I found three examples of good spatial information design: the Panopticon (Benthams and more specifically Presidio Modelo in Cuba ), robotic warehouses, and PARKINFORMATION, the parking proposal by Natalie Jeremijenko. For poor spatial information design I chose The World, a collection of islands off the coast of Dubai, which I will compare with the Million Dollar Homepage.

PDF here »

Negative example:
Steelcase Inc. headquarters.
Grand Rapids, MI.
Designer unknown.

The space was a demonstration of Steelcase's new focus on the concept of dynamic-use office space. All space dividers were modular, enabling easy reconfiguration of the floor plan to suit the needs of people. However, their signage was not only badly lighted, information-starved, and visually inaccessible, it was static and incongruous with the activity needs of the people and visitors who will inhabit that space.

Positive example:
Museum of Cinematography (La Cinémathèque française).
Bercy, Paris/France.
Design by Intégral (Ruedi Baur et associés).

Projected guidance system designed with consideration of the architectural form and material of the building, and complementing the informational content of the space. (In addition, the projections are positioned in such a way that visitors can interact with it.)

It is perhaps architectural blasphemy to call Aldo Rossi's Cemetery at Modena bad design, even if one is talking only about the design of spatial information, but in comparing it to Pere Lachaise in Paris, one can at least say it would not be as accommodating to such a plethora of circumstances..

http://mit.edu/mwatabe/www/watabe_01.pdf

GOOD EXAMPLE: New England Holocaust Memorial

The memorial is six glass stacks. The number six represents the six million Jews killed and the six main concentration camps. The six glass towers have lower sections where six million numbers are etched into the glass in an orderly pattern, reminiscent of Nazi tattoos. Personal statements by Holocaust survivors are inscribed over the numbers at the base of the glass towers. People walk through the glass stacks as they visit the memorial. As they do so, they see their reflection in the glass as well as the city surroundings. The first and last word a memorial visitor encounters is "remember" written in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish. Notably, the memorial is on the Freedom Trail.

It's a good example because the typographic information enriches an already beautiful architectural element with meaning and symbolism.

BAD EXAMPLE: New York City Subway Stations

I find it difficult to argue that any of the following are particularly bad. However, the last is perhaps the least aesthetically appealing or informational.

Guaranty Building
Buffalo, New York
Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler

The quintessential example of “form follows function” in architecture, shows how the design of the building can reflect how the building works. The Guaranty Building has three distinct sections: storefronts on the lower level, offices, and mechanical systems on the 13th and top floor. Nevertheless, the building is adorned with ornament that echoes its internal structure.
guaranty_ext.jpg

Grand Place
Brussels, Belgium

http://uraharu.tumblr.com/post/77195155/the-good-the-bad

Two examples:
(1) Playground in Berlin, Flaemingstrasse
(2) InSITE94 art installation CARPARK

http://www.mit.edu/~susannes/mas960/01-seitinger.pdf

Symbolism (metaphorical or literal) links the Form (spatial) and Function (information) of Spatial Information

Good Example:

Bunker Hill Monument projection ( Wodiczko 1998)

They said to me, if only monuments could speak. And so I suggested, "Why don't you speak through this monument?" If only this monument could speak. "Why don't you become a monument--at least for several evenings?" The monument should speak because the monument saw what was happening, who was murdered where and by whom. The monument could then imagine itself saying: "This happened just behind me," or "on the left side," or "in front, where you are, down there. You small people, among whom there may be one of those who killed my son or someone who didn't say anything." -Professor Krzysztof Wodiczko

Symbolism strongly links information and form

• Function

Find and prepare a presentation of one positive and one negative example of spatial information; That is a spatial situation in combination with information which relates to the space, may that be typographic, audible, tactile etc. (Examples for this could be signage in a building, a map of a specific space or a memorial like the Vietnam Memorial we showed, etc)
Find a particularly beautiful, useful, unusual, or illuminating example of the integration of information and space, and find one example of where bad integration yielded/yields disastrous results. Prepare diagrams and analysis as necessary to explain your choices. Be prepared to give a 2 min presentation about your examples.
All the assignments will be posted and presented on the website. Please create a user account and post images and text on the site.

1. go to blog http://mas960.media.mit.edu/
2. go to "create new account" (on left)
3. enter user name
4. enter email
5. check your email
6. happily start posting!

MAS 960 (H) Small
Special Topics: Spatial Information Design (0-12-0) TR 10:30-12pm in E15-135

This project-based course will examine information design in the built environment. Topics will include digital facades, navigation and wayfinding systems, interactive installations, public, private and semi-private information displays and typographic systems. We will discuss the current state of information design and explore design that is aware of context and responsive, that simultaneously encompasses multiple displays and people, and that uses new technology to create fluid experiences with information. We will meet twice weekly and students will participate in a series of design exercises using the unfinished Fumihiko Maki-designed Media Lab extension as our subject environment.

First class is held this coming Tuesday, February 3.