High-Tech Kiosk Is Picked To Show the Way in BPC

 by Barry Owens

One designer envisioned a kiosk as the central operator for a network of information that could be pulled out of the Lower Manhattan air via cell phone. Another imagined one in which the human body acted as cursor, bringing up information and pictures on a screen with the wave of the hand or shimmy of the hip.

One designer envisioned a kiosk as the central operator for a network of information that could be pulled out of the Lower Manhattan air via cell phone. Another imagined one in which the human body acted as cursor, bringing up information and pictures on a screen with the wave of the hand or shimmy of the hip.

Winning kiosk design by Antenna Design New York, Inc. lights up at night and is powered by a solar panel roof. Its tower provides event listings.

Yet another designer set a goal nothing short of "extending the idea of a kiosk in space in time. It should be purple, and in the shape of a C," he said.


Only slightly less ambitious is the design that the Van Alen Institute and Battery Park City Authority have selected for an interactive kiosk that will stand at the foot of West Street near Battery Park.

The kiosk, sheltered by a roof of solar panels and anchored by modular benches, has a touch-screen table with an interactive map and information about Lower Manhattan, a separate screen for checking the news and email, and an illuminated tower that serves double duty as a light source and electronic billboard with event information and community alerts.

"Brilliant and accomplishes everything that we wanted it to do," Stephanie Gelb, vice president for planning and design at the Battery Park City Authority and a juror in the kiosk design competition, said in a statement.


The winning design was created by Antenna Design New York, Inc., the team behind the MetroCard vending machines and the R142 subway car.

"We hoped to create a place where people can congregate and get information, not only from interacting with the system, but with one another," said Masamichi Udagawa, a designer with Antenna, explaining the kiosk during a forum with other finalists last month at Pace University.

The kiosk's computer component will utilize data-harvesting software to search local websites for information on Downtown events. The content, limited to short text and images displayed on the screen will vary from street closing information and restaurant listings to gallery openings and local garden happenings.

Motion sensors would activate display screens in this design by a team called The Exchange, one of the finalists.
MESH Architectures/Org Inc., another finalist, hoped the shape and color of this design would create a "brand identity" for the interactive kiosks.

"The system encourages people not to spend too much time on the gadget and to go out and experience the real thing," said Udagawa.

A date for installation has not been set. Once the kiosk is in place, it may take some time before it earns frequent users, noted one design finalist, Thomas Leeser.

"It's like the first telephone booth," he said. "People probably stood in front of it and said, 'What the hell is that?'"

Yet another designer set a goal nothing short of "extending the idea of a kiosk in space in time. It should be purple, and in the shape of a C," he said.

Only slightly less ambitious is the design that the Van Alen Institute and Battery Park City Authority have selected for an interactive kiosk that will stand at the foot of West Street near Battery Park.

The kiosk, sheltered by a roof of solar panels and anchored by modular benches, has a touch-screen table with an interactive map and information about Lower Manhattan, a separate screen for checking the news and email, and an illuminated tower that serves double duty as a light source and electronic billboard with event information and community alerts.

"Brilliant and accomplishes everything that we wanted it to do," Stephanie Gelb, vice president for planning and design at the Battery Park City Authority and a juror in the kiosk design competition, said in a statement.

The winning design was created by Antenna Design New York, Inc., the team behind the MetroCard vending machines and the R142 subway car.

"We hoped to create a place where people can congregate and get information, not only from interacting with the system, but with one another," said Masamichi Udagawa, a designer with Antenna, explaining the kiosk during a forum with other finalists last month at Pace University.

The kiosk's computer component will utilize data-harvesting software to search local websites for information on Downtown events. The content, limited to short text and images displayed on the screen will vary from street closing information and restaurant listings to gallery openings and local garden happenings.

"The system encourages people not to spend too much time on the gadget and to go out and experience the real thing," said Udagawa.

A date for installation has not been set. Once the kiosk is in place, it may take some time before it earns frequent users, noted one design finalist, Thomas Leeser.

"It's like the first telephone booth," he said. "People probably stood in front of it and said, 'What the hell is that?'"