PLACEMAKING IN THE DIGITAL AGE

SAKTHI PRIYA.N
M.ARCH (GEN) 1ST YEAR
PLACE MAKING
• “Placemaking” is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces with the intention of creating public spaces
that promote people's health, happiness, and well-being.
• Placemaking is both a process and a philosophy.”

(Wikipedia)

• Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of
every community.
• Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, Placemaking refers to a
collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value.
• More than just promoting better urban design, placemaking facilitates creative patterns of
use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and
support its ongoing evolution.

(www.pps.org)
PUBLIC SPACE to PLACE
Public space is
• how we get to work, how we do our errands, and how we get back home
• where nearly half of violent crimes happen.
• where policing ensures safety for some but not others.
• for buying and selling, or for meeting, playing, and bumping into one another.
• for conveying our outrage and our highest aspirations, as well as for laying the most mundane utilities and
infrastructure.
• where so many tragedies and triumphs of the commons play out.

And that’s why getting it right matters.

The ten issue areas where placemaking can

have the most transformative impact are listed.

Public space can be a medium for creativity,

expression, and experimentation.
POWER OF 10+
Most great places, whether a
grand downtown plaza or humble
neighborhood park, share four key
attributes:
1. They are accessible and well
connected to other important
places in the area.
2. They are comfortable and
project a good image.
3. They attract people to
participate in activities there.
4. They are sociable
environments in which people
want to gather and visit again
and again.
ACCESS & LINKAGES
Can you see the space from a distance? Is its
interior visible from the outside?
Is there a good connection between this place
and adjacent buildings? Or, is it surrounded by
blank walls, surface parking lots, windowless
buildings, or any other elements that
discourage people from entering the space?
Do occupants of adjacent buildings use the
space?
Can people easily walk there? Or are they
intimidated by heavy traffic or bleak
streetscapes?
Do sidewalks lead to and from the adjacent
areas?
Does the space function well for people with
disabilities and other special needs?
Do the paths throughout the space take
people where they actually want to go?
Can people use a variety of transportation
options—bus, train, car, and bicycle—to reach
the place?
COMFORT & IMAGE
Does the place make a good first impression?
Are there as many women as men?
Are there enough places to sit? Are seats
conveniently located? Do people have a
choice of places to sit, either in the sun or
shade?
Are spaces clean and free of litter? Who is
responsible for maintenance?
Does the area feel safe? Are there security
personnel present? If so, what do these
people do? When are they on duty?
Are people taking pictures? Are there many
photo opportunities available?
Do vehicles dominate pedestrian use of the
space, or prevent them from easily getting to
the space?
USES & ACTIVITIES
Are people using the space, or is it empty?
Is it used by people of different ages?
How many different types of activities are
occurring at one time—people walking,
eating, playing baseball, chess, relaxing,
reading?
Which parts of the space are used and which
are not?
Is there a management presence, or can you
identify anyone in charge of the space?
SOCIABILITY
Is this a place where you would choose to
meet your friends? Are others meeting friends
here?
Are people in groups? Are they talking with
one another? Do they talk to people in other
groups?
Do people seem to know each other by face
or by name?
Do people bring their friends and relatives to
see the place? Do they point to its features
with pride?
Are people smiling? Do people make regular
eye contact with each other?
Do many people use the place frequently?
Does the mix of ages and ethnic groups
generally reflect the community at large?
Do people tend to pick up litter when they
see it?
DIGITAL AGE
• The ubiquity of digital technology in all aspects of our lives – from sleeping to meeting,
shopping and staying fit – means that people are not merely comfortable with using
technology to engage with their environment; today, digital is the filter through which
we experience our environment. Tourists understand new cities according to the way
Google presents maps to them; children hunt for virtual Pokémon in their local park;
commuters plan their journey according to real-time traffic updates. We increasingly
spend our time moving between physical and digital worlds: digital placemaking blends
these worlds.
• Today, digital placemaking has gained relevance and importance thanks to the
pace of technological change, the expectations of people to access digital
information and services when in the built environment, and the rise of the so-
called ‘experience economy’.
• Today, consumers are found to favour experiences over objects and memories over
possessions – a psychographic trait that marketers have loosely labeled ‘millennial’.
21st CENTURY PLACEMAKING
• Contrary to its name, placemaking is not concerned with
the making of a place. Rather, it’s about the expression and
enhancement of places that are already rich in cultural, historical or
personal significance – be it a world heritage site, community space,
city underpass or national park.
• Whether the ‘place’ is somewhere people pass daily, visit frequently,
or make a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to, the principles of
placemaking have been flung wide open by the possibilities of digital
technology and a 21st century demographic that craves more from
the visitor experience.
DIGITAL PLACEMAKING
• Digital placemaking boosts the social, cultural, environmental and
economic value of places by using location-specific digital technology to
foster deeper relationships between people and the places they inhabit.
