Entries: Redacted Residences

RUNNER UP
ENTRANT
Neil McGuire - www.afterthenews.co.uk

EXPLANATION OF IDEA

"We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us, then we can shape them again on an ongoing basis using bio-engineered material, and so on..." Winston Churchill (sort of)

Thus Proposal is based on the following principles:

• That honesty and integrity should be recognised
• That buildings can influence the behaviour of those living and working in them
• That we need more frequent means of feedback and interaction with our elected representatives than the usual "once every four years" flurry of activity.
• That Parliament needs to come to the people

Redacted Residences works in the following way:

Our proposed starting point for the design of each MP's constituency residence is their expenses claim (1) from the previous year. Using augmented reality (2) and optical character recognition (ocr) (3) technology this expense claim would be placed in front of a camera attached to a computer.

This computer would process the redacted areas (black squares) and the words left on the sheet, and using a bespoke architectural programme based on the principle of "disproportional representation", create a 3D model of their proposed residence. The disproportional representation algorithm would basically interpret large areas of black as being less honest, and the optical character recognition would identity words on the sheet and scan them against a database for their honesty and integrity (ie the words "moat" or "Diamond encrusted satellite dish" would be given low integrity rating).

No design generated by this programme would be "bad", bu MP's prone to lavish lifestyles would be me with a much simpler and more austere residence, and conversely, those deemed more honest by the generative architectural software, would be rewarded with a bigger more lavishly appointed constituency home. All designs generated by this programme would be design to the principles of "affordance" as proposed by psychologist James, J. Gibons and later appropriated by Donald Norman, whereby they promote positive "action possibilities" latent in the environment. (4)

Where possible the constituency residences would be built with bio-engineered materials which could be connected to the web and respond to a forum where constituents could comment on their MP's performance, and this would be reflected in the improvement or diminishing in quality of their spaces, fixtures and finishes, depending on feedback.

Part two of the proposal suggests that Westminster should be abandoned, and Parliament should become a mobile event, taking place in the village halls and community centres. The abandoned Houses of Parliament would be given over to a new National Museum of Lying.

1. http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallwances/allowances-by-mp/

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented reality

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordance

NOTE: The images of buildings feature in this proposal are rough approximations collaged from found existing building designs, and their purpose is purely to the show the concept and approach - not to advocate these specific designs. (Apologies to the designers of the kiosk domies toen which I have bastardised). If exhibited, it would also probably be possible, given a little time, to generate a primitive working prototype. I would also look to update some of the images which are currently low -res.