The Visitor Information Center uses information as an architectural design tool and material. Public buildings and spaces directly reflect the ideas and technologies of an era. The present era is defined by ubiquitous flows of data and information. These flows are the most radical forces currently contributing to the changes in both the form of architecture and the mutation of urban space.
The proposal for the Visitor Information Center has essentially the same programmatic purpose as the World Wide Web: a flowing interactive space within which people (purposefully and/or randomly) meet, communicate, and exchange information. The information center is a hub within which global networks of information-exchange, and a singular site-specific context for information-exchange, conjoin.
The exterior and interior façades of the Visitor Information Center are activated by both site- and city-specific information, and constantly adjust as different events unfold around the city. The interior space of the Visitor Information Center is designed as an archive for contemporary and historical information on Chicago: a timeline connects the exterior building façade (introducing visitors to city-wide environmental information) and the interior building façade (introducing visitors to specific destinations of interest in Chicago). The building façade is designed as an ongoing medium of exchange. This proposal was part of an invited competition by the City of Chicago......images at UrbanLab
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