ARTIST STATEMENT

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Transport?

 

Transportation has been at the epicenter of urban life since the conception of cities. However, the type of transportation at this center has evolved over time. The automobile has shaped and transformed our cities immensely in the past, and as the 5G event horizon approaches, cities are set to be transformed again. It is up to the current engineers, designers, and policymakers to explore all possibilities and to strive to reimage an urban landscape that has been choked by the automobile for far too long. This piece illustrates the current transportation systems and proposes a hazy future where the streets evolve into a fluid landscape of endless programmatic possibilities.

            The urban landscape has been wrecked by the automobile [Vox]. As the automobile became more prevalent in western countries cities began to change along with them. City planning quickly prioritized the highway systems pushed by the big money lobbyists of the automobile industry and hacked away at the pedestrian urban environments [Vox]. Highways are not the only issue, the accompanying infrastructure of automobiles such as parking also has an enormous impact on the viability of cities, especially in the U.S. [RIHA]. City planning with the advent of the automobile has seen an increase in sprawl in U.S. cities. One can simply drive downtown from suburbia instead of living in high density or low-density housing. And who can blame people for choosing this lifestyle? Cities are congested and frustrating to navigate in their current states. This is where the 5G event horizon begins to make its entrance along with technology such as automated vehicles (AVs for short).

            The 5G event horizon is a jump in computing power and connectivity that will allow information systems to drastically improve in the coming years. This paired with the already existing AV scene has the potential to greatly improve the viability of transportation in urban environments [Bloomberg]. However, just because there is new technology does not mean all the issues will be solved. There will still be a need to reduce vehicles within the cities in order to improve the pedestrian and passenger experiences. There is a necessity to rideshare, without it, there will likely be little improvement to cities [Beyond Speculation].

            As a response to the changing technologies and necessary changes to the urban movement, I began to explore the definition of transportation and the possibilities that AVs could provide. Over the course of the semester, I explored the boundaries that the street creates through the Large Scale Works as well as the Augmented Reality Piece. In this piece, I wanted to explore how the street could be transformed programmatically. The way that I began to think about AVs and the transportation system assumes a new set of programs that could be situated within transportation units. These units could contain any form of program that a building could, within reason, while maintaining the flexibility and mobility of a vehicle. This along with ridesharing would create an additional forum of interaction within the units much as you would encounter in various programs in traditional buildings. Think of a coffee shop, you run into and meet people all the time but it is static. Now put that coffee shop in transit and you transform the street from this one-dimensional program of travel from point A to point B into a social experience beyond the mundane. The street becomes a habitable space rather than the barrier that it creates in today’s urban environments.

         In the animation, a city block is depicted with highly congested streets. The animation explores the environment and then pulls away. As it pulls way streams of daily activates are overlaid on the city street. These streams of activities represent the possibility of reprogramed streets where traditionally static programs are released into transit and the street is transformed.

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Bibliography:

“Beyond Speculation 2.0: Automated Vehicles and Public Policy.” The Eno Center for Transportation, www.enotrans.org/etl-material/beyond-speculation-2-0-automated-vehicles-and-public-policy/.

“Bloomberg Aspen Initiative on Cities and Autonomous Vehicles / Global Atlas of AVs in Cities.” Bloomberg Aspen Initiative on Cities and Autonomous Vehicles / Global Atlas of AVs in Cities, avsincities.bloomberg.org/global-atlas/.

“RIHA Releases New Report: Quantified Parking - Comprehensive Parking Inventories for Five Major U.S. Cities | Mortgage Bankers Association.” MBA, www.mba.org/2018-press-releases/july/riha-releases-new-report-quantified-parking-comprehensive-parking-inventories-for-five-major-us-cities.

Vox. “How Highways Wrecked American Cities.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 May 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=odF4GSX1y3c.

 

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