ASLA AWARD won by Hungarians
6 Wednesday, May 2009
An interactive mapping project of two Hungarian landspace architects has won the ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) Honour Award in communications category. The interactive map of Budapest, placed in one of the main transit hubs, allowed people of all ages to show how they relate to their city.
With half of the world’s population now living in urbanized areas, the ability of individuals to form a community around them becomes increasingly difficult. Massive transportation networks take people all across the city in virtual anonymity. Our culture’s rising dependence on technological communication devices allows individuals to depart from the physical space of the city and live almost exclusively in a virtual world of cell phones, television and the internet.
Thousands of travelers pass through Nyugati Station transit hub in Budapest, Hungary, every day and like many modern cities, residents of Budapest tend to live isolated lives surrounded by strangers. The landscape architects who designed and created the Interactive Mapping Project sought to generate a series of temporary public art installations at Nyugati Transit Station and two other locations in order to break down the barriers that prevent individuals in an urban setting from communicating with each other. The installations also gave people the opportunity to interact with their city at a different scale and to reflect on the places they appreciate or wish to be altered.
The Interactive Mapping Project consisted of a large satellite map of Budapest covering the floor of Nyugati Transit Station. A series of stickers placed on nearby pillars invited participants to label locations around the city they found to be noteworthy, either because of the location’s positive or negative attributes. The most popular locations marked were those indicating an individual’s home, which reinforced the personal nature of the project. Over time, the map was transformed from a simple orthophoto into a multi-dimensional model that represented how people viewed the city. Patterns began to emerge as certain places accumulated more labels than others.
As well as providing public data about each of the cities, the Interactive Mapping Project encouraged a spontaneous social experience. As hurried travelers were transformed into active participants in the installation, impromptu conversations emerged among strangers. Nyugati Station was temporarily converted into a public forum where the state of the city was discussed among its citizens. It became a place where social, ethnic, and economic boundaries were erased and people came together to share stories and ideas about the city in which they live.
In addition to several publications, the award-winner work will also be seen at Chicago Expo between 18-21 September 2009. Congratulations!
(BBR / ASLA)
