the cue workshop

RESEARCH WORKSHOP

COMMUNICATION

URBANENVIRONMENT

IN THE

DAAPRESEARCH WORKSHOP

COMMUNICATION

URBANENVIRONMENT

IN THE

ABSTRACTCommunication in the urban environment is an emerging field of study that focuses on the way people interact and communicate within the dense settlements of world cities. As the urban population is projected to increase to as much as 70% of the world population by 2050, the communication interface between an exploding population intensifies and presents new opportunities, challenges and complexities.

In response to this burgeoning imperative, a new interdisciplinary collaborative research center is being proposed by the University of Cincinnati to advance the creation of new solutions responding to the communication complexities in the urban environment. A new research center, called Communication in the Urban Environment Research Workshop or CUE Workshop, derives its energy from the current interdisciplinary research being developed at the University of Cincinnati’s Colleges of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), Carl H. Lindner College of Business (COB), College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), and McMicken College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) together with other university intellectual enterprises.

The first phase of the research center is proposed to be housed at the 20,000 square foot space adjacent to the newly opened American Sign Museum located in the industrial area of Camp Washington in Cincinnati. The research center would be about a mile and a half from the University of Cincinnati’s West Campus. The CUE Workshop is intended to include laboratories, collaborative workspaces, offices, and exhibition spaces. the center is envisioned to become a new research hub that creates partnerships between academy and the industry as well as collaborations between the public and private sector. Ultimately, the knowledge produced by the research center is aimed to contribute to a better understanding and influence positive change in how people live in urban areas.

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

CUE Workshop exterior perspective night view

Why Communication in the Urban Environment?

History of Signage

What is CUE Workshop?

Why create CUE Workshop?

Who is part of CUE Workshop?

Why the University of Cincinnati?

Where is CUE Workshop?

How would the center be phased?

What is the inspiration for the center?

What is the proposal?

Appendix: Looking ahead

Credits

i

ii

2 - 3

4 - 5

6

7

8

9 - 15

16 - 21

22 - 23

24 - 25

26 - 45

46 - 51

52 - 53

1

The United Nations projects that 60% of the world population will be concentrated in urban areas by 2030 and projected to continue to rise to as much as 70% by 2050. With this dramatic shift of people living and working in urban centers comes new opportunities, challenges and complexities. Changes can be in the form of emerging shifts in lifestyles, technology, socio-cultural dynamics, politico-economic structures that potentially can ennoble and oppress people at the same time.

Key to these changes are the ways that communication plays a role in how people live in urban environments. Some of the emerging trends now include: how new modes of technology improve the pace of information transfer and dissemination; how new forms of social media affect both on an interpersonal and international level; how large-scale urban interventions communicate a sense of identity of the city to its inhabitants. There is a need to study and anticipate how these new complexities in communication can affect people’s lives in the future.

Communication in the urban environment inevitably includes social, technological, cultural, economic, political implications and issues. As new challenges arise, the approach to addressing problems and providing solutions cannot just come from one discipline. Understanding how communication operates within an urban condition requires an interdisciplinary approach where a synergy between different knowledge fields is generated. In essence, inter-disciplinary collaboration is necessary and cross-pollination is critical in addressing the complexities of urban living.

WHY COMMUNICA-TION IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT?

2

Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas

http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/

3CUE Workshop

HISTORY OF SIGNS TIMELINE

1440 : Johannes Gutenberg invented a process for mass - producing moveable type

1796 : Discovery of the lithograph process by Alois Senefelder

1839 : Beginning of the plastic era with semi synthetics Hand Carved and Gilded Letters

1866 : Jules Chéret was a French painter and lithogra-pher who became a master of poster art.

1880s : Edison invented the first commercially practical incandescent light.

1990s : Painted trade signs, Neon’s application for light-ing was commercialized

1910 : Changeable bulb letters, light bulb signs

1930 - 1960 : Show card Signage

1940 - 1960 : Porcelain enamel

Late 19th century : Enameling technology was intro-duced to the U.S.

