An interactive installation that explores two parallel futures based on the citizen's mindset in Bogotá during the 70s.
Electronics + UX
Overview
Description
Bogotá 2100 was an interactive installation that raised a supposed future based on the reality of Bogotá (the capital of Colombia) in the 70s. This science fiction story was based on the previous work 'Bogotá out of control'.
Role
Engineer + Interaction designer
Project parameters
3 weeks length - Project made with David Feliciano and Franziska Gromzig
Brief
Considering the project: 'Bogotá Out of Control', the brief was to transform the information into a fictional story. We took the Illegal housing as the inspiration of the fictional world we would like to create and started to build the thread of the story.
The story
In fictitious Bogota, there were two parallel cities. One built by rich people, inspired by the American way of life they usually follow, and the other built by the invaders (people who use to live in illegal neighborhoods).
The Invaders were well known for constructing buildings by their own with abstract and eccentric shapes. Because these people were self-taught builders, they built an entire city apart from the legal city. They never looked for inspiration in other people or cities of the world, they just used their imagination and started from zero in every creation. Thus they built a city like no other in the world. While they evolved, they became faster. On 2100, they already had a technology to build cities in a short time. People just had to wear a futuristic helmet to help them visualize the city they were going to build. The helmet takes elements from the creativity of the person's brain to make a design of the building and the person just have to select the building they want to create and it will begin to build itself.
The rich people that were living in the legal part of the city during the '70s, could not stop the illegal housing during that time. As a result, they built their city above the illegal one, leaving The Invaders underground. This city was inspired by the American Way of Life and was a very exclusive place to live. Because of the exclusiveness, when people reached the age of majority they had to make a test that would decide in which of both worlds they were going to live. When a person was not welcome, he was expelled to the Invaders world.
The interaction
The first interaction allowed the user to experience life as an invader. As soon as the user put on the glasses, he was able to build a creative city on the screen, using the buttons placed on the Sci-Fi glasses.
The second interaction was a test to discover if a person was able to live in the American Bogotá. The user had to use a clock with a set of Yes/No questions about the American Way of Life and freedom of expression. According to the number of correct answers, the watch told the person whether or not they were welcome in this world.
