The document outlines a series of workshops and assignments for a project on ambience and atmospheres at Newcastle University, focusing on interaction design and site analysis. Students are encouraged to observe the Central Station to identify interaction design opportunities, considering aspects such as space dynamics, information exchange, and private versus public technology use. Key tips include ethnographic observation and understanding the varied qualities of surfaces in the environment.

1. ARC8027 | Ambience and Atmospheres (Part 2)
Newcastle University
02//2011

2. 1 | UPDATE AND HOUSEKEEPING
2 | BEN SALEM: ACTIVE FORMS
3 | AMBIENCE AND ATMOSPHERES PART 2
4 | PROJECT: SITE ANALYSIS

3. UPDATE | HOUSEKEEPING

4. BLOG

5. BLOG | Remember to Use Categories

6. BLOG |

7. 1st Feb | Introduction
8th Feb | Architecture and Interaction Design
15th Feb | Ambience and Atmospheres + Newcastle Council Visit
22nd Feb | Active Forms + Ambience and Atmospheres 2
29th Feb | Workshop 1
7th March | Fields and Thresholds
14th March | Proposal Reviews
EASETER VACATION: Project Development
18th April | Intelligence and Sentience
25th April | Tutorials
2nd May | Technical Review
9th May | No formal session
16th May | Final Review
KEY
Tutor Led
Workshops
Student Led

8. BEN SALEM |
Senior Lecturer in Experience Prototyping at
Northumbria University School of Design

9. HOMEWORK | BEYOND AMBIENT COMPUTING

10. THEME 1 | SURFACE IN CONTEXT

14. THEME 2 | BEYOND THE VISUAL

18. THEME 3 | EMERGENT INTERACTIVITY

23. PROJECT | Site Analysis

24. GROUPS OF THREE

25. Look at the site like an interaction designer:
As architects you are used to looking at spaces, observing
people and how they interact with each other and the material
world. As Interaction designers you will want to extend these
skills. This week I want you to perform a site analysis of the
Central Station and its surroundings - looking for interaction
design opportunities.

26. Tip 1: Act like an ethnographer
Imagine you are in an alien country (or perhaps alien world) and
that you are observing strange ritual practices for the very first
time. Take up positions in café or a bench and just watch. Take
notes of what you see. Even things that seem routine or
everyday can provide great insights. Don’t take anything for
granted.

27. Tip 2: Look for slow and fast spaces
Where do people pause or stop and where do they hurry. Where
does the infrastructure create speed or stagnation. What sorts
of interactions are appropriate in each context? Are there spaces
which need speeding up or slowing down?

28. Tip 3: Look for slow and fast spaces
The station and its surrounds are full of surfaces of different
qualities and offering different opportunities. Some are mobile,
some are static. Some are temporary and some are sacred
(remember that parts of this site are listed). Which sites might
offer opportunities for augmentation or enhancement. Which
surfaces should be left.

29. Tip 4: Look for information spaces
Where do sources of information collide with space. There are
obvious places in the station like the departures board but what
else is there. Where is information exchanged? Where do
people gossip? Where do people people check their email?
Where might information come from? Where might it become
grounded?

30. Tip 5: Public and Private
While the this new master plan is ostensibly about the public
realm our use of technologies alters this relationship. We can be
in an intensely private world whilst being on show. Think about
ways in which you might map or understand when where and
how people use there existing technologies. How much of this
use is private and how much is public.

31. Next week:
Bring plenty of notes, sketches, photographs, videos….and
anything else you can think of. In this first design phase we will
act as a single team and start to brainstorm our analysis and
ideas.

32. THE END
martyn.dade-robertson@ncl.ac.uk