44

5

A “device and all parts therefore which are used to advertise products, goods, services, or otherwise promote the sale of objects or identify objects for sale” (Claus, 27). History of signs date back to the use of signage during the Roman Empire. Merchants utilized signage to inform illiterate shoppers with symbols and pictures. Signage became a law for Merchants in 13th century Europe. By the 18th century, people found jobs within the sign industry producing signs and art for methods of communication for shopping and trade environments.

1921 saw the first installation of the neon sign in Paris, France designed by Georges Claude. The following year, The United States saw their first neon sign for the design for an automobile dealership. Today, a major topic of signage in urban environments is the struggle with signage pollution. How can urban environments take on multiple languages and communication all while keeping the environment clean and comprehensive?

TYPES OF SIGNS Information signsDirectional signsProject of imagery

TYPOLOGYIlluminated SignsOn Premise SignsFascia SignsRoof SignProjection Sign On Premise Incidental Signs Marquee SignMultiple - Copy SignFree - Standing SignTime / TemperatureRevolving SignAnimated SignPosterBulletin SpectacularTemporary Sign

CUE Workshop

=CUE

WHAT IS CUE WORKSHOP?

Communication in the Urban Environment Research Workshop or CUE Workshop is a collaborative research center that captures the synergy of expertise from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), Carl H. Lindner College of Business (COB), College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) and McMicken College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) dedicated to research, scholarship and the applied exploration of conscious and unconscious communication in emerging urban network environments.

CUE Workshop is a laboratory immersed within the rich intellectual community of the University of Cincinnati’s research faculty, students and collaborative corporate partners. The focus of CUE Workshop is to explore and understand emerging trends of how people communicate and navigate in the diverse social contexts of personal and mass communication as urban inhabitants.

Research

Design

Collaboration

Exploration

+

++

6

WHY CREATE CUE WORKSHOP?

CUE Workshop will conduct interdisciplinary research and scholarly inquiry drawn from across University of Cincinnati’s intellectual landscape to connect to external resources in both the private and public sectors. The goal is to understand how social, technical and economic forces intersect to construct new opportunities for social advancement, technological improvement and business markets. The purpose is to bring together many visioning sources from both the university and public / private intellect to synthesize the past, understand the present and envision the future.

7CUE Workshop

WHO IS PART OF CUE WORKSHOP?

CUE Workshop is directed towards collaboration between students, faculty, researchers, professionals, and practitioners from the private and the public sectors. Researchers from the fields of engineering, applied sciences, arts and sciences, law, design, architecture, planning, medicine, among others will participate in inter-disciplinary collaborative projects. The private and public sectors can include businesses, manufacturers, policy-makers, local govern-ment units, non-governmental organizations and not-for-profit institutions.

8

Students / Faculty Researchers Professionals

College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning

College of Engineering

Carl H. lindnerCollege of Business

McMicken College of Arts and Sciences

CUE Workshop will be a collaboration with the various colleges at the University of Cincinnati: College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), Carl H. Lindner College of Business (COB), College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), and the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). Other potential linkages can also be established between the College of Medicine (COM) and the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Faculty and graduate students will be able to utilize the facility for research, laboratory work, and collaborative projects exploring the future of communication in the urban environment while acknowledging the past. This would be a natural extension of many of the University’s established research initiatives and collaborative research centers such as The Livewell Collaborative, Niehoff Urban Studio and Community Design Center.

WHY THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI?

