Computer models of entire cities are becoming increasingly common. The uses to which these models are put are varied and include the visualisation of proposed changes, the marketing of the facilities a city has to offer, and the mapping of socio-economic data. Developments with the Internet mean that city models can be widely accessed and it is now possible to both construct and view these models on personal computers. This paper discusses some issues relating to the construction and use of large urban models and draws upon the authors' experience of constructing one for the City of Bath.
This paper documents the creative process and attempts to record the impact of an open-air, site specific, interactive multisensory installation environment titled "DETOUR", which was created by the interdisciplinary group "VE_design" 1 , as part of the "Athens by Art" international exhibition during the summer of 2004 2. The site chosen for the installation was a very busy area within the urban context. DETOUR's aim was to afford an alternative environmental experience, embedded within the noise and introversion of the everyday cityscape. Visitors were invited to participate in a mediated communication game with the DETOUR system, as well as with other visitors within the installation environment. The environmental experience comprised a series of different sensory modalities (spatialised audio, lights, microclimate and video) ultimately aiming at activating the senses, amplifying behaviours and instigating communication amongst its visitors. Cities, as complex systems and contexts supporting communication are being reordered by technological systems and networks. Advances in information and communication technologies have begun to transform the potential for social relations taking place within the urban public space, as well as our perception of public spaces in general. These advances may also relate to a form of art, which considers the public space as its main context and is appropriately named "public art". One of the main characteristics of this art form is its "site specificity"; in other words an attempt to establish an actual connection to the place and the context, instead of creating "drop sculptures" as was often the case in projects that involved art and architecture in the past (Matzner, 2)
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