DO IT YOURSELF WEEK: THE DIGITAL BUILDING

DIGITAL BUILDING

The Matrix, the digital cities in Snowcrash, Tron. In cyberfiction a strongly dualistic reality is often displayed, in which the digital immaterial world exists parallel to the physical one, like a lucid dreamworld or a LSD-trip to which you can travel. In the current reality, however, the digital world consists of complex pluriform layers. On the one hand is the parallel virtual world, in the form of games and Second Life, and on the other hand the entirely integrated smart buildings overloaded with sensors, invisibly feeding the processes of the building. PIN-systems, Near Field Communication-chips, smart watches, webcam networks, social networks, administrative systems, the layers are as diverse in appearance as in application. One thing is certain, the digital layer is permanently rooted in our psyche and surroundings, integrated to the point of unquestioning acceptance. As soon as unquestioning acceptance becomes the case, our task as artists and designers is to begin to break the rules.

The first task will be: the critical deconstruction of these digital media. We need to get a grip on the specific contextual and conceptual characteristics of digital materials. What, in fact, is Google Maps, for example? A zoomable and scrollable image with fixed information markers attached to it in layers. Information that is also map-able to geographic locations. A complex material. Day one will consist of lectures and discussions on digital media. To heat up the engine. On day two we will look extensively at the construction plan. By studying the building plans we will seek out elements that we could connect with the digital material. What possible connections can be made between the digital material and the physical material of the building? This fieldwork will lead to concepts that we will refine in small groups in the last couple of days before the presentation.

Curator: Jan Robert Leegte

Departments: Image and Language, inter-architecture

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