9CUE Workshop

LiveWell Collaborative is a non-profit founded in 2007 by the University of Cincinnati and Procter and Gamble. Its purpose is to specialize in research and thedevelopment of products and services for the 50+ market place. It is a unique academic-industry innovation center where organizations collaborate on their knowledge of the baby boomer market. The collaborative taps the faculty talent of the top-ranked colleges of DAAP, Business, Engineering, Nursing and Medicine among many others, to do student project studios.


www.livewellcollaborative.org

UC Forward is an initiative of the University of Cincinnati that fosters collabora-tion and partnership with industry and academia. Through the UC Forward Program,Two mature innovation collaboratives are UC Forward ventures: the Niehoff Urban Studio / Community Design Center and the Livewell Collaborative. Both engage students in studios that combine design thinking processes with client’s needs to innovate solutions for real-world problems. Both partner with community members and businesses who need help. Students learn how to collaborate and create new ideas, programs, designs, or products that are multidisciplinary in nature. Faculty and the external experts and clients coach students towards their goals.

www.uc.edu/provost/ucforward/collaboratives.html

10

Light Rail

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 10.125Miles

Light Rail

Subway

Clifton-CufStreetcar

n orthside Streetcar

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 10.125Miles

NorthsideStreetcar

Light Rail

Streetcar

Subway

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 10.125Miles

50-Year Plan

Light Rail

Subway



Light Rail

Subway



www.cincinnatitransforum.org

Live Well Project - Transforum

11CUE Workshop

The Community Design Center, also known as the Niehoff Studio organizes collaborative interdisciplinary community/university partnerships for research, design and public education, on physical improvements that serve the uni-versity’s urban area.

www.uc.edu/cdc


The Center for Design Research Innovation (CDRI) undertakes industry- and grant-funded research that works in experimental design initiatives and coordinates interdisciplinary projects with other colleges, departments and centers in the university around questions of design. The center for design research innovation seeks to develop design research within an interdisciplinary core.

University of Cincinnati Research Institute (UCRI) serves to connect UC experts to industry partners, facilitate commercialization of research and enhance cooperative and experiential learning experiences for UC faculty and students. The UCRI covers many research areas. Bring industry together with aca-demic disciplines.

www.uc.edu/ucresearch/officeofresearch/ucri.html

12

Niehoff Studio Projects

University of Cincinnati

13CUE Workshop


University of Cincinnati | DAAP

Current ChicoPopulation

South Chico

Business AreaLocal Art

Community

CSUC

HistoricDowntown

BC

Central Chico

Commercial

Corridors

Tourism

History

Activities

Terrain

Others: Picnics, Bird Watching, Camping, Hiking, Biking, Horse Back Riding, Playing BaseballSwimmingSwimming�shing

Equestrian

1937 The Adventures of Robin Hood

was �lmed near Caper Acres

1970 Caper Acres playground built

four hotels within walking distance

of a lower park entrance.

15 Hotels are listed on Expedia in Chico, CO,

4 B&Bs are listed with the Chamber of Commerce.

1888 Trees from around the world

were planted in the grove by

John Bidwell

1953 Golf course expansion to 18 holes begins,

softball �elds added

1935 Horseshoe Lake was constructed

1995 Acquisition of 1417 acres on south side of Big Chico Creek.

Middle Park

Upper Park

Lower Park

Golf CourseSoftball

Flat Terrain Urban DensityFoothills Rock Canyon

2.5 hours from San Francisco Bay Area1.5 hour drive from Sacramento

1

3

4

BidwellPark

Caper Acres Playground

CARD Community Center

Ceder Grove

Chico University

Equestrian Center

AREA HISTORY In the mid 1800’s, a tribe of Indians totally unique to others, known as the Nozi lived on these lands. Long believed to be extinct, in 1911 a sole survisor, known as Ishi is thought to bethe last surviving tribesman. Southernmost people of the Yana tribe.

areas. The exchange of land claims, augmented by the discovery of gold in the riverbeds along the foothills of California's high country, set the stage for the tragic demise of the Yana.

Visit the Yahi Trail in Upper Park.

PARK HISTORY Chico area in March 1843, the area was called Chico Creek. In two separate purchases in 1849 and 1851, Bidwell acquired Rancho del Arroyo Chico, totaling more than 22,000 acres. In 1905 John’s wife, Annie Bidwell donating 1,902.88 acres to the people of Chico for a public park in 1905 after her husbands death.

