Living Architecture Fall 2008 Columbia

we're proposing to use our working prototype as a means to explore urban social behavior in relation to sound. by using puredata, an arduino, and a flexinol actuator, we have developed a simple mechanism which reacts to sound set at various thresholds. paired with a webcam or video camera, our prototype acts essentially as a lens cover which, when triggered by sound, reveals the source of the sound and/or the public reactions to the sound. when untriggered, the prototype obscures the lens. 

the sites we are proposing to install our prototype(s) are the public phones located within new york, as well as other various private/public zones found within the sidewalk zones of the city. the public phones indicate a kind of space that are rarely used for their original intent, especially in new york where they're valued more for their advertising space, yet still maintain references to communication and still occupy a substantial amount of urban space. 

our prototype could be consider a kind of modular unit which parasitically could attach itself to these various public zones. as a result of this system, we're proposing three scenarios, which could produce different results. 

1. a singular module as a tool to explore social behavior in reference to urban sound

2. multiple modules located within a localized zone, which could communicate with each other to produce a kind of relationship with particular events, time, and proximity. 

3. modules that could communicate globally, making a connection between different cultures and different urban sound spaces.