2008 National Urban Design Awards

Student Awards: Individual thesis

iCITY: Public Space v2.0 (Calgary, AB)

Allison Wood, University of Calgary. Full credits.

This project examines the public urban realm in the 21st Century in order to reconfigure our urban landscapes to more effectively respond and integrate changing global, as well as local, community relationships. Technologies have allowed for interaction to readily and easily occur outside of the public realm, with technology and digital media replacing urban public space as the intuitive venue for interaction and connectivity. As such, technology can be used as a tool for reengagement.

This project challenges traditional notions of public and private, to be expanded to reflect, not only physical and socio-space but virtual / digital space as well. It also challenges traditional notions of community. The wireless community networks - enabled by technology - change, morph, adapt and challenge, at a rate at which built space cannot. This design exploration questions 'placemaking' in today's context and seeks, through critique of traditional methods and exploration into Quantum theory, to propose a contemporary approach to urban development. The notion of 'placemaking' has a rich history in urban design theory as it seeks to reinsert meaning into urban landscapes and as a response to the globalized placelessness of our developing world.

Jury Comments:

The intent of iCITY is both provocative and profound. It argues that we are at a moment of consequential change. Locally and globally, technology and digital media are altering our notions of public and private, collective and individual, where and why we gather and how we learn about and from each other. iCITY asks us in this context to reconsider traditional approaches to public space and community.

The project transforms a portion of East Village in Calgary into a connected and vibrant wireless community. The work demonstrated a thorough analytical and synthetic process reflective of thesis work expected at the Master’s level.

With considerable skill and enormous energy this proposal challenges us to see new possibilities in the design of a public environment which is rich, stimulating and informative. In this view both public places and individual buildings provide a glimpse into an emerging "civic life" which will require a redefinition of the traditional urban design vocabulary.

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