Networked
Space
Hybrid Space considers the physical environment in the context of and in relation to the networks that it belongs to and interacts with.
Hybrid Space Lab pioneered the development of the Hybrid Space concept, by coining the qualitative new space that emerges from the fusion and interference of physical spaces with digital networks as âHybrid Spaceâ. âHybrid Spaceâ as new field is in juxtaposition with Manuel Castellsâ approach with its binary division between âSpace of Flowsâ and âSpace of Placesâ (Castells, M., 1996. The Rise of the Network Society. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc..)
The starting point and core of the Hybrid Space concept consists in acknowledging the fusion of digital and physical environments, the embedment and integration of media networks in urban, architectural, social, biological and cultural spaces.
Our environments are today being rapidly transformed by the Digital, ubiquitously pervading and transforming the Physical as well as the social, cultural and economic organizations of our societies. Hybrid Spaces are today everywhere in our daily lives. From the communication space of mobile telephony, which creates illusionary privacy islands within public spaces, to monitored environments, where cameras keep watch. The workplace becomes an integral part of the home, the office becomes a space for encounters with a meeting lounge atmosphere, the connected car becomes a mobile extension of our networked existence – to name a few examples.
Hybrid Space focuses therefore on the hybrid fields emerging from the combination and fusion of environments, objects, and services within their networked systems of production, distribution, use, and recycling in the information/communication age.
Thus, by addressing environments in their multiplicity of dimensions, the concept of Hybrid Space expanded, considering in an integrated way – next to physical space and media networks – built space and natural environments as well.
In the times of the Aristotelian categories, the notion of the âhybridâ, the crossbreed had a negative connotation. Today the notion of the âhybridâ is everywhere, with hybridization becoming an increasingly important phenomenon – also with cultural hybridizations between and within fields, for example the cultural sphere.
The âhybridâ turned into a strategy, todayâs challenges needing to be addressed from multiple perspectives. Issues such as climate and sustainability, heritage and museums, urban development and mobility, health, tourism, retail, and other are increasingly being interwoven with each other and new hybrid fields emerge. Combining knowledge from different fields enables to address the complexity and transferring concepts and ideas from one field to another, helps re-frame challenges, opening paths for innovative approaches.
Hybrid Space Lab therefore develops âhybrid strategiesâ of âcrossoverâ, drawing on the recognition that transferring ideas from one field to another is a recipe for cultural innovation. Working within a crossover framework entails daring to combine unexpected elements, coordinating concepts that may not traditionally fit together. Uprooting concepts and tools from their original context and applying them elsewhere favors adaptive thinking and unprecedented, hybrid solutions. Crossover promotes the development of new synapses. Thanks to its versatility, the crossover method is relevant in different fields, promoting exchange, mutual learning, and openness.
Hybrid Space is the hybrid ambivalent space that is at the same time analog and digital, virtual and material, biological and technical, local and global, tactile and abstract.
Since the end of the 80ies – with the public introduction of Internet â we have pioneered, developing the concept of Hybrid Space, the fusion of physical space and digital networks in an urban context:
In 1991 we published the article âDemand Your Right to Broadcastâ, formulating the concept of Hybrid Space, in the âArchitectural Association School of Architecture Projects Review 1990-1991â.
In the following years, we developed the concept of Hybrid Space further, with for example:
*in 1994 with the presentation of the project âPublic Media Urban Interfacesâ at the âDoors of Perception @ HOMEâ in Amsterdam,
*in 1995 with the publication âeen digitale infrastructuur voor Londenâ in the Dutch architectural and design journal âitemsâ, Nr. 6/1995,
*in 1996 with the presentation âPublic Media Urban Interfacesâ at the congress âMusen und Blue Chipsâ, Hochschule fĂŒr Gestaltung Offenbach (and in the accompanying Internet publication),
*in 1996 with the installation âPublic Media Urban Interfacesâ at the Internationales Forum fĂŒr Gestaltung Ulm Conference âMan â Mass â Mediaâ,
*in 1997 in the publication âĂffentliche Schnittstellen zwischen urbanem und medialem Raumâ in the publication âMensch â Masse â Medien: Interaktion oder Manipulationâ of the Internationales Forum fĂŒr Gestaltung Ulm (IFG), Frankfurt/Main 1997,
*in 1997 with the lecture âSoft Urbanismâ at the âAcademie voor Architectuur en Stedenbouw Tilburgâ,
*in 1997 with the publication âSoft Urbanism â Grensvlakken van publiek, media en stadâ in the Dutch architectural journal âde Architectâ, June 1997,
*the publication âSoft Urbanism / Public Media Urban Interfacesâ in âLab â Jahrbuch 1998 fĂŒr KĂŒnste und Apparateâof the Academy of Media Arts CologneâŠ
Prof. Frans Vogelaar holds since 1998 the Chair of Hybrid Space at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany.
Hybrid Space is the Fusion of Physical & Digital Space.
related PROJECTS