On May 11,1911, she signed an indenture granting a further 301.76 acres of park land (Upper Park) to

Golf Course

Hiking Trails

Horseshoe Lake

Middle Park

Nature Center

One Mile Recreation Area

Picnic Area 1-5, 37-40

Softball Fields

Sycamore Pool

Upper Park

LINDEN ST. ENTRANCE PARK HOURS 7am-9pm

N

=1 mile

= 1/4 mile

POINTS OF INTEREST

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

BidwellPark V I S I T O R C E N T E R P A R K I N G

C I T Y O F C H I C O

Yahi Trail1 . 5 M I L E

Nature Center. 2 5 M I L E

Picnic AreaK i w a n a

. 7 5 M I L E Bidwell Park

Picnic Areas

Yahi Trail

Nature Center

Sycamore Pool

Restrooms

Chico, California

Gilby’s GroveMemorial Oakgrove

R E G E N E R A T I O N A R E A

13+

World of TreesSubhead to go here

Park Closed12 am - 5pm

Except if passing throughCMC12B.04370CLOSED

MONDAYS

CAUTIONWatch for falling limbs

PLEASE DO NOT DAMAGE OAK TREE SEEDLINGS

1

1

1

2

2 3 4 5

2

2

2

2

3 4 5 6

1

1

1

Information Sign

33

3

34

44

5

5

6

6

6

Entrance Signage Regulatory & Hazard External

Nature Center

Middle Park

SycamorePool

EASY


Gilby’s Grove

L I V I N G A N I M A L M U S E U M W - S U 1 1 - 4H O W A R D T U C K E R E X H I B I T F - S U 1 1 - 4

C L O S E D M O N D A Y S A N D T U E S D A Y S

Nature Center

LINDEN ST. ENTRANCE PARK HOURS 7am-9pm

2 M

1 M

5 M

CAUTIONWatch for falling limbs

Please do not damage Oak tree seedlings Gilby’s Grove


13+

BidwellPark

V I S I T O R C E N T E R P A R K I N G


CAUTION

Park Closed

Gilby’s GroveR E G E N E R A T I O N A R E A

13+

BidwellPark

V I S I T O R C E N T E R P A R K I N G


12 am - 5pmExcept if

passing throughCMC12B.04370

CLOSED MONDAYS

Please do not damage Oak Tree seedlingsWatch for falling limbs

Style Option A

Style Option B

Case Study: City Park Signage System Design

There are also opportunities for collaborations with various research projects currently underway in different colleges such as the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the College-Conservatory of Music, the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Medicine. New avenues and connections between different professors, graduate students and research projects will be identified and will be fortified under the CUE Workshop.

14

University of Cincinnati | CCM

University of Cincinnati | College of Engineering & Applied Science

University of Cincinnati | College of Medicine

15CUE Workshop

WHERE IS CUE WORKSHOP?

The laboratory environment of CUE Workshop is being proposed to be located in renovated spaces adjacent to the newly opened American Sign Museum located within the industrial area of Camp Washington in Cincinnati. The American Sign Museum site is approximately a mile and a half from the University of Cincinnati main campus, and offers easy access to I-75, a national north / south interstate artery.

The CUE Workshop building footprint offers 20,000 square feet under one roof of a clear span space with high bay capacity separate from the renovated American Sign Museum. Future expansion opportunities exist in both the construction of high bay laboratories and urban sensory contextual relationships.

Sign Museum

Downtown Cincinnati

16

17

Sign Museum

CUE Workshop


MONMOUTH ST.

SPR

ING

GR

OV

E

CO

LER

AIN

AV

E-N

UE

21

3

4

1 SITE

2 SIGN MUSEUM

3 RESEARCH RESIDENCIES

4 NORTH BUILDING - PROPOSED PHASE 3

18

University of Shuttle transports students from the campus down Martin Luther King

CUE Workshop 19


Renovated American Sign Museum interior.

20

Future Site of CUE Workshop

21CUE Workshop

HOW WOULD THE CENTER BE PHASED?

