Complete strangers build a city in three weeks without resorting to hierarchical authority, building codes, or zoning regulations.
An urban situation was constructed using 1386 paper pixels, 32 fluorescent tubes, two computers and one scanner. Stadt, the physical city, resided in two “pixel walls” of paper and light. Bild, the planned city, evolved in 250MB Photoshop files.
Procedure
Visitors were asked to build the city by:
bringing “Bilding” material – scanning and storing pictures or objects for later use
OR by assembling the virtual city – constructing “Bild” using the stored images
OR by building the physical city – hanging the freshly plotted pixels in “Stadt”
Observations
Visitors acted independently according to their own personal criteria. The resulting city was a diverse and complex reflection of multiple viewpoints. The activity engaged visitors so thoroughly that they independently organised social events surrounding the construction.
Conclusion
After three weeks the city was subdivided and sold by auction to the highest bidder.
Stadtbilding was realised in URBAN issue in September 1998
