ADS0: Babel; architecture and landscapes in the face of catastrophe
Anabel Garcia-Kurland
Anabel graduated at the university of Manchester in 2015 and pursued a 3 month part 1 architectural internship. She later spent 2 years working in experiential design studios for film sets, interiors, brand experience, exhibitions, sound design, staging and festival pavilions. Since starting at the RCA, Anabel has been part of a research collective in ADS8 for the Het Nieuwe Instituut works on Automated Landscapes ‘Data Matter: Digital Networks, Data Centers & Posthuman Institutions’ in collaboration with OMA. She has been a guest tutor for Store projects architecture gaming workshops in 2020 and worked with director Helene Kazan as lead digital human animator for a film/installation series ‘Frame of accountability’ which will premiere at The Vera List Centre, The New School, New York in 2021.
Anabel is a London based spatial designer who focuses on the dialogue between physical as digital architectures to questions the physical entanglement within digital practice. 2020 has become a defining moment for virtual engagement which has pushed the boundaries to utilise 3D world space in order to communicate with one another. Her research embodies the use of technology and multi-disciplinary architectures utilising 3D spaces, VR and sound design to explore her interests in environmental and socio-political impacts from digital infrastructure. All her projects have pursued a common theme of data aesthetic analysis covering the body, data exploitation, machinery and geopolitical infrastructures through her fascination with hybrid extensions in the 21st century. Her projects have explored alternatives for efficient heat-reuse in Arctic data centres, urban farming that utilises the mechanics of horology, digital archiving of skin for the violence of pixels and biopolotics in filtered data.
Level 1 — First person perspective game play of communication feeds.
Level 1 — Virtual game space isometric.
Level 4 — First person perspective game play.
Level 4 — Virtual game space isometric.
Idle riot space — First person perspective game play.
Level Idle — Virtual reality game space overview.
Level Idle — Virtual space of communication feeds in Idle.
User Experience storyboard — Simulation diagram.
This project explores the dialogue between physical and digital built environments to question the fortification of a polarised post-information society. In a data driven economy the value of personal information has influenced infrastructure, culture and politics. Personal data from mobile applications are tools to predict behaviours with personalised user interfaces. These interfaces are designed to define an individual’s exposure to information by predicting whether the content would be enjoyable to the user. This consequently categorises media into filter bubbles of information, radicalising our interests and fortifying extremist views. This project unravels a personal trajectory of online identity triggered by the discovery of unintentionally offering of all intimate data dating back to 2013. Through extraction of my own data the project investigates moments in my life which have been influenced by algorithms. I want to understand why my climbing gym has a similar Spotify playlist to mine, why I make porridge look like it came out of a vegan cafe in Bali, why I always end up in techno clubs and why my feeds are full of dog videos. Further analysis of 6 different identities based on urban cluster data in the city of London created simulations of hybrid environments to conclude new and unpredictable paths.
Engagement in technology is used to fill the gaps of uncomfortable routines and boredom with mindless content. These moments of idleness have been commodified by satisfying technology in a society that finds it difficult to do nothing. The final output utilises personal and external recommendation data to create an application that exposes a user to new algorithms by introducing a serendipity in hybrid experiences. The aim is to break the continuous cycle of always experiencing the same level which assists in guiding the user to new environments and architectural spaces. Over time the application becomes less addicting and the user begins to feel less stimulated by technology. The frustration of no longer being useful ultimately leads to the demise of the application itself. Then all the user is left with is their own intuition. This is reclaiming idleness.
The first simulation begins with me (a dog loving porridge eating techno climber) played through the character of a dog.