Drawing heavily from the maker movement, inspired by urban spaces and deploying artists' sensibilities, James Tichenor and Josh Walton of Rockwell Group Labs just may be working on the first drafts of the late 21st Century city.
By taking what is "native" to physical spaces (intimacy, sociability) and screen-based culture (cut-and-past ease, endless variability) they are blending reality, an idea that challenges the idea of "space" altogether.
Their work is still in its infancy, but it strikes me as the next frontier in urbanism, a way to not only make the social graph more interesting, but to continually foster new encounters, the social currency that has made cities such economic powerhouses.
The two also draw inspiriation from ealy "home brew" computing clubs, and plan to release similarly-themed "space brew" models for the blended realities they envision. One can only wonder how architects, interactive artists and progressive urban governments might use these kits, but it's an attractive idea that pulls from digital prototyping and modeling, perhaps the last great gift of the 20th century.
Wayne
James Tichenor & Josh Walton. Rockwell Group from Piers Fawkes on Vimeo.