(calvium.org)
• Attention is the currency of digital placemaking. Through the creative use
of digital technology, the practice focuses people’s attention on the
particular place in which they’re located.
• Digital placemaking should be viewed as a flexible and holistic practice with
a set of creative tools, methods and approaches for those seeking to
positively affect the public realm.
• Like placemaking, the practice is collaborative and context-dependent,
requiring multi-stakeholder engagement for best success.
WHY DO DIGITAL PLACEMAKING?
• Social - By revealing the otherwise hidden qualities of a place, or opening
up a location in new ways, digital placemaking makes public spaces more
accessible and relevant to a wider number of people.
• Cultural - Digital placemaking directly boosts the cultural value of places by
curating and presenting historical, environmental and artistic experiences
for those in the location.
• Economic - Digital placemaking directly and indirectly boosts the economic
potential of target spaces by encouraging communities to spend more time
there.
• Environmental - Digital placemaking adds a new dimension to urban and
rural space – fundamentally changing the nature of the environment to
make it more attractive, engaging or interesting for stakeholders.
HYBRID SPACE
• Spatially, the public realm is conceived as a
mix of physical space and digital space; in
other words, hybrid space.
• Hybrid space is one of several conceptual
instruments that can be used to explore the
evolving relationships between the built
environment and digital technologies in
today’s hyperconnected era.
APPROACHES
• These technological approaches can include
• non-commercial urban screens;
• publicly accessible network infrastructure;
• interactive installations;
• augmented reality and
• location based content;
• integrated social media strategies;
• media architecture;
• responsive lighting;
• projection mapping and
• other permanent or temporary interactive or media installations – as long as they
ultimately support greater community connection between people in their shared
public spaces.
THE LOST PALACE, LONDON
CASE STUDY
Once the largest
palace in Europe,
Whitehall Palace
comprised 1,500
rooms and covered 23
acres, it was the
principle British royal
residence for 168
years, until it burnt to
the ground in 1698.
 THE LOST PALACE
• The Lost Palace was commissioned and produced by Historic Royal Palaces, and developed in collaboration with
design studio Chomko & Rosier, theatre company Uninvited Guests (with sound artist Lewis Gibson) and software
developers Calvium Ltd.
• Implemented through an R&D based approach.
• This started in April 2015 with an open call competition, asking for creative responses to the project’s brief and
distributed to the widest possible range of creative industries. This brief was viewed over 3,000 times online, with
over 100 organisations, start-ups and artists attending open days – and 90 full submissions made.
• From these, five were selected to create working prototypes that were tested on real family and adult audiences in
summer 2015. The creators of the most successful prototypes – Chomko & Rosier, Uninvited Guests (with Lewis
Gibson) and Calvium - were then asked to collaborate on creating the full visitor experience. This full version was
created using iterative, user-centred-design principles with over 15 rounds of user testing – and a final full public
scratch test ahead of launch.
• Also key was extensive stakeholder work with security partners around Whitehall – the most security sensitive
street in the UK. Through forming the Lost Palace liaison group (comprising members from 10 Downing St, the
MOD, Met Police, Royal Parks, Horse Guards Regiment and various government departments) we eventually won
advocates and secured formal planning permission for the installations and security clearance for the activity.
• Historic Royal Palaces, Chomko & Rosier, Calvium and Uninvited Guests, raised the building from the ashes with
The Lost Palace – an AR (Augmented Reality) app experience for visitors to one of London’s most important lost
landmarks.
• The technology that powers The Lost Palace is a bespoke hardware and software system that uses
NFC, GPS, haptics, accelerometer, gyroscope and compass.
• However, all this technology is hidden within a wooden object, and completely free of screens.
• Removing this interface and making the triggers for the digital content either human actions or
interactions between organic physical objects, means focus is on spaces and characters - and
imagination is free to engage with the stories in meaningful and memorable ways.
• Based on this we created a series of moments which combined a physical location, a historic story and a tech
interaction in order to cast the visitor as present in the specific event, as a contemporary to the characters –
and as an active participant in the action.
• The effect of this was the creation of a rich virtual reality, but a non-visual one. Augmented reality, not with CGI
visuals but with an experiential layer of history.
• The following design choices were key to this world creation: use of binaural sound to create immersive 3D
sound worlds; use of multisensory technology (especially haptics to utilise sense of touch) to create visceral
experiences; gestural recognition to make physical actions in the contemporary world have implications in
the virtual historic world; and giving real agency to the visitor - so everyone had a different, personalised
experience.
 THE EXPERIENCE
• Starting and ending at Banqueting House, the experience takes visitors around Whitehall's modern streets to
some of the most significant locations and events from Whitehall Palace’s past. Each visitor has a wooden
device, connected to headphones, which acts as a ‘historic surveillance device’. Guided around the streets by
the voice of their 21st century guide, when they arrive at the spots where particular historic events took place,
they travel back in time and experience it as a contemporary witness to the history.

