Glenda Caldwell

BSc (Arch) University of Michigan, MArch Florida International University

Fabricating Hybrid Place

Architecture can be seen as a way to give form and pattern to the social life of a community (Sinclair, 2006).

The purpose of this research is to investigate the connection between the digital layers and the physical layers of the city and how tangible expressions of the interrelationships between them creates and defines new experiences of place, creating hybrid place. To date there has been discussion and investigation into understanding the importance of place, similarly into defining hybrid space. This research will examine these principles to examine how they can be applied into defining and proposing the notion of hybrid place. Architectural design methods and theories will be combined with interactive media and urban informatics to provoke and stimulate urban opportunities for the social interaction, adaptation, and appropriation of hybrid place. The use of technology weaves the different disciplines of architecture, urban design, media design, interaction design, and urban informatics together to create opportunities for social interaction to occur within the digital and physical layers of the urban environment.

Ubiquitous computing, mobile devices, the web 2.0 etc. have become a part of our daily lives including the ways in which we work, play and learn. The world in which we live in is composed of a constant flutter between the physical and digital spaces we experience with our multiple senses and it is the memories and meanings that we attach to these spaces that create place. It is understood that place can occur either in digital or physical environments, but why not in both simultaneously? Can place be redefined based on the interaction and experience of both the digital and physical world, creating hybrid place?

Glenda Caldwell: PhD Abstract

Media Architecture: Facilitating the Co-creation of Place

Ubiquitous computing, mobile devices, and the web 2.0 have become a part of our daily lives, including the ways in which we work, play, and learn. The world we live in is composed of a constant flutter between the physical and digital spaces we experience with our multiple senses, and it is the memories and meanings that we attach to these spaces that create ‘place’.

The purpose of Glenda’s research is to investigate the emerging discipline of Media Architecture, the architectural design of spaces that combine digital media with the physical presence of buildings, and to question how this hybrid architectural approach can not only encourage community participation and engagement but to seek how it facilitates the experience of place. Typically media and architecture have been brought together by private entities and property owners for the purpose of advertisement and entertainment to attract the attention of people. The development and accessibility of interactive screens allow for media architecture to not only display content but for users to engage with it. The aim of this study is to explore the ability for media architecture to become increasingly open and accessible for the purpose of helping people appropriate place or create communities for and by themselves. To seek deeper understanding of the motivation for participation and engagement the “Do-it-Yourself” (DIY) phenomena is reviewed in the contexts of DIY technologies, DIY place making, and DIY citizenship.

Architectural design methods and theories are combined with interactive media and urban informatics to provoke and stimulate urban opportunities for the social interaction, adaptation, and appropriation of media architecture. Using a range of tangible and digital media, a series of participatory interventions have been introduced to different communities in Brisbane to explore the meaning and creation of place. A participatory action research approach has led to preliminary findings indicating that combining digital and tangible media with architecture can provide greater opportunities for the co-creation of place within urban environments.

Biography

Glenda Amayo Caldwell is a PhD candidate and researcher in the Urban Informatics Research Lab and a Lecturer in Architecture. She has a Bachelor of Science (Architecture) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. Having commenced a Masters in Architecture at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles, she completed the degree in Miami at the Florida International University. Glenda participated in the dLAB course at the Architecture Association, London in 2009, focusing on digital fabrication.

Glenda is the unit coordinator for fourth year architectural design and first year ‘Architectural Visualisation II’. Other teaching responsibilities have included Masters design and research, third and second year architectural design, ‘Integrated Technologies’, ‘Introduction to Design History’, and ‘Sustainable Systems’. Through Glenda’s teaching and research she questions the effect of media and technology on the design of architecture and urban environments. Her investigations explore the connection between the digital layers and the physical layers of the city and how tangible expressions of the interrelationships between them create and define new experiences of place, creating hybrid place.

Glenda uses architectural design methods and theories combined with interactive media and urban informatics to provoke and stimulate urban opportunities for the social interaction, adaptation, and appropriation of hybrid place. The use of technology weaves the different disciplines of architecture, urban design, media design, interaction design, and urban informatics together to create opportunities for social interaction to occur within the digital and physical layers of the urban environment. She is particularly interested in the use of digital fabrication, architectural pedagogy, guerrilla research tactics, and place-making to promote sensitive architecture that responds to the needs of the community.

Follow Glenda on twitter: @AcademicG. She blogs at http://glendacaldwell.wordpress.com

Supervisors

• Dr Ian Weir (Principal)
• Assoc. Prof.  Marcus Foth (Associate)
• Dr Jennifer Seevinck