobile and exible.

One is with story tools, next withbuilding tools and last is withood tools. All are ully autonomi-ous with solar cells and batteries.


6/19

Solar cells and battery

Basic drawing andwriting tools

iPads or editing videoand audio, digitising,geotagging and upload

Musicables and benches

Video camera orinterviews

GPS cameras orquick mapping

Story toolbox

Tis toolbox contains the tools to expresstories in and about public space an many

dierent was. It can be a written text, a draw-ing, interviews done with video or just audio.Te choice o dierent types should be opento make the storytelling proces as inclusive aspossible. (and it is combined with the buildingtools - more on that later.)

By being mobile it is possible to set up shop inmany diernt neighborhoods and produce theannootations visible in public space - stickers

or signs/banners - to make the storytellingmore present in public space and thus sparkmore interest and more stories.


7/19

Solar cells and battery

Battery driven powertools

oolbox w. hammers etc.

Workbench

Basic materials ormaking tents etc.

Building toolbox

Just as the story toolbox tries to articulatethe overseen stories and the ressources thatlocal people posses the same can be said

about local ressources when it comes tobuilding materials and other useul things.

Te building proces can be very smallinterventions that mostly mark a ciertainspot - maybe using an objet trouv but inany casy showing the possibility to change aplace.

Te building proces can also experiments

that illustrates certain local possibilities andthus spatialises the discussion about space.

Either way it makes the precense more con-crete and it invites the passerby to discussthe results o the buildings or even bettertake part in the building process.


8/19

Food toolbox

Tis tool box combines the wish to

make another local ressource - oodproducts or edible plants - more pre-sent and creating a social situation bymaking ood and serving it.

Just like the two other toolboxes thisis solar driven to be as autonomus andexible as possible.


9/19

Aer creating a number o small points o density in a neighbourhood it will appearwhere an overall important spot is situated - typically in what we call a vague spacemeaning that it has the potential o an urbanity to unold. Tis could be the crackin the city - an empty lot or building. In this spot a cocoon skeleton is placed and justlike the small points o density a tent like structure is being build creating a cocoonaround the skeleton


10/19

Cocoon

Te cocoon will be a chance to build and de-sign in and or public space. Tis reers to thequote by the Danish artist Villy rskov wherehe talks about the simple organisations in

the terrain vague as a stage in any personspath to consciousness and command o thesurroundings.

Evenings projections are beamed to one endo the cocoon that is covered with a materialsuited or that. Te projections could be videoportraits o local people or small videos made

by locals.

Te inside o the cocoon is (slightly) moredened - being shaped by the size o the mo-bile toolbox - and the space will be an organicexhibition that continuously will document

the mapping o the stories in and about thatarea. A large and robust base map in oneend o the room will be marked with all thetags that are placed in the neighbourhoodand lines rom these tags are drawn to theplace where texts, photos, objects, projectionstell the stories about that place.

Te relative simple structure allows toimprovise and add new elements espe-

cially on the outside o the structure. Tismeans that i a passerby thinks that animprovised bar or little shed might be unor necessary then the structure allowssuch spontaneous initiatives. Te cocoonwill gradually be a social space producedby and or the local. Image is Nimis byLars Vilks


11/19

Te other is to continue the mapping o the neighbourhood -the cocoon/mobile base will be a mix o a ca and a workshop:

1. An inormal meeting place where the passerby and curiouscan come and have a cup o coee or cocoa and a chat.

2. Tey can sit and write and draw their stories about the neigh-bourhood.

3. ake part in an interview using the map to place small tags -these will later be placed in the real places.

4. Produce short video portraits o the neighbourhood.

5. Building on the cocoon.

Overall the cocoon wil l have two roles in the Urban Dramaturgy:

One is to be the starting point or curated local walks where local storytellers are invited based on the in-terviews with local people. Aer the walk the cocoon will be the lounge with inormal atmosphere usingthe map and the exhibition or urther discussions or adding to the exhibition .