The implementation of the research center is divided into three phases.

The First Phase includes the renovation and rehabilitation of the 20,000 square foot space directly adjacent to the American Sign Museum. The renovation will turn the vacant space into laboratories, collaborative workspaces, offices, and exhibition spaces. The First Phase will immediately activate the center as the beginning of a satellite research campus for the University of Cincinnati.

22

The Second Phase includes the rehabilitation of the old steam plant building on the northern side of the American Sign Museum. The plant building will be converted into a manufacturing or production building with assembly, production and rapid prototyping equipment. The Second Phase also includes the conversion of the courtyard into a laboratory area. A canopy will be built over the courtyard that not only provides shade but also an opportunity to explore communication on a large scale. The south façade of the building will also serve as a scaffold for the experimentation of large-scale installations.

The industrial area of Camp Washington also presents future prospects of creating an urban satellite campus for the University of Cincinnati. The vacant and underutilized warehouses and industrial facilities of the area can potentially house and support research, production and manufacturing projects of the university. Furthermore, the introduction of new research and educational activity in the area can potentially serve as a catalyst for urban revitalization in this blighted former industrial part of the city.

The Third Phase requires the acquisition of the 30,000 square foot building on the northern side of the courtyard of the American Sign Museum. The Third Phase envisions the transformation of the vacant building into more research laboratories, offices, production areas, and resource library.

23CUE Workshop

WHAT IS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE CENTER?

The research center is inspired from the idea of “MAIN STREET” as organizing principle. Much like the idea of a Main Street in the middle of a typical American town where people converge and interact, the research center would also extend this concept of social space onto the future of urban communication. Inspired also from the existing historical Main Street exhibit in the adjacent American Sign Museum, the center will connect to the museum and extend the main street onto what will be known as a “Main Street of the Future” in the research center. Both the historic and futuristic Main Streets underscore how communication is inevitably embedded and actively informing the environments that we live in.

24

WHAT IS THEPROPOSAL?

DAdministration / Research Offices

American SignMuseum G

Computer Lab

EFuturistic Research Studio Labs

BGroup Collaboration Spaces

FRestoration Fabrication Lab

Restrooms

GVirtual Signage Lab

ACollaboration / Public Seating C Main Street of the Future

The Floor Plan organization reflects the zoning strategies and the Main Street of the Future core idea. Monmouth Street Entry and Public Entry directs visitors to the Administration and Research Offices. This brings the visitor to the Main Street of the Future, feeding the American Signage Museum to one side and the other side Group Collaboration Studios and Presentations Studios. The Main Street of the Future terminates at the Virtual Signage Lab where research projects of future digital signage solutions are explored.

25CUE Workshop


The zoning of the CUE Workshop is divided into various functional zones. The Main Street of the Future (C) provides the Workshop plan with a centralized axial spine for programmed spaces to develop. The central 20 feet high-trussed axial Main Street determines a zoning organization that includes cross circulation of an Entry (A) area, access to the Administration (D) and terminates at the Virtual Signage Lab. The Main Street feeds several Group Collaboration (B) spaces and futuristic research Studio Labs (E) terminating at the Virtual Signage Lab (G). Tied to the Signage Main Street is the High Bay Restoration Lab and Shop (F) area. Adjacent to the CUE Workshop is a residential apartment (H) on the east side and a vacant warehouse (I) to the north.

26

Model Image

Exterior Signage Canopy

Main Street of the Future

Collaboration Spaces

Historic Main Street

American Sign Museum

Main Street of the Future Flexible Lab SpacesNeon Works

Entry to CUE Workshop

Entry to CUE Workshop

Entry to Neon Works

Entry to Museum

Virtual Signage Lab

A 1/8” scale model has been developed to show the relationship of the CUE Workshop to the new American Sign Museum and the proposed CUE Workshop spaces. Exterior conditions in the courtyard of a new proposed canopy adjoining the north warehouse building demonstrates the potential for development of exterior signage. The High Bay Renovation space is noted as a large enclosed space to restore and renovate large-scale signs of historic value, which would be required by the American Sign Museum. The scale relationship of the Monmouth Street façade is built as an exhibit extension of the American Signage Museum in structuring the 200’ plus face of the south façade of the American Sign Museum / CUE Workshop building.

