Agoras

Social media applications have digitalized our public discourse. The emergence of digital platforms has fundamentally altered the traditional means of communication and relationship building, which were once limited by face-to-face interactions. These “digital platforms” are designed to replicate the ancient Greek Agoras, physical spaces where citizens gathered to discuss, perform, and deliberate on cultural matters.

In the past, Agoras played a vital role in enabling individuals to come together and share information, discuss topics of interest, and collaborate on projects. However, in the digital age, social media has become the primary medium for public engagement and community building. This has been exasperated in recent years by the covid lockdown, where our only means of relating was through digital platforms. As we return to a new normal, we must contend with how can our public spaces - parks, gardens, plazas - would support and deepen those digitally-bound new relationships.

It is impossible to imagine a neo-Luddite approach to civic and cultural life where we engage without these modern tools in the digital age. Instead, architects and urban planners have started to design public spaces and augmenting them with digital technologies in mind. This approach seeks to combine the benefits of traditional Agoras with the convenience and ubiquity of digital platforms. For Project II, students will hypothesize public and physical spaces that house and support digital communities.

The final exercise of the semester involves scaling up a fragment of the master plan to achieve a complete resolution. Students will choose a particular area of their master plan that they believe is most suitable for further development of their digital agora concept. Depending on their selection, they will work on projects with a specific focus, such as resolving an outdoor amphitheater or garden, or developing a data center or black box. Each project will require a unique methodology for the Digital Agora, which we will assess at this stage of the project.

This exercise offers an opportunity for students to delve deeper into their chosen area and to apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the semester to create a coherent and compelling final design. It will also allow them to experiment with various design approaches and test the limits of their creativity. Through this exercise, students will gain a deeper understanding of the complexities and nuances involved in designing and implementing a Digital Agora, which will prepare them for future design challenges.