Media architecture and ways to participate: informational layers and interfaces of engagement in the public space

Abstract

This work investigates how digital technologies can be used in place making and people engagement. From the informational context of the contemporary city, which encompasses infrastructures and communication systems, digital media and network culture, the purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between digital art, architecture and public space in the city of São Paulo. It problematizes political issues of privacy in technological relation with public space. Based on urban theoretical framework and artistic practices with digital and network technologies that promote social participation and occupation of the environment, it is intended to identify challenges and potentialities of the architecture expanded by the informational layers as an instrument of place making. In this way, while this work is searching for possible ways of using digital media, it stresses questions about the discourse of smart cities, automation and urban monitoring. It makes a critical reflection about the perception of the city mediated by digital devices, problematizing aesthetic and political aspects in the ambit of art and architecture.