Te walks will be an opportunity to discuss themes that are important locally and especially to create acommon and constructive language that can open o or what Leebvre calls urban lie: Urban lie sug-gests meetings, the conrontation o dierences, reciprocal knowledge and acknowledgement (includingideological and political conrontation), ways o living, patterns, which coexist in the city.


12/19

Trough a collaboration with ideally two newspapers - thatrepresent dierent political and economic views - journalists are

able to become embedded into a local area. Tey will get thechance to listen to the city in a way where stories are based onthe dreams, needs and interests that ow through the city.

Tis in order to avoid the sometimes conict driven stories oronly to report on areas in times o trouble. Te role o mediais in this way is to combine the stories in and about the urbanspace and with the journalistic task to tell these stories in a waythat make them meaningul and relevant or the reader.

Dialogues phase

Aer building up local trust and creat-ing a local agenda it is time to takethe local stories and put them into aless local and more universal/globalperspective.

A result o letting a local area speak up is to reach andengage people with either an interest in that local areaor the topics that is on the local agenda. Te main wayo engaging these people in inviting them to take partin local walks and discussions or simply visit the base.

One could argue that this would be an empowerment take onCitizen Journalism (maybe it could be Urban Journalism)where it is not only the active and loud voices that are heard.

Te physical presence in a local area and the digital mappinggives a number o possibilities to grow the stories in a more lo-calised way and discuss the stories in a number o dierent ways

Urban lie suggests meetings, the conrontation o dierences,reciprocal knowledge and acknowledgement (including ideologicaland political conrontation), ways o living, patterns, which coex-ist in the city. LeFebvre


13/19

Media Collaboration

Paper version - Articles on the local areas

- Te local agenda and the perspectives onthese topics. Te digital map can be used asillustrations to underline the article.

Online version - Same articles but with moreinteractive use o the maps. Maps can also beanimated to tell stories about developmentover time

Te articles as Wall Newspapers in the co-coon (and as projections in the nighttime)

Dierent possibilities o interaction based on the articles andUrban Journalism

1. Te classic letter to the editor or response to a blog in both the paper

and online version

2. Web and mobile platorms - o site: Using the digital map to write com-ments or contribute with stories based on the locations. Share on socialmedia.

3. Mobile platorms - on site: Using the banners, stickers (or the AR ver-sions o these) to write comments or new stories. Share on social media.

4. Visit the base/cocoon and contribute with comments or new stories.ext, Audio/photos or video.

5. ake part in the public walks that are organised with the newspapers.Te discussions during or aer the walks are documented and used eitheron the digital map or used as material or new articles.

o continue the spirit o making the discus-

sion about space more spatial it could beconsidered to play with the paper version andlet people build little tent-like constructions.

A bit like the hats and boats that traditionallyare being made rom newspapers.

Te online version could use the more ad-vanced maps and let text and map interact.One example is the mash up o the geolo-cated #keywords and the text o the article

More experimental use o media


14/19

Summing up the Dialogues Phase

Te articles and walks has brought both a more structured discussionon the local area but also brought new ideas and experience to the table.

Many o these contributions might be opposing interests. o get a morenuanced discussion and to try to create a ocus or moving orward withthe local agenda a Free rial is organised. A bigger tent is raised or theoccasion and the cocoon has in some way been transormed.

argeting the inherent urban dynamics o contentious public debates, the concepto Free rial! is derived rom the core elements o the legal trial as a means oorchestrating large-scale public meetings. By using two lawyers (journalists - one

rom each o the two collaborating newspapers) and their witnesses (experts andcentral actors) to present opposing views on a subject, destructive antagonism isturned into an objective but very lively agonism. A urther important virtue o thisprocess is that the viewpoint o the disempowered (typically o local residents) isempowered by means o the deliberating advocacy o a lawyer.

Te ree trial is a short and intensive ollowed by a workshop that turns the discussions into newideas, networks and initiatives. Tis moment also marks the end o the Stop on the urban Road-show. Tis means that the cocoon will be taken apart and the base moved to a new location.

