SCI * arc * wire

(from some time in early 1997)

a proposal for a new kind of electronic presence for SCI-Arc

with Kazys Varnelis 

One of the most important tasks facing SCI-Arc is the development of a strategy for teaching, developing, and utilizing new media. The purpose of this research assistantship is to explore the possibilities for developing SCI-Arc’s presence on the world wide web. 

SCI-Arc’s current web site (http://www.sciarc.edu) allows students, prospective students, faculty at other universities, architects, and other parties to easily learn about the school. As such, it is a valuable resource that can deepen already existing interests in the school, providing maximum informational return at a minimal cost to the college. However, SCI-Arc’s web site cannot by itself actively generate interest in the school. Unless someone surfing the web is specifically interested in SCI-Arc for some reason, they will not visit our site. As the web becomes more and more important as a means of publicizing our school, we need to rethink how we address it.

In the spring of 1996, I developed a concept for a commercial web site titled “Arc * Wire” to act as both a central clearinghouse for news on architecture and as a forum for new design work, theory, and criticism. My work on Arc * Wire came to an end as I moved to Los Angeles and began the rewarding but time-consuming project of teaching history/theory at SCI-Arc. The time has come to revisit my ideas for Arc * Wire and evaluate the feasibility of their implementation at SCI-Arc. 

Perhaps a shrewd business idea that never had its chance or perhaps a pipedream, Arc * Wire was intended to make money by providing space for advertising to a target group of readers. Rather than being a static web site that a reader might visit once or even every now and then, Arc * Wire was intended to build a large base readership by following the proven model of dynamic web sites such as CNN (http://www.cnn.com) and Macintouch (http://www.macintouch.com). Updated daily, Arc * Wire would have become a place for participants in architecture culture to start their day by providing timely news of competitions, job openings, shows, software updates, titles of new books, links to Arc * Wire’s own new articles, conferences, as well as general news. 

This assistantship will explore the possibilities of bringing Arc * Wire to SCI-Arc as SCI * Arc * WIRE (a provisional name only) and develop a prototype for the site. Where Arc * Wire would have given advertising space in return for sponsorship, SCI * Arc * WIRE will advertise SCI–Arc. If architects begin their day reading a publication sponsored by SCI-Arc, our institutional identity will be strengthened. Just as Oppositions, the Harvard GSD News, and Columbia Newsline carved out previously unforeseen niches for themselves and boosted their respective schools’ images, SCI * Arc * Wire is intended to do the same, putting SCI-Arc at the center of (virtual) architecture culture.

Over the course of the assistantship, we will scout the web for successful and unsuccessful sites that could provide lessons for us, we will document the availability of resources (are competitions regularly on the web? how are they announced? are books announced? what sites currently carry news on architecture?), we will inventory what information can be manageably included on the site, we will develop a preliminary design for the site, and we will document what resources would need to be devoted to SCI * Arc * WIRE to make it a reality. A major intent is to develop the site to be as minimally time-intensive on a daily basis. Of course, rather than simply treating the site as a transparent tool, we will also investigate the historico-theoretical issues that might influence our task. Readings on the role of architectural media, publications and publicity, and the web will be pursued. At the end of the research project, we will present the project as a proposal and prototype to the SCI-Arc community. 

The ideal research assistant for SCI * Arc * WIRE will have, at minimum, a familiarity with the world wide web, an interest in web surfing, and a desire to learn how to build a web site. The following skills are optional, but highly desirable: experience with web site design, an understanding of computer based graphic design (i.e. Photoshop, Illustrator, and other such programs), editing experience, and experience managing projects and supervising others.