Space is not a container, but a product of human experience and practices. In this course, we will investigate how to read and represent public space, especially from a hearing perspective. Using the complex transitory spaces in and around South Station and Ruggles Station — their structures and flows, social practices, sensory and auditory qualities — the project is based on a thick mapping approach: an approach to cartographic representation that is not limited to the representation of a given data set, but also reflecting on the process of collecting these data.

This joint workshop between Architecture and Information Design and Visualization investigates different approaches to read and represent a complex informational environment, through observation, listening, and critical cartography. The workshop incorporates methods from environment-behavior research, human geography, design research and sound studies.

workshop team: Sam Auinger, Katrin Emler, Bruce Odland, Dietmar Offenhuber, Chris Ryan.
Partners: Goethe Institute Boston, MBTA, City of Boston, Harvard GSD, Center of the Arts


13.10.2015, 2 pm
Artist Talk
MIT ACT studio, Cambridge