27CUE Workshop

Interior perspective looking east from the American Sign Museum exhibits the Main Street of the Future as an interactive corridor of signage display and experimental signage studies. Glass panel doors would allow adjacent labs to expand into the Main Street corridor or provide secure enclosures for researchers / student teams.

Main Street Looking EastInterior Perspective


28

Interior perspectives looking east from the American Signage Museum exhibits the Futuristic Main Street as an interactive corridor of signage display and experimental signage studies. Glass panel doors woul allow adjacent labs to expand into the Main Street corridor or provide secure enclosures for researchers / student teams.

29CUE Workshop

Flexibile glass panels allow the space to perform multiple functions.

Polycarbonate benches can be moved around the Main Street to provide seating during public events, student, and professional presenations.

Collaboration space provides vertical surfaces that provide projection surfaces as well as writable surfaces for group work.

Plug in bar separates the main axis from the collaboration space. The bar allows individuals to plug in and work.


Interior perspective looking west into the American Sign Museum provides a reference back to the history of signage and exhibits a timeline of past, present and future as the visitor can review the memory and reality of signage communication.

30

Glass door breaks up the Cue Workshop from the sign museum all while allowing light and views into both spaces. The glass door can slide open from the bottom right to continue the Main Street connecting the two spaces.

This rendering showcases the flexibility of the Main Street and sliding panel glasses. The studio space can break out into the Main Street, allowing my square footage as well as pin up space along the panels.

Not only do the Main Street panels function as exhibit space for professionals and students, seasonal shows or local displays can offer a public attraction.

31CUE Workshop

32


An innovative relationship is developed by the Main Street of the Future and flanking studios / labs. Sensitive interactive glass panels provide security partitions as well as communication vehicles, allowing experimental projection and graphic expression of images and communication products.

In the rendering above, students and professionals collaborate on a smaller scale project. At times, the tall glass system in the Main Street will not be appropriate. In this case, professors can take their students to a small, built in space that provides seating, a plug in bar, and smart glass systems that create a more intimate setting.

33CUE Workshop

Structural accommodation will allow new technologies and new projection means to be exhibited and explored. Full height spaces in the Main Street of the Future with ample structural capacity of the existing truss and column bay structural system provides an ideal condition for development and display of new technologies and experimentation of new industrial products for testing.

34


An innovative relationship is developed by the Main Street of the Future and flanking studios / labs. Sensitive interactive glass panels provide security partitions as well as communication vehicles, allowing experimental projection and graphic expression of images and communication products.

35CUE Workshop

Cue Workshop is made up of two axial conditions that move the public and Cue users through out the facility. Users can enter through the North, South, or West from the Sign Museum. The axial relationship breaks up the public and private spaces.

Transparency is a main design component within the Cue Workshop. The transparent surfaces generate inspiration and fast pace movement by displaying the activities, research, and progress that go on within the facility. Different levels of transparency and color allow users to get a sense of what is going on through out the space all while still receiving an amount of privacy.

Studios and Labs can be locked up or blocked off for privacy, security, and acoustics. The flexible glass panels control visual paths through out the space, from one axis to another.

5 ft10 ft

20 ft

A. Small scale presentation space allows students and professionals to showcase small scale technology in a more intimate setting.

B. Collaboration seating and writable surfaces provide interdisciplinary students the opportunity to collaborate outside of the lab spaces

36


COLLABORATION AND FLEXIBILITY

Seat count 10

Seat count 10

Smart Glass

Smart Glass

“Plug in” Bar”

Seat count 6

Seat count 6

Smart Glass

Smart Glass

12’

6’

20’

Ceiling system allows glass panels to layer on top of on another, front and back, in order to open up north and south spaces.