Te trial and the results o the workshop will be documented on the digital map that now turnsinto a service to those who wil l need a tool or urther developing ideas and networks and manag-ing projects. Te results will also be communicated and urther discussed in the newspapers.

A project catalyst will now nurture the ideas and networks to keep up the energy and unction as atroubleshooter when it comes to bureaucratic and practical obstacles.


15/19

Production Phase

Curating urban space

Te mapping process included the initial encounter ollowed by the creation o a local arena and opening this up in the dia-

logues phase. Te process now goes rom being proactive in acknowledging and including dreams, needs and interests thatow through the city in the discussion about the city to a coordinating and catalysing role in the production o the city.

Te ideas and networks that came out o the Free rial and the ollowing workshop will now be the ocus or curating theurban space. Making the ideas concrete and visible in public space using a trial and error approach. It is important to keepup the positive energy and potentially engage more people that are attracted by the more hands on projects that might lastonly one day or in other cases one month.

A Curator can also involve nonlocals and proessional artists, sociologists etc. to inspire and challenge the local networksand projects. Tis process might also spawn hybrid ideas and teams where the small project remain local but the teams be-come a mix o locally engaged amateurs and proessional non locals (or non local amateurs). Te Curator works to empowerthe locals and nurture their ideas creating a good group dynamic and troubleshoot bureaucratic and practical problems.

Te digital map unctions both as a passive keeper o ideas and people but also has a more active role as virtual meetingplace that keeps the conversation going and unctions as a project crowdsourcing and managing tool i people want that. Temap can be a good way to see where resources (people, institutions etc.) are placed and the map can also point at the prob-

lems and obstacles that one want to either avoid or change or the better.


16/19

Urban Camp

On the Urban Roadshow it is possible to organise a short and intensive Camp to invite people internationallyor a weekend session. Te camp ormat is widely used in the tech world where it is possible to pull in a largenumber o dierent proessionals and work on what the group decides on. Te result is both un and usuallyocused on producing concrete results.

An Urban Camp would be able to plug into an area that is already mapped and use the local knowledge, ideasand networks as a starting point. Te result o the camp could be part o the discussion in a ree rial andmade more local and concrete in the ollowing workshop and Curation o Urban Space

Urban Conerence

Te most important result o the roadshow is the concrete initiatives and networks thatare created along the tour - the production o the collective and continuously changingoeuvre - the city. What might be just as important is the creation and sharing o knowl-edge based on the Urban Dramaturgy .

An Urban conerence could be prepared in two complementary ways: A number oTursday Sessions are discussing and live editing papers submitted aer a call orpapers. And a call or designs could be a spatial equivalent that leads up to a buildingprocess where the venue or the conerence is a collective and creative process. In thisway the discussion about space has a chance o becoming more spatial.


17/19

Mapping elements

Te mapping and discussions based on that mapping hastwo dierent groups o input.

One group - the most complex and in the beginning es-

sential is the curated mapping where mappers are onthe street asking people about their dreams, needs andinterests that ow through the city and makes sure thatStickers or banners are placed in public space. Or they areat the cocoon/base interviewing people or make them dodrawings etc. All o these elements are documented to thedigital map that can be accessed orm mobile platormsand on a website.

Te other elements are the Crowdsourced elements

where people driven by their interest in the neighbour-hood contribute with their stories. One orm is a low techmap where people mark their places o interest and writethe stories they have or that place. Tis orm is partlycurated since mappers will digitise and geotag the stories.

Te more traditional crowdsourced way o mapping isusing a mobile device where stories can be in the ormo text, audio, video all o it geotagged. Mappers mightaerwards place stickers both on the big physical map

and IRL.

Like the mobile device a web interace let people uploadgeotagged contend - text, audio and video.

Both the mobile and the web interace has a social ele-ment which means that people can comment on otherpeoples stories and the can share their stories or com-ments in their social networks.