• At points they encounter large burnt wooden installations – inspired by the architecture that would once have
stood in that spot – and when they touch their device to these it triggers the event that once took place in that
space. At times the device becomes other objects – a sword, an oar, a cockerel – and you must physically
participate in the scene in order to move the action on.

• Interactive scenes include: eavesdropping in on the secret marriage of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII or the
interrogation of Guy Fawkes; performing in the royal premiere of Shakespeare's King Lear; sword fighting with
Charles II's rakish friends; braving the joust for Elizabeth I's coronation; and holding the beating heart of Charles
I in their hands as he went to his execution (and when the axe falls, the device stops beating).

• On route visitors even encounter a modern busker, who uncannily manages to bleed into their personal historical
soundscape with a 21st century version of a 17th century song.
 Once the largest royal residence in Europe, Whitehall Palace burned
to the ground more than three centuries ago.
Historic Royal Palaces, Chomko & Rosier, Calvium and Uninvited
Guests, raised the building from the ashes with The Lost Palace – an
AR (Augmented Reality) app experience for visitors to one of
London’s most important lost landmarks.
Delivered via headphones and a bespoke wooden handset – thereby
removing the distraction posed by smartphone screens – The Lost
Palace used binaural 3D sound, haptic technology, GPS and NFC
(near field communication) to take participants on a mile-long journey
around Whitehall, enabling them to experience history in the very spot
in which it happened.
Standing at different locations, visitors heard artistic narratives and
dialogues from the likes of Shakespeare, Elizabeth I and a motley
https://vimeo.com/183286524
crew of London locals that showcased life in the palace. At specific
points, their handheld devices were transformed into a wand, the
beating heart of Charles II, the torch that sets the palace ablaze, and
more.
In turn, The Lost Palace delivered breakthrough levels of engagement
for Historic Royal Palaces, and won Museum + Heritage’s 2017
Award for Innovation, before being relaunched for a second season.
VISITOR RESPONSE
Based on the formal visitor evaluation conducted (a sample of 198), visitors to The Lost
Palace rated their experience extremely highly. 90% of visitors rated the technology
used as very effective or effective, with figures of 88% for its storytelling power; 87% for
practical delivery; and 88% for the overall experience.
In addition, they rated specific aspects of the experience even higher: 92% strongly
agreed or agreed that ‘the experience was unique to others I’ve had at visitor
attractions’; 92% that it ‘brought the history of this time and place to life’ and ‘was fun
and enjoyable’; and 90% that it ‘made me feel more connected to the past and history
here’.
CRITICAL RESPONSE
The Lost Palace has also been a critical success, both in the arts, culture and heritage
media and the mainstream media too.
Museums + Heritage Advisor declared the experience one of the “Museum projects that
will make a difference in 2016”, MuseumNext described it “The result is a triumph and
shows the benefits of both collaboration and investing in R&D”, and Museums Journal
as, “an immensely inspiring and absorbing experience…your imagination populates
London’s concrete pavements so fervently with characters from the past that you feel
you’re witnessing events in real time”. In addition, the project has received invitations to
be presented at conferences around the world.
Enthusiastic consumer press reviews include the BBC describing it as “...a really
thrilling experience... beautifully constructed & well put together... neither the theatre nor
the tech unbalanced each other” and Time Out London as “Funny, moving and
fascinating, it’s a brilliantly created tour with plenty of smart surprises… more attractions
should be creating experiences like this”.