Glides are located on top and bottom of the panels to move the panels left and right.

CUE Workshop 37

Ceiling Detail - Plan

Ceiling Detail - Elevation

Seat count 6

Seat count 6

1

1 PRESENTATION LAYOUT, SEAT COUNT 24 +

2 ENGINEERING LAYOUT , SEAT COUNT 18, 6 EQUIPMENT TABLES

3 TRADITIONAL LAB LAYOUT, SEAT COUNT 48

2 3

38


COLLABORATION AND FLEXIBILITY

STUDIO

COLLABORATION SEATING

OFFICE

39CUE Workshop

ENTRANCEBIKE STORAGE

DESIGN DETAILS - RCP

20 ft

40 ft

40


STUDIO

GRID INSPIRATION

CUE Workshop 41STUDIO

PLUG IN BAR

LAB /

PRESENTATION

Exterior perspective


The exterior perspective below envisions a portion of parking lot north of the CUE Workshop converted into a covered courtyard assembly space. The courtyard will serve as a laboratory for students, researchers, and practitioners testing larger signage research projects such as retail storefronts, mobile branding, and digital media projections.

42

43CUE Workshop

CUE WorkshopExterior Perspective

The CUE Workshop aims to engage with the local community of the surrounding Camp Washington area. Presenting research on the exterior façade along Monmouth Street, identifies, attracts, and establishes an identity for visitors, patrons, and residents for the American Sign Museum

45

APPENDIX: LOOKING AHEAD

IDEO (Palo Alto, California) is a global design firm that takes a design-based approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors to innovate and grow. The firm espouses the idea of “Design Thinking” at the core of their ethos, which focuses on a collaborative, human-centered, experimental and optimistic mindset in solving problems.

www.ideo.com

46

IDEO, D. School and MIT Media Lab represent existing examples of collaborative and multi-disciplinary research organizations and spaces that CUE Workshop is inspired from.

Stanford University D. School (Palo Alto, California) is a unique design school that brings together various view points, issues and approaches from engineering, design, art, social sciences, biology, medicine, education and business. The D. School believes that design innovation is a result of human values, technology and business.

MIT Media Lab (Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an experimental laboratory that envisions the impact of emerging technologies on everyday life. The center houses lab designers, engineers, artists, and scientists who collaborate together to answer what is next for our technological future.

www.dschool.stanford.edu

www.media.mit.edu

47CUE Workshop


The following examples introduce conceptual interdisciplinary research topics for the CUE Workshop ranging from mobile signage, retail storefronts, digital media, way-finding, and building integration.

Mobile Signage

Temporary and mobile signage communicates constantly in our daily lives through mobile smartphone devices, event banners, and branded vehicles. Food trucks are just one form of signage that operate in multiple places over time within densely populated urban communities. The graphic logos on these trucks play an important role for a small business by attracting customers and establishing a brand image. Food truck services have thrived in Cincinnati such as Taco Azul, serving LA style Mexican food.

www.tacoazul.com

48

Storefronts

Retail stores, professional services, and restaurants have cycles where new products are introduced that change the image of a storefront. Anthropologie, an apparel store, is known for their elaborate window displays combining art, fashion, and interior decor. Storefront window displays offer opportunities for collaborative research between disciplines, especially business marketing and interior design.

Microsoft’s Future Vision is an exploratory idea that projects how we will live and work in the next 10 years. With the goal of improving pro-ductivity, Future Vision suggests ways in which technology will synthesize, translate, and communicate to individuals in public places, work environ-ments, and private homes. The combination of engineering technology, industrial design, and information analytics play a shared role in how a concept like Future Vision will come to fruition.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/vision/

Anthropologie storefront

49CUE Workshop


Signage Integration

Advancements in LED lighting and digital media are increasingly used on buildings to generate visual art and new methods of communication. GreenPix, designed by

Simone Giostra, incorporates a Zero Energy Media Wall for the Xicui entertainment complex in Beijing. The Media Wall is a self-sufficient solar powered glass curtain that provides a platform for digital art that engages with interior users and external viewers. Integrating new building technologies offers tremendous potential for new design strategies and calls on the efforts of architects and engineers to test how these strategies can operate in the urban environment.

