Pfann Ohmann Prize 2021 Nomination

The Pfann Ohmann Prize Foundation was established in 1993 to recognise excellence and innovation in architectural graphic work done by students in the course of their architecture studies at TU Wien.

Presented to the 2020 Pfann Ohmann Prize jury were “Platform Reactancy” by BILAL ALAME & MARY OSIBANJO, as well as  “Deserts and Oases” by ALEXANDER GARBER.

PLATFORM REACTANCY
BILAL ALAME & MARY OSIBANJO
Module 21 Visual Culture: ‘Platform Urbanism’ – supervision CHRISTIAN FRIESS

Understanding the value and worth of data, as a form of digital currency is at the core of platform reactancy. Humans are by nature self-serving and seek instant gratification, and these platforms utilize this to gain access to information. Data becomes a key currency in this exchange. Customer club cards operate by mapping out spending patterns coupled with geographical locations to create customer profiling to generate more profit, while platform-users are left with little transparency as to which third-parties gain access to their information.

Consent is dispensed, but when transactional transparency is lacking, is it really consensual?

Platform Reactancy digs deep into platform’s terms and conditions, user agreements and contractual clauses. The project visually maps the uncanny depths of data flow that users trigger by participating in urban life via the use of digital platforms.

 

DESERTS AND OASES
ALEXANDER GARBER
Module 21 Visual Culture: ‘Platform Urbanism’ – supervision CHRISTIAN FRIESS

I understand my contribution to this collective project in a broader sense of basic research. […]The resulting book can be a tool to decipher definitions of ‘city’ as used by platforms.

Deserts and Oases looks at the city from the point of view of Mobility Platforms. The project analyses what parameters inform the platforms understading of ‘city’ on a on a conceptual level. It also explores how platform-compiled definitions of ‘city’ not only alter user’s perceptions of the urban, but also influence the urban fabric itelf.