// new media class

The urban public space is full of information. We move through this space, constantly filtering useful from useless information. This behavior is very similar to the way we move through the public space of the web. The overwhelming abundance of information leads - in the city as well as in the web - to a dissipation of information and thus to a hindrance of a collective formation of interests and opinions. The research project "Data From Ground Zero" investigates the subjects "cities", "networks" and "data" theoretically. From the insights of the theoretical work, practical approaches in form of a series of prototypes where realized. These are experiments in connecting information of the physical and site-specific with the virtual and distributed; augmenting surfaces and walls in the urban public space with properties of the public space of the web.

The "wall of distribution" is an attempt to sense and display the public opinion to controversially discussed issues in the public space. The people are invited to vote by taking pro and contra stickers from the wall. The color of the wall changes, according to the peoples answers.