The Poetics of Augmented Space - Lev Manovitch

In this article Lev Manovitch describes how spaces are transformed by the multimedia, dynamic information that fills them and how our perception of those places changes in accordance to the multimedia information. He describes the relationship between the space and the information, how it functions and how the information relates to the space. He calls these spaces augmented spaces as our perception of them goes beyond the actual space into the virtual dimension of information.
What struck me in this article was how much we actually interact with spaces like this without even realizing it, by using "media as extensions of self" (McLuhan), that is cell phones, PDAs, computer screens to interact with a place that beyond any of that might just as well be a box with a sign (as described in Learning from Las Vegas). The invisible layer of information transforms the box into a duck (ref. Learning from Las Vegas) offering us an augmented reality. An augmented space is in a constant change being continuously shaped by information, media, perception, people. At the same time is poses a very important architectural question: should architects just resume to having a box with a million signs, or should the space be immersive and present an innovative approach to the augmented space. I think a good example for this would be designs of new malls or theaters. A recently opened mall in the New York Area (http://www.tangeroutlet.com/deerpark) is designed as a small Italian city with street signs in Italian and Italian architecture while older designs from the same outlet chain (http://www.tangeroutlet.com/riverhead) are just boxes with signs that explain to people what is inside. Another mall that will soon open in Romania show how architects are choosing more and more designs that are self addressing and somehow support what is inside and the interaction that is expected there (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cotroceni_park.jpg).
The new media is shaping the architecture in such a way that nothing can be experienced anymore without the influence of information technology or media and we are faced with a dilemma. If the actual space is already being shaped and altered so much by the virtual space, should we stop focusing on the "physical" architecture and focus more on the virtual architecture or should we blend them all together so that there is no actual difference between the real and the virtual, but everything is experienced as a whole?