URL_ URBAN.LINKS

WINTER 2020_02 / TLATELOLCO, CDMX
INSTRUCTOR: ANYA SIROTA

19°27'15.6"N 99°09'04.0"W
TAUBMAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE

The age of cyberspace as a commodity is over. The community of Tlatelolco, declining in numbers and slowly aging has been subsiding, along with most of Mexico, under the control of large telecoms like TELMEX. URban Links is the movement by the people of Tlatelolco to take control of their knowledge commons by promoting culture and the sharing of information in the age of remote work and social distancing.

Spanish Video
Video Transcript (English + Spanish)

Interpostes     ︎      Interpostes     ︎      Interpostes     ︎      Interpostes     ︎     

// Presently, CDMX has a network of 13,000 Interpostes or C5’s in operation. These artifacts are part of the security and data infrastructure of the city, with free wifi access points, emergency call buttons, seismic sirens, and security cameras; however, out of these 13,000, only 38 are within the boundaries of Tlatelolco. This means that a single Interposte serves 732 members of the community if it was to be distributed evenly. If you can try to imagine a single “hotspot” serving 730 people at times of high usage.

The current 38 interpostes will be retrofitted with projectors, to share community information, the latest memes, or simply to stream a movie. Community members can take control of what goes, nightly from 8pm-10pm

//Initial stages will require servers for the storage and transfer of data. The building at the southeast corner of the Jardin de la Pera will be turned into a Casa-Servidor-Social, or CSS for the housing of servers and services for the aging population. By using the heat created by these servers during the winter months through the dysfunctional elevator shaft, the building can serve as a community center. During hot days, the seismic fins, attached with steel, will act as heat sinks along with the use of ventiladorotototes to allow heat to escape and maintain the building at a comfortable temperature.

// As an area of hyper-intense connectivity, the boundaries of HOT-hot-hotspotare limited to the radial bounds of the interpostes. With almost no difference to the other 38, the interpostes located here create a concentrated area of hyper-connectivity, enhanced by rolling screens for the projection of entertainment, benches where you can plug in, interpostcontrol centers, and various forms of seating to allow the community to rearrange, refit, and be together while remaining individuals.

Hyperlink     ︎      Hyperlink     ︎      Hyperlink     ︎      Hyperlink     ︎      Hyperlink     ︎     

// Continuing to act as a beacon for the community of Tlatelolco, la Torre Insignia will be revitalized through the ephemeral projections from the interpostes working tirelessly every evening. Inside the reconfiguration of the tower for the phygital world we find a social room where the only socializing happens through your phone in a room while social distancing with 20 other strangers; a gallery space that doubles as a place for Patrick Miller fests on weekends; for those who wish to distance themselves no just socially but technologically, HTMazcaLes, or isolation pods; for the large part of the population without a computer at home or in need of a space to work remotely, el ciber;in an attempt to further harbor the creation of culture and sharing of knowledge, there are visualization studios equipped with a green screen that serves as a billboard of the accomplishments of URL. Background rooms allow you to choose your very own fake background for your next conference call; recording studios for the next YouTubers, or digital sex workers; galleries for the display of digital artifacts and art.

//The global pandemic has exposed the urgency to end the existing inequality no only in Tlatelolco, but all of Mexico. We have learned that these services shouldn’t be controlled by corporations without interest in promoting commoning. Urban Link(s) envisions the architecture that can be created through the commoning of the internet, and the empowerment of communities to rise against the challenges of the phygital world.

URL_URBAN.LINKS