Public Interfaces

Here is a quote from Calvino’s description of Euphemia, page 36. We’ve inserted our concept in bold:

You do not come to Euphemia only to buy and sell, but also because at night, by the fires all around the market, seated on sacks or barrels or stretched out on piles of carpets, at each word that one man

sees on his tin can

— such as “wolf,” “sister,” “hidden treasure,” “battle,” “scabies,” “lovers” — the others tell, each one, his tale of wolves, sisters, treasures, scabies, lovers, battles…

through his tin can, among the endless network of strings, under the starry night sky…

…And you know that in the long journey ahead of you. when to keep awake against the camel’s swaying or the junk’s rocking. you start summoning up your memories one by one, your wolf will have become another wolf, your sister a different sister, your battle other battles, on your return from Euphemia, the city where memory is traded at every solstice and at every equinox.

In the final planning stages of the city of Perinthia, in the center point of the city, the stars and the moon are projected onto the roads to bring the people together at the town square.

When they part ways, each leave behind a token of their culture and once in their respected homes they are able to share their memories which is displayed on the surrounding square for all to see.

 
Abandoned before or after it was inhabited, Armilla cannot be called deserted. At any hour, raising your eyes among the pipes, you are likely to glimpse a young woman, or many young women, slender, not tall of stature, luxuriating in the bathtubs or arching their backs under the showers suspended in the void, washing or drying or perfuming themselves, or combing their long hair at a mirror. In the sun, the threads of water fanning from the showers glisten, the jets of the taps, the spurts, the splashes, the sponges’ suds.
 

The city of Tamara is filled with images of things that mean other things. You can meander through the city and experience its bustling marketplaces nestled amongst its grand architecture. You can never visit the city once. It has an enigmatic charm. Like a great book, it beckons you come back again and again to discover something new each time.

Within this great city, you can find Tamara Square Park. It is an urban fantastical and forest-like park which, like a chameleon, changes its mood and nature based on the eclectic beings that temporarily inhabit its space. The park hosts entertainment and escapism that attracts all walks of life, including both regulars and newcomers. As you walk through the park, you’ll see various iconography that depict the chosen favorite locations and activities of the park’s regular visitors. The signs are intentionally in a specific language/code created by locals/regulars. The same symbols and icons hold a separate, wayfinding interpretation for newcomers. Both categories of individuals are a necessary ingredient to contribute to the energy and liveliness of the park. In this manner, the local and tourists coexist in a harmonious and symbiotic relationship.

“Zora, a city that no one, having seen it, can forget.”

The ephemeral city of Zora is tied to our memories. Our senses feel the sounds, the patterns, and the imagery of the city. We pass by and see these things and connect to what is meaningful within Zora. It’s locals, history, establishments, and particular quirks. We access information through these aspects. Point to point. Place to place.

Continue reading →