A volcanic island emerges from the still and placid waters of lake Titicaca? Perhaps a virtual eden off the shores of Second Life? Sorry - neither. This virutal landscape, better known as the island of "twitter land New York" is a graphic representation of collected geospatial data, compiled from its inhabitants better known as the "tweeters of twitter". Sweden may have been first, but social media tools have arguably brought the potential for expanding awareness of the design and construction industry. Social media is no longer a novelty and has, in fact, given way to a new form of social exchange economy - socialnomics.
Like a word cloud that takes on scaleable proportions not dissimilar to our chaotic urban environments, perhaps there is some method in the madness. As opportunities to create space for the voracious appetites of a continued and expansive growth of our fellow man worldwide, it strikes me as entirely possible that a new form of understanding must be struck of how and where we, as designers, are to intervene.
As I suspend debate on the effectiveness and necessity of social media tools in marketing the professions of the construction industry, I am more immediately curious about the data being generated; or the stored potential of that which is to be generated. For years site architects have relied on "traditional" observational site analysis in providing clues to the preferred, habitual and, arguably, the desired use of space. In our attempts to sculpt, craft, and heal a place from such spaces, the more scientific data is typically engaged in support of the ecological and environmental improvements attempted and made. Could a technological medium such as twitter - one of the most understudied, often obnoxious, mostly self-serving, and completely impersonal forms of communication - in fact serve to generate a more socially responsive design of space and the planning of the built environment? I'm open to the possibilities.
Source:
http://urbantick.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-city-landscapes-interactive.html
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