50

Fountain Square

Cincinnati’s Fountain Square, in the downtown Central Business District, gathers large numbers of employees during the week and hosts even larger crowds for weekend festivals throughout the year. Fountain square features many retailers, restaurants, and prominent business offices. Large video monitors, LED lighting displays, traditional signage, and temporary banners coexist in a densely populated, historically relevant, and vibrant part of the city.

Duke Energy Center: Cincinnati Sign The city of Cincinnati has also branded itself through signage. The Duke Energy Convention Center designed by LMN, BHDP, Cole+Russel, and GBBN, incorporates a large sign presenting the city’s name abstracted into a panelized system. The “Cincinnati” sign becomes fully apparent on the approach to the Duke Energy Convention Center from the interstate freeways downtown.

51CUE Workshop

President

Dean, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

Associate Dean, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

Director, School of Architecture and Interior Design

Director, School of Planning

Professor, School of Architecture and Interior Design

Assistant Professor, School of Architecture and Interior Design

BS of Interior Design candidate 2013

Master of Architecture candidate 2013

BS of Architecture candidate 2015

Master of Design candidate 2013

Master of Design candidate 2015

CREDITSUniversity of Cincinnati

Santa Ono

Robert Probst

Craig M. Vogel

William D. Williams

Danilo Palazzo

University of Cincinnati Design Team

Henry Hildebrandt

Edson Cabalfin

Julia Clements

John Ritter

Catherine Tran

Fei Xie

Shuai Zhou

University of Cincinnati April 2013

52

University of Cincinnati April 2013

Online Sources

www.uc.edu/provost/ucforward/collaboratives.htmlwww.livewellcollaborative.orgwww.uc.edu/cdc/www.uc.edu/ucresearch/officeofresearch/ucri.htmlwww.ideo.comwww.media.mit.eduwww.dschool.stanford.eduwww.patterns.ideo.com/www.trendwatching.com/trends/www.iftf.org/futurenow/publications

Image Sources

http://www.augustana.edu/Images/Hong_Kong_Symphony_of_Light.jpghttp://www.timessquarenyc.org/image.aspx?id=1838&width=1370&height=870http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/NYC_Times_Square_wide_angle.jpghttp://myfountainsquare.com/http://www.gbbn.com/Projects/Cultural/City%20of%20Cincinnati~Duke%20Energy%20Center/#slide_9http://www.greenpix.org/download.php?mode=0http://www.microsoft.com/office/vision/http://www.foodtruckbuzz.com/taco-azul-cincinnati-oh-tacoazul/taco-azul-2http://www.postcardroundup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/main-st-memphis.jpghttp://www.101magazine.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/hkg-hong-kong-advertising.jpg

Bibliography

“Clouds, big data, and smart assets: Ten tech-en-abled business trends to watch.” McKinsey Quarterly, August 2010.

Dobbs, Richard, et al. Urban World: Cities and the Rise of the Consuming Class. McKinsey Global Insti-tute, 2012.

Lancaster, Lynne and David Stillman. When Genera-tions Collide: Who They Are, Who They Clash, How To Solve a Generational Puzzle at Work. New York: Collins Business, 2002.

Mau, Bruce. Massive Change. New York and London: Phaidon Press, 2004.

Newman, Rick. “15 Trends That Will Reshape Your Of-fice.” US News. March 22, 2010.

Raymond, Martin. The Trend Forecaster’s Handbook. London, UK: Laurence King Publishing, 2010.

Salter, Chuck. “Office of the Future.” Fast Company. December 19, 2007.

“The Future of Work.” Time Magazine, May 14, 2009.

United Nations. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision. New York: United Nations, 2012.

53CUE Workshop