THE CITY AS A DIGITAL PUBLIC SPACE: DATA-DRIVEN DESIGN AS A SOCIAL LINK

We live in an age of instant communication, rapid transportation, and smartphones; an age where the answer to a question can be prompted through voice command. With today’s unparalleled increase in digital information, big data is continuously adapting and developing our society with the support of emerging technologies. This has led to the rise and growth of our virtual communities as communication is primarily done through social media networks. The demise of our physical communities has reduced social interaction within the built environment. Despite this forward thinking and the ability to translate big data into architectural solutions, our urban environments have yet to reflect this. Patterns of human interaction within our cities can be transformed by incorporating and visualizing big data within public infrastructure. As a result, the architectural design process is due for an update. This research project explores the use of a high-speed rail station as a hybrid space for virtual and physical communities by providing an interface for users to interact with data streamed in real-time. With the use of data-driven design, new social links are formed and powered by technology as the city becomes a digital public space.M.S. in Architecture, December 201