Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Jessica Canfield / Interactive technology is rapidly affecting our society, extending opportunities for convenience,
communication, function, and pleasure. Defined as electronic or computation-based entities
that reciprocate human use or action, interactive technology allows people the opportunity
to personalize how something looks, how it feels, what it does, and how it is perceived. Many
physical objects, such as a home thermostat system or a motion-activated sculpture, are
embedded with computation that allows them to detect certain environmental influences,
and respond with a purposeful action. As suggested by Malcolm McCullough, interactive
technologies will be implemented into the urban environment, grounding them to a specific
place and reflecting the character and context. Interactive technology will be combined with
traditional urban design practices to generate an interactive urban environment.
The Civic Room in Downtown St. Louis is prime for renewal. Underutilized and monotonous, the
park space is seen as a tear in the urban fabric and lacks diverse program opportunities. The
Civic Room will be used as a testing ground for an interactive urban environment, utilizing three
dimensions of interactive technology, including information exchange, creative expression, and
kinetics, as well as the specific elements of an effective urban open space (Whyte, 1980). Then,
the existing site and resulting interactive urban environment will be evaluated on its potential to
improve certain dimensions of performance (Lynch, 1981), and its impact on the identity and
use of the space.
Engaging an interactive urban environment in the St. Louis Civic Room will promote an
understanding of the effects that interactive technology can begin to have in a larger context.
It will activate the space, promote social collaboration, and establish a dynamic atmosphere
that reflects more closely the desired intent of all users. In turn, it can propel the opportunity to
approach interactive urban environments as an alternative method of urban space design.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/8789 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Meyer, Anthony |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Report |
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