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1. POST-INTERNET CITIES | INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
MAAT - Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology | Lisbon, 26 May 2017
Augmented reality applications in contemporary urban design: toward a
new trajectory in participatory place-making
Efthimis Kapsalis
School of Architecture, Lund University
The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible role of Augmented Reality (AR) as a
communication tool in spatial design processes and as a mediator for public participation in
urban place-making. Specifically, the paper includes a narrative of some prominent
institutional, laboratory and profit-making projects, which have been characterized by extensive
integration of augmented reality techniques into the design procedures, either by leveraging AR
applications as communication strategy or by stimulating public interest through a mixed-
reality environment. As a matter of fact, such techniques have benefitted architectural and urban
design for the last decade or so; initially, the use of AR in architectural design was a derivative
of resolute research in various institutions around the globe, and is becoming widely popular in
architecture and urban design projects ever since. The upmost feature of augmented reality is
the fact that representation of design can be instantly and actively interpreted. Unlike three-
dimensional (3D) models and virtual reality applications, which generate artificial and opaque
environments, AR facilitates stakeholders’ presence amid design phases, by virtue of
superimposing actual environmental and physical conditions on virtual elements. In other
words, such a technologic asset generates a composite view, with a combination of a digital
model or scene and the physical, real life settings in which the viewers are located. Viewers
thereby become active parts of the context and interoperate with it, in a direct fashion. Hence,
public participation in place-making can be significantly bolstered, since design would be
explicitly presented, even to the technologically illiterate ones. This latter point is fundamental
for the contemporary urban discourse; at this day and age that cities are becoming notably
dependent on technologic innovations, it seems that the so-called “right-to-the-city” is a
privilege of the digital-savvy. On that premise, cities worldwide could be on the verge of
confronting a modern type of social exclusion and injustice; this may even end up in dystopic
urban futures where technologic adaptability would delineate socioeconomically, as well as
physically, emerging urban space. Therefore, this paper eagerly brings to a focus the issue of
incorporating augmented reality applications in city design, as a valuable civic participation
tool, in the face of the present-era, dynamic urban transitions. Successful cases have been
selected and thoroughly presented as the epitome of holistic design projects, few of which
culminated in bottom-up models of urban governance. Further, it discusses the impact of AR
representation techniques as effective feedback to design procedures, bringing up novel ideas
and approaches apropos.
Keywords: augmented reality; digital urban design; civic participation; right to the city; bottom-up
governance