With a growing demand for wireless internet, mobile communication networks may encroach on public space, writes Michael Chen, adjunct assistant professor at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture.
Designer and researcher Justin Snider and Chen, a principal of Normal Projects, started Signal Space, a project that analyzes the affect of broadcast and antenna infrastructure. Chen writes that the prominence and continued demand for mobile internet infrastructure creates a new layer of space, which Chen accordingly calls Signal Space.
"Our research into mobile infrastructure centers around identifying some of the developments in mobile technology that have the greatest potential to affect the future development of the city, and speculating on where they may have particular relevance for design.
"Rapidly increasing demand will mean that base stations, which today are almost exclusively located semi-stealthily on mid-rise building rooftops, will not only become denser, but will likely migrate into interiors, streets and other public spaces."
FULL STORY: Signal Space
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