Presentation by Kurt Kohlstedt, Founder & Executive Editor of WebUrbanist, given at the Center for Architecture in New York City, hosted by the American Institute of Architects as part of the Global Dialogues series (June 19th, 2014)

1. Kurt Kohlstedt |
WebUrbanist
Postcard Identities | Esoteric Landmarks

2. Iconic Images
In the age of social media and information, what are
the iconic images of a city and its buildings?

3. Iconic /
Classic
Christ the Redeemer
overlooking Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil (Pen Drawing by Michael
Levi, 2012)

4. Iconoclastic?
Subjective, interactive,
personalized, mundane – ‘selfie’
shot on top of the iconic statue
in Rio (Lee Thomson, 2014)

5. Icon Creation
Favela Painting in Rio
leverages crowdfunding,
community participation and
media virality to create iconic
identity (Jeroen Koolhaas and
Dre Urhahn, 2010)

6. Collective Imagery
Does the propagation of architectural imagery, the
collective image of a place affect the conceptualization
of a building and play a role in urban planning?

7. Go Ogle
100-image photographic
‘average’ of Google Image
searches for ‘Giza Pyramid’ and
‘Leaning Tower Pisa’ via
BldgBlog (Megan Gould, 2005)

8. Photosynth
Composite landmark images
crowdsourced from Flickr
(Microsoft Live Labs, 2007)

9. Hyperlapses
Iconic Transamerica and Sutro
towers time lapse – replicable
using stabilized Google Street
View images (Kevin Parry,
2012)

10. Cinemagraph
s
Iconic architectural façades
extrapolated and animated
(Axel de Stampa, 2014)

11. Esoteric Landmarks
What are the esoteric or iconic landmarks of our
times?

12. Airmail
Arrows
Abandoned 1920s land markers
with beacons guided cross-
country flights at night, now
visible on Google Maps

13. Memorial WC
Insider landmark for
Foursquare users
commemorates the
indiscretions of a politician

14. DIY
Landmarking
Input a query, receive directions
and distance or passively
stream real-time API data
(Breakfast, 2013)

15. Social Travel
Journals
How has the architectural travel journal evolved
through the use of social media to record our findings,
explorations and experiences?

16. Gamescapes
Street photography using in-
game cell phones in virtual San
Andreas, Grand Theft Auto V
(Fernando Pereira Gomes,
2014)

17. Stereography
Spherical timelapse panoramic
video recorded in 3D using six
GoPro cameras, shared on
Vimeo (Jonas Ginter, 2014)

18. Remote
Tourism
Google Street View employee
sent to 3D-map the entire
island of Gunkanjima, Japan
(2014)
See also: Kowloon Walled City,
Hong Kong, the Tower of David,
Caracas & Garbage City, Cairo

19. Analogized
Mapping online iconography
back onto physical reality:
Map (Aram Bartholl, 2007)
Real Life Instagram
(Bruno Ribeiro, 2013)
Not Available on the App Store
(Hyper Island Students, 2014)

20. Civic Identity &
Planning
Has the civic identity of a city, its planning and its
architecture evolved through the changing lens?

21. Sneckdowns
Snowy neckdown blog posts and
videos inspire curb expansion in
University City District,
Philadelphia (2011)

22. Rainbow
Stairs
Huseyin Cetinel paints steps,
sparks social reaction on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram in
Istanbul, Turkey (2013)

23. High Lines
Chicago and Los Angeles both
working on elevated greenway
systems akin to The High Line:
LA River Greenway and
Bloomingdale Trail (Ongoing)

24. Kurt
Kohlstedt
KurtKohlstedt.com
WebUrbanist.com
Summary & Links on
KurtKo.com