IRL Stickers (IRL in real lie - on the spot) - People are oered two (or more)types o stickers marking places they love or with room or improvement.Mappers geotag and upload these with the keywords #love and #improve

Banners - People or mappers write on long pieces o paper. Placed together witha sticker and ollows a witter ormat with a text (140 characters) and #hashtags#love and #improve and other #keywords

Interviews - Mappers make short interviews on the street or at the base - audiocombined with photos or video. All interviews are marked with a IRL sticker,geotagged and uploaded to the digital map.

Drawings, small models, peoples own photos produced at the more permanentbase are documented (photographed) geotagged, uploaded along with # key-words. Mappers will later place IRL stickers in the relevant places.

Printed maps where people can go out on their own marking places and stories(drawings) on the map and marking it with IRL stickers. Mappers get the mapsand document the stories (write them down), geotag them and upload them

with #keywords.

Mobile platorm- ext, audio, video can be geotagged and uploaded on the spotalong with #keywords. Mappers will place IRL stickers on the relevant places.Te mobile platorm also makes it possible to comment and/or share stories andconnect to social media.

Web platorm - ext, audio, video (along with other types o media like scanneddrawings etc)can be geotagged and uploaded along with #keywords. Mapperswill place IRL stickers on the relevant places. Te web platorm also makes itpossible to comment and/or share stories and connect to social media.

Base Map - Big physical map as a centrepiece o the exhibition that growsinside the Cocoon. Small stickers are placed on the map (mappers place IRLstickers later) when people tell their stories. Drawings, photos, text and objectsgradually inhabit the cocoon and when relevant lines are drawn to the placeson the map.

Te Base Map will be used in the discussion beore and aer the walks andthese discussions are documented just as everything else - geotagged and up-loaded to the digital map.


18/19

Mobile Platorm

Te mobile platorm should aim at visualisethe dreams, needs and interests that owthrough the city and make people able toshare their stories and be part o the collec-tive and continuously changing oeuvre.

Te banners will only be present in the pub-lic space or a short time (stickers can staysome longer time) and using AR Augment-ed Reality technique is possible to see thebanners or stickers that are no longer there.

Navigation with a smartphone.

Generally there will be a AR mode and a more traditionalmap mode. In both modes the media (audio, images,

video and text) can be activated.

Some stickers will stay visible in public space, but theunctions will be there even i the stickers are gone.

In the map mode the position o the stickers and their col-ours (blue and red - maybe more colours) indicates placeswith high or low attention and positive/negative attention.

In AR mode i the IRL sticker is still there one can pointthe smartphone in that direction and activate the imageo the banners that used to be there. Even i the stickers isgone this is possible.

A geotagcloud will unction both in AR mode and in Mapmode.

Creating new stories or commenting on existing ones - allin close connection to social media like FB and witter.Tis can both be done on the spot or o site.

Te stories can be text (twitter length) audio, video andimages. All o it using the twitter structure with #hashtags/keywords and automatically geotagged.


19/19

Web Interace

Te web interace has most o the same unctions as themobile platorm except that one would not normallyaccess the map on location. But the eeling o seeingthe banners as the dreams, needs and interests that owthrough the city could be achieved by simulating an AR

situation using Google Street View.

Like the mobile platorm there will be a map mode andAR mode and with geotagclouds in both modes. Againit will be possible to experience all the stories and sharewith others or tell new stories.

AR mode usingGoogle Street View

Map mode - see moreon possible extensionso this mode.

Geotagcloud

Te map mode can be either ltered indierent ways or combined with othertypes o geo inormation.

Filtering the content o the map - usinglocation, keywords or a combination othese.

Mashups combining map inormationwith geotagged inormation like opendatabases but also twitter, icker etc.

Semantic analysis o map inormationalone or in combination with externaldata.

Visually manipulate inormation likeScapetoad. Data can again be both inter-nal and external.

Algorithmic ormulae that can be usedto play scenarios that either plays othertendencies that can already be seen ornew input in what i scenarios.

urban mapping

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