AHO+BARTLETT= i-DAT:  A trans-disciplinary research workshop on Arch-OS

25th - 27th February 2009

A trans-disciplinary research workshop on Arch-OS  Architectural ecologies: from aesthetics to behaviour, an interdisciplinary approach to affecting the relationships and interactions between inhabitants and their architectural environment. With:

Advanced Architectural Design, AHO Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Norway: http://www.aho.no/en/
&
A.V.A.T.A.R, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, UK: http://www.avatarlondon.org/

Workshop details: AHO+BARTLETT=i-DAT.pdf
This workshop will experiment with and forecast potential future use, impact and value of using ‘data’ generated by a building and its inhabitants, to recursively influence behaviour, creating a symbiotic ecology with a potential greater environmental awareness. Through an interdisciplinary approach it will encourage the development of an organic list of solutions or potential methodologies for building design based on the study of the main factors: behaviour, data and interaction. The resultant hybrid construct has the potential to expand and evolve our physical and conceptual space, and behaviours and interaction within these.

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1.30: Sunday 24 February 2008. The Immersive Vision Theatre and i-DAT present the ‘Dome Fugue v1.0’: This is a specially commissioned sonic experience to celebrate the re-birth of the William Day Planetarium as a transdisciplinary instrument for the manifestation of material, immaterial and imaginary worlds. This pre-launch rendering of the ‘Dome Fugue v1.0’ will be performed in the Full Dome using its cutting edge spatialised sound system and accompanied by immersive generative visualisations. ‘Dome Fugue v1.0’ has been composited by i-DAT, researchers in the Nascent Art & Technology Research Group and The Immersive Vision Theatre ‘Domies’. The piece lasts 23 minutes 56.0409053 seconds, a scaled down sidereal period (a single rotation of the Earth relative to the stars). The Dome has seating for 35 people. The newly developed Immersive Vision Theatre was brought to life by the Experiential Learning CETL (Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) under the direction of Dr Ruth Weaver. The future management of the Dome lies with the Centre for Creative Design and Technology, a cross faculty (Arts & Technology) initiative and a transdisciplinary catalyst for innovation to influence the evolution of new creative design practices and strategies.

Dome Fugue v1.0 is part of ‘Voices III’ the Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival 2008. Friday 22 – Sunday 24 February 2008. http://cmr.soc.plymouth.ac.uk/event.htm

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i-DAT has developed a programme of digital media workshops for Children and young people through an ongoing collaboration with Creative Partnerships, AimHigher and numerous schools and community organisations. i-DAT is currently engaged with the delivery of Widening Participation workshops (over 1000 participants over the last 2 years) for AimHigher and several research and networking projects for Creative Partnerships (Infinite Infants, aimed art reception level play environments, and Projecting Plymouth online resource for young peoples creative production projects). Many of the viral technology projects, such as the v-mOb workshops are also targeted at engaging young people in creative production through a range of new and domestic technologies.

“It’s about creating imaginary worlds that have a special relationship to
reality - worlds in which we can extend, amplify, and enrich our own
capacities to think, feel, and act.”
(Laurel B, 1993, Computers as Theatre Brenda Laurel, Addison-Wesley)

The current series of workshops actively involves young people in playful engagement with the production and publication of their own mobile music videos. The workshop takes the aspirations of Brenda Laurel’s ‘imaginary worlds’ one stage further by providing participants with a mechanism to share their desires across a community of peers. Workshop participants will be able to create dynamic micro-masterpieces by capturing, producing and distributing mini-movies.

The workshop explores the creative potential of the worlds most ubiquitous communications system: the Internet. As well as being a resource of near infinite information, it is also a mechanism for communicating ideas and distributing them to a potentially massive audience.

Having said this, the workshop is essentially about having fun with computers, probably the most simple and effective way of learning about these complex technologies.

Check out videodat on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=videodat&search_type=&aq=f

The main part of the session will take place in the University of Plymouths Digital Media Studios. Here the music videos will be created on, and for mobile phones. The workshop is completed by a session will then take place in the Immersive Vision Theatre. Participants will get a chance to experience its cutting edge surround sound system accompanied by immersive generative visualisations, whilst being given an understanding of the origins of fulldome environments – from domed architectures, planetariums, multi-projector film environments, flight simulation and virtual reality.

Driving the workshops forward is a bunch of dedicated student ambassadors from the BA/BSc Digital Art & Technology course. Drawn from across all years of the programme the team bring a range of contemporary experiences to the workshop participants.

NB: Workshop participants are encouraged to bring their mobile phones (especially Bluetooth enabled camera phones) as well as a CD or MP3 of a music track they like to the sessions.

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Jan Bennett is Deputy Director, Research and Innovation at the University of Plymouth.
After graduation in 1989 he was engaged as a researcher on (what was then) a SERC ACME-funded electronics design project. In 1992, whilst still in the throes of writing up his PhD, he was recruited into the fledgling Plymouth Teaching Company Scheme (TCS) Centre. The Centre grew and, over the next 10 years, absorbed a number of the University’s business-facing organisations. By 2002 it had become University of Plymouth Enterprise and employed 100+ staff. In October 2002 he left Enterprise to set up and run his own consultancy business which he did successfully for 3 years. Among others, he specialised in helping clients to tender for Public Sector contracts and in writing EU and RDA grant funding applications.

In October 2005 he was recruited back into the University as Operations Manager for the Social Research & Regeneration Unit. He joined the Research & Innovation team in his current capacity of Deputy Director in August 2006.

Bennett has a BSc (Hons) First Class degree in Computing and Informatics (from Plymouth Polytechnic) and a PhD in the management of the electronics product design process in small and medium-size businesses (from the University of Plymouth).

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